May Day! May Day! Sugar High

I was slow to re-order my Plexus Slim and left a several day gap without any.  The scientist in me was eager to see how my sugars would react….

We took my husband’s high schoolers on a camping retreat.  At 29 weeks pregnant, I was only expected to come and corral our two children and had very few “duties.”  Usually I like to be in the kitchen for events like this but that was assigned to other parents.  The breakfast menu was (sugar) cereal, whole milk, and bananas. This is a bit different than my normal “green” protein smoothie and eggs, but I’m a sucker for cereal and I was camping-hungry (you know what I mean), so I had two bowls of cereal (one honey nut cheerios and one cinnamon toast crunch).  It was glorious.

KEEP IN MIND THIS IS WITHOUT PLEXUS SLIM IN MY SYSTEM- IT HAD BEEN THREE DAYS SINCE LAST DOSE.  An hour later on our hike I felt funny.  Took my blood sugar:  225.  Then another hour later (the classic “2 hours post” reading):  335.  335!?!?!?!  The last time I saw a number over 300 was during my glucose tolerance test.  This is enough to send pre-diabetic into a fit of worry.  I looked at Adam and said “Experiment over, I’m starting back on Plexus tomorrow.”

So there you have it – evidence during my “on” month and evidence during my 3-day gap.  I think I’ll just stick with it now.

Month in review

I wanted to jot down some of the objective and subjective things I’ve noticed during my first month on Plexus Slim.  First for the cold hard facts:

OBJECTIVE OBSERVATIONS:

30-day average glucose before Plexus: 121
90-day average glucose before Plexus: 117

Caveat- these are pretty good averages…. but they were achieved through strict diet control.  As I mentioned a few times in my previous posts, I took a few “chances” on Plexus Slim to see how my sugars would respond.

30-day average glucose after Plexus: 109
90-day average glucose after Plexus: 111

Also, my fasting glucose was never above 100 with Plexus slim.  Before Slim I would bounce around under and over 100.  Doctors consider you pre-diabetic when you’re in the range of 100-125.  There were many times I would be in this range before Plexus but never after. Also, I noted some of the post-meal glucoses I recorded with foods that typically sent me well into a “high blood sugar” range.  With Plexus those numbers weren’t nearly as inflated and were often within normal bounds.

SUBJECTIVE OBSERVATIONS:

I feel like Plexus Slim gives me the ability to choose my foods more wisely.  I am a night-time snacker, and not typically on carrot sticks or the like.  I prefer carbs, and especially things like cereal or ice cream.  I would typically deny myself these things but substitute snack on other things and end up in a similar (high blood sugar) boat.  I would often finish a meal and start thinking about what I was going to snack on.

With Plexus, I have seen that I often get in bed and think “wow – I haven’t snacked since dinner” OR if I do get hungry I’m able to make a conscious, wise food choice.  I’m excited to have Plexus Slim as part of my health plan!  Please message me or email me if you want to learn more!

Plexus Slim: A closer look

I feel like I haven’t spent enough time telling you about the actual product…. so here are some details on Plexus slim:

Plexus is a supplement drink mix that was originally developed to regulate and improve blood sugars readings.  Plexus works on 3 different aspects of blood sugar control:

1.  It uses all-natural, low-glycemic sweeteners to maintain balanced blood sugar levels

2.  It uses alpha lipoic acid, a natural antioxidant, that helps metabolize glucose

3.  It uses a proprietary blend of ingredients including magnesium, chromium, and stevia to increase insulin sensitivity, helping to make glucose available to the cells.

Imbalances in blood sugar can have negative impacts on your body — for those with trouble losing weight, blood sugar highs and lows affect the hormones that tell you you’ve eaten enough.  For me and other people with diabetes or pre-diabetes, the roller coaster of blood sugar readings can have negative impacts on other parts of the body.  I started on plexus slim not to lose weight but to get my blood sugar back into normal bounds.  As I have seen this happen, I have also found that I’m less prone to want the unhealthy, refined sugars I did before.  It has been a positive feedback process, as improving my blood sugar regulation keeps my hormones in check and allows me to make wiser food choices for my blood sugar and for Cystic Fibrosis.

If you want to give it a whirl, check out my website at:

http://cysticfibrosis.myplexusproducts.com 

Or please email me with questions at:

duboismiller@gmail.com

Having my cake… and eating it too!

I’m two weeks in to this plexus journey and am eager to share the results.  I’m still working through the numbers and averages, but had to post this update in the meantime.

We had a dinner party for Adam’s work tonight.  The food was delicious — lots of fajitas and tortillas and bacon-wrapped jalepeno deliciousness.  There were also some killer desserts.  Now I would usually use all of my will-power to avoid these.  It would either leave me feeling deprived OR I would indulge and find later that my blood sugar was over 200.  This would result in feelings of disappointment and discouragement.  Well, tonight I made the conscious decision to have some (or maybe 1.5 servings ) of this beautiful chocolate cake with berries and whipped cream.  I mean, I didn’t want to be a rude guest.

When we got home I prepared for the test.  Pricked my finger, and saw this:

WHAT?!  For non-diabetics, under 140 2 hours post meal is considered “normal.”  A 1.5 piece-of-cake-splurge would have sent me over 200 easily.  I was so excited at this result — not because it gives me a green light to make this a pattern — but because it indicates my body is processing sugars in a more reasonable way.  VICTORY!  Full and happy tonight.

PRE-Plexus Slim Blood sugar baseline

I wanted to take a moment to paint a picture of my blood sugar baseline Pre-Plexus Slim.  (why do I cringe every time I type “slim”?  I think it’s from years of hearing about how underweight most Cystic Fibrosis patients are and the need to bulk-up, put on weight, maintain a good BMI, etc.  Maybe I should call it PS?! Anyway, I digress)

Ever since my elevated A1C (reminder if this isn’t your everyday jargon- this is a blood level that reflects the average blood sugar value over the preceding 3 months.  When it’s elevated it’s sign of diabetes or pre-diabetes), I have been checking my sugars several times throughout a day.  Most docs are interested in your “fasting” numbers and your “post” numbers — fasting being before anything has touched your lips in the morning and post being 2 hours after eating (when you should be back to a “normal” (<140) level.  Pre diabetes is classified as fasting over 100 and post meals over 140.  When I pricked my finger the morning after my elevated A1C phone call I was at 135 (ugh) and very discouraged.  I was afraid I was doomed for immediate insulin dependency.  However, after several months of working on how I was eating carbs, cutting out simple sugars, etc I was able to get my fasting <110.  With CF diabetes, a lot of times your body is producing the right amount of insulin based on your food intake, but it is delayed.  So if I eat a meal that would require 10 units of insulin (theoretically), my body would prepare 10 units but hold onto it too long.  So by the time the insulin shows up on the scene, my body has already started “dumping” the sugars on its own. So what originally needed 10 units maybe only needs 5 now, and then I have too much and the result is a “low”.  For me this usually happens late morning with a number of around 60 or less.

As for my “highs”, those usually occur late in the day.  Many times my reading post dinner would be between 160-200 (maybe over if I splurge on something carb-y).  The day before my first plexus slim dose, and probably the straw the broke the camel’s back, I had a bowl of honey nut cheerios for dinner – my husband was installing can lights so our kitchen was a disaster, I was hungry, and I’m pregnant – so I ate a bowl and checked my sugar later:  214.  Yikes.  This is considered high and not a number I was happy to see.

So, in a nutshell, here’s me PRE plexus slim:

Fasting: Usually 95-110
Mid-morning low: 50s or 60s
Post meals: anywhere from 125-200, usually higher after dinner and more in the 125-150 range after lunch
Post evening splurge*: 180-220

*For me a splurge is a bowl of cereal (my achilles heel), a big serving of popcorn, something sweet-ish that is carby

What’s this all about…

Cliff notes:  I have Cystic Fibrosis and am trying out the Plexus line of products that I believe might benefit me.  I will be documenting my experience with Plexus slim (don’t be fooled by the name — I’m not on this to lose weight.  Plexus slim has been shown to regulate blood sugar highs and lows) as well as the ProBio5 probiotic.  I’ll give you a little bit on my history then I will document my findings!  If you’re interested in learning more or ordering from me (yes! I signed up to sell….I figured I might as well be ready to sell it if it works, right?!) then visit my site:

http://cysticfibrosis.myplexusproducts.com

Okay, now a bit more about me and CF…

I’m an almost-32-year-old with Cystic Fibrosis, more commonly known as “Adam’s wife” or “Max and Bo’s mom.”  For those unfamiliar with the disease, Cystic Fibrosis (or CF for typing efficiency) is a genetic lung disease.  I was diagnosed at birth and was able to ignore it for most of my younger years.  More recently, chronic lung infections and digestive issues have become a bigger issue.  In addition, I have started down the path of developing CF-diabetes.  Doctors say that everyone with CF will someday develop diabetes as our pancreas’ surrender to our faulty genes.  So I guess my elevated A1C was a badge of honor for surviving CF this long?!? (glass half full right?)

Cystic Fibrosis is progressive — for a motivated perfectionist like myself, it can be discouraging when your best efforts still result in a slow decline.  Nonetheless, I pull up my bootstraps everyday (more accurately, God pulls up my bootstraps) and I do my treatments.  My medical regimen includes:

• Breathing treatments — 3 different rounds each day including albuterol, antibiotics, mucus-thinners, and meds to promote airway clearance
• Vest treatments — strapping on a life-jacket looking vest that shakes my chest to loosen mucus.  (consequently this also shakes my voice, making it a crowd pleaser among the 4 and 6 year olds in my house.
• Acapella device — this has nothing to do with singing and everything to do with violent coughing.  I blow into a device that causes my mucus to move up and out.
• Enzymes! — my pancreas doesn’t secrete an adequate amount of enzymes to breakdown fats and proteins so some very generous pigs share theirs.  I take these (swine) enzymes with every meal or snack containing fat or protein (aka every snack worth eating).
• IVs — These are the big guns brought in once or twice a year to knock out the chronic lung infections I have and help me hit the “reset” button.  I’m usually on IVs for 3 weeks.

During one of my recent clinic visits, my doctor informed me my A1C was high (this is a number than reveals your average blood sugar level over the past 3 months).  Mine wasn’t crazy high but enough that they muttered words like “Cystic Fibrosis Diabetes” and “endocrinologist.”  My sister (also with CF) developed CF diabetes in college so I’m familiar with the diabetes world.  I wanted to do my best to control my sugar issues with my diet.  I tend toward a fairly “clean” diet, avoiding processed foods and simple sugars most of the time.  But with kiddos who were potty-training and needing some skittles or m&m’s for encouragement, I would often encourage myself with the same treats and I think that was adding up.

I began checking my blood sugars several times a day.  I have been doing this for the past 7 months or so and have noticed some trends in my levels.  My next post will detail these trends and be my “Baseline”.

Thanks for visiting and taking this journey with me!  I hope I have good news to report!  Stay tuned.

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