get tested i dislike doc also and used avoid them at all cost but if it is ra stopping joint damage is a must all the drugshave bad side effects and can cause other bad things but doing nothing means pain and joint damage ra is unforgiving and that sucks but the right meds can help with quailty of life maybe not the same but doing nothing is not the answer im sry to here about everthing and hope it turns out to somthing less than the ra beast good ljuck

you should get tested the longer you wait and don't treated the more damage will happen

Def sooner the better! I too had Dr issues for a long long time seems it takes the right ones, self educate the more you know the better prepared you'll be for all they throw at you. Endo wouldn't treat me when first diagnosed about 12 years ago but as meds got better against my will he ended up being my Doc. He's very reasonable and very educated a little and old school but keeps up with all the new things out to help us!

Pain =deformities. All you are doing is covering up the damage which is getting worse. And if your tests come back negative, demand to be diagnosed by symptoms. I wish I had known that 30% of all people with RA are sero-negative and may I would not have the terrible damage I do today.

Testing, the sooner the better. Ask for a full autoimmune screening:
CRP, ESR, ANA, RF, Anti-ENA panel, etc. plus a CBC and Chem panel.

You have a family history of various autoimmune diseases, you need to be screened for not just the most common conditions.
My grandfather had Graves' disease, severe Eczema (They think it was the Pacific-Rim vet exposure to Agent Orange, etc) and anti-malarial induced Lupus. My mom has Type I diabetes.

I have a non-descript autoimmune condition. Primarily inflammatory arthritis, with other connective tissue components (it has affected my skin, my connective tissues, etc)

Yes it is scary, but caught early, it is more manageable.

Typically a person who had only had joint pain would get the Let's wait and see if it gets better.But with your current conditions, and family history, it would definitly be worth it to test. Have them do the ones that Rosierose suggests, she knows what she is talking about.

I have no Dr phobia, but it is very common. My Husband has it, and it makes it difficult for him to have productive appointments. The best thing to do is write down a list of things you want to ask, and the tests you want done. Mose Drs are haappy when I bring in my notes, and it weems like I get more information at my visists since I don't forget to ask things!

I too hate the "look", although now that I finally have a diagnosis, doctors are better about it. I know there are people who abuse meds, I know some of them. I would have thought the difference in an ill patient and a addict would be visable, but I guess if they want the meds it would make them quickly learn how to get them. They way I see them act, and the way they behave in a dr's office is probably quite different.
I didn't mean to ramble on so long, just got lost in my thoughts.

Plus, did you mean endometriosis, by endo? Or the type of doctor?

Please get tested. The sooner you find out...the sooner you can treat it. My mother tried to get the doctors to test me as a kid but refused. In my mid 20's my doctor tested me for all pain issues and found out it was JRA. It was to late by then. I was fast going to a wheel chair.

I took Embrel for several years till my body adapted to it, now I take Humira. They have both been a blessing.