Autoimmune Diseases Doctors Bergen North Jersey – Matching the Right Specialist to Your Symptoms
No two autoimmune issues are identical, and no two cases are treated the same by the same type of doctor. To someone with joint pain and swelling, the evaluation is quite different from someone experiencing fatigue or skin changes or digestive issues, though all three of these might turn out to be signs of an autoimmune condition. Doctors specializing in autoimmune diseases in Bergen County, North Jersey have been created to cut through that complexity. Dr. Roman Finn at the Center for Integrative Medicine (CITM) reviews the total symptom profile and determines the specific testing and treatment plan that is right for you.
Meet the Autoimmune Care Team at CITM
- Dr. Roman Finn – board-certified internist who heads integrative autoimmune diagnosis and treatment
- Scott David Lippe, MD – immune disorders input for cases relating to autoimmunity of the gut
- Lev Vyshedsky, L.Ac – acupuncture selectively used for pain and inflammation support
- With a single record shared among your care team, there’s no risk of losing something between visits or providers
That common history frequently brings to light relationships between symptoms that would have been individually assessed by different providers without a means to share the history.
Symptoms That Point Toward Different Autoimmune Conditions
Early identification of a pattern can make the difference in a case’s speed of resolution. Rheumatoid or psoriatic arthritis is often indicated by pain, stiffness in the morning, and swelling in the joints. When fatigue is combined with weight gain or weight loss, thinning hair, or cold sensitivity, it is a sign of thyroid autoimmunity. Recurrent rashes or skin plaques indicate psoriasis or the involvement of the skin in lupus, and digestive symptoms with joint or skin involvement may be a feature of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) with an autoimmune component, or celiac disease. Diagnosis does not depend upon any one symptom alone, so it is necessary to examine all the symptoms as part of a pattern and not respond to one symptom alone. When a patient only talks about his or her one most bothersome symptom, the details that could have guided the investigation in another direction are omitted.
Conditions Commonly Diagnosed and Treated
- Thyroiditis (Hashimoto’s and Graves’ diseases)
- Rheumatoid arthritis and psoriatic arthritis
- Connective tissue diseases such as Lupus or other diseases
- Psoriasis and other autoimmune skin diseases
- Autoimmune-related digestive diseases and celiac diseaseÂ
Together these conditions occur frequently, and a comprehensive evaluation will also look for related activity after one diagnosis, as a second overlapping diagnosis can pass unnoticed for years.
What a Thorough Autoimmune Evaluation Includes
The visit begins with a detailed history mapping the onset, severity, and pattern of your symptoms that are compared to your family history and previous tests. From there, lab testing moves beyond an antibody test into inflammatory indicators, thyroid and nutrient panels and gut related testing (when applicable). Results are considered as a group; a trend over multiple values often provides a better answer than any single value, if there is a trend. You depart with an explanation of what you’ve discovered and a specific plan based on the discovery–one that is not a diagnosis code and a prescription.
Treatment Built Around Your Specific Diagnosis
Care will be a mix of medical treatment and supportive strategies designed with your actual test results and not a template. This can include dietary changes to manage gut issues, targeted supplementation for known deficiencies, routine stress/sleep management, and ongoing medication management as indicated clinically. Acupuncture is used, when appropriate, to enhance pain and inflammation management. As a case progresses, the plan is modified, not set in stone for months on end, because the plan that works one way during one flare pattern might need to be reviewed when symptoms change.
Why One Coordinated Physician Matters for Complex Cases
Patients whose symptoms cross multiple body systems or who have more than one autoimmune disorder may best be served by a single physician who coordinates the care. One coordinated view allows them to see the big picture versus each specialist focusing on their part of the picture; easier to catch a connection between one blotchy rash and another, or a digestion symptom and a joint symptom, that might not have been noticed for years. The more a case the continuity is valued.
Serving Hackensack, Ridgewood, Fair Lawn, Teaneck & Fort Lee
CITM is situated at 22 Madison Ave in Paramus and serves patients from Hackensack, Ridgewood, Fair Lawn, Teaneck, Fort Lee, and the surrounding Bergen County and North Jersey area for autoimmune conditions. Many patients come in with separate complaints, from which they are screened for related complaints.
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Schedule a Consultation With Autoimmune Diseases Doctors in Bergen County
If your symptoms don’t easily fit into the specialties of one doctor, a coordinated evaluation might be the one that puts the puzzle together that others have left out. Please call (201) 291-0401 or request a consultation online with CITM’s autoimmune care team.
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Frequently Asked Questions: Autoimmune Diseases Doctors in Bergen County
Discuss all symptoms, no matter how unrelated they may appear. Skin changes, digestive and joint symptoms may all be linked, and a comprehensive assessment deals with the whole pattern, not just one symptom. If symptoms are written down in advance, with a rough time frame, the initial visit will be more productive.
Yes. Autoimmune conditions occur together frequently, so evaluation will continue to look for related activity after one condition has been diagnosed. For example, if you have a confirmed thyroid problem, it doesn’t mean you can’t get another joint or skin problem or have it later in life.
No referral is needed. Patients can book appointments with CITM’s autoimmune care team directly.
An integrative autoimmune doctor does not replace the care that your doctor is offering, but rather will look at other factors that may be contributing to your body’s dysfunction and will coordinate treatment between conditions. The two roles are complementary, and not mutually exclusive.
Not automatically. Medication is usually not removed from the plan, but carefully reviewed in conjunction with other interventions, and is not taken away from the plan without discussion with your prescribing specialist.
This depends on the complexity of the case; however, a comprehensive initial evaluation and more extensive testing frequently reduce the time required compared with testing symptoms sequentially by different specialists. Medical conditions with a single, well-defined condition will be quicker to confirm than those with overlapping symptoms.
Coverage is based on the plan and services provided. Please call (201) 291-0401, and our team will verify what applies prior to your visit.
Hackensack, Ridgewood, Fair Lawn, Teaneck, Fort Lee, and the Bergen County and North Jersey area surrounding these neighborhoods.