Boils

[ScreamingBeauty]

I get A LOT of boils. From what i have read on here there are some women with PCOS that get them too. I suspect it might also be linked to my diabetes. I was wondering if anyone knew of a way of preventing them. My doc told me to use Lever 2000 which i do but it hasn't helped. I get them on my inner thighs and sometimes on the outside of my vagina. I get them a lot on my underarms especially after shaving. I was wondering if someone knew of some kind of cream or pill that could help prevent them from coming up in the first place.

[honeykiss]

I had a similar problem and my Doctor prescribed a very low does of antibiotics for me to take over several weeks. I also find if I let my diet go out of control they are much worse.

Avoid squeezing or picking etc as this can leave scarring and make them worse.

Good luck

Wendy

[lovemychris]

I agree with honeykiss above. My sister is diabetic and was getting boils very badly until she took an antibiotic. I believe it's some sort of staph infection. She'd use black salve on it until the antibiotics kicked in. She hasn't had another boil since taking the antibiotics.

Best wishes to you...I know they really hurt.

[PBLayzod]

The are called hidradenitis suppurativa and are related to PCOS. If you do a search you'll find several previous threads on this subject.

[DrewM]

I get them a lot on my underarms especially after shaving.

I have a small suggestion that may or may not make a difference. A long time ago I had a friend who got severe razorburn everywhere she shaved. (Not the same problem, I know.) Her doctor told her to leave her razor in a jar of alcohol when she wasn't using it. All kinds of bacteria can grow on it and get in your skin when you shave. I assume she rinsed the alcohol off before shaving, but it worked miracles for her legs and armpits.

I think your condition occurs deeper in the skin, but it couldn't hurt to use a sterile razor, right? Especially if shaving seems to trigger them?

But I also agree with the other girls that you should consult a doctor. No point living with them if someone can help!

[*~SugarPlums~*]

The boils are related to pcos AND diabetes.

I was actually diagnosed with type 2 after having one of the worst boils I have ever had. I had always gotten them prior, in the same areas you do. This one however was HUGE. Got infected and was the size of a softball. The Dr said that she these often in those with diabetes who's sugars are poorly controlled. I told her that diabetes was not my problem! Well, it was.

I still get them but most are small and resolve on there own.

You need to see an Infectious Disease Specialist. Most times these boils carry staph and or MIRSA. They can probably put you on a low dose antibiotic for several weeks.

Are your sugars controlled? When I let mine get out of whack I get bad boils. I have been hospitalized for them, 1 time for almost 1 week. It would have been longer but I left AMA.

There is also a very strong cream, bactroban, you can apply topically to them and that helps. Most Drs don't want to rx that though because it is strong.

To bring them to a head soak in as hot water as you can tolerate with epsom salt. If you can manage to use a heating pad , use that too. I do that by using pillows to help hold it there. I also reccomend bacitracin or neosporin. I rub it in for a while.

Unfortunately these can get really bad and painful. They have affected the way I walk because of where they are and they are soooo painful. I have to take care of the kiddos though so when they get bad I usually wrap a wide ACE bandage around my leg and that holds it in so I can walk a bit better (for the ones I get on my inner thighs).

[ScreamingBeauty]

The boils are related to pcos AND diabetes.

I was actually diagnosed with type 2 after having one of the worst boils I have ever had. I had always gotten them prior, in the same areas you do. This one however was HUGE. Got infected and was the size of a softball. The Dr said that she these often in those with diabetes who's sugars are poorly controlled. I told her that diabetes was not my problem! Well, it was.

I still get them but most are small and resolve on there own.

You need to see an Infectious Disease Specialist. Most times these boils carry staph and or MIRSA. They can probably put you on a low dose antibiotic for several weeks.

Are your sugars controlled? When I let mine get out of whack I get bad boils. I have been hospitalized for them, 1 time for almost 1 week. It would have been longer but I left AMA.

There is also a very strong cream, bactroban, you can apply topically to them and that helps. Most Drs don't want to rx that though because it is strong.

To bring them to a head soak in as hot water as you can tolerate with epsom salt. If you can manage to use a heating pad , use that too. I do that by using pillows to help hold it there. I also reccomend bacitracin or neosporin. I rub it in for a while.

Unfortunately these can get really bad and painful. They have affected the way I walk because of where they are and they are soooo painful. I have to take care of the kiddos though so when they get bad I usually wrap a wide ACE bandage around my leg and that holds it in so I can walk a bit better (for the ones I get on my inner thighs).

thanks for the input all!

SugarPlum- I actually had MRSA last summer. how i got that, i will never know. i'm a very clean person. Every time they do the nose swab for it, they say i still have it but its just not active. I've been getting the boils long before that though. Usually to get them to break i use Boilease. Sometimes it leaves a crater type thing on my skin but its better than the throbbing pain. Sadly, the antibiotics don't work. I have been on them many times for many reasons and they don't help with the boils. We i get the bumps that are the actual MRSA (the boils i'm talking about feel much different) they give me some horse pill antibiotic called Bactrium.

I had one on my tailbone area that i had to have surgery on because it ended up being something called a polinidel (sp?) cyst...that was fun.

anyways, my sugars are in better control then they used to be. right now i range between 60 and 180 most of the time. (i should be 80 to 180) I just recently started going to a gym and trying to eat less carbs. I'm hoping that will help with the boils. they're so painful and its so embarrassing when people see my underarms!

[PBLayzod]

Thought I'd mention that I didn't get any while I was taking Metformin.

[ScreamingBeauty]

Thought I'd mention that I didn't get any while I was taking Metformin.

hmmmm...i take Met too. 850mg once a day. I'm seeing a specialist who works a lot with PCOS next month...maybe she knows something my pcp doesnt. Congrads on the baby by the way. She's a Cancer like me. hehe. that'll be quite the handful

[PBLayzod]

All 4 of us in my house are cancers (Me, DH, DD, and BIL). It's um.......interesting.

[Eva37]

hello

me too, have had hs since i was a teen. Not had a flair up since Jan this year. I have been drinking 2 cups ginger tea a day , and three cups of green tea. I only use 'pit rock' deod - from the health shop
eva

[HOLLAND]

I get these as well. I feel for you!! They are no fun and can be so painful

[Eruanna]

I get them occassionally, but when I do they can be huge! My last one was on my chest and it's taking forever for the marking to go away. I always feel so dirty when I get one, even though they appear no matter how clean you are.

My doctor has been hopeless and hasn't recommended anything for them. When I was getting them often I started taking an immune booster from the health food store which made a difference in the frequency.

Until I read this thread I never knew they could be a symptom of PCOS. Next time I get one if my doctor won't help I'm going to see a different one!

[symplistik]

Wow, this is a great post! I just made a post telling how I had to go to the hospital because I had one in my neck! They had to drain it, and lance it. The pain was horrible. I could barely turn my head and when I did, I would scream in pain. The doctor told me it was "Staph".

He put me on Bactrium and Keflex which are both antibotics. I only had to take them for 10 days but they were very high doses! I had to take 1600mg of Bactrium and the Keflex was 500mg.

Prior to that, I very rarely get boils but if I do ... most of the time they are under my "rolls". Haha. They usually go away pretty quickly with a nice hot shower. As Eruanna mentioned, I never knew they were a symptom of PCOS or Diabetes.

[Mom-e-Jules-PCOS]

Oh boy, I don't have any cure-all's for these horrible PCOS symptomatic boils. I get them under my armpits (severely scarred), on my breasts from being on the nipple to being on the sides, underneath, on my abdomen (apple shaped), under my apron, between my thighs, & the worse spot is on my labia! I feel absolutely ugly & gross when I'm experiencing a flair up. If I stay on my Diabetes & PCOS meds the incidence is less, but these boils are often times headless & excruciatingly painful. When I was younger (before alot was known about PCOS/IR) my dermatologist put me on high doses of Vitamin A (beta carotene) & it really helped but ultimately the Met & Byetta really help my skin!

Hope this helps!