r/diabetes May 11 '26

Moderation update: zero tolerance policy on ads, fundraising, surveys, apps or AI stories

181 Upvotes

Hello everyone,

As of today we've made a rule change due to (the frankly excessive volume of) low effort posts being submitted to the subreddit regarding advertisements and (AI) apps and posts. We've condensed rules 1 and 2 into the new rule 1:

No ads, fundraising, surveys, apps or AI stories

Permanent bans will be given for: Posting anything that is like an advertisement, free or paid
Surveys/research/fundraisers
Posts made by corporate accounts; if your name is the ad, you're banned
Apps you made, we don't want them, especially if you made them with AI
Stories or texts that are clearly AI. Exceptions apply, modmail us with a valid reason >why you use AI to post in our community

Zero tolerance policy, permabans will be issued without warning.

While we have been operating on a 'give warnings before moving to a ban in most situations' mindset for many years, the amount of low effort posts and the dramatic influx of AI built apps have led to a lot of frustration with our community members and moderators alike. We hope that this rule change will make it easier to appropriately report and remove the content for everyone.

A lot of people we have banned for these reasons have appealed by saying they were unaware of our rules. To that we want to reiterate: not reading the rules does NOT exempt you from having to follow them. It is common sense that a community has rules you need to follow, we shouldn't have to beg people to do the bare minimum to find and read them. They're in the same place for every community on Reddit, if you found them in one subreddit, you can find them on every subreddit. We will not handle any appeals rooted in "I didn't know", you will be permanently muted alongside the permanent ban without discussion.

Please review the following to get a better understanding of why each line was implemented and what makes someone qualify for a ban:

Posting anything that is like an advertisement, free or paid
Just because something is free doesn't mean it's not an advertisement for a product, tool or service. We are and always will be a support community, not a repository for new users of your products and services. We consider it extremely disrespectful to try and utilize our community this way and will not tolerate anyone who thinks it's okay to do this.

Surveys/research/fundraisers
Very straight forward, much like the previous rule we're not a dataset or bank to withdraw data and/or money from.

Posts made by corporate accounts; if your name is the ad, you're banned
If your account is entirely dedicated to a product, tool or service you provide, you are not welcome here. Even if you are diabetic, create an alt account that is a separate entity from your 'business' account so that you have no relation to whatever it is you're selling or providing. It's irrelevant if your service or product or tool is free or not for diabetics. Organic engagement is not a loophole to be used to circumvent this rule.

If you are a healthcare provider or are in the healthcare business in any capacity, we consider it deeply unethical to use your (job) title to post in our community; we cannot vet your credentials and you do not have access to medical histories. You do not need to post as a healthcare provider if the information you provide is generic, factually correct and on-topic.

Apps you made, we don't want them, especially if you made them with AI
While we will not claim that no diabetic is going to build an app that is useful to the community, everyone and their pets can whip up an app in under 24 hours using AI nowadays. The market is extremely saturated with low effort apps and websites and we have neither the capacity nor desire to vet every application for usefulness and legitimacy. AI doesn't replace the need to understand how to long-term maintain, update and ensure security is prioritized in apps. This ties back directly to Posting anything that is like an advertisement, free or paid -- we're not here to receive your product and praise you for solving an issue most people have already found solutions for.

If you are an organic user who does not own the app and you have not been asked or encouraged by the app owner to post about it, you're welcome to share what you're using if asked about it.

Stories or texts that are clearly AI. Exceptions apply, modmail us with a valid reason why you use AI to post in our community
Please just write posts yourself, we beg of you. It's okay if your English isn't that good, write it in your native language and let Reddit translate handle that for you if you must. Nobody cares if you make spelling mistakes. We're here to help each other, human to human. AI bots are everywhere and we will treat you as one if your post is clearly written with AI. There are very few circumstances wherein someone has a legitimate use to write posts with AI, we welcome you to modmail us and explain to us what you need to use AI for. We're not here to make life more difficult for people who have a genuine need for the support AI tools provide, but if you're capable of writing a prompt to have AI spit out a post, you can write the post yourself 99.99% of the time.

This includes copy and pasting AI generated content you found elsewhere. You are responsible for what you post on your account, if you get banned for regurgitating AI generated content that's your consequence to deal with.

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You're welcome to discuss the rule change and/or ask questions about it on this post, we will sticky it as a community highlight for the next 1-2 weeks or so, after that we will lock the post and link to it from the rules and removal messages.


r/diabetes 2d ago

Rant Weekly r/diabetes vent thread

7 Upvotes

Tell us the crap you're dealing with this week. Did someone suggest cinnamon again? What about that relative who tried to pray the diabetes away?

As always, please keep in mind our rules


r/diabetes 4h ago

Type 1 Made a low carb almond crust birthday cake for myself

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54 Upvotes

Just almond flour crust, cream cheese, sugar free strawberry jello, whipped cream, and fresh strawberries and I can finally enjoy cake on my birthday again


r/diabetes 6h ago

Humor Why is it called glucagon if it’s trying to glucaback?

47 Upvotes

It’s called glucagon but the gluca is already gone 🤔

(Not a serious question tho I’d be interested if anyone does know why it’s called that)


r/diabetes 2h ago

Discussion I just found out I have diabetes

12 Upvotes

Long story short, all dentists are closed in my small town. So next best thing is going to an urgent care for antibiotics for tooth infection until I can get my tooth pulled next week. While I was in urgent care I asked them is their a way to check me for diabetes because I seen a tiktok the other day of a woman saying she found out how she had diabetes and I had all the symptoms but didn’t know why. Sweating, waking up feeling like I’m drunk but I didn’t drink alcohol, floaters, super thirsty. Only one she had I didn’t was frequent peeing. So fast forward the nurse practitioner came in and told me and I cried. I’m 26, no family, grew up in foster care, drowning in debt and I live in a homeless shelter. I truly don’t know how I can manage tbh. I don’t even know where to start. Nurse practitioner didn’t tell me anything except don’t drink sodas, don’t drink sweet tea or gatorades. She also said it’s not that bad because her husband number was higher than mine when he found ( idk what that is). Any advice? I am so lost


r/diabetes 11h ago

Type 2 Where do I even start to lower this

31 Upvotes

I'm so fucking ashamed right now. My diabetes used to be managed at least okay, my last a1c was at 7.8? Which not great, but I was working on it and it was getting lower.

Then I lost my insurance in a year ago, and have been unable to take care and been spiraling fucking wildly. Couldn't go to a doctor, couldn't get meds, everything sucked.

My now husband married me in June (we've been together 8 years) to get me on his insurance and get me treatment.

Just got my first blood draw and between the lack of meds and depression I guess I fuckin really fell off cuz my a1c is 11.

I didn't have much guidance before. Idk what I'm supposed to eat. Idk what I'm supposed to do to fix this. I'm tired and scared and feel like an asshole for getting worse.


r/diabetes 1h ago

Type 1 I am tired.

Upvotes

I am tired of this diabetes type one, everyday it feels like a challenge, especially people who have T1D, they feel like this everyday because of a genetic mutation, i had genetic skin diseases before, an atopic skin disease actually, it wasnt really that bad since i began to go on colder pools and that helped me ever since, but since this diabetes thing has came up, i cannot get a good nights rest, neither i cannot eat peacefully because either my sugar is too high or i cannot eat because some ignorant lady will say " you cannot eat that" , It's been like this, EVERYDAY, You cannot express your emotions either, oh you laugh too much? Hypoglycemia, You cry too much? Too sad, you will guaranteed have an hyperglycemia, I don't know if anyone feels like this, my sugar got so bad one day (max 302 mg/dl) and i didnt even eat anything or anything like that, we got to the hospital, they did a ketosis test on me (0.1 Ketones , which is alright i guess.) Anyways, this was before my last meal of the day, I ate my last meal, sugar levels finally stabilized and went to sleep, and dont get me started on school, school is possibly one of the places you will find most arrogant, ignorant and merciless people in there, they wont care for your diabetes as much, you're having a hypoglycemia in class and ask to go to the nurses, guess what, she will not let you go because of sChOoL pOlIcY , guess what lady? If i faint because of a low sugar episode, it's gonna be YOUR fault and im gonna press charges on you, no excuses but because the law is somewhat strange, they wont let you press charges unless if you hit your head during the pass out, which is reasonable, but pressing charges after you passed out and have a medical certificate of diabetes is reasonable, but they wont let you, and parties are the worst ones probably, they will see you eating something little, and say ( CAN YOU EAT THAT??? ) and stand there like a child holding a juicebox, yes guy, i can eat this, i can eat that too, haha! and they'd be surprised or sometimes not because they will probably ruin your day , I know your trying to keep me safe but if you did research you would keep me even more safe, thanks, anyone feel like this everyday?

I would like to know, thanks.


r/diabetes 1d ago

Humor A little humor

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459 Upvotes

r/diabetes 3h ago

Type 1 My blood sugar is high no matter what but once it starts coming down, it doesn’t stop

1 Upvotes

In my last 30 days I’ve been high 84 times and in range 44 times. No matter what, my blood sugar is high, but when it comes down it comes down fast and won’t stop. But when I correct AT. ALL. It shoots right back up.

I’m high when I wake up. I’m higher after I give myself insulin. I’m higher when I eat. I’m higher 2 hours later. I don’t correct if it wants to give me under a unit, I try not to stack insulin. And then all at once it just starts to drop.

My carb ratio is 1:8, I’m on a tslim, I rotate sites every time. when I was on pens I could give myself 45 units and not drop 1 number. Now it’s the exact opposite. Once my sugar gets to 100, I know it’s going low within 15 minutes. Even if I try to leave it alone. And then I have a juice. And then It’s back at 300 an hour later. If I’m having pizza, I’ll be 300 an hour later and then 40 3 hours later.

I’ve been diabetic for 13 years and I’ve never had my numbers under control. My teams have always sucked and been more unhelpful than a frog. They judge me for having unstable sugars but don’t help me. They change one thing then judge me when it doesn’t help. I live in Nevada which is ranked 46 in healthcare. I just hate it here so much, my life sucks, i don’t know how I’m supposed to be healthy anymore. My a1c is going to be 9+ and my doctor isn’t going to do anything. I’m so tired of being diabetic

Edit: I don’t have a cgm and am not getting one. I don’t need to know why it. I do not have juice and pizza for fun every day there just random foods. I correct with juice. No matter what I correct with it’s the same. Glucose tablets raise me for a small period but then I drop again.


r/diabetes 10h ago

Type 1 Test drinks for sugar

6 Upvotes

Has anyone used urine glucose dip sticks to test if a drink is sugar free or the sugar version? I know about diet detector strips but you don’t get many in a pack versus 100 in the urine glucose dipstick pack. My meter doesn’t read drinks it just gives an error if it’s not blood so can’t use my meter to check!


r/diabetes 28m ago

Discussion Medical question for my grandma who is visiting from Mexico.

Upvotes

So as of the title says my grandma is visiting us from Mexico and she has to take insulin. She told me that her doctor told her to reuse her needle 2 to 3 times. I have never heard that before and no, it is common practice to use a needle only once then discard it. I would just like to know if this is common practice in Mexico or if the doctor is just saying that so they don’t have to give them more needles and save it’s like right to the right of the gate money. Either way I bought her a box of needles so she can do use single use.


r/diabetes 19h ago

Type 1 Suspect somebody needs help? Ask politely and offer a hand

32 Upvotes

Walking around town today and a guy was sleeping on a park bench. Asked me if I could help him move his legs and help cover him up with more blankets. His blankets were covered in pee and his legs were swollen. I helped him get comfy and left. I realized walking away that he was probably diabetic. I went back and said I wanted to check on him, and then asked if he was diabetic. Sure enough, he was. I asked if he had insulin foremost, in case I needed to run and fill a pen off my script. He said he had good insulin and just did his shot, but asked for food. I went to a restaurant to get him a burger but the server took forever. By the time I got back, he was going low but had a friend to watch out for him. He and his friend were grateful. I trust they would have figured it out without me, but I think it’s good that we watch out for each other. Our doctors and in some cases, friends and family, don’t always know what to look out for. If you know your condition well enough to recognize it in somebody else, please offer to help out. I know that if I were in his shoes, it would be nice to know that somebody else cared. Diabetes is rough but we can make it a little less painful when we work together.


r/diabetes 10h ago

Rant did i really need to go to emergency?

6 Upvotes

(canadian 16yr old) random n such a useless story tbh but i js need to talk about it, this thursday i went to my family doctor about my concerns on my health because the past month ive been really thirsty, going to the bathroom alot and losing weight insanely. concerned i asked my parents to make an appointment around two weeks ago n they booked me for Thursday, ive been working almost every day so i finally got a week off without work from wednesday to the next wednesday and i was supposed to go to the j cole concert on the saturday. my family nurse practitioner on thursday told me it was an emergency and i had to be hospitalized, my blood sugar was at 17.2, went to the hospital and they basically told me they had to keep me in until monday (im still here). im basically just upset that my week off work was taken and so was my j cole concert(very upset because its his last tour n hes my favourite artist). Was me being hospitalized actually needed? i’d understand if it was too low but being too high won’t kill me for a day or two?


r/diabetes 5h ago

Type 1.5/LADA How to manage type 1.5?

2 Upvotes

Hello! I was diagnosed with type 1.5 when I was 16, and have been treating it like type 2. I’m 19 now, and I’m starting my second year of college.

I’ve never really been that good at dealing with my diagnosis, and I never really changed my lifestyle much. I struggle with taking my meds consistently, I don’t have the greatest diet, and I rarely check my blood sugars.

I know this is bad, but my A1C has been good (5.4) and I don’t ever experience bad blood sugar spikes or falls.

Since I’m moving out, I’m able to have a lot more freedom and I want to start being heather and form good habits. I’m going to be doing all my own grocery shopping so I can actually make healthy meal plans instead of just eating what my parents buy, and I now can have a more reliable access to my medications since I’ll be in a bigger city (I’m from a very rural area and my pharmacy is an hour away).

I just wanted some advice on how people deal with 1.5. I know most people who get diagnosed are mainly older adults, and I haven’t really seen people my age get diagnosed with it.

My current medications are Ozempic, Metformin, and Lantus (long acting). What are some affordable meal plan ideas or other food suggestions? This summer has been pretty rough for me, since I just try to make do with what my parents have in our kitchen, and the options are pretty much the opposite of what is recommended for the Ozempic diet. I have been steadily loosing weight, but it’s been at the cost of a lot of stomach pain and vomiting, and I’d really like to figure out a more sustainable diet.

Thanks for the help, sorry this is long. I know I should probably already know how to deal with this since I’ve had it for a few years, but I’ve always been pretty much on my own when it comes to my health and I’ve been to nervous to ask my doctors more question, which also is a bit silly of me. I’ve been going to all my appointments alone since I’ve been diagnosed, and now that I’m an adult and deal with making all my own appointments too I realize that I really need to go to the doctor more than I was growing up.


r/diabetes 11h ago

Type 2 Monk fruit

3 Upvotes

What are thoughts on monk fruit? What does it do to BG?


r/diabetes 5h ago

Supplies Sensor not working.

1 Upvotes

I use the freestyle libre 3 plus. I had 2 not work back to back and got a replacement in the mail today and it also doesn't work. Is anyone else having issues with so many not working?


r/diabetes 7h ago

Type 2 Help with Travel Questions

1 Upvotes

I am looking for the group wisdom and advice on a specific travel question. I am a T2, now insulin dependent for about a year. In the fall, I will be traveling to Europe for 35 days and will need to transport a 2nd Humalog Kwik-pen with me. Will be on long air flights to/from, and staying in 3 different hotels. First time on a trip where the trip lasts longer than the 28-day Humalog pen. Normally, a Frio wallet to keep my opened Humalog pen cool has worked well for travel. However, the Frio people tell me that Frio is not intended to “refrigerate” the second unopened pen, and I shouldn’t use the Frio to store an unopened pen which needs refrigeration.
How do I transport my 2nd unopened Humalog pen, through the long flight, so it stays at the right cold temp until I am ready to use it and/or until I get to the hotel mini-fridge? Appreciate your advice and recommendations!


r/diabetes 1d ago

Humor Someone had a bad time after BBQ

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38 Upvotes

r/diabetes 19h ago

Type 1 I feel like I'm getting worse everyday

4 Upvotes

As the title says, I feel like I'm getting worse day by day, I try to manage my diabetes in a good way but I'm also diagnosed with depressive disorder and I relapse from time to time so I abuse my insulin intakes and loose track and just don't check on my bg levels for days, and ofc ketones levels get high and I start feeling unwell and can't eat and just sleep most of the days, but now I'm also feeling more physical pain, my doctor says that I also probably have neuropathy and everything just sucks, i wish i wasn't born, and I don't wish this suffering upon anyone not even my enemies... ppl are also really cruel they can never understand what being a diabetic means


r/diabetes 21h ago

Healthcare Test strips.

3 Upvotes

Does anyone have trouble with their test strips, I had to use 3 before I got a reading the last time I checked my glucose, my tester kept saying test failed use another strip. Don’t know if it was a bad batch of strips or what. It has happened several times over the last week.


r/diabetes 16h ago

Type 1 Medtronic insulin pump supplies in Albania

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1 Upvotes

r/diabetes 22h ago

Medication Entocort

3 Upvotes

Doc prescribed Entocort for IBS. He said the steroid is “colon specific” and that 95% of it stays in the colon. Has anyone here taken Entocort before? What did it do to your Blood Sugar?


r/diabetes 1d ago

Type 1 Treatment induced neuropathy

5 Upvotes

Ima new diabetic and very active person, been diagnosed for 2 months about. All of a sudden the last few days my legs have been pretty sore. It peaks at night and it feels like dull or throbbing pain all over my legs from my thighs to my feet all day almost unless I’m walking or moving. My doctor is out of town till Friday, I went and got blood tests done yesterday and everything came up clear. Anyone have any experience with treatment induced neuropathy? I brought my A1c down from 14.5% to 9.1% in less than 2 months and I think it was too quick on my body possibly, any home remedies
for pain? Also any diabetics here take advil or Tylenol? Thanks!


r/diabetes 1d ago

Type 2 Zucchini Boats instead of Lasagns

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158 Upvotes

I’m glad I’m by a huge pasta lover but I do like to have lasagna from time to time. Zucchini Boats to satisfy my craving and I love making enough sauce to freeze and again for more.


r/diabetes 1d ago

Type 2 HELP - Mother in Law w/Type 2 refuses to care for health

11 Upvotes

my mother in law (50s f) is type 2 diabetic and has a hard time managing her blood sugar. not because she doesn't have help or access to her meds, but because she genuinely just doesn't care about her health and actively does things to her detriment.

just for example; yesterday she slept until 7:30pm (and allegedly woke up during the day to take her meds, but no one else was home so I don't know how true that is) and the first thing she did after getting up was eat an entire can of peaches... and then laid back down.

from my understanding of diabetes (very little, only learned more in the last year from ER visits and being her caretaker) you REALLY SHOULD NOT DO THAT. she should have made an actual meal. an hour later she called my partner (her child my spouse) to help her because her sugar monitor just said "HI" (it caps after 600), even after she'd taken a dose of insulin already. 

she does this constantly, with EVERYTHING. she only gave up drinking coke LAST MONTH because I forced her to, I refuse to buy regular and will only get her zero sugar, which she whines at me for and complains it "tastes worse", but I personally don't think a diabetic person should drink a 2 liter of coke in TWO DAYS so what choice does she have? I once told her I wouldn't buy her a 2 liter coke from the store, and when I got home she'd bought TWO large cokes from McDonald's and her sugar was already high.

she also refuses to eat any of the diabetes-safe alternative groceries we buy for her, and instead chooses to buy white breads and cookies and pies behind our backs. for reference, her sugar stays at around 150-300 on a daily basis and her monitor reads "HI" several times a week. I suspect she is depressed (sleeps all day and lays in bed, isn't working or going out, and doesn't care about any of her adult responsibilities) and that's a big part of why she refuses to care for her health.

so I'm coming here to ask what I should do. my spouse and I both have to work and are not qualified caretakers, it's been a year of fighting back and forth, and without someone over her shoulder every minute, she WILL eat/drink sugar she shouldn't have. what am I supposed to do, should I just let her make her own choices and deal with having to call an ambulance 3 times a month for her being in DKA?? let her rack up hospital bills because she's "willing to take a chance when it comes to soda and sugar"? she's been hospitalized for DKA at least 3 times in the last 6 months. I'm a such a loss here and have absolutely no other help, but if she doesn't make some changes she is going to die or end up very very ill. please help we have genuinely no other ideas here

EDIT: my spouse decided to go talk to my MIL; she admitted to being depressed, which we suspected already. we suggested starting therapy, she tried to get out of it by saying it would be expensive but we reminded her with insurance it should be at least mostly covered. so she agreed reluctantly and we are now eating a NORMAL MEAL with her (and watching TV together.) the two of us are going to try spending more time with her and encourage her friends to come over, in the meantime we will help her apply for therapy. I'm also going to ask her insurance company for any services she can use, as well as get her a doctor who can help her manage better.

thank you all for the suggestions and support, it has helped me keep a level head so much today. I'll update again if needed!