It was 2010, and Katie Lowes was having the biggest year of her life: She had just booked a recurring role on ABC’s “Scandal” and gotten engaged to her boyfriend. Her psoriasis, of course — the chronic autoimmune skin disorder that affects 7.5 million Americans — took it as a sign that something needed to misfire, pronto. “All eyes were on me, and stress really triggered flare-ups in my skin,” says Lowes, 35, who plays Quinn on the hit ABC drama. “It started small and then spread and spread the more stressed I got, until it reached a place where I had to do something about it.”
That place, in particular, was canceling the engagement photos she had planned for and looked forward to. “I was having a really bad flare-up on the back of my neck, down my back and behind my ears, and I just felt terrible,” Lowes recalls. “I couldn’t find anything to wear, and I didn’t want to wear my hair down because I was always wearing my hair down to hide it. So I canceled [the photo session], and that’s when I said, ‘Wow, I’m literally missing out on life events that should be awesome because of this disease. Enough’s enough.'”
Lowes is opening up for the first time about living with psoriasis; last week, she announced a new campaign called ” Psoriasis: The Inside Story” in partnership with Janssen Biotech, Inc. and the National Psoriasis Foundation. The site features videos of Lowes describing her experiences with the disease and invites others to join the conversation so they know they’re not alone. “I was embarrassed and sad when I was diagnosed — what does it mean for me? Are people going to find out?” Lowes says. “Those were all the inner monologue stories going on in my head — I was in a really dark place, and I think a lot of people can related to that. And now I’m in a place where I got a lot of my symptoms under control and that monologue has quieted a lot. I feel really lucky and want other people to be able to get there, too.”
Psoriasis causes skin cells to speed up, multiplying up to 10 times faster than normal, which in turn causes raised, red plaques covered with white scales to appear on the skin. The lesions might be itchy and painful and could crack and bleed; other symptoms include dry, cracked skin and swollen, stiff joints. It’s a cyclical disease, typically flaring up for a few weeks or months (often prompted by stress) and then subsiding. There’s no cure, but treatment can offer relief.
Lowes tried an assortment of treatments and doctors before finding a biologic drug that works well for her. “I can be a bother, and I really wanted to be my own advocate and not give up until I found something that worked for me,” she says. “I’ll stick with [my current medication] until something changes and I need to move on. It’s about moving with the disease and seeing how your symptoms change as your environment and stress levels change.”
Lowes credits her support system with helping her through her diagnosis and the complications psoriasis presents. “My husband was put through the ringer — he went through me canceling things and being embarrassed on vacations and in bathing suits and putting on lotions for me,” she says. “And my hair and makeup team, on ‘Scandal’ and on the red carpet, were very supportive.”
Most of her “Scandal” colleagues weren’t aware of her condition prior to her announcement last week, since she kept it hidden. She said telling them excited her, because “they’re the best people on the planet, and they will be 100 percent supportive of me.”
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‘Scandal’ Actress Katie Lowes Opens Up About Psoriasis Diagnosis originally appeared on usnews.com
