I have both, too. I've worked in PCOS medical research for several years actually. Are you taking metformin for it? That should help, but a hysterectomy will not (unfortunately.) PCOS is a metabolic disorder, it has very little to do with your ovaries really despite the name. It's mainly about how your body produces and uses insulin. The excess insulin affects your pituitary gland and can interrupt ovulation in a way that causes your sex-related hormones to get out of balance, but primarily PCOS is about metabolism.

Who knows how the two are related. I know I have seen a number of other women with PCOS mention the HS sores, so maybe there is a connection. For me, the flares definitely seem to be connected to hormones like your derm. said (mine go in cycles with my period, for example) but other people on this board have said that hormones don't affect them. I know a couple of women here have said after menopause or after a hysterectomy they have as many sores as ever.

You could try taking an anti-androgen medication like spironalactone, brand name Aldactone in the US. It can treat the androgen symptoms of PCOS like facial hair and acne, and if I'm not mistaken some people on this board have seen help with their HS after using it. See the bar with green writing at the top? Click where it says "Treatments" and you can search for it through there. But that's one thought.

Have you ever tried birth control pills? Did they make your symptoms better or worse? Combo pills (estrogen and progesterone) definitely made mine worse, progesterone only didn't affect my HS much, but maybe you'll find they help by leveling out your cycle?

I suffer from extreme ovary pain and abdominal pain which lands me in hospital for a few days at a time as I pass out from the pain and my ovaries are just growing and growing in size, that is bad enough on it's own but like you, my HS gets horrendous around that time of the month and I am just so lucky that I have a loving partner that helps me lance and drain them, otherwise I would be in A&E far to much. My dermo did meet with my old gynae doctor as they are actually friends and are very interested in the link between PCOS and HS but nothing really came out of it as it is an interest.

They have tried me on various things in Gynae, I did have injections for about 4 months or so to shut down my ovaries but that then put me into an early menopause and the HS was horrific, I didn't know if I was coming or going, they have now put me on a pill called Cerazette, I have only been on this for a week or so, I am crossing my fingers that this does work as I can take this for life.

I did try Metformin but it made me sick after eating anything so they took me off this, I have since been told that they offer a 'tummy friendly' version so think I might investigate that with the doctors, I follow Slimming World religiously and exercise but just cannot seem to shift the weight either :-( I did lose 4 stone at one point and my HS was just as bad so they no longer lecture me on the weight part.

Thank you so much for responding, in the UK there is hardly anything like this and the nurses and doctors do not even know what HS is when you tell them what it is, I had a student doctor change my dressings last week and he was absolutely intrigued as he had never heard of it, I showed him all the scarring around my boobs, under my arms etc and he wanted to do a case study, I agreed as more needs to he done about this condition.

I will stop waffling now and thanks again for the advice, I am going to research that spironolactone xx

I'm so sorry to hear about the ovary / abdominal pain. Boy, it seems like you just can't get a break with this stuff, can you! Good luck with everything.