Recognize the Early Symptoms of Rheumatoid Arthritis

Have you been noticing fatigue, fever, numbness, or pain? Your body could be in the early stages of rheumatoid arthritis.

Rheumatoid arthritis is the fourth most common rheumatic disease among Americans (1.5 million adults), behind osteoarthritis (27 million), fibromyalgia (5.0 million), and gout (3.0 million).

RA isn’t a condition that becomes apparent all at once. Instead, there are early signs and symptoms that suggest it is developing. The symptoms are changeable from one patient to the next. They also come and go, with attacks or flareups interspersed with times when the disease is in remission.

Early typical signs and symptoms

Here are some of the most common early typical signs and symptoms that you might experience or that a doctor might observe suggesting you could have rheumatoid arthritis:

Fatigue

One of the first symptoms is generally just starting to feel exhausted. In fact, you may experience fatigue long before you have any other symptoms. Along with the tiredness, you may also feel queasy or moody.

Stiffness when getting up

Feeling stiff when you get out of bed in the morning is often the result of developing arthritis. If the stiffness goes away quickly, that suggests you have a degenerative arthritis type such as osteoarthritis. On the other hand, if it lasts for a substantial chunk of the day, that’s a sign of rheumatoid arthritis or another inflammatory type.

Stiffness in small joints

You may feel a similar sense of stiffness at any point during the day in some of your smaller joints, especially those of the hand.

Pain

Patients also usually experience pain following the periods during which the joint is stiff. Look for this symptom in your hands as well as your shoulders, knees, and feet.

Numbness / pins-and-needles

When your tendons become inflamed, it puts pressure on your nerves. Symptoms arising from this issue create sensations including lack of feeling and pins-and-needles. You may also notice cracking sounds of cartilage rubbing your joints.

Fever

A low fever can be a sign of RA as well. “However,” notes Healthline, “a fever higher than 100°F (38°C) is more likely to be a sign of some other form of illness, or possibly an infection.”

Getting diagnosed and treated

Are you suffering from the above signs and symptoms that could represent rheumatoid arthritis? At Health Star Clinic, we promise to only accept cases we feel we can help, and to treat you like family. Get a Free Pain Relief Consultation.