Open Letter to the Cymbalta Commercial

Open Letter to the Cymbalta Commercial

Dear Cymbalta commercial, I hate you. I take Cymbalta twice a day, every day. Before I started taking Cymbalta, my life was in shambles, because I felt alone. My life is still like that, the only difference is that I have learned to deal with it. I am 19 years old, and have had fibromyalgia for many years. You depict an older woman whose life is magically transformed into an idyllic life we all want to live. This is unfair. My health will never be perfect. Although Cymbalta has helped me manage my illness, there are still days when I can’t get out of bed, and I cry in pain. I still have to take rescue medication when this happens.

Before my diagnosis, I was terrified. I thought that I was dying. I was 14 years old and I couldn’t even lift my head. Fibromyalgia doesn’t always just affect older women. It affects many children and young adults.

People have come up to me after seeing your commercial (often the first time they have heard of my illness) and ask misinformed questions. They doubt my illness and my credibility.

Please, change. Be more diverse, add representation. Show the ups and downs, don’t trick someone into thinking their life will again be what it was.

Ci