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It seems like every time I meet a new diabetic, there is the normal discussion of management. The management of blood sugars, tricky situations, and the unexpected. We always hit the high points: A1c, what foods make things worse, number of lows/highs, and the rest of the "normal" diabetes lingo.

So every time I meet a new diabetic I'm usually thrown into the low blood sugar toss-up. As I talk about my diabetes, it is inevitable that I discuss lows. Because ever since I can remember, I've been prone to low blood sugars. And nearly every time, I get the normal response of "Your A1c must be great!" or "Oh, how lucky!"

But I'm here to say that my A1c is not great. I'm not lucky. I still have to manage this disease just like those of you who are prone to highs. I get all the lovely complications and consequences of diabetes. Lows do not make managing diabetes any easier; they only throw a terrible fear into the mix.

Because of my lows, I've had two seizures. I've blacked out in grocery stores, at recess in elementary school, and in the middle of restaurants. I've had terrifying moments where I wasn't sure that I'd make it. Lows are not easy.

Just a few weeks ago, I was having a horrible day full of lows. I couldn't bring my blood sugar up, and I was at work. As I was working on the project of the week (cutting cardboard with an X-acto knife), I realized that my blood sugar was dropping again. As I tried to put the safety on the X-acto blade, my hands were slipping. I was consciously talking myself through the steps, yet it wasn't working.

Then my boss came in to have a solid heart to heart. As she started discussing the upcoming workshop, my brain shut off. I was still messing with the blade, and I saw the look on her face. It was judgment...like "What is wrong with this girl that she can't figure out an X-acto blade?" I quickly explained that I was low and set the knife down. Not knowing what that all meant, she asked if I needed to go home...with judgment in her voice.

I'm not trying to speak ill of my boss. She's a perfectly fine boss, but she doesn't understand lows and diabetes. And I've yet to catch her since that terrible low to explain. The lows make my life complicated. They cost me valuable moments at work. They create discrimination in people's minds and worse...their voices.

Most of the time, I don't even feel the low coming on. Over the weekend, I woke up at 47 and felt fine. It's scary to realize that sixteen years of this disease and thousands of lows means that I risk my life every time my blood sugar drops. Hypo unawareness is a terrible thing; it's real, it's scary, and it's unnerving.

Lows are never convenient. They require planning and preparation. They strike in the middle of shopping sprees. I've gotten low in the middle of exams and on very important dates. I've even been low for job interviews. They make me late. They stop my ability to drive any time I want. Bottom line, lows interfere with my entire life.

Lows also mean more calories. It means taking calories from a normal meal so that I can drink ounces of juice or soda, or increasing my daily caloric intake overall. And gaining weight. Lows are probably the number one reason that diabetes makes it harder for me to lose weight.

On top of the lows, there are terrible swing highs. Most of the highs that I experience are because of the lows that I have. Even if I don't over treat, my body decides that it wants to swing high after lows. It means that my A1c is rocky...it's up and down. My A1c isn't easy to come by. Sure the lows make it less than if I was high all the time, but it also means that my control isn't so controlled.

There's nothing pleasant about lows. I'd much rather run high and get to correct with higher doses of insulin. Instead, I experience lows on a very regular basis for no apparent reason. There are rarely patterns to my lows...one day I need a lower basal and the next I'm running sky high the entire day. So I'm not lucky and my A1c isn't perfect because I frequently go low. My diabetes isn't any easier than yours just because my body likes numbers under 70. We are both in this struggle together.