Hidradenitis Suppurativa pain!

[Hannaa]

Hi everyone, this is my first post on here. I have been suffering with Hidradenitis Suppurativa for 16 years now. It has gotten to the point where it is extremely painful and I am on 3600mg of Gabapentin a day and it is not helping in the slightest.

I was referred to a pain clinic and there answer was to reduce Gabapentin and try acupuncture or psychotherapy.

For people who dont know about Hidradenitis Suppurativa it is a skin disease which causes me to get huge reoccurring boils in areas like my armpits, groin, thighs and bust. It is incurable and worsens over time.

The doctor believes that the pain I describe is from nerve damage but wants me to come off nerve pain killers. Can anyone shed some light on what I should do here? The pain is too much to be coming off pain killers and doing nothing!

Thank you,

Hannah.

[KatieRL]

Hi Hannaa - I'm sorry I don't know very much about your illness but it sounds extremely painful. What I do have is a positive tale to tell about acupuncture - I suffer with Lupus (SLE) and when I was first got symptoms I suffered horribly with swollen ankles, knees, elbows, hands, wrists etc - it was very similar to arthritis and at one point my legs and arms were bandaged. Doctors knew nothing about Lupus at that time and tried giving me a whole pile of pills to try and help but nothing came anywhere close to helping me. In desperation I stopped at an acupuncturist and asked for help. The gentleman I saw was amazing, he told me I had an autoimmune illness and although he could not cure the underlying disease, he could help my swollen joints and pain. I had four treatments and after I'd finished the pain started to subside and from that day (back in the 80's) to today I have not suffered from any pain in those joints again. Now this may not happen with everyone as we are all different, however my message is that you must try it. Honestly, it's worth it, even if at the end of it, you need to revert to medication. I send you my very best wishes for next year xxxxx

[bear4ble]

Could in the first instance reflect that boils are usually the first symptoms of scurvy, then gingivitis etc etc. You could try liposomal Vitamin C ( Altrient trade name ) 30 sachets at two a day and see what happens! Solgar female multiple could assist since it also includes B12. If it turns out that there is no improvement, it may then be case of getting a doctor to see if there is a metabolic difficulty.