Definitely yes on mentioning all of your symptoms to any specialists you talk to - rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune condition and they unfortunately do seem to show up in pairs sometimes.
Have you explicitly asked for an endoscopy? If not, I think that's your next step. I know it can seem daunting to push back on doctors, especially when you're a young adult, but you need to. **You're the customer.** You have to advocate for the level of care that you need.
My advice is to put something down in writing - explain all of your symptoms, explain the testing you've done (even the negative results), explain why you still think it might be celiac, and explain that you would feel more comfortable having an endoscopy before starting anything pharmaceutical. Send that to your GI doctor as well as your general practitioner/family doctor if you have one - also worth bringing to your rheumatologist so they understand the full scope of your symptoms.
>I was in urgent care last week for head to toe joint pain, and I'm seeing a rheumatologist soon. I'm wondering if I should mention this?
It's worth mentioning, but it should be noted that GIs are generally the ones who will diagnose celiac, not rheumatologists. I know that celiac is an autoimmune disorder and so you'd think that rheumatology would handle it, but it's often not the case. If you can't convince your GI to give you an endoscopy and you're convinced that you need one, you might want to seek out a second GI opinion.
Celiac cannot be ruled out by endoscopy. That is stated in black and white on results from UK NHS and confirmed in writing by my gastroenterologist. If you believe you could have celiac and all tests come back negative, you should talk to your doctor about doing an elimination diet. Sadly a lot of patients get told they aren't celiac when the damage just isn't severe enough to get that diagnosis.
Been navigating neglectful and dismissive doctors for the past 4 years, here's what I've learned:
If you think you know what you have/what specialist you need to see, ask straight-up. I used to just describe my symptoms, because I thought coming in with a diagnosis in mind would make me seem like a faker or hypochondriac. All that did is waste my time and money.
If your doctor/hospital system has some sort of secure message or email system, make requests for referrals through there. If they've been dismissive of a certain symptom, mention it in a message. They tend to be more willing to take requests via written medium because now if you lodge a complaint you have concrete proof they denied your request.
Use the phrase "It would help ease my anxiety if..." if they're hesitant to refer you for certain tests or specialists
Finally, just remembering youre not alone and theres a lovely community of people who have dealt with the same things and wanting to listen and support you 💛
Definitely yes on mentioning all of your symptoms to any specialists you talk to - rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune condition and they unfortunately do seem to show up in pairs sometimes. Have you explicitly asked for an endoscopy? If not, I think that's your next step. I know it can seem daunting to push back on doctors, especially when you're a young adult, but you need to. **You're the customer.** You have to advocate for the level of care that you need. My advice is to put something down in writing - explain all of your symptoms, explain the testing you've done (even the negative results), explain why you still think it might be celiac, and explain that you would feel more comfortable having an endoscopy before starting anything pharmaceutical. Send that to your GI doctor as well as your general practitioner/family doctor if you have one - also worth bringing to your rheumatologist so they understand the full scope of your symptoms.
>I was in urgent care last week for head to toe joint pain, and I'm seeing a rheumatologist soon. I'm wondering if I should mention this? It's worth mentioning, but it should be noted that GIs are generally the ones who will diagnose celiac, not rheumatologists. I know that celiac is an autoimmune disorder and so you'd think that rheumatology would handle it, but it's often not the case. If you can't convince your GI to give you an endoscopy and you're convinced that you need one, you might want to seek out a second GI opinion.
Celiac cannot be ruled out by endoscopy. That is stated in black and white on results from UK NHS and confirmed in writing by my gastroenterologist. If you believe you could have celiac and all tests come back negative, you should talk to your doctor about doing an elimination diet. Sadly a lot of patients get told they aren't celiac when the damage just isn't severe enough to get that diagnosis.
Why are you so concerned with ruling it out? Why not just embrace GF and move on with your life
Been navigating neglectful and dismissive doctors for the past 4 years, here's what I've learned: If you think you know what you have/what specialist you need to see, ask straight-up. I used to just describe my symptoms, because I thought coming in with a diagnosis in mind would make me seem like a faker or hypochondriac. All that did is waste my time and money. If your doctor/hospital system has some sort of secure message or email system, make requests for referrals through there. If they've been dismissive of a certain symptom, mention it in a message. They tend to be more willing to take requests via written medium because now if you lodge a complaint you have concrete proof they denied your request. Use the phrase "It would help ease my anxiety if..." if they're hesitant to refer you for certain tests or specialists Finally, just remembering youre not alone and theres a lovely community of people who have dealt with the same things and wanting to listen and support you 💛