Choosing the Right Insulin

This new pain-free insulin medication may allow diabetics to ditch their needles.

• Your Medical Care
• Diabetes
• Fight Disease

In 2006 the FDA approved Exubera, the first inhaled insulin. If you have type 2 diabetes, you can use this short-acting insulin alone or with other diabetes medications; if you have type 1, you must use it with a long-acting insulin. Don’t take Exubera with other short- or rapid-acting insulins.

When you inhale Exubera, your lungs absorb the insulin into the blood. Exubera is different from insulin in more ways than just the method of delivery. For instance, the dosing differs: It comes in foil package blisters of 1- or 3-milligram doses. It starts working faster than regular injected insulin, and works for just as long. If you’re using Exubera as part of your mealtime insulin, take it 10 minutes or sooner before your meal.

Exubera is not for you if you smoke or stopped smoking less than six months ago. You also shouldn’t use it if you have a poorly controlled lung disease such as asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis.

As with other insulins, Exubera can lead to low blood sugar or even high blood sugar if you use the wrong dose, are taking medicines that affect insulin, or eat too many carbohydrates. It may also affect how well you breathe. That’s why you have to take a lung function test called spirometry before you start taking the medication.

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