By YOLAINE DÍAZ Photos by KIKE FLORES
One spring morning almost a decade ago, Tabatha Lozano got up with a strange feeling on her back that nearly kept her from going to work. “The first thing I felt was an itch, and it was kind of burning,” recalls the businesswoman and event coordinator with Puerto Rican roots. “It felt like my skin was on fire.”
That burning sensation was one of the first signs that she was suffering from herpes zoster, a condition better known as shingles. “I was shocked because I had never heard of it. Now there’s more information and awareness about the virus, but at the time, I had no idea what I had,” recalls the mother of two daughters, who lives in South Florida. “I went to the doctor with pain and blistering. He gave me [an] antibiotic cream and an antihistamine for the itching, [and] he told me to take [an analgesic] to control the pain.”
While Lozano didn’t know much about shingles, the fact is that every year there are a million cases in the U.S. and about 1 out of every 3 people will be affected by the disease at some point in their life, according to the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID). “Herpes zoster, also known as shingles, is a condition that occurs on the skin, a kind of very painful blisters,” says Dr. Denise Núñez, who did not treat Lozano. “It’s the same [virus] that causes chickenpox. When a person gets chickenpox and recovers, that virus is still dormant in part of the body’s nerves, especially [in] the back.
The devastating herpes zoster diagnosis that Lozano received came on top of the psoriasis, ulcerative colitis, and eczema she has been fighting for years. “I also had a lot of headaches, and I think they were because of the awful pain that the outbreaks were causing me,” recalls Lozano, 50, who was living in New York at the time. “Those headaches were massive.”
Shingles is more common in people over 60, although it can affect people of all ages. The burning, itching, numbness or tingling, red rash, and liquid- filled blisters are among the main symptoms. “I was used to the scaly skin, inflammation, and redness that I get with eczema,” says Lozano, who had a small pastry business and also was working as a makeup artist when the first outbreaks hit. “But the pain from shingles... The only way I can describe it is that I felt like my skin was on fire.”
Once the first symptoms appear, Núñez says, it’s best to go to the doctor right away. “They will do some lab tests, but when doctors see it, we know right away if it’s [herpes zoster]. Several antiviral drugs can be prescribed to reduce the effects and speed healing, says the doctor, whose family hails from the Dominican Republic. “The doctor can also prescribe medicines for pain. There are patches [and] sprays for the pain.”
In Lozano’s case, shingles appeared first on her back and then spread to other parts of her body. “I got it inside my nose and on my earlobe, both on the right side. It was all on the same side,” she recalls, wincing. “The skin was so sensitive and scaly in my ear, and it hurt so bad that I thought my ear was going to fall off.” The pain was accompanied by a terrible feeling of outrage. “When I got sick, my first feeling was anger. [I] thought, ‘What is this thing attacking my body? Why did it pick me out of all the people?’” she confesses. “It was a very stressful and unhappy time in my life. I think anger was the strongest emotion I felt. Then I said, ‘I have to pull myself together’ because I didn’t have that luxury. I had two girls, and I had to recover.”
It was a very stressful and unhappy time in my life. I think anger was the strongest emotion I felt
Tabatha Lozano
In fact, the illness affected Lozano to the point that she still has scars that remind her of that unpleasant episode. “I still have a mark on the inside of my nose where I had the outbreak,” she says. “That area was so red and blistered that I was using tea tree oil and oregano patches to heal it, but it flaked so much that I still have a scar inside my nose.” In addition to whatever medications the doctor prescribes, Núñez recommends “eating healthy and exercising to stay in shape” as ways to speed up recovery. “You have to consider preventive measures. These viruses are transmitted by touch and through the air.” Her doctor’s advice and her grandmother’s home remedies helped Lozano overcome the discomfort and intense pain, which lingered for two months. “My grandmother told me to take oatmeal baths and use the pink [analgesic] cream. So that pink cream saved me,” she admits. “[My grandmother] taught me to make patches with cornmeal, baking soda and a little water. I put it on, left it until it dried, and then took an oatmeal bath. That helped me immensely.”
Dr. Núñez says that to prevent shingles, it’s best to get vaccinated. “It’s important to get vaccinated when you’re over 50. There are two doses.” The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that in addition to giving it to people over 50, the vaccine also should be given to people over the age of 19 whose immune system is compromised due to illness. The vaccine provides strong protection against shingles and also against postherpetic neuralgia, the most common complication of this illness. “You have to be careful about postherpetic neuralgia, which is terrible pain caused by damage to the nerve, and it’s impossible to live [with] that,” Núñez says. “It lasts a long time, and you must give them a lot of medicine. Some patients wind up with encephalitis and are devastated.”
Fortunately, that wasn’t the case with Lozano. “The doctor told me that I could get shingles again but that I can avoid it by watching what foods I eat and what vitamins I take, so I’ve focused on that,” says Lozano, who has not had another bout and has gone through changes in her personal and professional life in recent years. “I feel good. I’m at peace. I think getting shingles and everything that has happened to me in recent years has helped me see things from a different perspective, helped me to be more grateful, learn, and accept my shortcomings.”
PHOTOS: KIKE FLORES/@KIKEFLORESCREATOR; PHOTOS POST PRODUCTION: @RETOQUESYEDICIONES; PHOTO ASSISTANT: DENNISE SÁNCHEZ; PRODUCER: PATRICIA RIVADENEIRA/DUCK BOX PRODUCTIONS; HAIR AND MAKEUP: JULIANA GONZÁLEZ; STYLIST: ANGELA MARÍA LEAÑO