What It's Like To Love Someone With HS

HS: My Story (part1)

Adarsh's flare-ups started when many people's do, around puberty. At 14, he says he was starting to get minor cysts around his shoulders and armpits, which most people attributed to the normal process of acne and discoloration that tends to happen around that time. As the years went on, the outbreaks became progressively worse, and Adarsh realized something wasn't quite right. He says that each physician he consulted would prescribe him a different medication, but nothing put it into remission.

The years after Adarsh describes as "unbearable," but amid what he calls "mind-numbing pain," he found a light at the end of the tunnel: a new relationship. After meeting in a coworking space earlier last year, Adarsh and Shreya began to strike up conversation. "We hit it off instantly, and at the same mutual friend's birthday party a few weeks later, he asked me out," Shreya said. "It's been great since then, because we have such diverse interests. Mine being poetry, films, and photography and his being computers, aviation and space. So, there's always something to learn from the other, so we think we're growing. Apart from that, we share the same sense of humour — you bet we keep exchanging memes — and values."

But of course, a new relationship wasn't going to come without some questions regarding his HS. After the first time Shreya asked Adarsh about his breakout, he went onto explain to her that it's a chronic condition. She says she didn't understand how serious it was until she saw the severity of a breakout for herself. "Just sharing his insecurities with me which is an admirable quality, if you ask me," she says.