Question: Hello, I just recently went to a local clinic to get a checkup over my back pain I've been having for the past 6 months from my job which requires me to move and bend a lot either a dishwasher or busser at a restaurant. After the doctor asked me where it hurt during stretches she prescribed me several medications to take that should've helped with my lower back pain.

The three main medicines were Prednisone, Naproxen, and Cyclobenzaprine. She told me to start with Cyclobenzapr first because it wasn't as strong as Naproxen and is used to relax my muscle pain. Well when I went back home and took one dose before going to sleep, it gave me a sharp pain in my right leg every time I moved it. So I had to take Naproxen the next day which seemed to cure the pain but only temporarily for the back.

Afterward, I called both the pharmacy and clinic trying to figure out what's going on. The pharmacy couldn't seem to answer my question so when they told me to call the doctor I got a hold of her and she just tells me to keep taking the other prescriptions when I just mentioned the one that gave me sharp pain & numbness.

Regardless, I did what she told me and took one or two doses of Prednisone and Naproxen and days later, not only am I still having back pain but my stomach has been cramping and I've been having to go to the restroom over excessive diarrhea to the point where I'm having bloody stools. I know it has nothing to do with what I ate because if it was it wouldn't be blood in it every time and while I was at work, I never ate anything. I tried using light food such as chicken noodle soup yesterday and even ginger ale or lemon ginger tea and that hasn't helped.

I'm to the point where I stopped taking the medication altogether and the symptoms have yet still continued and I'm worried if it created worse problems because it doesn't seem to be getting better. Every time I try calling the clinic I can't talk to the doctor now because of the doctors rotating and even then it seems the staff at the clinic are only interested in me coming again and paying the expensive out of pocket visit fee of $79 just to prescribe me with more medication could potentially make it worse. I know when I researched it said it could be an ulcer or gastrointestinal bleeding but I don't think so. Is this case something where I'd need to go to an emergency hospital?

The only other thing I think it could be is sciatica. So I thought of getting a compression strap for the waist/hip and Dr. Scholl's foot gel insoles or anti-fatigue mat for the job. However, my other question is will my condition worsen by taking over the counter medicine. Should I just wait it out and continue eating light food?

If it wasn't the medication that caused these side effects than what do you think happened? Because this only now happening after taking a few doses of it. I'm nervous about eating anything now because every time I do within the next hour and 30 minutes I got to use the restroom again. Earlier today, I had taken an anti-diarrhea otc medicine which seemed to help with excessive diarrhea but it still comes out as bloody stools.

I really don't have the money to afford to go to the ER so I don't want to make a visit unless I really have to. Are you saying there is nothing I can do to get better from this? What will go to the ER help? Is it so they can examine blood from my stool or find the cause as mentioned so they can give me medicine or antibiotic for it?

I was also hoping that by not taking any more of the prescription, that the symptoms would eventually go away. If it was due to inflammation (which I don't remember any back injury except for strains) I have already lost a lot of blood clots from me having to keep using the restroom and it just causes me to feel weak since it gets out of my system quickly. I have no idea what's going on with my body but I'm certain it was the medication. Whatever happened, either way, I'm going to get to the bottom of all this by trying to call either the pharmacy or the clinic again tomorrow and hopefully I'll get some direct answers about what happened.

Or maybe it could be due to strain from pooping frequently from diarrhea. That's something else that could be a reason for blood loss. But until then when I get examined, I'll know for sure with a confirmed answer from a doctor at ER.

I've decided I'm not going to an ER or urgent care. Besides I was already in the one that caused this to happen which the doctor took my blood pressure test. Every urgent care nearby me is expensive ranging from the one I last visited costing $79 per visit to others costing $100 or even worse $149. And the example giving from the lady over the phone whom I asked about this was if you came for treatment over a strep throat, something as common as that and they expect you to pay $149 just for the visit itself it's outrageous. So no, I'm not wasting any more money. I'll just have to deal with the symptoms. It would probably be best that I get my own blood pressure machine to test myself.

I researched some more about this and found out I can try the BRAT diet which should help better than what I was eating before. Since we got bananas and plenty of applesauce and bread. I'll try this for now in the meantime since I still don't know what's going on with my body because I haven't eaten anything since this morning and yet I still been using the bathroom and having diarrhea. I'm very tired of having to keep going back but this diet should work.

I just might have to use some Pepto-Bismo too if the diet still doesn't help. I'm just getting desperate now because I know I'd have to go back to work starting this weekend and my next paycheck isn't until Monday so unless I found some loan to use, these are the only options I know so far.

I guess I'll have no choice but to visit ER considering the diet still had no effect. My body not only got rid of that but all the foods (whether liquid, light, heavy, etc.) including homemade chicken noodle soup my mom cooked tonight and the diarrhea was still bloody so I'll just have to deal with another huge medical debt which I'm not gonna be able to pay since I have no health insurance.

Now I feel like I'm having a sore/strep throat. So I don't know but I feel nothing has improved since then from all the treatments. I just hope there's one without any upfront fees or else I won't get treated at all.

But then again, I tried calling yet another ER asking about an upfront fee and this one lady says it would cost $300!!! So I'm really irritated as of now. Seems everything these days are about money even when you're sick.

I did found this site that relates to what you mentioned earlier about free clinics

https://www.freeclinics.com/cit/tx-lewisville

But since they are closed for the night, I'll just take the Pepto-Bismol and other over the counter medicine until then and if it still doesn't work I'll try calling them and going if they are affordable to visit.

I tried all the over the counter medicine my mom had and at first, it seemed to work last night but this morning I had a severe headache and congested throat. I took some headache medicine which cleared it away but just when I thought the frequent diarrhea symptom was over, I had to go again and this time the blood is becoming more bright red and liquid.

I'm worried about my symptoms now but I'm all out of options since I barely have any money. So would you recommend I get a loan of at least $1,000 to see if I get approved even though I may have poor credit from other medical debt and try using my sick time off? I am scheduled to work tomorrow at 4 pm and I do not feel in the mood for working while sick. Even then, the next paycheck would probably only be at XXXXXXX $400-$500. I can not wait any longer. I need to get to an ER fast but I still don't know what to do!

It would take 5 days left just to receive my next paycheck. Do you think I can wait for that long and still work for the rest of this weekend and then next Monday I go to an urgent care clinic or should I get a loan now and if approved for at least $500 I go to one immediately tonight or tomorrow?

But what if one of the ER doesn't accept my visit? One of the ER's I went last time and the medical XXXXXXX was huge so I wasn't able to pay for it. I think if I try going there again they'll remember me when they pull up my info. So I may have to find another ER that's around.

And I was just in a chat with one hospital that is listed as ER & Urgent Care, but they told me I'd still have to pay $150 or higher for visit depending on the provider yet it still would not cover the expenses of any treatment.

Then they told me to visit a county hospital which I've never heard of or know if they offer care for any cheaper.

I finally found a hospital that'll be able to treat and XXXXXXX me later and they said they'll help work with me through the payments monthly. I feel so relieved that there's at least one ER that cares enough to work with the patient.

This morning I tried to call Medicaid hotline to see if I could be eligible but since I'm not over 65 with any disabilities the only thing I think I could apply for would be SNAP food stamps. And the open enrollment for health coverage is over. So at least now I know for sure.

So my plan is since I'm already scheduled to have to work today at 4 pm, I'm gonna try to get through for the next 5 days. If my symptoms still become worse, I'll go to the hospital before Monday. As of now, I tried drinking some Powerade, Gatorade, apple juice, and water. I also ate some applesauce and bananas and I haven't had to go as much so I feel a bit better with that diet. I'm still gonna go to that ER that I recently called since I don't have to worry about upfront costs. I bet even when I do get my paycheck, the cost for treatment at an Urgent Care would skyrocket so it would be a waste of visit. That's what happened last time I was there when I paid $150 for visit and when they couldn't find out what was wrong with me other than regular chest pain, they said using one of the machine scan tests would cost around $300. So I feel a lot better knowing now and I'll remember the differences next time between an ER and Urgent Care.

And that way, I won't have to use the sick time off and still get most of my next paycheck since my next off days should be Mon., Tue., and Wed.