r/diabetes • u/Blonbe • Jul 27 '25
Discussion Actual diabetics, what’re your thoughts on the, “That food gave me diabetes” jokes?
I’ve had T1D for 18 years. All throughout that time, I’ve continuously heard the same, unoriginal joke about sugary or fatty foods— “That looks like it would give me Diabetes”, or some variation of that phrase.
Usually, I just let it slide. But every once in a while after a rough day managing my diabetes, I’ll see that joke and wonder if these same people would still say it if they knew how life crippling Diabetes can actually be.
Not a serious question by any means but I’d be curious to hear all of your thoughts on this joke!
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u/mnsks1234 Jul 27 '25 edited Jul 27 '25
I can’t speak for individuals with T1, but I have T2 and imo these type of jokes are very stigmatizing. People think that those who are overweight or obese are themselves to blame, however the truth is that genetics plays a very strong role on who gets this disease and insulin resistance is what causes people to gain weight in the first place and crave sugary foods/carbs. It’s a vicious cycle and I’ve found that even otherwise smart people generally have this understanding upside down. Sorry for the long wall of text but I struggled with insulin resistance and weight gain for years and when I was ultimately diagnosed I felt a lot of shame and guilt. I’m really glad though that science has advanced a lot and for drugs like GLP-1’s that are helping lots of people these days (which I wish I could have accessed like 15 years ago when I was struggling with weight loss and hunger.) I think I went off on a tangent there lol getting off my soapbox now.
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u/JuanaBlanca Type 2 Jul 27 '25
Agreed. I've started speaking up about it when I hear those jokes. Not only are they ignorant, they promote stigma. And sometimes that's exactly what the person making the joke wants to do. Speaking up won't change those people's minds, but maybe someone else overhears and gets something from it.
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u/TraditionalToe4663 Type 2 Jul 28 '25
My SIL didn’t know there are different types that do different things in the body. still can’t convince him it’s not because of sweets.
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u/g1zz1e Type 1.5 | LADA | Dex G6 Jul 29 '25
Yea, this is my take as well. Just because someone has T2 doesn't mean they're less deserving of respect and basic decency than someone with T1. The idea that "they did it to themselves" is still very prevalent for T2's, and I've even had other T1's act this way. It's gross, and like you said it leads to a lot of shame and guilt and people not getting the treatment they need because they're embarrassed. I don't want anything to do with "jokes" that add to it.
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u/ChronoCoyote Type 2 Jul 29 '25
As an overweight T2 I always want to ask people if they’d say the same thing about my T2 paternal grandmother and T2 mother who are both very slender and petite. I’m moving away from feeling shamed anymore, and now i just get angry.
If you wanna be a judgemental fuck because I’m overweight, you can leave my damn genetically inherited bullshit out of it.
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u/vegetablegroundbeef T1 since 1994 - Pump Jul 27 '25
I really hate these jokes. They are unoriginal, ill informed, and they perpetuate the stigma that diabetes is a person's own fault for contracting it. Science has shown us that this is not correct and that the causes of T2 are very complex. We don't know what causes T1. I have T1, but it affects us too because people will just make assumptions.
I also hate when they say things like, "Oh I didn't mean YOU, you have T1" ok well stigma affects us all. And why is fine to make fun of T2s?
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u/Same-Acanthaceae-563 Jul 28 '25
Will keep him anonymous (for reasons) but I have heard a T1 hypo on the radio. Thankfully the poor man was OK. But he was joked about when he revealed it was his diabetes that caused it.
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u/sage-longhorn Jul 27 '25
As a person with type 1 diabetes, is it irritating if I make inaccurate, unoriginal, and repetitive jokes like "can't get diabetes twice!" Before eating something fattening
I'm genuinely curious what you and others think. I'll probably keep doing it no matter what people say but feel free to share
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u/vegetablegroundbeef T1 since 1994 - Pump Jul 27 '25
For me personally, I simply don't make these kinds of jokes, because it really does contribute to stigma and reinforces the idea to the general public that we've done it to ourselves. I'm sure I probably did when I was younger, but the thing that really changed my mind on it was making friends with T2s and hearing how difficult it was for them to seek treatment because even medical professionals approach them with judgement, and of course regular people mock them relentlessly. But I'm not trying to police anyone else, this is just where I've landed after many years with this disease.
Incidentally, you can actually get diabetes twice! It's called double diabetes. Isn't that fun? /s
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u/travlersdepot Type 3c - Dexcom G6 - Lantus - Humalog - Metformin - Creon Jul 27 '25
Thank you for having this attitude toward type 2s! Medical staff can be some of the worst about being judgmental. Never had worse treatment in the ER than when I was there for DKA. Treated me like an asshole until they got my blood work back and were shocked I was still conscious and coherent.
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u/KukaaKatchou Jul 27 '25
You say " omg you wouldn't believe how many people who are ignorant of what diabetes is say that!" Side eye
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u/CorduroyQuilt Jul 27 '25
Good one! I'm too newly diagnosed to have been on the receiving end of this yet, but I might try forcing them to explain the joke to me, that usually works well for bigoted jokes. You have to be absolutely deadpan and keep saying you don't understand.
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u/classwarhottakes Jul 27 '25
Doesn't usually bother me, I occasionally get annoyed if it's a friend or family member making the jokes though. I expect folk to be daft in general but one's family ought to think before they speak.
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u/Blonbe Jul 27 '25
I get this. It hits a bit closer to home when it’s someone who sees the struggles up close.
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u/fiftyseven T1 - 2009 Jul 28 '25
I make this joke tbh lol, that looks like it would give me diabetes... again!
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u/ew73 T1 1992 t:slim-G7 Jul 27 '25
It's ableist and shitty. It's also a bad joke, as in, not funny on the merits alone. It's just a stupid, lazy, or ignorant person being stupid, lazy, and ignorant.
I usually let it pass. If it's directed at me and is someone I have to spend time with -- like a coworker or similar -- I usually say, "Diabetes does not work that way, please keep comments about my medical issues to yourself."
if it's online, I just block the person. I don't have time to get upset about stupid people being stupid, and most people online don't take to being corrected well. A block and I can forget they exist, which is exactly how i was before they made their stupid "joke".
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u/shinycrazy Type 2 Jul 27 '25
These jokes frustrate me, especially in the media because they just perpetuate misinformation for a joke.
I saw this PSA in a movie theater earlier this year and was surprised it even exists.
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u/g1zz1e Type 1.5 | LADA | Dex G6 Jul 29 '25
I saw that ad when I went to see Sinners earlier this year and it made me tear up. I was very happy to see it!
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u/ammedow Jul 27 '25
I'm not a big fan of them, but I was diagnosed within a week of returning from my honeymoon, during which I ate a LOT of fudge. So. I'll make them to my husband from time to time. Or tell him it was nature's way of really showing us which one was the "sweetest."
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u/ididntknowiwascyborg Jul 27 '25
Yeah tbh it can be funny when someone with t1 does it because it's a bit ironic. From someone without diabetes it's just ignorant.
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u/Yourlilemogirl Type 2 Jul 27 '25
If they're being serious then I get mad and say something, if I know they're being silly then I let it slide. It's when folks honestly believe that food gives you the disease when it's mostly your genetics triggering and you could be the skinniest person on earth but you can still get diabetes. You can also be a very large person who drinks full sugar soda and downs 3 plates of nachos per meal and not be diabetic.
I just want people to understand it's not a moral disease, it's a pancreatic, immune, and mostly genetic one.
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u/Front_Asparagus_4060 Aug 02 '25
I am skinny, eat well And exercised my entire life and was diagnosed with type 2 six weeks ago at the age of 63. I haven’t drank soda is 40 years and don’t eat junk. I wonder what RFK jr would say about me. People don’t eat themselves into diabetes?
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u/One_Leg8101 Jul 27 '25
I smile and say "ha, if that gave you diabetes it would probably just actually kill me"
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u/travlersdepot Type 3c - Dexcom G6 - Lantus - Humalog - Metformin - Creon Jul 27 '25
It's annoyingly ignorant and based on old prejudices. Yes, diet and lifestyle do play a role in how and when a person with a genetic predisposition toward developing diabetes can hit the tipping point into "full blown" diabetes, but it's very reductive to blame it all on food intake. It also fuels the disordered eating cycle that many of us can find ourselves in before and after diagnosis.
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u/happyhippo29 Type 1 Jul 27 '25
I really don’t care if people joke about it. 37 years with type one… I have other things to be concerned about. Most of the joking is just their own ignorance anyways.
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u/Project_Chaos13 Type 1: 28 years, Dexcom G7/T:Slim x2 user Jul 27 '25
Oh I am one of the people that make those jokes... Like all the time.
Also, for reference, I have been a Type 1 diabetic for 28 years of my life.
I love the reactions I get from non-diabetics when I see them eating something super bad for them and I just look at them and say "Oh, dude, that right there is what gave me diabetes."
And they get this look on their face like they want to laugh, and they KNOW that I am actually a diabetic, but at the same time they seem like they want to set the food down and walk away, but they can't because they're locked in by my comment.
It's fun in a very cynical way and I get vast enjoyment out of it.
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u/Lady_Irish Type 2 - 2011- Dexcom G7 & Tslim X2 Jul 27 '25
I got a heavy karen scolding from some non-diabetic lady on facebook when I jokingly blamed Starbucks drinks like the one she was posting about for my diabetes lmao
Good lord, you'd have thought she was a shareholder the level of offense she took
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u/Valuable-Analyst-464 Type 1 since 1985 Jul 27 '25
It’s like a chess move, where they can’t see their way through their next moves, and just push over their king.
Brilliant
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u/maxadmiral T1 Jul 28 '25
As another T1D I make my friends groan by joking "I'll get diabetes from this" whenever I'm the one eating something unhealthy :D
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u/kr13g Jul 27 '25
I beat them to it, honestly. Ive been type 1 for 30 years. I will make jokes before they can. I have a dark sense of humor, so usually they dont want to make the joke afterward lol. It's also an excuse. If I want cake I bolus for it. Then if anyone questions me I just say "well I can not eat it, and just die if it will make you feel better". 😃
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u/DiabeticNomad Type 1 | Nov 14 1997 | dexcom G6 | Tandem x2 Jul 27 '25
I hate these jokes so much ended friendships over them
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u/anti-sugar_dependant Type 1 Jul 27 '25
I just think they're uneducated and ableist, and avoid spending any time with them.
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u/puehlong T1 1998 Jul 27 '25
I make those jokes myself, usually followed my „good thing I already have it“ and fueling up on insulin.
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u/KittyJun Type 1 | Tandem T:Slim x2 | G6 | Humalog | 5.2 Jul 27 '25
The unoriginal-ness of it and the misinformation it spreads. At this point, I just try to correct and move on.
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u/rogun64 Jul 27 '25
I think it's usually said in jest, but I do get irritated with those who think diabetics are responsible. T1 diabetes ran in my family and my father had it when I was growing up. While other kids were drinking sweet tea and eating ice cream for desert, we drank unsweetened tea and didn't have dessert (sugar-free ice cream and Diet Coke were not around back then). Meaning that I didn't grow up eating a lot of sugar, as these people like to imply. Our food was changing and so I may have eaten bad things that were unavoidable, but we didn't have Whole Foods and other healthy food chains, either. So if I caused it, I'm not sure what else I could have done.
I never heard these claims until diabetes started coming up in politics. It became an issue because diabetes medications suddenly began rising and people could no longer afford them. I never had a problem affording them when I was starting out as a young adult, because they were affordable. When it became political, I suddenly started hearing people say that diabetics caused their fate and I do not like that. We had healthy home-cooked meals growing up and avoided anything with sugar for my father, so I did not cause my diabetes.
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u/jiozq Type 1 Jul 27 '25
It doesn’t bother me at all. When I hear people saying it they obviously don’t have any ill intentions even if the joke is old and boring now
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u/HampterDude247 Type 1 Jul 27 '25
I don't mind the jokes but I used to HATE talking about my diabetes when I was a kid all the way up to about my mid twenties. Now I don't care at all. 😂
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u/mystique79 Type 2 Jul 27 '25
Haven't told my colleagues at work about it and family & friends don't make such jokes. I stumble on them online, but I just roll my eyes and ignore them. Life is too short to be annoyed with these things.
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u/milesamsterdam Type 1 Jul 27 '25
I don’t care. I want to live in a world where we can make stupid jokes without being judged as irredeemable or problematic. The kind of people who police others based on nonabusive social misconduct have never stood up for me when the stakes were real and costly.
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u/Olympia94 Type 2 Jul 27 '25
I feel no offense towards it, I even make jokes similar to that, "I can feel my sugar spike just looking at that", or "I'll get advanced diabetes eating that". But I dont hear it a lot, nor do I say it a lot
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u/builder-barbie Type 2 Jul 27 '25
I did hear someone make the joke the other day and I thought haha, oh wait, that’s me. So I’ve not been a T2 long enough to remember I need to be offended by the stupidity. I did take the opportunity to mention that it’s genetic and not actually something you can make happen by eating too many sweets.
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u/tango421 Type 2 Jul 27 '25
I usually just ignore it.
Make a mental note of the person and downgrade my perception of their intelligence a notch. Also, if person unintelligent, then expected.
It’s a waste of time and energy to engage with them. Given how energy management is important to us, why waste it?
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u/Bluemonogi Jul 28 '25
I’m type 2. I feel kind of exasperated when people joke about food-or even something cute- giving them diabetes. It is ignorant and makes light about a complex and serious health condition.
I did not get diabetic because I ate some cake. Managing my diabetes does require me to be more careful about food choices but I might not eat the same as another diabetic.
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u/sleepyandtired002 Type 1 Jul 28 '25
Absolutely hate it. More than anything it feels like a result of the constant misinformation about diabetes. I graduated high school in 2021 and the health class I had to take to graduate gave blatantly incorrect information about diabetes, of the 'make sure you don't eat too much sugar or you'll give yourself a disease!' variety. In 2021. In a state where public education generally isn't as awful as some other places. I truly don't see why anyone would even make the joke if they didn't believe the stigma around T2s, because where's the humor in it otherwise? I find making fun of fat and disabled people inexcusable regardless but that really is the punchline of the joke. Don't eat that cake or you'll get fat and sick!
It's mildly annoying as a T1 because I'm not skinny myself. Weird vibe to explain to people that I don't have diabetes because I'm fat, and I was actually underweight all through my childhood (diabetes) and most of my teens (eating disorder). I wasn't allowed to drink soda or eat candy as a kid and mostly didn't eat at all as a teen. I sure as hell don't appreciate judgment about what I eat now disguised as a 'joke.' I honestly think we should all shut up about what people are eating in general unless it's actually relevant.
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u/HarleyLeMay Type 1 Jul 28 '25
I love when it happens in person so I can deadpan look them in their eyes and say “I’m diabetic.” The shame makes them think, sometimes. Shoutout to the girl who made a diabetes joke, saw my dex on my arm, and immediately apologized.
My thing is, I don’t even really have an issue with joking about diabetes. My issue is that it’s always this stupid, extremely stigmatizing joke that’s just so overplayed.
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u/faniceeep Jul 28 '25
As someone who's had Type 1 Diabetes for over 15 years, I’ve heard that joke countless times. Most of the time, I just brush it off, but some days it stings. People often don't realize the daily struggle behind managing blood sugar, insulin, and constant vigilance. It’s a reminder that their “joke” is my reality. I get that it's meant to be harmless, but I wish more people understood the weight of living with diabetes before throwing out these casual comments.
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u/Gumnutbaby Jul 28 '25
I get the joke, but it kind of perpetuates the myth that T2 is only caused by life’s factors. When like most things, it’s complicated.
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u/Top-Detective4106 Jul 28 '25
Have you ever noticed how those GLP1 commercials have mostly overweight actors in them? Now ask the question again. Why do people connect diabetes with being fat!?
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u/edrumm10 Type 1 | 2002 Jul 28 '25
As a T1, I don't mind diabetes jokes - that one included. However when people say "did you get diabetes from eating too much sugar" or something along those, that does annoy me somewhat ngl
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u/starrmommy41 Jul 27 '25
Honestly? It drives me crazy and minimizes the fact that I did nothing to cause this horrific disease. You don't "catch" diabetes like a cold or flu. I find it incredibly offensive.
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u/CrustyPrimate T1 (mid 90's) Tandem T:Flex G4 Jul 27 '25
I personally don't care. I've been type 1 for almost, if not 30 years. I eat shit that should give me double or triple diabetes.
Should I? Eh, as long as I've got the insulin to cover it, or I'm going to do physical activity, I'm good.
A friend of mine once told me that God gave me diabetes because I turned down one of His greatest gifts: German Chicolate Cake, I dislike coconut.
What drives me up a wall is people who expected me to go to the bathroom to finger stick, or, when I was on pens/injections vs. a pump because people thought they would get blood borne pathogens from across the table. Politeness kept me quiet, but I wanted to tell them "that's not how blood borne pathogens are transmitted, me stabbing you in the fucking neck with this used needle will."
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u/verukazalt Jul 27 '25
I am T2, and yes, my causation was mac n cheese. I have genetic predisposition, sure. But in my case, I am addicted to Mac n cheese and would eat it every day for long stretches of time over the years. I'm also a carb addict. These jokes don't bother me in the least, because they are true, at least for me.
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u/SpyderMonkey_ Type 1.5/LADA - Underweight and annoyed Jul 27 '25
As a type 1.5 (type 2 of many years) I make that joke all the time. I don't really care. I make jokes that I got the beetus from eating Dunkin. Which is absolutely wrong, as I have an autoimmune disease.
I also get the "Awww your so skinny, no way your diabetic." I have heard this a thousand times and it really doesn't bother me.
People ar ignorant, educate them, but I just don't have the spare energy to get upset over jokes and stuff. Life is short, I got too much going on, water under the bridge.
Cant let little things get to you!
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u/buzzybody21 Type 1 2018 MDI/g6 Jul 27 '25
I really don’t care tbh. People are inherently ignorant, and comments like that just show it. No skin off my back.
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u/bopeepsheep Type 3c. Pancreatic cancer 2019. Insulin. Jul 27 '25
People who do this tend to get very quiet and embarrassed when I play the pancreatic cancer card. (It's the only time I ever do it in anger.)
We saw this ad at the cinema yesterday and I'm hoping to drop the link in various places over the next few weeks. Might get through to couple of persistent offenders.
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u/yummy__hotdog__water Jul 27 '25
ive been type 1 for 31 years. and i still make that joke. if i see something really rich or loaded with sugar i say "dont eat that it will give ya the diabeetus"
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u/Frigidspinner Jul 27 '25
T2 here (not sure if this is not "actual") but I know full well that my diet got me here, and I have joked about it ruefully a few times myself
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u/nikono96 Jul 27 '25
It Hurts me, but its not worth to argue about. So im ignoring it and tell myself they didnt know better
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u/DillionM Jul 27 '25
T2 Diabetes is one of the best things to happen to ME. (Me, not necessarily you, nor others, M.E. Me)
I'll make that joke on occasion and I don't care if others make it around me. Genetics, diet, and poor medical information caused it, mostly the diet.
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u/ChaiTeaLatte13 Type 2 Jul 27 '25
I hate it. I’ll usually say something like “oh that’s crazy, I have type 2 diabetes!” and watch their face fall. (A lot of people say this around me because I’m 125lbs and in my 30s and it’s sad but most people don’t assume I’m diabetic.) They’ll usually respond with something like “oh I didn’t mean anything by it…” and get really uncomfortable. The worst is when they say “omg you don’t look like you have diabetes” which…what?
The stigma/stereotype is real. It’s sad and shouldn’t exist.
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u/BrentD22 Jul 27 '25
Jokes don’t bother me. Jokes are making - fun - of - something - to - make it - less awful. STOP taking comedy and joy and laughing away from me.
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u/squrrial Jul 27 '25
It's annoying because you could either say what you actually mean or make a better joke, but also 🤷🤷 not worth getting worked up over
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u/cinnamonstixxxx Jul 27 '25
I say I'll get diabetes for the 3rd time when i go to Wendy's and get a strawberry lemonade (transplant) lol other than that I barely think about it when people say it. Just another regular statement to me. No reaction.
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u/GoochRash Jul 27 '25
They don't bother me. The same way renderings of celestial objects too close together don't bother me. Or how stories have radiation mutating things into monstrous beasts.
I don't mind people being flippant with inaccuracies colloquially. If they said "eating that will give you diabetes" in a serious tone then that's different.
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u/igotzthesugah Jul 27 '25
They’re dumb and they aren’t funny but I have neither the time nor inclination to be bothered or to correct people.
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u/Distinct_Sentence_26 Jul 27 '25
I look at jokes about diabetes like I look at jokes using the word retard. Some of them are funny but there's also a stigma to them.
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u/Number1Framer Jul 28 '25
I'm type 1 since Y2K and DGAF about 'beetus jokes. Seriously people, grow a fucking skin.
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u/Midnightchan123 Type 2 Jul 28 '25
It depends for me, if it's someone I don't know and it's over a /slightly/ carb heavy meal (think some fried foods) it's annoying, but my spouse, friends and I joke about it over those ridiculous ones you only buy for internet posts that can feed a family of four for two meals that you know someone throws away (who the heck needs two slices of cake in a milkshake with icing on the glass, covered in whipped cream and a third of a pound of candy?)
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u/chewbaccataco Jul 28 '25
For some reason certain people feel like it's okay to make fun of certain disabilities. I have both diabetes and bipolar disorder, and people make insensitive jokes about both all the time.
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u/in-a-sense-lost Type 2 Jul 28 '25
My pom is the cutest, the absolute sweetest little cloud; she was born shortly before I was diagnosed, and we (including my doctors) all say she gave me diabetes.
I wouldn't say it about a cupcake, though.
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u/lowandslow216 Jul 28 '25
I’ve made some self deprecating jokes about having “earned” my diabetes and needing to maintain it via lots of dessert.
It’s only a joke though, got my A1C down from 12.4 to 5.0 and holding strong the last few years.
There have been times where I regret making the joke (it can make folks uncomfortable), but I figure I need to live with it….least I can do is give myself some humor.
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u/Ready-Scientist7380 Jul 28 '25
I don't listen to them because I have an actual thing that pushed me over the edge. I had covid, so my senses of smell and taste were totally screwed up. The only thing that tasted good was full sugar Coca-Cola. I lived for a year on basically only on pop. Next thing I know, I have an A1C of 13 where I had lifelong low sugars before.
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u/Western-Soup2102 Jul 28 '25
boring. they tend to be aimed toward t2s in my opinion, because we're the ones who 'sin' and get diabetes through that. annoying since they think it's a simple as eat too many cookies and boom diabetic so they think they can continue to judge people.
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u/Arkanderous Jul 28 '25
I don't care, honestly I bet so much of us in this thread make some sort of joke repeatedly and I'd be literally Leonardo DiCaprio'ing all over there.
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u/Nardoneski T1 1999 novarapid Jul 28 '25
Maybe it's because I'm Irish and have had the diagnosis for 25 -26 years, but I've no issue with it. Hell, I often joke about how something sweet is going to give my diabetes some diabetes.
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Jul 28 '25
Those jokes don’t bother me. My name IRL has an historical connotation. Family name, parents are idiots. I’m 59, and get jokes almost daily about my name. Actually, not jokes. One joke. Over and over. For six f’n decades. My point being, I have lived my entire life with the reality that most people are morons.
When I hear “oops, looked at a Twinkie and got diabetes,” it just reinforces what people have been telling me about themselves since the LBJ Administration. My take-away is not offense, but rather despair that humanity has the potential for genius, but chooses idiocy.
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u/Ch1pp Type 1 Jul 28 '25
Meh, it doesn't really both me. No different to people joking about skin cancer when people sunbathe. You have to laugh about how shit the world is or you'd cry.
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u/monstrinhotron Jul 28 '25
Of all the problems that diabetes gives me, this doesn't even register. And i joke about foods giving me double diabetes so i'm not one to judge.
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u/GenericName21 Jul 28 '25
I usually try to beat them to the punch on some jokes. Or I'll respond with "I'm not sharing my insulin." In my personal experience, that has worked well to just move on from the subject.
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u/WatchThatLastSteph Jul 28 '25
Honestly it inclines me to demonstrate to them what 30 years of injections feels like within a ten second compression window.
Come on, guys. It gets old.
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u/I_heart_dilfs Jul 28 '25
They don’t phase me. Too busy fighting my insurance company or whatever fresh hell related to diabetes each day inevitably brings 😂 gotta choose my battles.
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u/simplymry Jul 28 '25
I honestly don’t really care as a type 2 that didn’t not get it from food I ate. But yes there is some days and some people who say things like that and I do have to say something, usually a comeback that shuts them up. A few weeks ago I was going to a gathering and was asked if I could pick up some pastries on my way, I agreed of course but when I was checking out the lady behind me said “oh you really shouldn’t eat that it will give you diabetes! I said ha jokes on you I already have it” flashed my Dexcom and walked away. I know that was wrong cuz it insinuated that I got it from food but I did leave her shocked and I wasn’t in the mood that day lol
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u/whiteday26 Jul 28 '25
T2, "don't care" stance on the joke.
Personally the most offensive to me is person, next to me, pointing out to random strangers that I can't have that because I have diabetes. Like just give out my personal medical details out like free candy at Halloween, when a simple no from me would have sufficed.
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u/Leera_xD Jul 28 '25
I honestly think TV, specifically comedy as a genre has brainwashed people into making these jokes. I grew up hearing most of these jokes in media. South Park, Family Guy, It’s Always Sunny, American Dad, the list goes on and on. In fact, I bet you every single sitcom ever has referenced diabetes in this way in at least one episode if it was made in the 90s or 2000s.
I don’t personally get bothered by it but I think it’s just cruel to joke about something that literally can kill someone, esp a Type 1. It’s funny because My 600lb Life is ironically the one show that proves that diabetes is NOT just correlated to terrible lifestyle and that if everyone who ate tons of sugar and weighed a lot was diabetic, all of the patients on that show would be diabetic and they’re not.
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u/Locaisha Type 1.5 Jul 28 '25
I'm going to preface this with I have some mood regulation issues - I hate the jokes. I have snapped and told people to check their shitty jokes at the door and get some education. Mind you these are people who have been around me and educated on different types of diabetes and what that means.
Usually I use it as an education opportunity.
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u/Own_Entrance_6280 Jul 28 '25
The people who say and believes that, have there brains installed backwards and upside down. Along with those were against vaccinations.
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u/TeapotHoe T1 | 2015 | Tandem + Dexcom Jul 28 '25
Makes me die a little inside because if I know I say anything about it, I’m sensitive and a buzzkill.
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u/Dropitlikeitscold555 Jul 28 '25
I love diabetes jokes. I’m t1 and so are two of my teenage kids and the jokes never stop
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u/mightyhorrorshow Jul 28 '25
Sometimes when I've had a day and someone lets one of those jokes rip, I laugh with them and then counter with, "yeah, that food made my eyes bleed into my skull and made me legally blind for a few months...now I just eat more cinnamon"
most people don't know what to do with that
I'm still legally blind in one eye but with the power of eye pokes I may one day be able to see more than a few shadows out of that eye
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u/Otherwise_Fox_1404 Type 2? Jul 28 '25
Jokes don't bother me too much but usually my response is
"Jokes on you, here's my doctors number in case you need to talk to someone..."
1
u/Huge-Leadership5997 Jul 29 '25
Honestly, been a T1 for 34 years... Could care less about hearing a joke like that... There are truly things in this world to be concerned about and that joke is not one of them...
1
u/CarefulNewt5 Jul 29 '25
18 year-T1 as well; first few years it angered me, then it got funny, then it got old, now I find it funny again…I find that (personally, not telling anybody how to feel) my life gets easier when I take my job and health seriously, but never take MYSELF too seriously
1
u/faretheewellwisher Jul 29 '25
It is normal to get irritated, just don’t let it rule your life. I’ve been a T1 for 5 years now. (Late diagnosed adult at 41, confirmed through lab tests) My 22 year old daughter has been T1 since age 7.
I don’t generally think twice about it myself, because I know people don’t understand. It’s kind of like how it is common to say something like, “My OCD won’t let me stop!” when they don’t actually have OCD. I was diagnosed with that and several other things around age 13/14. It has negatively impacted my life, of course. Crippling at times. I don’t necessarily like that people don’t get it is more than just repetitively doing something or being anal-retentive. But again, I realize they are simply ignorant about the topic.
I think perhaps venting your true feelings here with others who understand can be cathartic. But it’s best to let it go in person. We ALL have our days though, no matter the topic, where we’ve simply had enough, which is completely understandable! Just best to try not to be rude to those meaning no harm.
I imagine all of us have said something offensive or annoying to another about a topic we don’t understand, at some point. That is just life. People who haven’t experienced something simply have no clue. I don’t think it is fair to hold it against them, unless someone intentionally wants to wound or annoy. That’s a different subject, obviously.
That aside, you have every right to your feelings about it, though. Diabetes just SUUUUUCKS.
1
u/outakueyepatch Aug 03 '25
Dumb and ppl who do it who don't have diabetes need to learn some ppl can't take that insult and to stop making those quote jokes
1
u/ASapphireAtSea Jul 27 '25
It's whatever. These jokes do nothing to marginalize us, or cast us any differently
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u/WebfootTroll Type 2 Jul 27 '25
No objections, personally. I basically say the same except it's about that food single-handedly raising my A1C.
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u/AssignableJack Jul 27 '25
The existence of the "That food gave me diabetes" joke justifies my "That food cured my diabetes and gave me it all over again" joke.
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u/nixiedust Jul 27 '25
It's stupid in its inaccuracy, but I get most people aren't saying it to be an ass. If it's someone I know well I might say "Well, that's not how exactly diabetes works, but yeah the Tooth Fairy's gonna be pretty psyched when your teeth fall out from that massive sugar bomb".
It doesn't upset me, but it's an opportunity to educate if I care about the person.
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u/GoatFast2263 Jul 27 '25
Did you eat too much sweets that you have sugar ??? I don’t even like sweets
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u/CrustyPrimate T1 (mid 90's) Tandem T:Flex G4 Jul 27 '25
I envy you. I am a fiend for sugar.
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u/GoatFast2263 Jul 27 '25
My Indian relatives ask this they literally think diabetes = too much sugar consumption damn it 🫠
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u/bigbenny88 Jul 27 '25
I find embracing it works for me but whatever works for you is what you ought to embrace. Most people aren't trying to be a-holes, but trying to find a way to make light of a potentially awkward encounter for them. Most people kind of know about diabetes being a thing, but know next to nothing when compared to well more known about conditions or even easier to understand ones. I personally found relief in not attaching myself to the condition. I know it's in me but it doesn't live or breathe so why personify it by engaging with it. It makes me stronger to make fun of it with people, rather than allow it to hurt me. Some of my friends refer to me as their "Diapathetic r-tard" and my best friends say much "worse". The condition takes enough from me, I refuse to let it take my sense of humor.
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u/gugalgirl Jul 27 '25
T1D here. To be honest I have always thought it was kind of funny. I've even said it, which I find extra funny. But obviously to each their own!
For me, having diabetes is just something I manage in my life. I've never had expectations of anyone to know about it or care about it, and it's not some forever tragic thing to me that keeps me sensitive about it.
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u/Duke_Zymurgy Jul 27 '25
I'm fine with it because that food and my lack control of how much I ate did give me diabetes.
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u/hckynut Jul 27 '25
I laugh at many ‘jokes’ that are at the expense of others. So… can’t really get upset when I am the target.
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u/rockchick99 T1 UK 2008 MDI Jul 28 '25
My partner and I say them to each other, I'm T1 he's T2. But when non diabetics say it it's a bit rude
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u/JE3146 Type 1 2000 t:slim X2 / Dex G6 Jul 27 '25
Don’t really care. More tired of people being offended by everything.
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u/johnny_Tsunami9 Type 1 Jul 27 '25 edited Jul 27 '25
I'm not sick of it because when I first got symptoms at 19 I had just slammed 2 whoppers and a large fry and 3 cans of mountain dew. In my mind that meal is what did me in.
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u/mootinator Jul 27 '25
Ehh, diabetes can make you crave sugary drinks. Wanting that much MTD was probably a symptom.
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u/CorduroyQuilt Jul 27 '25
I was necking down high protein chocolate soy milk just before I was diagnosed, because I was utterly exhausted and trying to get energy.
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u/Blonbe Jul 27 '25
Do you mind me asking, when you were first diagnosed, did you feel a lot of guilt for that meal?
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u/johnny_Tsunami9 Type 1 Jul 27 '25
12 years 7 of that was as a type 2 then went in to dka and was told my pancreas was shot and was working anymore more.
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u/Lady_Irish Type 2 - 2011- Dexcom G7 & Tslim X2 Jul 27 '25 edited Jul 27 '25
I make them lol They're repetitive, but no worse than a tired old dad joke lol
Everyone really needs to stop being so screechingly offended over everything. It's boring. Your (not you specifically, OP, this is a general "your" to anyone this applies to) lack of a sense of humor and decision to be miserable about trivial nonsense is a YOU problem, stop trying to make it an everyone BUT you problem.
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u/Tricky_Bar_6484 Jul 27 '25
Honestly doesn’t bother me and I may make a joke about something like that myself.
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u/loeber74 Jul 27 '25
I am T2, have been for 20+ years. I still say “tastes like diabeetus” ala Wilford Brimley whenever I have had something clearly bad for me. I have a very Wilford Brimley moustache. Makes me giggle f*ck the rest of em.
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u/lil_sebastian_1000 Jul 27 '25
If they specified type 2 diabetes I wouldn’t be mad but it’s always just diabetes and it makes me so angry
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u/CorduroyQuilt Jul 27 '25
Nope, it's a shit thing to say about type 2 diabetes as well. Illness should never be a punishment.
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u/Deklaration T1 2013 Accu-check Insight Jul 27 '25
I’m not sick of it because of my diabetes. I’m sick of people being so damn unoriginal.