The Highs and Lows of College Life

A day in the life

Pros and Cons of bringing your average blood sugar down:

Pros:

• lower A1C
• more energy
• higher metabolism
• healthier
• better circulation
• basically everything
• 
  

Cons: feel like death the moment you hit 300

All of the doctors and all of the science regarding diabetes management tells us that a lower average blood glucose is good. People who live with the disease concur with science, thank god. However living with the disease is far more difficult than the doctors make it seem. Whenever something, even the most minuscule of things, changes in your life you’re hit with a surge of worry regarding the affect it might have on your blood sugar. Maybe not everyone with diabetes can attest to this feeling, but I definitely can.

Going back to school for spring semester, for example. I’ve been back for less than a week and my blood sugars have already seen dramatic changes. I've had more lows than I had my entire christmas break and I'm feeling more energized with the lower blood sugar average which is fantastic.  This evening however I had a high blood sugar- not dangerous but not much higher than was normal during my winter break full of cookies- and felt lethargic, dehydrated, and nauseous to the point where I had to lie down in bed for an hour and focus on my breathing to keep from throwing up.  To make matters worse I was just coming back from grilling up some delicious-smelling chicken in the community kitchen and all of the smells that followed me into the room were giving me a migraine.  It was horrendous.  

There’s nothing worse than dealing with a bad high blood sugar, and there’s nothing worse than having no one at school to vent to about it. Sure you could complain about feeling like utter crap but your non-diabetic friends are not going to understand why, or really feel for you, like someone who’s been in the exact same situation would.  It’s really tough living with diabetes in college sometimes because it is an invisible disease and I feel bad complaining about it. I feel like a broken record when I go to my friends and pull out the “diabetes card” in conversation, but the unfortunate truth is the majority of my problems revolve around the disease. I’ve had diabetes for over a decade now and I have yet to perfect my treatment. It’s mobile and ever-present and often unpredictable, leaving you feeling lackluster whether you’re suffering from a high blood sugar or a low.  There are not-so-pretty days dealing with diabetes and today was one of them for me.  Thanks for reading my rant.

Best,

Heather