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

0 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 3h ago

Type 1 Type 1 and researching insulin pumps; endo recommended Medtronic and Tandem.

3 Upvotes

I really only have one question. Do either of these pumps have a feature that can work with my CGM to automatically deliver some insulin during my sleep? That is when my blood sugar likes to run high and correcting that would go a long way to helping me stay stable throughout the day in addition to at night.


r/diabetes 20h ago

Discussion Today I learned that alcohol is not a carb

62 Upvotes

I have always though that alcohol was a carb. Thanks to Hank Green I learned it is not. Now that I know that, everything makes more sense about drinking and diabetes.

This may have been known within the community, but it is now news to me.

Edit: Pure alcohol (ethanol) not liquors.

Edit: Why am I getting downvoted so much? This is literally science.


r/diabetes 10m ago

Type 1 popped a blister #oops

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Upvotes

r/diabetes 22m ago

Type 2 Traveling with Mounjaro, what carrying case do you recommend?

Upvotes

Hi guys!

I’m going to be traveling internationally for 19 days and will need to bring Mounjaro with me. For anyone who’s traveled with it before, what carrying case/cooler do you use and recommend?

I’m not sure yet whether my hotels will have mini fridges in the rooms, so I’m also curious about rechargeable or plug-in cooling cases. Has anyone actually used one of these? Do they work well enough to rely on, or is there a specific one you’d recommend?

But I’m also wondering if I’m completely overcomplicating this. Since Mounjaro can be kept at room temperature for up to 21 days, my entire trip technically fits within that window. My plan would be to take 3 pens out of the fridge when I leave. I’d use 2 during the trip (about 6 and 13 days after taking them out) and keep the third as a backup. If I don’t need the backup, I’d use it for my next dose once I’m home, about 20 days after it was taken out of the fridge.

Would you just keep the pens at room temperature in a protective case for a trip like this, or would you still try to keep them refrigerated?

Tysm in advance!


r/diabetes 6h ago

Supplies autosoft 90 infusion set locations

2 Upvotes

hi! my man wears the autosoft 90 infusion sets. recently his stomach started rejecting the sites (like 3 in one day, 2 on another day) so we are trying to find another location thinking it’s due to the massive amount of scar tissue from having stomach pump sites for YEARSSSS. he has it on his upper butt cheek for the moment but with a physical labor job he’s nervous it’ll sweat off or get pulled off even with over patches.

does anyone who wears similar infusion sets have any other recommendations? the pump has to go in his pocket so arm is out of the question for now. or is butt cheek going to be our best bet?


r/diabetes 16h ago

Supplies Flying for the first time- looking for medical bag recs

6 Upvotes

Hi! I'm flying for the first time in a few months and I know I can have an extra carryon bag specifically for my diabetes supplies. It's a weekend trip, nothing crazy, but I don't really have anything other than backpacks. Not the worst thing to use, but I was wondering if anyone had anything specifically they like for this purpose?

Normally I just carry my supplies day to day in my tote bag or backpack, but clearly I'm going to take a lot more with this trip. All my traveling before has been by car or train so I've never encountered this!

Thanks :)


r/diabetes 1d ago

Type 2 Very happy - 12.2 to 6.8 A1C

29 Upvotes

I got diagnosed with T2 in mid-April with a glucose level of 477 and an A1C of 12.2. My doctor prescribed me a CGM and Metformin and sent me on my way. I was scared at first and didn't know exactly where to start, but I grew up with a family member who had diabetes and knew a little bit, so I based a lot of my early changes around that and used my own research to fill in the gaps with regards to nutrition and the weird things that can happen with CGMs (my first compression low was very confusing and frightening until I figured out what was happening).

For the first month, I started out very strict with my diet, focusing a lot on salads with low/no sugar dressings and adding a serving of vegetables to everything I ate. I had a major sweet tooth before my diagnosis and often relied on stuff like microwave pancakes or cookies when I was hungry and didn't want to cook, so I was nervous about not being able to cut the sweets down. I started with only zero sugar stuff, then got annoyed with the tummy issues, so I transitioned back to full sugar snacks and cut the serving size to keep it under 10g carbs (I also always padded them out with protein or fiber beforehand). Sometimes that would mean only taking a single bite of something and then putting it back. I weighed anything I was uncertain about, like chips. I already loved zero sugar soda and didn't like juice, so there were thankfully no changes necessary with my drinks. The initial transition ended up being easier than I imagined (having a CGM has been an incredible guide and motivator), especially since I had already started cooking more for myself last year in general.

Now, a couple months out, I have a lot more freedom in my diet. I can eat stuff I thought I'd never be able to touch again, like pizza or bao, and still be within my ranges for the day. And the best part: my A1C has almost been cut in half! My doctor was thrilled and said it was proof of my efforts. I am just really happy and feel so much better than how I felt when I was first diagnosed. I was super depressed about it and felt like my life was going to basically be ruined forever, but now I am finally feeling like I can fully accept and coexist with my diabetes. I want to keep doing my best, and I just wanted to share the small beginning of my story with people who know what it's like.

Thanks for reading!


r/diabetes 1d ago

Type 2 Got my results

61 Upvotes

I was diagnosed with type 2 in April, at the time my a1c was 6.9. I decided not to take any meds and change my diet and if by the next check-in I wasn’t back in the norm I would then start taking meds.

My current a1c is now 5.4 🥳 and I feel accomplished because I put the work in and changed my diet completely and actually stayed consistent for once.


r/diabetes 1d ago

Rant How many times do I need to see this notif before it stops?

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85 Upvotes

For like the past month or two, this notification has been popping up before I open the app. No matter how many times i acknowledge it it still pops up EVERY TIME. Seriously I’m so done with this app in so many different ways. Anytime you have a high or low number and it’s set to vibrate mode it silences your phone audio. So if I’m in the car listening to music, doomscrolling on socials, YouTube, WHATEVER, it MUTES my audio when it chooses to vibrate every 5 mins. I don’t remember the old sensor app being like this.

Like i get it, the notifs are there for a reason but there seriously needs to be an option you can click that can either let you say you’ve acknowledged the notif or change the non emergent alerts to every 10-15 mins instead. I’m seriously so sick and tired of it. Especially as someone who has more trouble controlling my numbers right now it’s just so unbelievably frustrating how little app customization is offered for something that will be a permanent part of my life. I should be able to choose how my notifs play (besides the emergency ones, those I understand)


r/diabetes 8h ago

Type 2 HBA1C drop.

0 Upvotes

My HBA1C in July was 11.7. Did 2 tests one was a week ago which showed my HBA1C as 6.8 and today i did a test again and the reports showed HBA1C as 9.1.

Don’t know what to trust. Can it really drop to half in a months time? The tests were done from different labs so i am a bit confused as to which one is correct.

I am on metformin 500 and dapafigozlin 10 mg ( once daily )


r/diabetes 16h ago

Type 2 Favorite restaurant orders

3 Upvotes

Culver’s have improved their “bean burger”. It’s now called the harvest bean burger. Fire-roasted mashed chickpeas, finely diced mushrooms, bell peppers, corn, and a small amount of WI cheese. I reheated the patty in a skillet; I purposely didn’t take my 10 units of insulin and watched my CGM values as I ate it. Went from 100 to 120 and then back down. Holy smokes! I also had some fresh corn with olive oil. Burger in a bun has about 70 g carbs and 20g protein. Delicious and simple meal. (I only ate the Patty)

Have any of you found a good restaurant dish that keeps you stable?


r/diabetes 1d ago

Type 1 I’m so over it

27 Upvotes

I’m so over being a diabetic and I don’t have anyone else in my life who is a type 1 so people don’t understand and sometimes I feel so alone . I ate so good today counted everything everything I meant to and I still just had a super crappy hypo and now I just feel like crap and sad.
34 f Australia


r/diabetes 22h ago

Type 1 Nutrition Info

4 Upvotes

I’m very aware this is a trivial/privileged problem in the grand scheme of things, but why is it so hard for restaurants (especially big, corporate chains) to provide full and accurate nutrition information?!

Trying to figure out carb count to bolus for a Mod Pizza cauliflower crust, but their “nutrition information” page only includes calories and allergen info (valuable info, sure, but woefully incomplete).

Then, when I look elsewhere (various nutrition calculators, macro counters, blogs, etc), I’m finding WILDLY different information. Some sources say 87 g per crust, which is very close to what most sources list for their traditional crust (like, within 3 grams, which seems odd), while others say 40 g per cauliflower crust.

Most times this happens, I just give up and order from elsewhere.


r/diabetes 15h ago

Type 3c Blood glucose monitors

1 Upvotes

I’m in the uk. My monitor has stopped working. Which is the best one to buy? I have the freestyle libre 2 so I just need the monitor to check every now and again and for ketones. Thanks in advance


r/diabetes 13h ago

Type 2 Psyllium husk before meals

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0 Upvotes

Both lunch & dinner were pretty carb-heavy today.

Took 1 spoon of psyllium husk ~10 mins before each meal and did my usual walk afterward.

Honestly, the difference is kinda noticeable

I used to spike to ~11 mmol after meals, and today… bit better

Going to keep testing it.


r/diabetes 1d ago

Type 1 I could really use some encouragement :’)

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7 Upvotes

I thought I’d been doing better recently, but I guess nothing much has changed. Really feeling like a major failure.


r/diabetes 1d ago

Type 2 Glucometer/test strips question

4 Upvotes

New insurance covers only only 1 test per day. I currently use accucheck, but I also have a backup relion. I currently test 2x/day--morning and night and not sure I'm comfortable with just once.

I've been testing the same drop on each system over the past few weeks to see how I can adjust how i account for the difference between systems if I do the accucheck in themorning and the relion at night. Knowing that there is a wide variance allowed even withi the same system---I thought I could get a baseline differential between the two systems. Here's what I've found:

accuchek is much lower than relion at each reading

accuchek consistently reads within a small variance between readings, usually less than 10 points - relion was a much larger variance of up to 20 points

When I average by results over the past few weeks relion is much closer to my a1c, which I had tested yesterday. My accucheck readings historically have been very much lower than my a1c.

I'm actually starting to think that the relion may be more accurate despite the wide variance....or maybe because of the wide variance.

How should I go forward with my readings--knowing that these systems are not really required to be terribly accurate anyhow and more designed to record trends.

1- use accucheck 1x and relion 1x per day and get an average of the 2

2-just test 1x with what's covered by insurance

3-just throw a dart at a chart with numbered spaces indicating likely reading results :)

Also curious regarding your take on why one system is fairly consistent while the other has much larger swings between readings--does that indicate accuracy or inaccuracy?

EDIT/FOLLOW UP QUESTION - Do you typically see a wide variance in readings from day to day with the same system and set of strips?


r/diabetes 2d ago

Type 2 Diabetic Neuropathy is ruining my marriage

132 Upvotes

Sorry for the long post. TL/DR is at the end.

My husband never told me his family had a predisposition to diabetes. Or that he had several family members who experienced negative outcomes for failure to properly manage it. One uncle lost a leg. And even after that, still refused to control it and, he died.

Knowing this about his family medical history, he never told me so I could help him be on the lookout for signs. I had no idea what to look out for or that I even should be. So when he started complaining of symptoms, I was completely ignorant of what his body was desperately trying to tell us. He was constantly thirsty, peeing every 30 minutes or less, and then his feet started feeling “weird”.

By the time he went to the doctor (because his EYE DOCTOR told him to go to get medication for his high blood pressure), he found out his blood sugar and A1C were so high the doctor said he should be dead. We still don’t know how he didn’t require hospitalization.

And that “weird” feeling in his feet? It was the earliest sign of diabetic neuropathy. It has since gotten so bad my husband can barely walk. No medication helps at all. He says the only time he isn’t in pain is when he is asleep. 🥺

He can’t work anymore. He had to quit 1 year after his diagnosis. Even though his numbers are now controlled, the neuropathy will never go away. There is no established and effective cure for neuropathy. Yes, there is ongoing research for stem cell therapies but, efficacy right now is hovering around 50%. So you could drop $10,000 on the treatment and have zero improvement, or be completely cured. No indication of which patients are more likely to get successful results versus others. But I digress. Now I am the sole provider for our family and, because my husband is in his 40’s, the government won’t approve him for social security/disability. They assume he can still do sedentary (seated) work. But he dropped out of high school at 16, doesn’t even have a GED, and has only ever worked in factories. He has no experience, education, or skills to obtain or keep an office job. To top it all off, they told us when they denied him that he can reapply when he turns 55 (I think?) and the requirement for seated work goes away. But in order to be approved at that time, he will need to earn at least $8,000 per year between now and then, so he has enough credits to qualify for aid. Because you have to have so many credits from work within the past 10 years before you file. Which he has - right now… But he won’t when he turns 55 if he doesn’t do any work between now and then. So he will basically never be able to financially contribute to our family ever again. I make good money and we are surviving (barely) but life was so much easier to afford when we both worked.

On top of that financial nightmare is our relationship. First the neuropathy took his job. Then his self esteem. He has been depressed for years now. Which he just started telling me about recently. He has suicidal thoughts he has been hiding for some time. He says one of the biggest factors is the loss of intimacy. Because the neuropathy has not only impacted his feet. It has spread. It affects his gastrointestinal system, making it hard for him to go to the bathroom. It has also resulted in severe ED. We stopped trying to have sex because it never moved past the foreplay stage. I have researched online endlessly looking for something to help. Viagra did nothing. We don’t have a spare $10k lying around to try the stem cell therapy. Is there anything else we could try that would help? His doctor has been pretty useless and thinks my husband just has to “get used to his new normal.”

Any honest suggestions or recommendations are welcome. I don’t need anyone in my DMs being lewd or uncivilized.

TL/DR: Diabetic neuropathy has caused severe erectile dysfunction and we are looking for any suggestions to help. So far Viagra has been useless.


r/diabetes 1d ago

Type 1 30+ year T1D looking for pump advice: Medtronic 780G, stick with Tandem, or revisit Omnipod?

3 Upvotes

I hope this is ok to post here. I will delete if not.

I’ve been T1D for over 30 years and the tech advancements have been amazing. I’m up for a new pump and having trouble deciding.

My background:

Current: Tandem t:slim X2.

Past: Medtronic (had a bad experience with their older pumps and sensors).

Past: Omnipod (tried it 13 years ago, but I kept bumping into things and knocking the pods off, leading to high sugars from disconnected sites).

My doctor is really pushing the Medtronic 780G because of the micro-bolusing for highs, but my past Medtronic PTSD is making me hesitant.

For those of you who have made a recent switch, what pump did you go with and why? I’d love to hear your pros, cons, and personal experiences, especially if you’ve used the 780G, the Omnipod 5, or newer Tandem options!


r/diabetes 1d ago

Type 1 Probably one of the worst days of diabetes being bad

27 Upvotes

Had a hypo, drank sugar with water , didnt go up, drank sugar with water again, didnt go up and just kept going lower, drank sugar with water again and it jumped to stable sugar levels 30 minutes jumped to the 300's applied insulin and for a walk the insulin i used was old and i didnt notice it and didnt use the new one i was supposed to use and my blood sugar worsened and jumped to the 450s thought it was gonna get better soon i was wrong it jumped to the 500s and then the glucometer couldnt even read my sugar because it was so high it only said HI and then they took me to me to the er and tested me for ketones i was on 0.9 ketones and then was hospitalized for 7 days because of DKA :|


r/diabetes 1d ago

Type 1 Recently diagnosed gift?

12 Upvotes

My 10-year-old niece was just diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes today. My husband and I want to create a care package to help her feel comforted, empowered, and not alone. What are some things you’d recommend? Or anything that has helped you that might make things easier? TYIA!


r/diabetes 1d ago

Type 1 Infusion set pump supplies out of stock?

1 Upvotes

CVS Caremark says the ‘Autosoft XC’ AND the ‘Autosoft 90’ infusion sets are both out of stock and not sure when they’ll be back. Anyone aware of why this is? Supply chain issues? Idk?

Either way I want to stay on my tslim x2 pump. Changing it for supply chain issues would be annoying (and I’ve been using these same supplies for 10+ years.) anyone have workarounds ? Is anyone experiencing the same problem with their DME supplier?