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.
mycfplexusjourney 