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Rheumatoid Arthritis - Symptoms
- Overview
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Health Tools
- FAQs
- Cause
- Symptoms
- What Happens
- What Increases Your Risk
- When to Call a Doctor
- Exams and Tests
- Treatment Overview
- Living With Rheumatoid Arthritis
- Medications
- Surgery
- Other Treatment
- Other Places To Get Help
- Related Information
- References
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Joint pain can be an early symptom of many different diseases. In rheumatoid arthritis, symptoms often develop slowly over a period of weeks or months. Fatigue and stiffness are usually early symptoms. Weight loss and a low-grade fever can also occur.
Joint symptoms include:
- Painful, swollen, tender, stiff
joints. The same joints on both sides of the body
(symmetrical) are usually affected, especially the
hands
, wrists, elbows,
feet , ankles, knees, or neck. - Morning stiffness. Joint stiffness may develop after long periods of sleeping or sitting. It lasts at least 60 minutes and often up to several hours.
- Bumps (nodules). Rheumatoid nodules ranging in
size from a pea to a mothball develop in nearly one-third of people who have
rheumatoid arthritis.
Nodules usually form over pressure points in the body
such as the elbows, knuckles, spine, and lower leg bones.
In addition to specific joint symptoms, rheumatoid arthritis can cause symptoms throughout the body (systemic). These include:
- Fatigue.
- A loss of appetite.
- Weight loss.
- Mild fever.
Some of the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis may be similar to symptoms of other health conditions.
More information |
| By: | Healthwise Staff | Last Revised: April 14, 2011 |
| Medical Review: | Anne C. Poinier, MD - Internal Medicine Stanford M. Shoor, MD - Rheumatology | |
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