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
mycfplexusjourney 