I Take Up to 10 Medications a Day. Here’s How I Save With GoodRx.

GoodRx Health

Monica Gonzalez-Ramirez spent most of her adulthood perfectly healthy. As a fit, single mom of three boys, she walked 3 to 4 miles a night and had no health complaints.

Then, nearly a decade ago, she experienced a traumatic brain injury that triggered at least one health condition. She's since been diagnosed with two others.

Today, Monica, a 51-year-old California teacher, takes up to 10 prescription medications a day. She recently opened up about what it's like to live with several serious medical conditions. She also shared how GoodRx helps her handle the financial demands of her healthcare.

A jarring accident and a head injury

In February 2015, Monica was stopped at a red light when an SUV rammed into the back of her vehicle. After the accident, she was running on adrenaline and didn't go to the hospital until the next day. At that point, it became clear she was badly injured. Her head had hit the left side of the windshield, leading to a traumatic brain injury.

"I wasn't bleeding or anything like that," Monica says. "There was no cut. But they said that with the type of concussion I had, it really just rattled around in there and banged around the inside of my skull."

Her brain injury triggered neurological changes that affected Monica's entire body. She had to undergo extensive physical therapy and was in so much pain that she needed a walker.

"It was this constant pain and a lot of muscle weakness," she says. "I couldn't stand. My legs weren't listening to me. Or I would walk for a bit and be fine, and then I wouldn't be."

Monica spent 7 months seeing different doctors and trying different treatments. Then, in September 2015, a rheumatologist diagnosed her with fibromyalgia. The chronic condition involves pain throughout the entire body. It can also lead to fatigue and trouble with sleep, memory, and mood.

Monica's doctor told her that the fibromyalgia was caused by the accident. "It can be brought on by a major neurological trauma," she says.

More diagnoses, including thyroid cancer and Hashimoto's disease

About a year after being diagnosed with fibromyalgia, Monica started experiencing more symptoms. She had difficulty swallowing and felt inflammation and pressure in her throat. Her care team didn't think it was a rheumatology issue, so they suggested she see an endocrinologist. The doctor immediately noticed a lump on Monica's neck.

"On my very first visit, before she even said hello or anything, she looked at my neck and said, 'We need to get a biopsy of your neck right now,'" Monica recalls.

She was soon diagnosed with thyroid cancer. Within a month, she underwent a thyroidectomy, which removed her entire thyroid gland.

Monica's thyroidectomy was so successful that she didn't need any radiation treatment. Now, she follows up with her doctor every year to make sure she's cancer-free. And since she doesn't have a thyroid, she has frequent blood work done to make sure all her levels are functioning well.

"Some days you feel good, and some you feel like you're dragging," she says.

Around the same time she learned she had thyroid cancer, Monica was also diagnosed with Hashimoto's disease. It's an autoimmune disorder that affects the thyroid gland. It can cause symptoms like hair loss, dry skin, an enlarged neck, fatigue, extra sensitivity to cold, muscle weakness, and depression. Her mom also has Hashimoto's, and there's a genetic link to the disease.

While research suggests that some patients' Hashimoto's improves after a thyroidectomy like Monica had, the study authors stress that symptoms can persist.

Coping strategies range from conveniences to confidence-builders

These days, most of Monica's symptoms are related to her fibromyalgia and Hashimoto's. In March 2024, she returned to work as a sixth-grade math and science teacher. But she continues to deal with debilitating fatigue.

"I'm learning my limits," she says. "I'm an overachiever. I try to do everything at once. So I'm learning what I can and what I can't do."

Sometimes, for example, if she's been working all day, she'll say no to a church or sporting event. And she loves to shop, but she's learned that she can't go to more than two stores on one trip.

To help with the fatigue, she now goes to bed by 9:30PM and makes sure she gets enough sleep.

Here are other strategies she uses to navigate daily life with multiple medical conditions.

Using grocery delivery

After her diagnosis, Monica discovered the joy of grocery delivery.

"The best thing in the world was having things delivered, because I couldn't do the driving and hauling of everything," she says.

Making to-do lists

Monica also deals with brain fog, and she sometimes gets confused when she's speaking. She copes by making lists of what she needs to do or remember.

"I've learned I will forget everything," she says. "If I need to get stuff done and I don't make a list, I will sit around all day wondering, 'What was it I was supposed to do?'"

Getting beauty treatments to boost confidence

Monica continues to have a great deal of full-body inflammation, and she gets dark spots under her eyes because of the Hashimoto's. She also experiences hair loss.

"You could have days where you're losing a lot of hair," she says. "I was losing a lot in my eyebrows, and I actually got microblading so it didn't look so weird."

Microblading is a form of tattooing that creates realistic eyebrow hair. It boosted her confidence by helping her feel like she no longer had patchy eyebrows.

Relying on family support

For nearly 10 years, Monica's family has helped her get through difficult times. She's remarried, and her three sons are 28, 26, and 19. Her family support is "amazing," she says.

Advocating for herself at the doctor

Monica has also learned how to stand up for herself at doctor's appointments.

If you're also dealing with complicated diagnoses, she offers these words of wisdom: "Do your research and advocate for yourself. Don't just take someone's word as the answer."

She uses GoodRx coupons to save $1,700 a month

Monica takes up to 10 medications a day. Among them is gabapentin, which treats nerve pain and is prescribed as a fibromyalgia treatment.

"I wouldn't be able to walk if I wasn't on it," she says.

She also takes Cymbalta to help regulate fibromyalgia pain, as well as the synthetic thyroid hormone Synthroid, since her body cannot make the hormone without a thyroid gland.

Paying for frequent doctors' visits and all her medications is expensive. Monica says a pharmacist suggested she check out GoodRx for discounts. She now uses the app to find the best prices for all her prescriptions and saves about $1,700 each month. That extra money has made a significant difference in her life.

"It was everything to me," Monica says. The savings have given her enough money to take care of her boys. For example, "They were able to play extracurricular sports in school," she says.

Otherwise, she would have needed that money to cover her medications. "It was very special."

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