I am on holiday in the US (no medical insurance here) and on an extremely limited budget. I cannot find a doctor or nurse here to talk to on the phone or to arrange an office visit with today. I've been having pain/burning during urination and frequently feel the need to urinate for several days. However, today I also started getting strong, throbbing abdominal cramps, nausea and diarhhea. I don't want to go to the hospital unless it is absolutely necessary- as I don't have the money to pay for that. Will I live to see another day if I try to schedule to see a doctor tomorrow (if I can find one to see me) or is this something that needs immediate attention.
I know it is stupid to travel without health insurance- my situation at the moment made it impossible to organize. Any honest, helpful advice would be an absolute miracle. I would appreciate it immensely. Thank you.
Answer:
Get to a Doc-ASAP-Call tomorrow and ask can you pay on time-tell them your situation. I don't know where you are but here there are doctors that would take you. It sound s like a bad UTI. Dr ink Cranberry Juice-Azo does no good-just causes the Urinary test to be orange when they test and it's some times annoying, and it will not help, and yours sounds pretty bad.Most E.R.'s are $500.00 and that's not counting the test they'll run. Go tomorrow-Darlin I wish you would have already gone. I think if you can make it one more day, you're gonna live.
go to the local ER. they will bill you for services.
drink lots of water, avoid drinks that are sweet or contain caffeine, and wash your hands before wiping your bottom (wipe front to back).
You need attention. Now. Find the closest hospital. They will not turn you away without insurance.
Sounds like it could be a urinary tract infection. AZO can be purchased in a drug store, and usually helps.
Definitely sounds like a UTI until you can visit the doctor make sure to drink lots of cranberry juice and water. Check online to see if there are local clinics in your area. The health department would even work...many go on a sliding fee scale. Just explain your situation and someone can usually find you some sort of help. Even the catholic diocese has clinics in many areas that provide basic medical services.
Rather than going to an ER where you will incurr outrageous costs while you sit for 10 hours in an overcrowded waiting room, find an "urgent Care" center. These have doctors and nurses on staff that can prescribe meds - you need antibiotics. It sound as if you had a UTI that spread. When tehy prescribe something, ask wheth erthey have med samples (FREE!) or whether they can specify that generics are ok - the price difference is enormous. You will find urgent care centers through Yahoo Yellow pages. In the meantime, drink lots of water.
The honest advice is that you do need to see a doctor. You could have a simple urinary infection (drink lots of water, lemon barley water if you can find it), lay off the alcohol, don't have intercouse, stick to basic hygiene; but even that won't clear up without a course of antibiotics. The cramps and other symptoms are more worrying, though - the urinary infection could have spread to the kidneys, if you're a woman you could be having an ectopic pregnancy; there's no way this will clear up on its own and by your own account you're getting worse. This isn't worth taking risks with, please.
As a healthcare provider I think you have a urinary tract infection. It is not a life threating conditon, but it can make you feel terrible untill you get it taken care of. Sitting is a warm bathtub can help the discomfort. You can buy an over-the-counter medication for burning during urination.
How awful... Sorry to hear that. Something similar happened to me on a trip (in my own country...). For the urinary issues, over-the-counter AZO Standard pills numb the pain in your urinary tract. You can buy it in any drugstore or grocery store. You may have a stomach flu or ate something bad. In any case, if you have diarrhea, your body's naturally purging itself (literally) of the toxic elements, so that's a good step. Where I got into trouble was when I got really dehydrated and needed a saline IV at the local ER. Keep in mind, you may have to wait hours to see a doctor, so you might want to wait a few hours and see if you feel better. I hope you're not alone. Pepto Bismal tablets (also in the drug/grocery store) can help if it's food poisoning or something like that. Don't take anti-diarrhea medicine (like Immodium), until after your body purges itself a bit (otherwise, you slow the natural process), but it's great at calming the cramping if it doesn't stop after diarrhea happens. Drink a lot of water. Your body has an amazing ability to heal itself, you just need to watch out for dangerous symptoms or if you aren't getting better. Good luck!
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It sounds like you have urinary tract infection, you need to drink lots of water, stay away from soda, tea, coffee, etc. There is a over the counter med. that you can buy to help relieve the pain it is called uristat, however it makes your urine orange, but it will help with the pain. You do need an antibiotic to cure it completely, but seeing as how you are on vacation you can do the things I told you and wait until you get home to make an appt. with your doctor.
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