Autoimmune Doctor Bergen North Jersey – Closing the Gap Between Symptoms and Diagnosis
Autoimmune diseases are known for their often nonspecific symptoms, which may appear over many years, and because they may affect several organ systems at the same time – joints, skin, thyroid, gut – none of which fit into one doctor's jurisdiction. That's what a Bergen County, North Jersey autoimmune doctor is all about. Dr. Roman Finn at CITM treats the entire picture of your case, not one system alone, and seeks to uncover the trigger and make the connection between symptoms, which may have been addressed individually without anyone making the leap.
Your Autoimmune Care Team in Bergen County
- Dr. Roman Finn – board-certified internist who specializes in integrative (root-cause) autoimmune health care
- Scott David Lippe, MD – gastroenterologist who specializes in autoimmune triggers affecting the gut
- Lev Vyshedsky, L.Ac – acupuncture in a targeted way to facilitate inflammation and stress reduction
- An integrated care plan with one doctor managing your case in all organ systems instead of multiple providers managing different parts
It is that one point of oversight that brings together the symptoms that have been individually assessed by various specialists over a number of years that often makes the final link.
When Symptoms Span Multiple Systems and No One Connects Them
For many autoimmune patients, before they are diagnosed, the pain in their joints is assessed by one doctor, the changes in their skin by another, and the fatigue by another. Every visit focuses on a single symptom, and links between those symptoms are readily overlooked when only one provider is concerned with one symptom. An autoimmune doctor is trained to follow those connections, as immune dysfunction does not usually just affect one system of the body. It’s sometimes the case that the same underlying problem can result in a joint flare and a skin change, and it’s important to be aware of that when moving a case forward.
Conditions Commonly Evaluated
- Autoimmune thyroid diseases, such as Hashimoto’s thyroiditis
- Rheumatoid arthritis and other inflammatory joint diseases
- Lupus and systemic autoimmune involvement
- Psoriasis is a skin condition as well as an autoimmune disorder
- Gut-linked autoimmune conditions such as celiac disease
These conditions are often coexistent, and evaluation is based on the entire symptom picture and not simply diagnosing Hashimoto’s and discontinuing screening for other possible overlapping autoimmune activity – a patient with confirmed Hashimoto’s, for instance, is still screened for other possible overlapping autoimmune activity.
How Diagnosis and Testing Are Approached
Your evaluation starts with a detailed history – not only the ones that led to the referral – but a complete history, where each symptom is documented on its own timeline. Testing continues beyond the typical antibody workup panels to include gut permeability, nutrient levels, markers for chronic infections, and inflammatory markers that are not usually monitored. Results are read in sets and not individually – often there is a pattern in several results that offers more information than any single result alone. That picture taken together is the basis for the treatment plan that is unique to your case, not a blanket treatment protocol based on the diagnosis code.
A Treatment Plan Built Around Your Specific Triggers
Having ruled out any causes, the care includes a number of strategies, such as dietary and lifestyle changes if gut inflammation or food issues are suspected, targeted supplementation if deficiencies are known, and ongoing medication management when clinically indicated and prescribed, as well as stress and sleep management. Acupuncture is used whenever it is indicated to help reduce flares. The plan is reviewed often as flare patterns, labs, and symptoms change with time, as autoimmune diseases do not always follow a rigid course. Stability does not equal completion – it typically indicates that the existing combination is the right one at the moment and should now be developed further.
Why Bergen County Patients Choose an Integrative Autoimmune Physician
Do you feel the same frustration as many patients do with each visit to a specialist, but without anyone looking back at the big picture? That changes when you work with one doctor who is observing the case on a regular basis, because only when someone is looking for the pattern does it become apparent: not just reacting to the symptom that is loudest that week. This sort of continuity is more important as time passes without a cohesive explanation.
Serving Hackensack, Ridgewood, Fair Lawn, Teaneck & Fort Lee
CITM is at 22 Madison Ave in Paramus, and serves patients with autoimmune disorders from Hackensack, Ridgewood, Fair Lawn, Teaneck, Fort Lee, and the surrounding Bergen County and North Jersey area. Many come after years of being assessed on a symptom-by-symptom basis by different specialists.
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Schedule an Autoimmune Consultation in Bergen County
If your case has been to several specialists without a plan that has made sense, a coordinated evaluation might be the solution you’ve been looking for. To schedule an appointment, please call (201) 291-0401 or click online for a consultation with the CITM autoimmune care team.
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Frequently Asked Questions: Autoimmune Doctor in Bergen County
Autoimmune symptoms tend to be insidious and involve more than one body system, and so they may well be investigated individually by different specialists before someone puts the pieces of the puzzle together. An autoimmune physician specifically concentrates on making that linkage much sooner.
Yes. Many patients are treated during the diagnostic phase, and expanded testing and a complete symptom history are used to help patients determine what may be causing them to be inflamed in several systems and what to do about it. Earlier intervention on contributing factors can also be achieved if someone is ahead of a formal diagnosis.
No referral is necessary. Patients can book directly with CITM’s autoimmune care team.
Gut-focused testing is often a part of a comprehensive evaluation for many autoimmune patients, and gut permeability and food sensitivities are very important factors for immune regulation. This is especially important for illnesses such as Hashimoto’s and celiac disease.
Not automatically. Plan will usually include the use of existing medication, which will be coordinated with dietary alterations, supplements, and lifestyle changes, but not withdrawn. Changes are carefully considered and coordinated with your prescribing specialist.
Yes. Enabling some change in the way specific triggers are managed – dietary, infectious or stress – is a worthwhile way in which the frequency of flares can be reduced, not just to manage the symptom of a flare. Eventually, this moves the focus from responding to flares to preventing them.
Depending on your particular plan and the services involved, coverage will vary. Please call (201) 291-0401, and our staff will verify what applies prior to your visit.
Fair Lawn, Ridgewood, Hackensack, Teaneck, Fort Lee, and the surrounding Bergen County and North Jersey area.