A Call for Action

Lately I have found a routine that works nicely in keeping the aliens at bay. While I still have them and some drainage (Hi, can you say let's invest our money in Always?!?!? Oh, the number of pads I go through for those vaginal/bottom leaks!), they are not as big and new ones do not surface as often. Here has been my plan of action:

Diet: South Beach Diet, Phase II
Exercise: Moderate walking 4-5 times per week
Skin treatments: Tea tree oil spray & bubble bath, some baths with Lush products containing honey
Hormone treatment: Natural Progesterone Cream

I have found over the last three months that if I do all of these things with minimal skipping or cheating, my HS is better controlled. However, just stopping one of these elements causes HS to come back in its ugliest, most painful form faster than you can say "I'll have a large Cherry Coke, please."

Over the last two weeks I became a little lax and my diet allowed a few too many sweets and I stopped the progesterone cream. Since then I have had several new aliens on my bottom and the threat of one under my arm, as I previously mentioned.

Aside from all of the pain, the quality of life is just abysmal. I felt more tired, achy, spaced-out, and lethargic. Nobody should have to live like that, so today, I am committing myself to the above-mentioned program again, though I am going to go back to Phase I of South Beach for at least a week. While I know we all need to be bad sometimes, I am challenging myself to stay with it religiously, with no more than one diet cheat per week (after this first week, of course), until we leave for vacation on August 18.