I m concerned about a number of symptoms that I am having that seem to be progressing and wondering if they are related. I haven t spoken to my doctor at length about these issues and can t afford to keep going back. I am a 37 year-old female and former smoker. One of my primary issues at the moment is I have had a sore throat and tonsil irritation for several months now. At the onset of this, it prompted me to quit smoking , which I have abstained from with the exception of literally a few cigarettes over the past two months. I have always been susceptible to tonsil stones for at least two decades now as well. However, this onset of throat pain and irritation is lasting far longer and is much worse. My tonsils are red and swollen, but the primary irritation is the left side. It feels also as though I have a constant obstruction in my throat and when viewed with a flashlight, I can see dark veins in the back that look very bad. The other issue I am having is related to my kidneys/ bladder (presumeably). Somewhere around the same time as the tonsil irritation was getting worse I also had developed a bladder infection several months ago, which was also left untreated. At first I was in severe pain with a typical UTI . I took over the counter medication for about a week, drank a lot of water and cranberry juice. It took about two weeks for me to stop having the pain but the major pain got better. I still continue to have some issues, such as frequent urination and off and on twinges of irritation. I have some amoxicillin and took for ten days to try to treat both bladder and throat issues. I realize that is not the best thing to do, but I do not have the money to keep going back to see a doctor only to have them shake their head and tell me to see a specialist which I also cannot afford. Now, I am worried that both conditions are getting worse as I am also experiencing swelling and numbness in my hands and feet. I have lost 15 to 20 lbs over several without trying, which could be attributed to stress or side effects of other meds. The obvious answer would be to go see a doctor but I am worried they will just refer me to a specialist, which of course, I cannot afford. I guess my question is, are there any typical in-house types of tests that can be done by a primary care physician to diagnose any of these issues and if so, what should I ask for?