Hidradenitis Suppurativa Support Group

Hidradenitis suppurativa (hi-drad-uh-NIE-tis sup-yoo-ruh-TIE-vuh) is rare, long-term skin condition that features small, painful lumps under the skin. The disease manifests as clusters of chronic abscesses or boils, sometimes as large as baseballs, that are extremely painful to the touch and may persist for years with occasional to frequent periods of inflammation,...

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Food Triggers?

kierakelly
kierakelly
OK, I think I can actually feel people rolling there eyes at this post topic. Especially those who have been suffering for a while. The reason I am bringing this up is this; I have a co-worker who gets these infections on her face (Yes, on her FACE- I have seen her whole eye swollen shut for days and she has to go out and face the world with it). Her official diagnosis is Cystic Acne. Her whole family gets it- mother and uncles. She worked with a specialist in Cystic Acne and figured her "triggers" are caffeine and chocolate (which has caffeine in it). Her mother's trigger is peanuts. Every time she gets one she can say she had a Mountain Dew or a chocolate cupcake or something. Both type of foods are known to cause inflammation (there are a number of other foods that cause it as well).
Anyway- would love to know if anyone has eliminated a food and had success with it???
Also like to point out the actual trigger for this seems to be different for each sufferer, even in the same family.
tulip76
tulip76
It just seems to be so different for everyone. There's been quite a bit of discussion about food triggers on the forum, and if I'm not mistaken some people have gone so far as to have blood work done to identify any minor food allergies they might have and not be aware of. Some people (myself included) on the other hand, have tried elimination diets and discovered that food doesn't seem to be their trigger at all - it's other things like hormones or sweat.

The most common food triggers I see mentioned here are:

Gluten
Sugar
Dairy
Carbohydrates
Nightshades (tomatoes, potatoes, peppers)
Tobacco (not eaten, but smoking)
Meat (i.e. going to a vegetarian or vegan diet)
tulip76
tulip76
I should have added in the previous post and forgot:

You definitely won't see anyone rolling their eyes at that though. It's pretty well established that for a number of people, reactions to specific foods are the trigger that is causing or worsening their HS for sure.
respectful
respectful
Sadly No....Food doesn't do it for me. I have tried gluten free, dairy, free, no potatoes, corn, rice, or sugar...and I still have this Horrid disease, even painful than before. I don't associate it with food anymore because I have tried every elimination diet their is. My diet consists of Protein (Chicken and Salmon once a week) Vegetables and Fruit. If I go without any more food to cure this thing I may as well eat the Grass out in the back yard like a Cow.
It's nice that she has found her food allergy, and I hope she will use it to her advantage.
chayil
chayil
Paprika or bell peppers I think Americans call it. I have a terrible allergy for that and it triggers my HS. I have learned recently that my allergy is probably for the whole nightshade family because when I eat indian food with tomatoes, eggplant, patatoes and hot pepper I flare up the same way as I do with paprika.

So I try to avoid nightshades but its quite difficult it's a trigger though not the reason for HS.
sunrise628
sunrise628
Gluten free and Dairy Free has helped a lot for me.