Week 16 and I wish everyone an ongoing happy and healthy summer–Here are some updates along with some recent news on the Afrezza Users “Real Life” Results Group.

An Update on my friend Jim – a Type 2 diabetic now on Afrezza

First, a big shout out to “Jim”, the Type 2 who I went with to his appointment and who started Afrezza a few weeks ago. I received this very kind message from him :

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Sam

I just wanted to thank you for telling me about the new powder insulin Afrezza. I literally tried all kinds of insulin and oral medicines to control my sugar without much success. For people on the go it is fantastic because you can inhale it and it works right away. I was having readings of 250 to 350 and now my readings are 135 to 175 with my first month on this program. One thing that has worked well is my new meter and strips from free style lite. You can take a sample from your palm
and with a blood sample the size of a little over a pin point to get a reading. Thanks again for your help and support. Without Afrezza I could of never reached these numbers so fast.

Jim

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Note for all Doctors out there–especially if accepting new patients…

Recently, I received an email from a physician and also a diabetes educator asking about my direct experience on Afrezza. I wanted to let you both know how much I greatly appreciate and applaud your “reaching out” to improve your patients lives and knowledge of Afrezza. Know I’m always glad to provide any feedback or assistance about my experience on any aspect of Afrezza that could benefit you (or better your patients). In my opinion, it is going to be one of the best things you’ve ever done to grow your practice and also have the happiest and most smiling diabetic patients you will ever see, whose lives will never be the same, and who can’t wait to get their A1C tested after 3-4 months! If there are any other physicians who wish to get in touch, please send me an email, and also include your office address, contact info including website, physical address, phone numbers, and if you are accepting new patients.

Afrezza was in the News this Week!

Big highlight of the week was watching Eric Fenar’s TV Interview (click link to watch) on Channel 4-WIVB-Buffalo by Jenn Schanz.

Eric has poured his heart into volunteering for the JDRF for the past 6 years and he also been helping diabetics everywhere for the past 10 years organizing various Diabetic Walks, Golf Tournaments and Galas–and we’ve been great friends ever since officially meeting at the FDA Advisory Committee Hearing where we both testified. Many people would’ve given up on telling diabetics about Afrezza–after all, most have not heard about Afrezza, and are resistant to anything new–but that has never, ever stopped Eric if you know him! Tenacity, Service and Passion to make a difference is why he is such an amazing person, and also a fantastic special education teacher in the Buffalo school system where he works by day. My applause and support to Eric for all he does on a daily basis to help out others.

Does Diabetes ever take a day off ?

One thing I would like to mention to anyone reading our weekly blogs–and studying our readings closely–diabetes is TOUGH and it never takes a day off. It can be unpredictable, frustrating, and get you “down” sometimes, but with Afrezza we all seem to get through it easier (much easier than injectables).  Weird days or weeks can happen with our readings, perhaps stress or illness related but it’s not the drugs fault..it’s diabetes! Whether on injectables, orals, pumps or Afrezza–it can be a common phenomenon. Look for an upcoming article on this topic very soon.

Here is the Type 1 Chart for week 16:

What a week for Hillard!

Here’s something very impressive I got from Hillard this week (who is in the Type 2 Group). As you know, it does take time and a little bit of effort to realize how utterly amazing Afrezza works. This was one of those weeks for Hillard–here’s what he said: “I had a GREAT week, and it gets easier as you get more accustomed to using Afrezza”. Rather than just telling me his numbers, here’s how happy he was to share, and I now share it with you!

 

 

 

BTW a 119 Average Glucose Correlates to an A1C of 5.77–a “Non-Diabetic” number! Not too shabby Hillard! Both he and his Type 1 diabetic son are doing very, very well on Afrezza–thanks for sharing Hillard!

Here is the Type 2 Chart for week 16:

What surprises you most about the Week 16 data?

Every week I’m getting more and more “life-changing” success stories about Afrezza. This is certainly not a surprise however the number of people contacting me is! Thank you in advance everyone for the notes and messages of support–they mean a great deal. Thank you to all the growing number of Afrezza Users who are beginning their Afrezza journey and sharing their results.

What is the Afrezza Users “Real Life” Results Group?

It is a group of Afrezza Users who use a Continuous Glucose Monitors (most of the Type 1’s) seeking tighter diabetes control and measuring the time spent in each blood sugar range. Laureen and Julie are also Type 1 but they use “finger prick” measurements throughout their day to measure their blood glucose levels while the rest of us are using CGM’s (continuous glucose monitors). For Type 2 diabetics, nearly all use finger prick measurements, and this is the the case for Brian, Hillard and Spiro. It is NOT a competition between T1’s and T2’s nor among any of us and was only started so people could understand and see the inherent benefit of why Afrezza provides better control and higher patient satisfaction for Type 1 and Type 2 diabetics over any our previous regimens. In essence, this is a “real-world” trial of “do your best”, and have good and bad days, but keep track of it all, and let everyone know the results. Well, the results thus far are clearly and unbelievably positive for Afrezza.

Why are you doing this?

There has been so much discussion about the FDA Afrezza Drug trials and why I feel as a participant in the Affinity 1 trial, there were significant “hold backs” as to why we were not able to materially outperform Injectable Insulin because of the protocols on the trials. This is no longer the case!

To Summarize here are just a few of the hold backs why Afrezza didn’t get to show how great it works:

• Afrezza Dosing was only changed approx. every 6 weeks, and not flexible dosing depending on meal
• No CGM’s allowed
• Time in Zone not measured
• Patient Quality of Life not measured
• Brand new Afrezza users vs. Very experienced Injectable users (what if it was brand new injectable users vs. experienced Afrezza users—would that be fair? No-they would stop the trial right away because it would be a TKO/referee stops contest victory for Afrezza which we are already proving by “real-world” experience.)

What would you like to express to everyone out there considering Afrezza or to any doctors considering prescribing Afrezza for their patients?

My opinion is that Afrezza is a “life-changing” drug. It improved my life and every single person in our “real life” group which gives me hope that diabetics everywhere can be helped by this insulin therapy. I wish the same for you or any other diabetic you know—to enjoy a better, longer and higher quality of life! Please demand to try Afrezza from your doctor, and see for yourself!