Hi there. Mine name is Stephanie. I've had HS since I was 12, I'm 25 now, 26 in November, and I've finally decided to face HS and not hide it away as it so loves to.

I've gone pretty much massive flare up free for a few years, with occasional new little devil popping up here or there. Some of the lesions I've had since I was young have cleared up and vanished, many have stayed but rarely hurt or bother me. Things have started to change tho, recently I started to drink tea, and have been adding spoonfuls of sugar, having more than one cup a day this has lead to more sugar consumed than I get normally. See i've replaced all my drink with pretty much water (for the last 5 to 6  years) and a matcha tea here or there, a glass of soda as a sweet tooth craving maybe once a week at the most, but with this new up in sugar i've found my body is reacting BAD. I've been on the internet for the last two days looking at alternatives to table sugar, because it seems to be one of the main triggers for my HS. I hate it, I've felt so good for so long and now it's coming back, the inflammation, the irritation, the smell, the wetness. It's all bothersome and honestly emotionally dragging. I'm looking for any advice, alternatives, things I can do to stop this from happening. All the articles i've read about sugar, not directly aimed at HS people, say stevia, agava, swerve, etc etc, but then I read all over from HS people that these alternative sugars are their triggers, have caused their HS to flare up again. I'm at a loss, I'm not sure what to do or what to try.

I'm glad I did look around tho, and found this group. I honestly want to talk to others like me, I know only of one other person who has what I have, and they are my best friend, but she lives in Holland and I in the States, so we can't exactly sit down next to eachother and hold hands and cry and talk about it. I've never wanted to look for a support group either because, I guess the first feeling that many HS people have after pain and panic, is shame. I've felt ashamed for a long time and not until I left high school started to change my outlook on my body and myself. I'm fine with my HS, it's something I can manage, I'm not worse off really, I can run, walk, dance, do yoga even, as long as I have my HS under control. This recent flare up however has made me realize how fragile my body is, and how far I need to take my health, and not ignore it any longer. Depression is linked with this illness and it's time I stop running and hiding my HS and the depression that likes to tag along with it. I hope I can do that while in this group and I can be here for you all too, because I know in some of my darkest moments, I could have used a friend too. Sorry if this post does come off all over the place, this is the first time I've ever publicly written anything about my HS. It feels good but admittedly is also quiet scary.

Thank you for reading, hope to see some replies soon! 

- Naminaeko