Hi Jen,
Good on you for watching your carb intake. Keeping refined / simple sugars to a minimum will certainly reduce the strain on your pancreas. Simple sugars have almost always a high glyceamic intake, which means that they are absorbed into your blood stream really quickly and cause a rapid rise in your blood sugar levels, therefore your pancreas has to work harder to produce enough insulin and quickly to cope with the demand.
Remember though that carbs are carbs, whether they come from simple sugars or wholergrain breads / pastas etc. Eventhough you are avoiding simple sugars, which is great <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0"> You still be eating foods with high carb loading, like breads, rice, pasta without realising the impact they still have on your blood sugars.
I suppose given that CF is progressive and the damage to the organs is progressive, I'm guessing that CFRD may not be able to be avoided BUT it can certainly be managed and better controlled than people with classic Type I and Type II diabetes. Like you said, most people with CFRD still produce insulin to varying degrees, just not enough, this means that CFers often require less insulin to manage their diabetes and are less prone to go into what's called ketoacidosis (which is very serious).
I've had CFRD since I was 19 and was commenced on insulin straight away more so because CFers need to have a high calorie intake. Carbs are very important sources of fuel for the body especially the brain, in fact, our brains only function on glucose, so if you're finding that you are restricting your carbs too much and still having higher than normal sugars, your doctor may recommend insulin in the future. It sounds really stressful, but once you get the hang of it, you have much more freedom with your food intake (I always have to watch my carb intake but I adjust my insulin accordingly), you put on weight easier, are less prone to infections (because your sugars are stable), the list goes on.
As for Candida in the lungs. People normally carry Candida in their mouths (and ladies in their vagina) as part of the normal flora, it's only when the fungus has an opportunity to grow out of control do the symptoms of thrush appear. I have noticed that some members on this site have cultured Candida in their sputum, I'm not sure how they responded to treatment and if they cultured it all the time, so I guess it is possible for the Candida to spread to the lungs. I'd imagine it would be treatable with anti-fungals.
Lastly, have you been on prednisone lately? Steroids suppress the immune system and allow for opportunistic infections like thrush to occur.
Sorry about the long post.... I got carried away!
