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Nightshades reaction time for flareup

Posted , 5 users are following.

aussie76
aussie76

Hi All,

I've never been that convinced on dietary causes (no dermatologist has ever bought it up).  I read lots of forums with sufferers using elimination diets to prove their HS is an allergic reaction to nightshade vegetables.

I've had a 3 month remission following IV antibiotics.  I'm monitoring very closely....  I had a very positive reaction to having half a potato and a peice of pumpklin the other night.  The next day my armpiut threatened to flare... and the next day it has behgun settling down and I don;t thik will flare.

But that really makes me think Nightshades could actually be the issue (for me).  Does anyone know how quickly you would expect a reaction?  12 hrs later???

I imagine if I kept eating pumpkin/potato every few days... it would flare and be hard to idenitfiy amongst what you eat.. but just eating it the once I think it just gave me a pretty strong warning sign

Tony

1 like, 15 replies

15 Replies

  • kaymate
    kaymate aussie76

    Posted

    Hi Tony.

    Well done on being in remission after your IV antibiotics. I've never heard of that before.

    Like you, I was sceptical at first about elimination diets, but after visits to doctors, dermatologists etc proved useless, I realised I was on my own. I spent hours and hours surfing the internet looking for a cure, but as we all know there isn't one and by the looks of things, never will be either. More and more I was coming across the elimination of nightshades. This was never going to be easy for me as i ate potatoes and tomatoes everyday. However, I tried it and for the first time in many, many years I was having days of being pain free. Absolute bliss.

    In answer to your question, I'm not sure about the length of time it takes from eating nightshades to the actual flare up, but like you, if I eat them one day, they seem to start to appear the next day. Sometimes they come up all guns blazing, red angry, painful and big, and then eventually go on to drain, other times they make an appearance, are small and not very painful and then eventually go of their own accord without draining (this is rare). For me it's just potatoes and tomatoes that are the main culprits.

    • aussie76
      aussie76 kaymate

      Posted

      Thanks Kaymate, fantastic you may have found your trigger too!  and confirming it's a 'next-day' type reaction, matches my experience.  I also have to work out if its the potato or pumpkin... and I can happily avoid tomato... although I do love tomato source on a meat pie.

      PS - the IV Antibotics was .... Intravenous Clindamycin, 30 mins, 3 times a day for 10 days to treat a ripper of an an abscess after surgery.  cleaned up everything ;>

    • kaymate
      kaymate aussie76

      Posted

      I have clindamycin lotion, amongst other things, but it's pretty useless if I'm honest.

      Were you in hospital for the 10 days? Was the surgery for the abscess or did that come afterwards? You must've been in excruciating pain.

      I've only ever had one surgery and that was many moons ago to have a pilonidal cyst removed. It wouldn't heal and kept getting infected again and again, so I've avoided surgery ever since, they said I was a bad healer, whatever that means. I'm going back 40 odd years.

    • aussie76
      aussie76 kaymate

      Posted

      Hi Kaymate, yes I was in hospital the whole time.  And guess what... it was a pilonidal also.  Yes absolutely excrutiating which is what got me down the emergency department as I couldn't function.  They did I&D initially..  then two weeks later the excision along with a 10 day hospital stay with an open wound while being pumped with the clindamycin through canulars.

      They had me on IV amoxicillin I think it was... then got a biopsy back and swapped to clindamycin.  (I'm 40 and had the PS for about 15-20 years - finally got out of control)

      From what you said I'll demote it down my list of options.  People say Clorhexadrine wash is a good preventative option.  And I've been using iodine at the first sign of activity with unknown success so far... still in remission with these little warning signs

    • aussie76
      aussie76

      Posted

      Oops I meant I will demote topical clindamycin down my list of future options as I had wondered what it was like
    • kaymate
      kaymate aussie76

      Posted

      If the IV clindamycin worked for you, then maybe the lotion will too, but let's hope you will live a pain free life from now on. Together with the IV clindamycin and the elimination diet I have every hope that you will. Now wouldn't that be nice.

    • kaymate
      kaymate

      Posted

      How on earth did you cope with your pilonidal sinus for that long? I couldn't sit down with mine. I could barely even walk.

      When they operated they must've dug deep because they packed it with gauze. When it was time to replace the gauze with fresh packing, the amount they pulled out must've measured about three or feet get long. And that's a conservative estimate. It went on forever.

    • aussie76
      aussie76 kaymate

      Posted

      it used to drained and flaired like the HS and since I was speaking to dermotologists and trying treatments and being told it was a very hard condition to beat.  I just assumed I was stuck with the PS too...

      I had many flares over the more recent years where i couldn't walk and would crawl around the house for a day and lean on everything.  But given a week of developing and about 3 days of massive pressure it would eventually burst and drain.

      Weeks would go by

      the final time... I couldn't see how that one was going to burst and it was pushing it's way into new areas laterally..  and yep.. about 6 feet of gauze... packed twice a day for those 10 days.

      I can't recommend enough for any other HS sufferers with a Pilonidal to get it removed properly.

    • hypercat
      hypercat aussie76

      Posted

      Hi that's interesting.  I spent 3 days in hospital once with an abcess which was incised under general anaesthetic.   I had 2 lots of intravenous treatments but don't know what it was.  It worked anyway.  I am glad you seem to be remission now. 

      I am 62 now and have had HS for around 15 years (well that's when I was diagnosed anyway).   I rarely get them now which I put down to age.  I don't cut nightshades out or do anything else.  Now I have said that I will get a monster I expect...  x

  • barbara89659
    barbara89659 aussie76

    Posted

    Hi Tony, I find that tomatoes and paprika are my worst foods. Paprika is the hardest to avoid because it is hidden in so many foods, even Helmans mayonnaise !  If I have these foods I get a flair up usually within 12 hours. 

    My condition has improved dramatically since I cut nightshade food out of my diet. I still get the odd flair up, but I can usually trace it back to Paprika being in something I didn't expect it to be in. Like crisps or home made stew type meals that I have been unable to check the ingredients. I am much more cautious these days before I eat something. 

    I hope cutting out these foods helps you, because it is so good to find something you can control to improve your condition. 

    Good luck with your fight with this terrible disease. Best regards Barbara xxx

     

    • aussie76
      aussie76 barbara89659

      Posted

      Thanks Barbara, I don't mind my spicey food, paprika is going to be the hard one... I read the skins of vegetables are where the most alkaloids are that cause the trouble.

      Im hoping not to be that concerned about looking at ingredients to check for traces of paprika.. Sounds I might need to. I'll begin by avoiding potato and Tomato and maybe test myself on traces of paprika in sauces and things... But if I have to I will.

      Thanks for the advice... I'll stick paprika on the watch list

  • crystal_08850
    crystal_08850 aussie76

    Posted

    Flare ups begin as long as it takes to get to your small intestine where your body absorbs the food particles. I am living proof that nightshade vegetable sensitivities cause my flare ups. I am also sensitive to coconut and nuts.
  • crystal_08850
    crystal_08850 aussie76

    Posted

    Of yeah, if you eat shredded cheese, it's coated with potato starch, I have to shred my own cheese.
    • aussie76
      aussie76 crystal_08850

      Posted

      Interesting Crystal there must be varying levels of sensitivity, but some odd places you find traces. I'm still hoping I need to eat a whole potato or tomato to trigger a reaction.
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