If you suspect your symptoms point to an autoimmune condition, this quiz can help. Autoimmune diseases are notoriously underdiagnosed. The average patient waits 4.5 years and sees five physicians before receiving a correct diagnosis. Over 100 recognized autoimmune conditions exist, affecting roughly 24 million Americans according to NIH estimates. Most online symptom checkers end with "see your doctor." Ours ends with a personalized, evidence-graded supplement and diet protocol matched to your specific condition, severity, and medications.
Take the Free AutoimmuneFinder Quiz: 18 questions, 3 minutes, personalized protocol. No account required.
What Is an Autoimmune Disease?
The immune system identifies foreign threats (bacteria, viruses, damaged cells) and destroys them. In autoimmune disease, that targeting system misfires. Immune cells attack healthy tissue: thyroid gland in Hashimoto's, joint lining in rheumatoid arthritis, intestinal mucosa in Crohn's, skin cells in psoriasis. The triggers vary (genetics, infections, gut permeability, environmental toxins), but the mechanism is consistent: loss of immune tolerance to self-tissue.
Over 100 recognized autoimmune conditions exist. They affect roughly 24 million Americans by the NIH's conservative estimate. Some researchers place the true figure closer to 50 million when accounting for undiagnosed and borderline cases. Over 75% of autoimmune patients are women, with onset peaking during reproductive years.
Symptoms are systemic and non-specific: fatigue, joint pain, brain fog, skin changes, digestive problems. These overlap with dozens of other conditions, which explains the diagnostic delay. Blood tests for specific antibodies (ANA, TPO, anti-CCP, anti-dsDNA) can confirm many autoimmune diagnoses, but physicians must first suspect the condition enough to order them. Many people live with active autoimmune disease for years without anyone running the right panel. For a comprehensive symptom breakdown by body system, see our autoimmune disease symptoms guide.
Common Signs Your Symptoms Might Be Autoimmune
These patterns do not constitute a diagnosis. They warrant investigation.
Systemic Symptoms
- Unexplained fatigue that does not improve with sleep
- Low-grade fevers without infection
- Unintended weight changes (gain or loss)
- Night sweats
- Brain fog and cognitive difficulty
- Recurrent infections suggesting immune dysregulation
Joint and Muscle Symptoms
- Morning stiffness lasting more than 30 minutes
- Migratory joint pain that moves between joints
- Swollen, warm, or tender joints
- Proximal muscle weakness (difficulty climbing stairs, raising arms)
Skin and Hair Symptoms
- Butterfly-shaped facial rash (lupus)
- Thick, scaly plaques (psoriasis)
- Patchy hair loss without scarring (alopecia areata)
- Skin thickening or tightening (scleroderma)
- Raynaud's phenomenon (fingers turn white or blue with cold)
Thyroid and Metabolic Symptoms
- Weight gain despite normal eating, cold intolerance, constipation (Hashimoto's)
- Weight loss, rapid heart rate, heat intolerance (Graves')
- Hair thinning, dry skin, low body temperature
Gut and Digestive Symptoms
- Chronic diarrhea or loose stools
- Bloating and gas after gluten or dairy
- Abdominal cramping and urgency (IBD)
- Mouth ulcers (Crohn's, lupus, celiac)
- Symptom improvement on a gluten-free diet (celiac, NCGS)
Neurological and Eye Symptoms
- Dry eyes, dry mouth (Sjögren's syndrome)
- Numbness or tingling in extremities
- Recurrent headaches with fatigue
- Balance or coordination difficulties
If you recognize several of these patterns across categories, that cross-system involvement is a hallmark of autoimmune disease. For a deeper breakdown by condition, see our autoimmune disease symptoms guide.
Recognize these patterns? Take the quiz now. It analyzes 18 symptom dimensions and builds a personalized protocol, not just a list of possible conditions.
What Our Autoimmune Disease Quiz Covers
The quiz contains 18 questions across 6 sections. Completion takes roughly 3 minutes. Each section feeds a specific scoring dimension.
Section 1: Your Condition
Have you been diagnosed? Which condition? Or are you undiagnosed but symptomatic? This determines whether the protocol activates condition-specific interventions (selenium for Hashimoto's, curcumin for RA, zinc for alopecia) or defaults to the broad Foundation tier.
Section 2: Symptom Severity and Duration
How long have symptoms been present? How much do they affect daily life? Severity scoring determines which tier of interventions takes priority. Someone with mild, recent-onset symptoms receives a different protocol than someone with moderate symptoms persisting for years.
Section 3: Gut Health
Digestive symptoms, food sensitivities, prior antibiotic use, bloating. The gut-immune axis is central to autoimmune pathology. Fasano's research on zonulin and intestinal permeability established that a compromised gut barrier precedes and perpetuates autoimmune flares across conditions. A high gut score pushes gut-healing interventions (the 4R protocol, zinc carnosine, L-glutamine) to the top of your protocol.
Section 4: Stress and Sleep
Chronic stress dysregulates the HPA axis, suppresses regulatory T cells, and shifts immune function toward the inflammatory Th17 pathway. Sleep deprivation compounds this. These questions determine whether stress management and sleep optimization appear in your protocol's priority areas.
Section 5: Diet and Lifestyle
Current diet pattern, exercise habits, alcohol and smoking status. Someone already following an autoimmune diet receives different dietary guidance than someone eating a standard Western diet.
Section 6: Labs and Medications
Known lab abnormalities (vitamin D levels, thyroid antibodies, inflammatory markers like CRP or ESR) and current medications. The medication flag is critical. If you take methotrexate, the protocol adjusts folate timing. If you take biologics, the protocol notes supplement compatibility. If you take thyroid medication, selenium and iodine recommendations change.
Why These Questions Matter
Generic supplement lists fail because autoimmune disease is not one disease. Hashimoto's and Crohn's share almost nothing in their pathology, yet both appear on "top 10 supplements for autoimmune disease" listicles with identical recommendations. Selenium is Grade A evidence for Hashimoto's and irrelevant for Crohn's. Zinc carnosine is Grade B for Crohn's mucosal repair and off-target for lupus.
The same problem applies to diet. The autoimmune protocol (AIP) diet produced 73% clinical remission in Konijeti's 2017 IBD trial, and significant symptom reduction in Abbott's 2019 Hashimoto's trial. A Mediterranean diet matched the Specific Carbohydrate Diet for Crohn's outcomes in the DINE-CD trial. The right diet depends on your condition, your current eating pattern, and your severity. The quiz captures all three.
A protocol engine that scores your condition, severity, gut health, stress, diet, and medication status can generate specific, ranked interventions. A generic list cannot.
How We Grade Evidence
Every intervention in your protocol carries a letter grade. Three tiers, based on the quality of human data available.
Grade A: Multiple randomized controlled trials (RCTs) or meta-analyses in autoimmune populations. Consistent, reproducible results. Example: vitamin D3 (VITAL trial, 25,871 participants, 22% reduction in autoimmune incidence).
Grade B: At least one RCT, strong case series, or robust mechanistic evidence paired with clinical observations. Promising but not definitive. Example: curcumin for IBD (Hanai 2006 RCT, relapse dropped from 20.5% to 4.7%).
Grade C: Preliminary evidence only. Animal studies, in vitro data, or small pilot trials. Example: BPC-157 for gut healing (extensive animal data, zero human RCTs).
Grades are condition-specific. A supplement earning Grade A for one condition may earn Grade C for another if the disease-specific trial data is thin. For a cross-condition overview of supplement evidence, see our best supplements for autoimmune disease guide.
We also flag what NOT to take. Immune-stimulating supplements (echinacea, elderberry, ashwagandha, spirulina, chlorella) can worsen autoimmune conditions by amplifying the same immune pathways driving the disease. Your protocol includes these warnings.
What You Get From the Quiz
Free Results
Your Health Snapshot: severity tier, top priority areas, gut health score. Plus your first 3 Foundation interventions with evidence grades, dosing, and timing.
Full Protocol (Unlocked)
A complete personalized protocol across 4 tiers with dosing, timing, contraindications, and safety notes per intervention.
Tier 1, Foundation. The interventions supported by the broadest evidence across autoimmune conditions. AIP diet guidance, gut healing (4R protocol), vitamin D3 with K2, omega-3 EPA/DHA, magnesium glycinate. These form the base regardless of your specific diagnosis.
Tier 2, Condition-Specific. Tailored to your flagged condition. Selenium and myo-inositol for Hashimoto's. Curcumin and fish oil for RA. Zinc and quercetin for alopecia areata. NAC and DHEA for lupus. Each intervention graded against the condition-specific evidence base.
Tier 3, Advanced. Low-dose naltrexone (LDN), BPC-157, fasting-mimicking diet, functional testing recommendations (GI-MAP, comprehensive thyroid panel). These carry higher evidence thresholds and often require practitioner involvement.
Tier 4, Environmental. Mold and CIRS screening, heavy metal assessment, toxin reduction strategies. Relevant for patients whose symptoms persist despite addressing Tiers 1 through 3.
Drug interaction flags appear throughout. If you indicated you take methotrexate, corticosteroids, biologics, or thyroid medication, the protocol marks every supplement that requires timing adjustments or physician discussion.
How This Quiz Differs From Other Online Quizzes
Most online autoimmune quizzes produce one output: "You may have [condition]. See your doctor." That is zero actionable value for someone who has already seen multiple doctors over several years.
This quiz produces a tiered, evidence-graded complementary protocol personalized to your symptom profile. Every recommendation carries a letter grade. Every dosage comes with timing and contraindication notes. The protocol flags supplements to avoid, not just supplements to take.
The "avoid" list matters as much as the "take" list. Immune-stimulating supplements like echinacea, elderberry, ashwagandha, spirulina, and chlorella appear in nearly every "wellness" blend on pharmacy shelves. For someone with autoimmune disease, these compounds amplify the exact immune pathways driving tissue destruction. Most quizzes and supplement guides never mention this. Ours flags every immune stimulant by name. For the full breakdown, see our best supplements for autoimmune disease guide.
No affiliate links. No supplement sales. The protocol is designed to complement your physician's treatment plan, not replace it.
Privacy: the quiz runs entirely in your browser using client-side JavaScript. No data leaves your device until you choose to unlock your full protocol. No account creation required at the quiz stage.
Take the quiz now: 3 minutes, 18 questions, personalized protocol.
Conditions Our Protocol Covers
Five conditions have fully built condition-specific intervention sets:
Hashimoto's thyroiditis. Selenium, myo-inositol, gluten elimination, thyroid-specific supplement timing. See our Hashimoto's natural treatment guide.
Psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. Vitamin D optimization, curcumin, omega-3, Mediterranean diet emphasis. See our psoriasis diet guide.
Rheumatoid arthritis. Curcumin (NF-kB pathway), omega-3, vitamin D, LDN consideration.
Crohn's disease. Zinc carnosine, curcumin, B12 route optimization, iron route selection. See our Crohn's supplements guide.
Celiac disease and gluten sensitivity. Strict gluten elimination, nutrient repletion, gut barrier repair. See our gluten and joint inflammation guide.
The Foundation protocol (Tier 1) applies broadly to all autoimmune conditions, including Sjögren's syndrome, lupus, alopecia areata, ankylosing spondylitis, eczema, vitiligo, and Graves' disease. Condition-specific modules for these diseases are in active development.
Example Protocol Structure
Consider a 38-year-old woman with diagnosed Hashimoto's, moderate fatigue, elevated TPO antibodies, gut symptoms, high stress, and current levothyroxine use. Her quiz profile would generate: severity moderate, gut score high, stress score high, condition flag Hashimoto's, medication flag thyroid hormone. The protocol engine maps that profile to the following tiers.
Foundation tier: AIP elimination diet for 30 days, removing grains, dairy, legumes, nightshades, and refined sugars. Vitamin D3 5,000 IU daily with 200 mcg K2 (MK-7 form), targeting serum 25(OH)D of 40 to 60 ng/mL. Omega-3 2 g combined EPA/DHA daily with meals. Magnesium glycinate 400 mg before bed (supports sleep, which her stress score flagged as a priority). The AIP diet forms the dietary backbone of this tier.
Condition-specific tier: Selenium 200 mcg daily as selenomethionine (Grade A: CATALYST trial, Huwiler 2024 meta-analysis covering 31 studies). Myo-inositol 600 mg twice daily (Grade B: Nordio 2017 showed TSH normalization in subclinical hypothyroid patients; Zuhair 2024 confirmed the selenium plus myo-inositol combination). Gluten elimination regardless of celiac status (Grade B: Abbott 2019 AIP trial demonstrated significant symptom reduction in Hashimoto's patients after 10 weeks).
Advanced tier: Low-dose naltrexone 1.5 to 4.5 mg nightly (Grade B: off-label, requires compounding pharmacy and physician prescription). Comprehensive thyroid panel including reverse T3, thyroid antibodies (TPO and Tg), and free T3/T4. GI-MAP stool test if gut symptoms persist after 60 days on the Foundation protocol.
Environmental tier: Assessment for mold exposure history. Heavy metal screening if occupational or geographic risk factors are present. Household toxin reduction (filtered water, low-VOC products, HEPA filtration).
Drug interaction note: selenium should be taken 4 hours apart from levothyroxine. Calcium and iron supplements also require 4-hour separation from thyroid hormone. No known adverse interactions between levothyroxine and vitamin D, omega-3, or magnesium at recommended doses.
This is a simplified illustration. The actual protocol includes dosing schedules, timing windows, evidence citations per intervention, and specific contraindication flags based on the full quiz profile.
Safety and Drug Interactions
The protocol engine checks for five categories of medication interaction.
Thyroid medications (levothyroxine, liothyronine). Calcium, iron, and selenium require 4-hour separation from thyroid hormone doses. Coffee and fiber also impair absorption.
Methotrexate. Folate supplementation is required but must be taken on a different day. High-dose vitamin C above 1,000 mg increases toxicity. NAC may interact with the drug's mechanism.
Corticosteroids (prednisone, budesonide). Accelerate bone loss and deplete vitamin D and magnesium. Calcium and D3 supplementation becomes more urgent, not less.
Biologics (infliximab, adalimumab, vedolizumab). Generally compatible with recommended supplements. Vitamin D may improve biologic response through shared immune modulation pathways.
Blood thinners. Omega-3 above 3 g/day and curcumin both have mild anticoagulant properties. The protocol flags these for physician discussion.
If you indicate medication use in the quiz, these flags appear directly alongside the relevant interventions. The protocol is built to work with your prescribed treatment, not against it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this quiz a medical diagnosis?
No. This is an educational screening tool. It analyzes symptom patterns and generates a personalized complementary protocol based on published autoimmune research. It does not diagnose any medical condition. A confirmed autoimmune diagnosis requires lab testing (antibody panels, inflammatory markers, imaging) and physician evaluation. The quiz identifies which condition categories your symptoms align with and generates a protocol accordingly. For diagnosis, see a physician, ideally a rheumatologist, endocrinologist, or internist with autoimmune experience.
How long does the quiz take?
About 3 minutes. There are 18 questions across 6 sections. No account required. Works on mobile and desktop. Your answers are saved in your browser, so you can close the page and return without losing progress.
Is my data private?
Yes. The quiz runs entirely in your browser using client-side JavaScript. No data is transmitted to our servers during the quiz. When you choose to view your full protocol, only anonymized quiz responses are saved to verify your access with a 90-day retention window. No names, emails, or personally identifiable information are collected at the quiz stage. No data is sold or shared with third parties.
What if I already have a diagnosis?
The quiz handles both diagnosed and undiagnosed users. If you have a confirmed diagnosis, your protocol includes condition-specific interventions (selenium for Hashimoto's, curcumin for RA, zinc carnosine for Crohn's) layered on top of the Foundation tier. If you have multiple autoimmune conditions (which affects roughly 25% of autoimmune patients), the protocol activates intervention sets for each flagged condition and resolves conflicts between them. If you are undiagnosed, the Foundation protocol applies broadly across autoimmune conditions and provides a strong starting point while you pursue formal diagnosis.
Can I take the quiz if I am on medication?
Yes, and you should indicate your medications. The quiz includes a medication question, and the protocol engine flags supplements that interact with common autoimmune drugs. Biologics, DMARDs, thyroid hormones, and corticosteroids all carry specific supplement timing and compatibility considerations. For example, patients on methotrexate receive adjusted folate timing. Patients on levothyroxine see selenium, calcium, and iron separation requirements. The protocol is designed for use alongside physician-prescribed treatments, not as a replacement. Always confirm supplement additions with your prescribing physician.
Medical Disclaimer
This quiz is an educational tool, not a medical diagnostic instrument. It does not diagnose autoimmune disease. Results are personalized educational content, not medical advice. Always work with a qualified healthcare provider for diagnosis and treatment decisions. If you are experiencing acute symptoms (severe joint swelling, chest pain, difficulty breathing, or rapid neurological changes) seek medical attention immediately. Do not start, stop, or change any supplement or medication without consulting your physician.
Take the Free AutoimmuneFinder Quiz: 18 questions, 3 minutes, personalized evidence-graded protocol.