Hi. My name is Catherine and I have been suffering with HS for over 23 years. They first started out as red bumps in the vaginal area. After repeated infections my doctor surgically removed the tissue. That didn't work. The lesions started appearing in the same location but on the opposite side. My physician didn't know what these bumps were and in 2009 he sent me to a dermatologist. She took one look and told me instantly that I had hidradenits suppurativa. I was in shock. I read up on everything I could find. I was put on doxycycline for the next 4 years and was miserable. The anti-biotic would cause me to have yeast problems and subsequently I was put on diflucan to deal with the yeast. It was a never ending problem. Now my red bumps were rupturing and weeping. This was new for me.
I went online to read as much as I could about HS. I read medical information and blogs. It was highly informative. There was a commonality of humiliation and pain, depression and the desire to feel normal. One entry caught my attention. It was about a woman who had suffered from HS and finally went to a Naturopath. He gave her two food sensitivity tests,an IgE and an IeE. She found out what foods she was allergic to and immediately removed them from her diet. She is now HS free.
I couldn't afford to go see a Naturopath and so I decided to start on a diet of protein (chicken) and salad (basic lettuce,cucumbers with olive oil and vinegar), vegetables such as green beans, squash, carrots, english peas,broccoli, cauliflower. I removed eggs, dairy, gluten which is in bread and a myriad of foods which include flour. I also removed Nightshade veggies and fruits.
Once I was stable ...which took about a week, I added eggs. I had no flares. That food was safe. I then added dairy products, again no flares. I added beef and fish with no problems. I was anxious about adding flour/gluten back into my diet as I was sure that this was the food group that I was sensitive to. However, after introducing gluten back into my diet there were no flares. That left me with only one group to test and that was the Nightshade veggies and fruits. This group includes: white potatoes, tomatoes, peppers including paprika (not white or black pepper), gooseberries and goji berries. These foods have alkaloids in them to fight off bugs. Interesting?
So, I added foods from this group into my diet and ....I FLARED!! I finally had the information that I needed. I immediately went through my pantry and removed any and everything with red pepper, tomatoes,and paprika. Paprika is everywhere. It is in hot dogs, mayonnaise, mustard and seasonings. If you eat processed foods...beware as it is in everything. I learned to read all the labels of everything at the grocery store and even double check it once it was in my pantry.
I am in remission and I intend to stay there.My lesions are flat. All that exists are scars and I can live with that.
I am certain that HS is the body's response to a food that the body is allergic to. It is not due to "not being clean enough" or due to being overweight. It will only respond to antibiotics for a short term and then those fail to work. Topicals don't work either. I do believe that once HS comes into your life, it takes over everything that you love. I was a victim to this disease for too many years. I have now, taken back my life. You can change your diet and be free. I recommend that if you decide to find out what foods you may be allergic to in order to be free from this disease that you consider incorporating these supplements: turmeric (wonderful anti-inflammatory), zinc, vitamin c, a probiotic, and green tea for itching It is a natural anti-histamine.
I hope you find this helpful. God Bless You