Living Life with Less Stress: Adriana’s 10-Year Journey with Inhaled Insulin

For more than three decades, Adriana Wright has lived with type 1 diabetes. Like many women balancing motherhood, career, and community advocacy, she knows what it means to juggle life alongside diabetes management. Today, as a realtor, cyclist, fundraiser, and advocate, Adriana says inhaled insulin has given her something she didn’t know was possible: the ability to manage her diabetes without constant stress and overthinking.

Discovering Afrezza

Adriana first learned about Afrezza—an ultra-rapid-acting inhaled insulin—during a cycling fundraising ride for the American Diabetes Association in 2015. A friend who was using it offered her the chance to try it. “I was amazed,” Adriana recalls. “I thought, I have to get this.”

Access wasn’t easy at first. Adriana worked with her care team, navigated insurance hurdles, and even relied on samples to get started. But once she began using Afrezza alongside her long-acting insulin, Tresiba, she discovered a different way of living with diabetes.

How Inhaled Insulin Changed Her Routine

Before Afrezza, mealtime insulin meant planning 20–30 minutes ahead, timing injections carefully, and often worrying about insulin “hanging around” long after eating. Adriana explains:

“With Afrezza, it’s the opposite—you take it right when you start eating, or even after. It works so fast, it’s out of my system in about 45 minutes. I don’t have to worry about going low hours later.”

The flexibility has given her confidence not just at home, but also in social settings.

Her current regimen is simple: one nightly injection of long-acting insulin and Afrezza for meals and corrections.

“Since being on Afrezza, diabetes isn’t on my mind 24/7,” she says. “I still think about it, but I don’t stress the way I used to. I feel like I’m actually living life, not just managing diabetes.”

Overcoming Fears and Misconceptions

Adriana admits she was nervous at first. “Any new medication is scary,” she says. “I joked with my friend, I’m not taking that—I’ll grow a tail! But once I tried it, I was blown away.”

She encourages others to speak with their care team and explore whether inhaled insulin might be an option. “Not every medication works for every person. But people should know they have choices. For me, Afrezza has been life-changing.”

Why She Advocates

Today, Adriana shares her experience with anyone curious about alternatives to injections. She calls Afrezza her “whistle” and always carries a few cartridges in her purse. She loves that it’s discreet, portable, and fits easily into her active lifestyle.