Dr Brittany Panico

02/26/2026

I saw a patient recently who I have been treating for arthritis. I’ve done the blood work, X-rays, and prescribed medications but she wasn’t feeling better.

Her hands still hurt to grip and squeeze. She felt that her knuckles were getting larger and was self-conscious about the way her hands looked.

We had a visit and discussed changing medications or doing further testing. I ordered a dual energy CT scan of her hand, hoping this would help us understand why her hands still hurt so much. Her uric acid level was not high. But I did not know why she was not feeling better.

Her CT scan showed gout (uric acid) in her joints and tendons. She had inflammation that I did not see on her blood work or test results. But we saw it clearly on her scan.

We talked about starting gout medication and monitoring her symptoms. Next, we will take away some of her arthritis medication if she is feeling better. Instead of guessing what medication was going to do for her, I knew what she needed because her scan showed me the gout in her hand.

If you have joint pain that is not getting better with your medication, or if you know you have gout and you are not feeling better, please speak up! Rheumatologists are trained to treat gout and can help with this type of joint pain.

Not all states offer dual energy CT scan, so you will need to ask your healthcare practitioner or doctor if this test can be done for you. If you live in Arizona, we can do this test for you!

Please do not give up looking for answers. We want you to feel better. We want to find the right diagnosis and treatment for you!

01/29/2026

While playing a game with my second grader about money, I came across this quarter. I don’t carry cash and put my change in a jar without paying attention. I never knew this coin existed.

I almost started crying because there seems to be such a lack of hope right now. The world feels like it is crumbling. Day to day luxuries feel so insignificant compared to what is happening all around us.

It’s ok to feel hopeless, but how can we believe in the good again?

Take each moment or hour or day at a time. We can decide on the next best thing that brings hope back into the world, into our homes, into our communities.

We can teach our children to love themselves and love others of all faiths, ethnicities, genders, and cultures. We can stomp out hateful language in our homes and lead by examples of what good humans do and say.

And we can show up one day at a time and choose to spread love instead of hate or discrimination.

If this week has you feeling blue, you can take a stance by donating (even a quarter) to a cause that uplifts other humans and promotes healing rather than destruction.

I stand with hope that the world my children inherit will be better than the world we live in now.

But I also know that hope is not a cure. We can’t hope away what is happening. But we can spread hope by uplifting others. We can ACT with hope and actively move forward with a purpose.

01/28/2026

My kids just had their 100th day of school celebration and it got me thinking about what 100 days looks like when you have an autoimmune diagnosis or gout.

💡 Have you made progress with your treatment or do you still feel like something is missing?

💡 Are you able to do an activity you weren’t able to do 3 months ago?

💡 Have you changed insurances and maybe you’re being told you need to change medications?

💡 Do you feel like you’re in a slump and can’t figure out how to come out of it?

If any of these thoughts bring up questions for you, your rheumatology clinician can, and should be, helping you sort through your options. If you feel great, that is exactly what we want for you and please celebrate your progress!!

If you are a clinician and are not sure how to help your patients navigate better success and feel stuck yourself, follow along because I’ll be offering tips for you too!

It’s never too late to start down a new path, learn a new skill, or get better at what you are already doing!

01/23/2026

If you’ve been told that you just have “arthritis” but you have constant pain that feels like stabbing shards of glass or nails piercing through your joints.

If you’ve been told that you have osteoarthritis and you can’t live without your ibuprofen or aleve or diclofenac.

If you’ve been told that there is nothing else to offer other than see a pain clinic or surgeon.

If this sounds (and feels) like you, then it is possible that you have undiagnosed gout. Gout causes pain in ANY joint, chronic stiffness and difficulty moving, and even happens in your hands before it can cause swelling in your feet.

And gout happens to WOMEN, particularly after menopause.

Gout can happen even if you eat healthy and do not drink alcohol.

Gout hides and causes damage to your joints and your body over time. The longer you struggle, the more uric acid builds up in your body.

The good news is that there is hope and treatment for gout sufferers. You can look for a gout specialist in your area and Summit Rheumatology is accepting new patients without screening for prior testing. Just schedule an appointment at any of our locations and ask to be evaluated for gout.

01/17/2026

The rules of behavior are changing. I attended a conference today in which some of the most influential comments came from women. We listen. We hear you. We are your allies. And we want you to succeed.
When women help humans, we can all thrive!

Whatever behavior you are suppressing because you are female/feminine/stereotyped, shed that weight this year and rise!

01/14/2026

This year I am focusing on organization and creating systems that work for me rather than slow me down.

As I make it through my reading list, I’m trying to slow down and pay attention to some of the references the authors talk about. Not just to reference their ideas, but to learn how to extrapolate leadership themes into medicine and healthcare.

Brené Brown’s book Strong Ground is one of those books I will be talking about for awhile even after I finish it. I have a few hours left on audible and there are so many💡 moments that I can’t list them all.

One of her references is to an article by Coach Dawn Staley from 2015 that still carries just as much relevance now as it did then.

The idea that we just keep trying to do the next best thing. And we keep at it. That may actually be the fundamentals in your field of work. It may be the boring things that don’t seem to make a difference. And it may mean repeating yourself over and over 10 times until your message sinks in.
Coach Staley states:

“I live by two mottos:
A disciplined person can do anything.

Dare to do what you don’t want to get what you do want.”

We can all take away something either personally or professionally from these ideas.

Discipline to not let things pile up. Dare to show up even when your voice feels small.

Who’s with me to remain disciplined with your goals longer than the first month of the year?

Who’s with me to dare to do something to stand out this year?

Enjoy the article, it may inspire you to change something about your leadership approach or mindset!

This isn’t just about the four years they spend with me. This is bigger than being their coach.

12/14/2025

When our Elf and Snoop make friends with props! 💀
Our kids had a good laugh that our elf Buddy is now friends with my gout skeleton Gouty 🎄 Snoop has been a fun addition to our spirit this year too!

Why does the skeleton have green 🧪? This is an image of how gout and uric acid deposit in the body and build up into tophi. This can all be treated. You do not have to change your diet, and diet does not actually “fix” or even cause gout.

Gout is caused by the body’s inability and inefficiency at processing uric acid. Humans cannot do this very well and over generations we are losing the ability all together to process uric acid. So it builds up and leads to pain, high blood pressure, higher risk for diabetes and even heart attacks and strokes. 🤯

Let’s combat the decades of misinformation that is spread about medical care and gout in particular.

12/05/2025

I’m planning out content to highlight the effects of gout.
How we diagnose gout, treat it, and ultimately help people understand that gout is not “just a swollen toe”. And yes, women get gout too. I have many patients who are married and both have gout 🤯

My gouty green skeleton shows where uric acid can deposit and land in our bodies. Look at all that green!! ❇️❇️

If you have questions about gout, drop them here. I’ll be sure to post an answer!

11/07/2025

I am ready! Ready for in Dallas this weekend 🔥🔥
What most people don’t see on the outside is all the internal work that happens to grow a business, be a parent, spouse, and maintain friendships. I’m not even close to being perfect at any of these things, but going to conferences like LeadHer help me elevate the voice inside that gets better at all these things.

This week has been rough and it’s a full moon 🌕 on top of it all. But I won’t give up trying to be the best version of myself I can be!

10/25/2025

I am in Chicago this weekend at soaking up all I can about updates in Rheumatology. This conference is not just a chance to learn, but a place to develop and foster collaboration and friendships.

My amazing PA from Littleton is here! Finlayson. We already have some great ideas about how we are going to increase patient advocacy for patients in Colorado!

I am presenting a poster about my collaboration with the Optum Pharmacy Residency in Phoenix on Tuesday, if you are here too come say hi and learn about our experience having a clinical pharmacy group in our office!

And I have new Nike Jordans for all the walking I am doing. They are gold and making me feel like a million 💵!!

If you are here too, stop me and say hi 👋🏼

10/11/2025

Today is National Mental Health Day 🧠.

Our mental attitude and inner voice is at the very core of how we show up in the world. Mine today was trying to be optimistic but also feeling tired.

It’s been a lot for me the past few weeks as I am pulled in every way for work and trying to be a present mom and wife too. I know I can’t be 💯 for everyone and everything (despite what a famous Showgirl proclaims) and it’s tough for high-achieving people to feel like they arent giving their all.

My youngest boy wanted me to have his yeti in the car for him when I picked him up today. It was such a simple ask and I knew it meant a smile on his face when I picked him up.

When I thought about a post for today and connecting something personal with mental health awareness, I grabbed the yeti and thought of his smile! That thought helped turn my day around too and I picked him up early so we could have some 1:1 time before we got the rest of the crew for baseball tonight. My mom cup is fulling up!

In his sweet way, he knew I needed an extra smile today too! And instead of working and feeling sorry for myself, I got to hang out with my guy and his yeti!!

Sometimes showing up for US is the best way to be 🔥🔥🔥

10/11/2025

Today is National Mental Health Day. 🧠

I wrestled with how to highlight the idea of our mental wellbeing and autoimmune illness and realized that I had not yet posted my conversation with Jon Weingarden !

Check out our talk about the intersection of our brains and our immune system and drop a comment about what you think!

If you want more of this content, there is plenty to talk about!!

Interview of Dr. Panico, chief of Rheumatology at Summit Rheumatology regarding the interaction between mental health and autoimmune illness. What can we do ...