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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jonrwebb 08/02/2012

Since I'm convinced that my symptoms are triggered by diet, I started an elimination diet yesterday. Here's hoping I can lock down the offending foods.
The withdrawal headache from lack of caffeine is a bummer.

Here's the list of some of the suspects:

Gluten
Alcohol
Caffeine
Dairy
Citrus
Corn
Potatoes

bjustice82 08/02/2012

Good luck!

respectful 08/04/2012

Best of Luck to you, unfortunately diet changes have not helped me...but they may work for you. Good Luck

deleted_user 08/04/2012

Good luck. I have to have caffeine not everyday but I get bad migrains and coffee/ slash tea help alot cuz I dont like taking headache meds :( hope all goes well keep us posted.

jonrwebb 08/07/2012

OK, so week 1 is under my belt. I am pleased to say that I'm seeing some good results. My right underarm, which is usually always infected and draining is closed and healed. My left, which had only recently flared up is almost full clear.
I've followed my elimination diet to the letter and have changed nothing else. (I am having one small cup of coffee in the morning as the withdrawal symptoms were too much. I'll drop down the amount by about an ounce a week.
I'll keep you apprised of this week's results.

BTW: It was a long holiday weekend here in New Brunswick, Canada. I did not have a single beer or drink. This was as un-canadian as you can get, but I did it. My taste buds took one for the team.

deleted_user 08/07/2012

Aspirin helps with caffeine headaches. I had to quit drinking cokes when I was on accutane because it made my joint pain worse. It helps a lot until you can quit it completely. It actually has caffeine in it.

IamDavid 08/07/2012

There is a support group on FaceBook who have been doing just this thing for years with great results.
HS and GLUTEN FREE to PALEO
http://www.facebook.com/groups/hsandglutenfree/?bookmark_t=group

deleted_user 08/08/2012

I agree!! :-))

jilly1985 08/10/2012

I gave up caffeine for 8 days and had the worst headaches ever! I am going to try lowering my caffeine intake by drinking only 12 ounces a day (I drink a lot of diet coke!) or drinking tea and going down from there. It's going to be hard! I am counting calories but I want to start cutting back on Gluten. I don't eat potatoes much so I really feel my intake of carbs (bread) is what is ailing me the most.

jonrwebb 08/10/2012

Things are still going well on the elimination diet. Who knew I had the willpower?!
As a bonus, I'm actually down from 200lbs to 197. I'm 6 foot, and not overweight as it is, but hey, if I can get down to a trim 190, it'd be great!
The caffeine withdrawal is ok with a small coffee only in the morning. Sugar cravings are high. I'd kill from some crunchy gummy bears!

deleted_user 08/10/2012

For 9 months I followed a STRICT Gluten-Free diet. It made no difference with the HS.

...but I dropped about 22 lbs that I couldn't afford to lose: at 92 lbs folks were insinuating that I was an anorexic! :-O

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