Health Time Capsule

If I made a time capsule today about me and my experiences with fibromyalgia, that wouldn't be opened until 2112, here's what would be inside:

An empty bottle of Cymbalta, with a note attached to it that reads:  "In the new millennium, people who had fibromyalgia were prescribed Cymbalta by their doctors. It made all of your emotions go away, you gained an immediate 30 pounds and were never able to lose it even years after stopping the medication. After about a year being on Cymbalta, the chronic pain returned, worse than ever.  You never got rid of your fatigue, ever.  Oh, you slept, like the dead, and your husband complained that you made funny noises in your sleep."

An un-filled prescription for Lyrica, with another note.  It reads:  "Here's a prescription I didn't fill for Lyrica.  This was also prescribed by doctors for people with fibromyalgia in the 2000s.  I heard so many bad things about the side effects of this medication that I refused to fill the prescription."

An empty starter pack of Savella, and this note:  "I thought this medication would be 'the one' to cure my fibromyalgia, but Savella never got off the ground, because I couldn't!  This medication caused horrendous hyperhydrosis (that's uncontrollable sweating), nausea, insomnia and lack of energy.  I couldn't move because every time I did the slightest amount of activity, I'd start sweating buckets."

A DVD and flash drive (hopefully you can still use them) containing television commercials for Cymbalta and Lyrica.  Yes, they advertised this stuff to the end-user of the product, even though you can't get it without a prescription.  "Ask your doctor if Cymbalta is right for you", they'd tout, followed by a laundry list of side effects as the ad fades out.

A printout of the 2010 Massachusetts Pain Initiative Survey that states that 1 out of 4 adults living in Massachusetts suffers from chronic pain that interferes with their life.

Another printout from the Institute of Medicine Report on Chronic Pain from 2011 indicating that chronic pain affects an estimated 116 MILLION American adults and costs the United States approximately $635 BILLION dollars every year in lost productivity costs and medical treatment costs.

And finally, a bottle of Advil, and another memo:  "This is Advil.  In 2012, you can buy it over the counter, with no prescription.  It's the only thing that knocks my fibromyalgia pain out of the ballpark."

What would people 100 years from now think of this time capsule's contents?  I hope they would laugh and say "Fibromyalgia and chronic pain were cured years ago!"  and "I can't believe people actually tried this stuff!"


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