What Is the First Symptom of Rheumatoid Arthritis?
Officially Sanctioned RA: The First Symptom of Rheumatoid Arthritis (UPDATED 2016)
Do people with Rheumatoid Disease (PRD) have the symptoms they’re expected to?
From what I’ve read in books and online, the first symptom of Rheumatoid Arthritis is supposed to be in the hands. So that it can be diagnosed. Because most diagnosis RA by the hands. (A bit of a circular argument, but that’s how it is). I’ve mentioned to you before that hands are considered central to diagnosis of Rheumatoid Arthritis.
Check these out:
Is There a Typical Rheumatoid Arthritis?
Why Is Diagnosing RA So Difficult
How is Rheumatoid Arthritis Diagnosed part 1
How is Rheumatoid Arthritis Diagnosed? Part 2
Many researchers and doctors consider RA to be primarily a disease of the hands and wrists. Other small joints can be affected, they say, but hands are first. According to PRD, many doctors examine hands to diagnose as well as to judge disease activity.
Is that an accurate description of the first symptom of rheumatoid arthritis?
No.
How do I know? I know because I’ve gained a broader perspective by reading many thorough articles on diagnosing RA like this one. Also, I’ve spent even more time reading the accounts of actual people with Rheumatoid Arthritis. Many PRD do not experience symptoms in the hands early in the progression of their disease. In some cases, those PRD are not following the pattern which is set forth by those who officially authorize and certify a “definition” of Rheumatoid Arthritis. This is can make diagnosis difficult.
Here is a first symptom of rheumatoid arthritis list that I compiled after talking with real people being treated for RA:
Eye inflammation / uveitis / iritis
Feet pain and / or swelling
Back pain (spine)
Pleurisy (lungs)
Heart (heart disease or inflammation of lining)
Ankles (pain and damage)
Elbow
Hip
Shoulder
Knee
Intestinal inflammation
The unlikely first symptom of Rheumatoid Arthritis: Feet
I am one of those lucky peeps whose Rheumatoid Arthritis struck my feet before my hands. The pain began at age 15. The occasional pain or swelling got worse over the years.
Early in 2006, there was intense swelling and pain which caused deformity literally overnight. One morning, I awoke with a toe that had moved about 45 degrees. I could not walk on it. Within 24 hours, the other foot did the same thing. At least they matched.
Within a few days, RA attacked several joints on both feet so that I could not wear shoes. It felt as if I were standing on rocks all of the time. It took a few doctors to realize that this was actually RA. In fact, I was not diagnosed until it had spread to several other joints. Incidentally, that did not include the hands at that point.
Since I did not realize the seriousness of my fate, I never took pictures of those unbelievably deformed feet. Fortunately for me, the swelling went down and I can walk short distances now with only moderate pain. However, I have a completely different pair of feet. RA feet.
Updating this now in 2016, I’ve had many injections over the years in my feet to bring down the extreme inflammation. I still see the same podiatrist who splinted my feet 10 years ago to help the joints come back in line. He helped diagnose my RA. The lumps beneath the base of the toes are always there, but ice packs help somewhat.
IF YOU ARE a PATIENT –
Please add your comment below to tell us about your first symptom of rheumatoid arthritis. Or you can answer for someone you know who has RA.
IF YOU ARE a DOCTOR or NURSE –
Please read through the hundreds of comments by patients to see the wide variety of first symptoms.
Recommended reading:
- Sympathy and Living with Rheumatoid Arthritis Symptoms
- My Quest for Answers to Questions About Rheumatoid Arthritis
- Weathering Rheumatoid Arthritis
My first symptom was in my hips. 12 doctors and two and a half years later I was diagnosed with Lyme Disease. (was previously diagnosed with RA and possibly M.S.) Not sure how Lyme triggered the RA (I also have a positive Rheumatoid Factor) but now it has spread from hips to knees, ankles shoulder, neck, elbows, wrists and now fingers. I am currently on doxyclycline and the pain has gotten worse. I will be seeing a LLMD soon. Hundreds of people that have been diagnosed with other autoimmune diseases actually have Lyme Disease.
I’ve had good luck with those “custom” inserts by Dr Scholl’s that you can get at Walmart by using that machine to measure which ones are best for you. $40 bucks is a lot cheaper than $250 or higher from a podiatrist or specialty store. I went to mule-type shoes, also from Walmart, at the same time. I think they are Earth Spirit shoes. I’ve found that pair had a metal bar inside the sole and this seems to have made a huge difference in the heel pain and plantar fascitis symptoms. Getting the Dr Scholl inserts has helped a lot with my forefoot pain too, just not as much as with the heel pain though. I had been to the point of practically crawling by the middle and end of my work days, so I can’t say enough good about finding these much cheaper alternatives. Also, on days like today, when my upper arms, shoulders and neck have felt like someone has been puching on, or pummeling them for hours, I spend the money to get some Icy Hot Patches, and some ThermaCare skin patches to help ease away that pain, and if needed some Capsaisin cream for wrists and hands. Yes, be careful not to put too much cream on, or to cover the area up tightly after or you will feel like you’ve been SCALDED! However, the scalding sure makes the RA pain go away for a while! 🙂
I, too, keep on wondering about MY feet (OUCH). I very recently asked My Rheumatologist, who in turn told me to see a podiatrist. Um, HELLO…I already take the injectable methtorexate which incidentally has given me a perpetual cold, and each one is increasing in severity. Im releived to see someone else with feet problems. As for my spine? I am convinced it has attacked it also.
My 1st symptom was pain, of course. Then swelling to my feet and hands (big time edema) causing me to remove my prized rings, then I lost my voice for NO apparent reason. The pain and fatigue was sucking my life away, then a sore throat. My GP ran the usual blood testd (she is well aware I also have scleroderma), and found the RA.
Im so fortunate to have found this group!
Jill
I can really relate to what you’ve written.
I had Plantar Fascitis some time before my RA diagnosis. The podiatrist made orthotics which were a lifesaver at the time.
You also mention your spine which again I can relate to. While cervical spine problems have long been linked to RA, now essentially the whole spine can be affected.
It’s difficult for me to pinpoint what happened first for me, having had multiple joint pain etc. But my back has been a major concern for about 10+ years and long before it was acknowledged as part of RA. However my knees have been a problem for about 30yrs now. So I guess knees were my first area to be an issue and later exhaustion, pain in more places than I knew I had together with anaemia and enlarged spleen. Feet getting more twisted and hands getting stiff and clumsy now.
Yes the RA Warrior site invaluable (and even invaluable doesn’t sound enough)
There is a new nsaid out.. Vimovo – it is for people who can’t stomach the regular nsaids. My doctor gave me a sample and a coupon.
Putting feet on a hot water bottle… Or ice… Or alternate. It is tricky, but you can buy a wax pot from bed bath and beyond (use the 20% off coupon). It just fit one of my feet. Difficulty incuded – wax going over the top (just don’t do you feet the first few times) and after putting the plastic bags over my feet it was incredibly slippery (duh!, but I didn’t think of it), so have someone there to help you to your bed or chair.
I have tried voltaren gel and the flector patch on my feet when desperate, but for some reason it doesn’t help me. The gel does help my hands/wrists and the patch does help my back or shoulders.
Good luck!
Vimovo is a new product but it isn’t a new NSAID. It is just a combination of naproxen (aka. naprosyn, alieve,…) and nexium. It’s just supposed to ease some of the stomach issues that some people get with naproxen. My doc gave me a sample of this medication and it seemed to help my stomach issues some.
Thanks. I know that naprosyn is harsh on the stomach (from my dad’s uclers). I don’t take it for my RA since it does nothing, but many patients do. Maybe it will help.
Make sure you talk to your doc about vitamin D. A recent study says that Nexium users need more vitamin D, because it can cause osteoporosis after long-term use. I plan to talk to my doc about it today, since Nexium is the only thing that works for my GURD/ulcers.
Look for ‘memory form’ slippers. They are a real blessing… at least for in the house. Hope they’ll come out with insoles.
Go to a shoe stores that custom makes insoles . They will also carry shoes that have soft stretch tops instead of leather. (meant for diabetics).
Hope you find some comfort
God bless
Is the Voltaren gel a Rx? Never heard of it
Regarding your feet… Get some ‘memory foam’ slippers for around the house at least. They are a real blessing! Hope the come out with insoles.
Also, go to a shoe store that custom makes insoles, you may want them (need a Rx from an orthopedic dr) , but they carry shoes with soft stretchy tops instead of leather. (meant for diabetics)
Hope you find relief
God bless
PS BTW memoryfoam mattress toppers are great too
I am very recently diagnosed (2 months) and have been having knee and hip pain and what was diagnosed as plantar fasciitis for over 10 years. The first pain not easily attributable to other things (went through several doctors who dismissed it as wear due to overweight – get some exercise! Nobody ever anwered my question, How does one get exercise when it hurts to move?) was in my shoulders, one at a time and then both at once, over a few months in summer. I resonate with the description of ‘glass shards’. I did, by then, have a doctor who at least wanted to listen, but did not refer me for tests until my hands started to swell, and by the time my appointment with the Rheumatologist came, I was in the middle of an extremely aggressive flare, the worst day of which started with my realizing that I couldn’t lift myself out of bed to get to the bathroom. I couldn’t get a grip on the edge of the bed to push up, so I rolled into the floor, and crawled into another room where there is a couch with fairly low, but firm arms that I got my elbows up around and levered myself up with elbows, and from there into the bathroom, which was, for several weeks the only place I left my bed for (an extremely painful journey, but unavoidable). I was not aware of any joint that did not hurt. I also felt like my skin and bones hurt. Prednisolone felt like a miracle drug! Rheumatologist prescribed it immediately, and swelling went down quickly during the time that breathing tests and such were being done prior to starting on Methotrexate. I am doing fairly well. Some aching and stiffness moves around from day to day; today in my fingers and shoulders and right knee. (By the way, I was never symmetrical.) I can do most things that are essential in my life, and I work from home, but haven’t the energy to do much for fun. Unlike before medication, I now tire out before I get to severe pain levels. Without meds, physical activity made me hurt, then tired. My youngest goes to college later this year, and my plan was to return to teaching, but I wonder whether I will be able to do it.
Thanks for putting all those details here Cindy. I think it’s very helpful to others looking for answers. A lot of your story sounds common from the misdiagnosis to the allover flare to the pred. helping to the moving pains! If every joint hurt, then I’d say you are symmetrical – they don’t have to hurt the same way at the same time. Just having joints affected on both sides qualifies for symmetrical. Good luck with your plans!
When I discovered I had RA I was 21 years old. It started in both knees. It progressed rapidly and taking care of a baby 10 months old was near impossible. I required help at that time until about a year later when I became pregnant with my second child. The RA went into remission for quite awhile. What a relief!
It was several years before I started to have symptoms again,in my knees and elbows. My hands would hurt but never became deformed.
When I went to a rheumatologist he told me I didn’t have RA because my hands were not deformed. I knew I had been previously diagnosed a few years earlier, why would that dr. treat me with 20 to 24 Ascriptin a day? I had my sed rate checked several times a week. I didn’t know who to believe and I finally gave up.
I have been diagnosed with fibromyalgia, osteo, RA, chronic fatigue, chronic anemia…someone tell me what to do and how to deal with the pain.
Sincerely
MJ Siers
That is ridiculous that a rheumatologist told you that – but I believe you since I’ve met a couple of ridiculous rheumatologists too in the past. There are good ones though. My advice is not to give up until one is treating your diseases and also treating your symptoms so that you can function & have relief as much as possible. I know it’s hard. But that’s all we can do.
I have only just started suspecting RA three days ago. I’m in my early 50’s – the tiredness I feel every day – I have been assuming this is the result of menopause. Initially, have had increasing pain in the balls of my feet and my right big toe is pointing inward as of last year. Pain in both shoulders after this. I was diagnosed with generic arthritis by my doctor last fall. I have assumed until now this was all osteoarthritis. It is the bilateral nature of all my now very rapidly increasing pains (my thumbs, my knees…) that made me google arthritis once again. Early symptom stories about pain in the shoulders with RA caught my eye. Patients talking about their own stories. For a few months I have been noticing my ‘bones growing’ on my wrists, my hands. I thought I was imagining things. It is starting to make sense….
A great site – thank you
Sophia, I hope it’s not RA. Those symptoms are suspicious and I hope you can find a good specialist to get a diagnosis soon!
My first symptom was back pain, which I’d experienced, along with other things, since I was a teen. I was diagnosed very young with “growing pains.” I was finally diagnosed with RA when I was 24, but the doctor just casually looked at my hands and said “you know, it’s the same thing that they call crippling arthritis, but you’re too young to worry about it now.” Sigh.
Years later, a doctor told me that there are many types of RA, and that I had the type that targets the big bones/cartilages/etc, rather than the type that affects the extremities first.
BTW, the worst pain I’ve had in my feet is the feeling of the nerves dying due to inflammation in my back. At least that’s what one doctor told me. I don’t trust doctors anymore.
I went to a specialist 8 years ago who told me “You don’t have RA, you’ve never had RA.” This is after having been diagnosed with it at several big name universities and medical facilities. She didn’t even check those records or try to discover why I’d gone into remission (much less tell me that just because I was in remission didn’t mean the pain would be gone).
Now that I’m out of remission, I am angry. Angry that I don’t know what put me in remission, angry that I didn’t use a more aggressive treatment in the past, angry at that doctor who told me I never had RA (thus taking away the enemy I knew I was fighting), and of course, angry that I’m no longer in remission.
I’m currently undiagnosed but I have a referral to a rheumatologist. I have the bilateral wrist/hand/knuckle pain constantly with swelling. When the pain gets even worse than usual it goes into the toes of both feet, I’ve joked with my wife that it is my overflow valve. I barely have the energy to do basic household chores. And of course I have the joint stiffness, especially in the morning.
Both my worker’s comp orthopedist and my regular GP agree something is up and my blood tests are ANA +, Elevated C-reactive protein and positive for rheumatoid factor.
Mine started in my right knee and ankle. I went to an ortho because I could barely walk. Without taking x-rays or mri he said “Here’s a knee brace and here’s an ankle boot. You probably badly sprained your ankle and that’s why your knee hurts too.” I beleived him and moved on even though I continued to have pain it wasn’t near as bad as it was when I first went to the ortho. About six months later I went to my gp for a sinus infection and he noticed a lump on my thyroid. Eventually I had 1/2 my thyroid taken out due to nodules that weren’t cancerous and since then I’ve gone downhill with swelling in my ankles so bad my socks cut into my ankles and legs. I have pain in pretty much every joint in my body except my jaw like many of you are or have experienced. The bad thing is I’ve gone from a complete neat & germ freak to I can barely move and the cleaning can wait this week. Thankfully my husband has really stepped up to help me out.
Mine started last May with pain and extreme swelling in my right knee. The pain and stiffness spread to my shoulders, elbows and hands. My fingers were so swollen I couldn’t bend them. For two weeks I couldn’t get out of bed by myself, wash my own hair or dress myself. I also lost 25 lbs in 3 weeks without doing anything. When I went to the doctor he told me I was too young to have arthritis (22) and I must have injured myself. I eventually wound up in the emergency room to have my knee drained and the ER doctor told me I should see a rheumatologist. I was diagnosed two weeks later and finally found some relief. Unfortunately my RA affects me everywhere.
Thanks for sharing Jessica. That all sounds painfully familiar. I hope you have been able to get some relief.
Looking back, I think my RA started with a shoulder injury, Don’t ya’ll laugh at me, but my hubby and I lived in a townhouse apt that had a ghost, One day I did something that ticked off the ghost and it pushed me down the stairs while I was carrying a laundry basket full of laundry.That is I think when my RA began because I’d had no problems with any of my joints until then, as a result of that fall, I seriously sprained my shoulder, it ended up freezing up on me about 6 mos later and didn’t unfreeze until about a year later. after that, I had problems with my shoulder being stiff and very painful at times. shortly after my shoulder started acting up, my hands and wrists started acting up, my fingers started swelling,my knuckles and joints started aching and getting bigger, knobbier, stiff. the stiffness and swelling would last a few days and then be gone, the pain in my shoulder(s) would last 2-3 days then be gone for a while. The weather seems to affect how bad I hurt also, the cold, rainy winter weather really make me hurt. I love the summer months because I feel so much better, alot less pain.
Does anyone else have RA in their jaw? Both my right and left tempromandibular joints(TMJ) have gradually been disintegrating for a number of years. The first 18 months of pain were spent trying to convince my GP that my jaw was not sore due to ‘overuse’ or weakness in the muscles. When I finally got a referral to a Rhuematologist, he was reluctant to diagnose RA as my hands were perfectly normal at the time. Fortunately? by this time, my jaw had deteriorated to the point that x-rays clearly showed the damage & synovitis in my TMJs. Though I have already read a lot about RA – nowhere can I find anything about RA in the jaw. I can’t have these joints fused or replaced – so what is the long term outlook?
My first symptom besides the “IBS” was severe swelling in both knees around age 10-11. It seems to be the first symptom of each flare up along with stiffness in my hands and right shoulder.
I must be typical textbook then coz mine started in hands and feet!! Even since starting treatment my feet and hands are still the worst affected rendering life very difficult as I cannot walk without pain or entertain myself with hobbies as my hands are too sore
Not sure where my RA started because I didn’t even show a high sediment rate until I was symptomatic for 10 years. In the meantime, I was diagnosed with: fibromyalgia; Sjogern’s disease;inflammation in muscle surrounding my heart; IBS; Chronic Fatigue; chronic sinusitis; degenerative disc disease and osteoarthritis. Sound familiar? After 15 years, I was finally given a test for RA after showing an elevated sed rate and although it came back “a weak positive” I was diagnosed. My sed rates still rarely are elevated. By then, both knees, my feet, and hips were involved, and my fingers have joined them recently.
Cathy, I need to know how they found the inflammation in the muscle surrounding your heart. I have been having severe chest pain that comes and goes, mostly comes and my RA doc acts like it has nothing to do with my RA. I have been dianoised with RA, Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue, Chronic Sinusitis, Chronic Broncitis, Inflammation of the Eye. And my back absoulutely kills me but when I complain of that, my RA doc tells me to put it in God’s hands. I love God but I need help from a doctor. Anyway, I am so worried about my chest pain, I just lost my brother two years ago to a massive stroke. I finally, after several visits, got him to schedule me with a heart doctor, but I havent went yet, my appointment is at the end of this month. I am so sorry to hear of all your problems, noones seems to understand unless they have it. I hope things get better for you. And welcome to RA Warrier, it is a great site.
Hello ,,my first symptom was in my wrists ,small sharp pains that ended up in my fingers . This went on for afew years before i started experiencing pain im my knees. They constantly felt weak when walking & often gave way. 8 years on my pain stems from my wrist ,fingers ,shoulder joints ,knees & this years new symptoms are,,, my ankles ,toes ache & the soles of my feet hurt ,,feels as if ive been walking miles over rough stones & they are sore. kind regards x
My first symptom was my jaw. It took quite a while and a lot of x-rays, CT scans etc to “prove” that I had synovitis in my tempero mandibular joint. Therefore I finally got diagnosed with RA.
Hi,
My symptons started after a bout with a terrible cold. I woke up one morning with pain in one of my fingers on my right hand then next morning another finger on my left hand.It spread to my wrists. elbows and shoulders. By the time I sought medical attention I was having trouble walking and in terrible pain. I went to the doctor and said I am dying and I dont know why. My doctor ordered a RA test.
Linnzy
My RA started in my feet. I went 10 years without a diagnosis. All of the metatarsal heads in my feet had to be resectioned,had multiple hammer toes and bunions on both big toes. 1st. Dr. said “it looks like rheumatoid arthritis” after looking at xr’s of my feet but “oh your to young for that” I was 39. All I heard was arthritis so I continued to suffer for another 10 years. An Orthopedic Dr.finally diagnosed me. Am now 68.
As a nurse, I have done a lot of research on RA. I have read that many women have surgeries on their feet due to pain that was mistakenly diagnosed for something other than RA. Later, when diagnosed with RA, the Dr’s and patient’s would trace the initial pain back to the feet as the possible first symptom of RA. Therefore, the feet appeared to be the most commonly missed first symptom of RA. (I find it ironic that you show a picture of feet for this article and state that the first symptoms occur in the hands.)
I happened to be one of the women, who’s symptoms started in the feet. I had several surgeries on my feet due to severe pain and swelling. I had a bunion surgery, where they broke my bone and pinned it. It took over a year for the swelling to go down from that surgery alone. The next year my other foot acted up, and it was found that I had an extra bone in the joint of my big toe. This was removed and the pain went away. It continued that I would have knee pain on one side, then the other, then wrist pain on the right side and then the next week that was completely gone and it would turn up on the left side. Then suddenly, it hit my shoulders. One day I couldn’t use my right arm to shift my car and the next the right arm was fine and it was in the left arm. (RA is mostly symmetrical, hitting both sides at a time or one side, then the other). Since that time I have mainly been on Prednisone and desperately trying to get off of it as it has affected my heart from It’s side effects. I am allergic to almost all antibiotics, Tylenol, Ibuprofen, Motrin, NSAID’s, many DMARD’s and two biologic’s (Humira and Enbrel). (I believe this is all a part of the auto-immune disorder at play.) I keep fighting and working every day, unless I have an illness. (Which seems more often than not these days). It gets tougher everyday. Yesterday I started my first infusion of Orencia. Today, I am finding that the infusion brought on worse pain, dizziness and fatigue than the pain I was having before starting the infusion. I was told to expect flu-like symptoms, I guess this is it. I will continue on, in hopes that it will help and I can slowly get off of the Prednisone.
Thank you for listening,
From one RA person to another,
Lisa Mariano
Lisa, I do not state that the first symptom is the hands – only that some people in the medical profession think it should be that way. The whole purpose of this post is to disprove that old theory. There are 284 comments here that also help to disprove it – that was my whole goal – to present the evidence to the world that RA is not a hand disease.
Good luck with the Orencia. I hope it helps you keep working.
Mine started about a year and a half ago mainly in my hips and shoulder. One day I was at work and thought “how funny.. I can’t lift my leg up more than a few inches off the floor.” There was a weird pain and I couldn’t explain it. A few days later I couldn’t raise my arm high enough to get my car into reverse to get home from work (not only was the pain too intense but my body just wouldn’t do it)… However, a few days later when my knee swelled to something that looked like a small melon, well that was what sent me to the hospital. It was only after about a year from my actual diagnosis that my hands are bothering me to the point that I have to wait about an hour after I wake up to be able to get the toothpaste on my toothbrush so that I can brush my teeth.
My pain started in my hands and feet. When I would walk my feet would hurt like I had stepped on something. My hands started hurting when I started typing . My fingers would be stiff and hard to move .I had to take my ring off because of the swelling.Now I am so afraid . I need some one to talk too. Is there a group I can attend to talk to people with RA.I just want to know what to exspect.
Judy, there are some local groups depending on where you are located. Also, many people read this site and you are connected to us that way. What makes you most afraid? How long have you had RA?
You can click on the menu tab Local RA Support to see if there’s a group already near you – there are probably a couple of new ones not listed yet such as Orlando, New York, New Jersey.
when I strated my feet hurt realy bad I thought I had planter fascitits and went to a poditris and got an injection and excerise for my feet and a boot for night , then that seemed to clear the problem , and I went on a hike and the next day my feet wore so painful I thought I had a stress fracture and my ankles were so swollen , I’m in the medical field so I strated to look things up on the internet and doing my own self diagnoses , But then one night it hit my shoulders and elbows and my feet still hurt and my sheets on the bed felt like a ton on me , and in the morning I could not step or walk it was so painful , and I forgot to tell you five hundred dollars later on shoes and spiecal insoles and I still hurt so finally I broke down and went to my chricopator and thought maybe I just need to be adjusted , well I told him what was going on and it was him that said you know Leti I think you have R.A. and I want you to go see your PCP and give me a list of blood work I needed to get done , 🙁 so I did and he was surprised but after examing me he said well lets do the lab and see and when it came back off the charts , he said I want you to go see a rhuemie which I had already pick and there you go Kelly , mine strated in my FEET .. oxxo love you
My first symptoms of RA was following exercising and stretching, I had severe spasm of my chest muscles for 2 months. After numerous tests to determine the cause, I had a cardiac stress test. That evening, my hands, fingers and wrists swelled up. This got me started on prednisone with a tentative Dx of RA. A referral to a rheumatologist resulted in him not wanting to call it RA when there was no rheumatoid factor, although the sed rate and CRP were sky high. Another referral finally got me the Dx of RA and on MTX. Now, it has moved to my feet, lower back with severe sciatica, back of the knees and still chest tightness with occasionally pleurisy (sand paper sound in my lungs). Still on prednisone (15mg/d) since it is only 3 weeks on MTX. This all began only 4 1/2 months ago! Everyone wants me on less prednisone, although anything less than 15 mg/d and I start to get all the symptoms coming back very strong! No side effects from the pred after 3 months.
My mother had it first in her left knee. My 2 daughters each first showed it in their feet adn ankles.
Glad to hear I am not alone mine stared as growing pains throughout childhood including swollen red inflamed joints that nothing was really done about. After I had my first daughter I had chest pains that was loosely diagnosed as pericardia’s of course that cleared up during pregnancy with my second when after his birth I was quoted as saying I feel like my body is attacking itself and I really believed it must be something to do with the hormones. It seamed to take of so quickly at this point my hips were the most painful and what brought me to the doctor for diagnoses. At which time I was told I had text book RA even though my hands had not been affected. It has been confirmed it affects my lungs, heart and intestine (this is arthritis right??) as well as flattened feet that changed two sizes, ankles, knees, shoulders, lower back and last to be affected was my hands and wrist.
One symptom I haven’t read anything about is the sweat gland not only was my sweat affected kind of felt sandy and dry but my symptoms were exuberated by breastfeeding which I had problems with making enough milk. I was given a supplements (fenugreek) all of my symptoms intensified. I know dry eyes is a symptom and all three of these systems are related anyone had any experience with this I’m sure it was related some how as well but I’m not going to try and explain that to a doctor.
Hi Danielle,
You are one of the few people who mention rhematoid arthritis affecting your lungs. Thats what I supposedly have, and I’m very interested in what way it affects your lungs. i have interstitial lung disease, supposedly caused by rheumatoid arthritis. I am on aziatheripine (sp?)and prednisone, and fairly well under control right now, but very very exhausted most of the time, even tho my oxygen levels seem to be “normal.” How does it affect you? Jennifer
Hi Danielle and Jennifer,
You can find a few other RA’ers with interstitial lung disease (and other autoimmune patients with related ILD) at this web forum:
http://www.huff-n-puff.net/newforum/index.php
Use the search function there to find RA, or rheumatoid or methotrexate, etc. which will lead you to interesting information. All the folks there are kind, caring and helpful.
Looking back my first symptom was of what felt like a tendon sliding around on top of one of my knee caps. Then my elbows hurt when resting them on anything. Someone recommended a doc to me (who also happened to be a rheumatologist and general internist, but I did not know this, even after my first visit until I saw one of his cards years later.) He did xrays which were negative. He took a blood test for RF rheumatoid factor which was low positive. He did not inform me of this or say what it might be. He probably just said take some NSAIDs. These symptoms went away and I thought nothing more of it.
That was in 1996. I had no idea what test he ran, or that he was even looking for RA. I had no inkling that’s what it might be – even when I went back to him about 2 years later in the fall of 1998. At the end of 97 I had an extremely painful episode of tendonitis/bursitis that ran from my shoulder to my thumb. I called his office and got treated by one of his partners for bursitis, getting a shot muscle relaxer and a sling and told to rest it. I had just switched jobs but was still finishing out some work for the last job after I started the new job and was carrying around a huge and heavy extra big brief case. With time the bursitis cleared up.
The summer of 98 I had started having painless but odd crackling in tendons in my heels. And feeling stiff and sore after doing hours of weekend warrior yard work/grass cutting. Not something I was worried about thinking that I was just getting older and out of shape. Not something I sought treatment for though.
Around Nov 98 I was sitting cross-legged on a floor cleaning out some stuff and when I leaned back to put weight on my wrists, they were extremely painful. That sent me back to that original doc, whom I still had no idea was a rheumy. All he did was prescribe NSAIDs. Still did not say anything about what it might be. Then I got worse fast with pain and stiffness and fatigue. I couldn’t get an appointment with him. His staff was so rude. Finally I got into see him again a month or so later. That’s when he finally told me it was RA. He must’ve assumed that he told me before it was RA, but had not. I don’t know.
So mine started in knees, elbows (which haven’t been too bad since though one knee is getting bad now and nodules on the elbows have come and gone.) From knees, elbows it moved to shoulder, then heels, and then finally made itself really known in my wrists, which are the worst to this day, but without much damage to fingers yet, though there is some synovitis there and some erosions they haven’t progressed much over many years. I also have it in one shoulder and forefeet toes now. The first areas to show symptoms did not get really bad over all this time yet…but other later hit areas did. Maybe prednisone did help those areas? Or maybe it gets bad in areas that one is hardest on.
He was not an agressive treater either, but that is another story for another day. Not much of a rheumy was he.
I have just been diagnosed with RA, and my first symptom was my feet. They swelled up mildly on and off for about two months so I ignored it, I have gained unexplained weight and thought that was part of it. Then, on Memorial Day, I ended up in the emergency room because my feet were so swollen and painful that I couldn’t walk. Have now been put on a “blast” dose of prednisone – 80 mils for 3 days, 60 for 3 days, 40 for 3 days and 20 for 3 days. I am afraid of gaining more weight!!!!! Meanwhile, at age 49, I have just graduated from a pharmacy tech program and passed my certification and now see the possibilities once my unemployment run out becoming slimmer. Since it will take a while to get hired (no one wants someone with no experience!!!), I’m scared that by the time someone does consider it, I’ll be too far gone with this RA!!!! Help!!!!
My first symptoms were in my feet. On Memorial Day, I ended up in the emergency room due to swelling. I am about to begin a new career (ironically as a pharmacy tech), and am looking for a job. Now I don’t know what to expect or how fast this is going to go. The odds of getting a job are already against me due to my age – will be 50 in two months. Help!! Am needing any kinds of answers/encouragement
wow I was just diagnosed. My knees were my first really major symptom. OUCH! I had minor hand arthritis diagnosed last year, but so minor only OTC meds needed. This recent attack has meant I must now start a real regimine of treatment. I just kept thinking “well it’s not RA because my hands barely bother me at all”.
Thank you for the article, because it assures me my tenative diagnosis is probably correct. For me, just knowing what is going to be a big help in dealing with this.
My first symptom was definitely the hands, then the wrists and feet. I’d always been very active — worked out 5 days a week at a gym, walking 3-5 miles a day, playing tennis, and hiking on vacations. About 6 years ago at age 52 my hands started to hurt all the time. They would be red and feel hot. The joints on the inside palms and below the thumb stayed swollen 24/7. My computer mouse wrist hurt with the least amount of pressure. Next I began dropping things – the dog’s leash, jewelry, food, and of course the tennis racket. When I tried to suffer through tennis, my feet would hurt after 10-20 minutes. Couldn’t stand for my arms to touch each other in bed so slept wrapped around a pillow…or I’d have one in my lap on car trips. The wrists and elbows hurt to touch. Would get a sharp pain in weird places – my ribs, hips, and lower back. My spine would hurt to touch. Some of the pain came and went.
My first symptom was in both my wrist’s. I Started droping my youngest child when he was 12 lbs. I would get a sharp pain that shot thru my wrist then they would give out. Went thru 3 surgeries before they said hey wait a min. you can’t be hurtin in that many places at once. Long story short. Foot surgeon did the blood work and figured it out.
Thanks very much, Tesa. What kind of surgeries? Carpel tunnel?
That sounds just like what I’ve been thru w/my hips since my first child was born.
My feet are definitely more affected than my hands. Even after my diagnosis in April,the Rheumatologist thought the disformity in my feet must be osteo-arthritis. My hand and wrists were x-rayed at my 1st appt.He reluctantly x-rayed my feet at another appt. and saw considerable erosion.
I knew it,and couldn’t understand why he didn’t recognize it immediately.
The x-rays of my feet actually changed his recommendation in my meds. He upped my MXT and is adding Humira.I’m also taking Plaquenil.
My feet are changing rapidly and it’s scary.
I’m glad I pushed the issue.
I’m undergoing tests for RA at the moment but thought I would mention that around December of last year my left shoulder became very sore & difficult to move, my right shoulder then became the same & I saw my doctor. He thought it was impinged tendons & referred me to physiotherapy. Since then the main pain has gone but muscles have been very achey since, even doing the simplest household task makes me feel like i’ve been lifting weights. The for the last month my finger joints have been stiff & sore with the middle finger swelling so badly I couldn’t move it. I went to the hospital to get it xrayed as i thought it could be broken & was told it was gout. I saw my local doctor this week & had blood taken to check for RA. I won’t find out the results for another 2 weeks yet but after reading up about this & reading comments on here, it seems that the shoulder probs last year may be linked!
The Road Back Foundation – Please get the word out – You do not have to live with RA – or other Auto Immune Disorders!
Fatigue for over a year. Nagging pain and swelling in my left foot after surgery a year prior. Off and on weakness in hands and arm.
My first symptom was knee pain and Baker’s cyst. I had surgery for a meniscus tear and was told I genetically had great joints and would never need a knee replacement. The recovery from surgery was prolonged and fluid was drained several times. The knee actually got getter but I also noted waking at night to straighten extremites, stiffness after sitting and finally tenderness in my index fingers and swelling of my joints of my hands. Two years prior I had been worked up for muscular dystrophy when my left knee was painful and frozen for about 36 hrs. Thank you for this site and the information.
First of all, I want to thank-you for the the RA Warrior website. I come here often, and it is a God-Send for me! When I wake up in the morning, the first thing I notice is I did not REALLY get a good night’s sleep. Even though I have one of the best mattresses on the market, I am constantly tossing and turning or waking up in the middle of the night to get comfortable because my shoulder hurts, or my elbow, or my hands, or my hip,the list goes on!! Then I notice my toes are stiff, but I hop out of bed anyway to make coffee. My fingers are also stiff but checking e-mails first thing in the morning and typing, help get them moving. I go on with my day as if nothing is wrong even though in the back of my mind it is always there…the dull aches. I clean, drive, work out with a trainer 3 times a week, swim, cook, work in the yard because I am afraid if I slow down, I won’t be able to move again. I just completed my 3 infusion with Orencia and am also on Areva. I still have no relief but am praying and have faith in what my Dr. says may take up to six months before I feel any results.
thanks so much for taking time to comment LaVelda so I know you’re there! Keep fighting. 🙂
My first symptom actually happened to be my hands, about two years ago. I noticed that during and after performing tasks such as mopping, doing the dishes, writing, my hands would ache tremendously and feel weak. I also had a difficult time holding books up for my children when we read our bedtime stories. My wrists began aching about a year ago, about nine months ago my knees were thrown into the mix, and just a few months ago everything started hurting at once. I have elevated RF level and have my first appointment with a rheumatologist tomorrow. I’m nervous. :o(
I hope it goes well Miranda. I hate the “everything hurts at once” part- hopefully it won’t be for too long.
Mine started in my left shoulder and i thought i was having a heart attack,after that my feet and hands would have horrible pain.it was like shock waves of pain in my body sometimes my hands a nd feet would feel locked up in pain while i was driving that happened about 5 years ago i just got diagnosed last month(june 2011)
good description of a terrible thing.
Hum, what came first the chicken or the egg? I have had problems dating back to 1993. High sed rate, my primary physician now says was a “clue”. I traveled for a living sometimes spending 5-6 months out on the road. I remember waking up with such horrible pain in my shoulders, neck and just felt awful also feet hurt so bad I felt like I could not walk. I would call these episodes lock up, since I could not turn my neck or lift my arms. I didn’t know what caused me to lock up and at the time since I was traveling I thought bad bed, mattress, pillow. My feet,hips and knees would also hurt and since I drove for a living when I would get out of vehicle to fuel up I was still in a sitting position. No bells, whistles, no ding,ding,ding. Something is wrong. Just starting taking Aleve to get through my work day. Another tip was I lost my eye glasses while I was traveling in Illinois and had to go to one of those One Hour Centers. Had to get a full exam and the pressure in my eyes were too high (Sept 09) I had to sign a release statement to deny further treatment until I returned home. Still I did not get that impending doom feeling…No dramatic music like in the movies. ( this is where I think of music from Jaws). That was two years ago, Last year I was working in South Dakota and I had a incident where I felt like I was stung by a bee or bite by something in my hands, my left hand swelled and was so painful that I ended up going to an emerga center to get something to relieve the swelling.(prednisone and antibiotics) That was in Sept2010 I returned home in Oct and when I woke up feeling that bee sting feeling through out me hands,fingers,hip,knees and feet. I stated to my family that something was really wrong…Now the bells, whistles and ding,ding,ding. I go to Drs. a week later after much denial from my family telling me I was “just over doing it again”. Pain and swelling was so bad I thought I had gout. That was the only thing I knew to be that “painful” (family experience) Dr. said to be sure lets run other tests besides gout. RA factor came up very high and was immediatly referred to the Rheumatologist of my nightmares. Before my first appointment I started doing research on RA and decided I wanted more tests done. First thing I said to Rheumatologist was could my RF factor test be wrong? I was scared and so not ready for what was happening to me. (Are we ever?) Additional bloodwork CCP high,ANA high,sed rate high. Dr started immediate treatment with methotrexate. This is where I hear the music from Jaws clearly!!! Not getting any better and like I stated before, this is DR. Nightmare! I asked him “When will I get better” and he stated word for word for I will never forget them, I want you to go home put on a green hat and purple fuzzy slippers and watch 2 am informercials because that is where you will find your cure! It took me till my next visit with him a month later to get worked up enough to go back and confront him. He told me he didn’t want to treat me anymore (fired) and took me off all medications. My blood pressure was high( i wonder why?).It took me 2 months to adequately research my new Rheummy and arm myself with all my bloodwork and lists of questions, so that this time I was in control of my treatment. Making as educated a dicision as possible. Every day is different where as my symptoms are concerned but everyday I know I have RA. I am so grateful to this site and to you Kelly for helping us all get through this awful disease with alot of Aha moments and sometimes a little laughter.
I was recently diagnosed with RA about 3 months ago. I literally woke up one morning and my right foot hurt so bad. The next day, my other foot hurt as well. It was all in the balls of my feet. What the heck, I thought? It felt like you do when you have been wearing heels all day long, and finally take them off at the end of the night. Except, it felt like this ALL day long! I had no idea what I did… maybe I hurt them on the treadmill the other day? No, I thought, I don’t recall hurting then. It made no sense. 31 years old, seemingly perfectly fine, then overnight, WHAM! A visit from the RA fairy. Really? So, now it begins, life is completely different at the drop of a dime. However, a 5 year old and 15 month old do not understand why active mommy is different. ;(
Who would have thought all those commercials on tv were made for me? Ha ha… beyond the depressing days, at least I have my humor. I find the days I take my MTX I get a little goofy, so I joke each time “my People” are on tv.
Thank you for your great blog.
I don’t know if it was my first symptom, especially after reading everyone elses posts but I had a nodule in my right foot. I thought the worst “CANCER” little did I know it was worse, and something that has no cure, RA. I have had many more since along with swelling, pain and much fatigue. I have been on Hydroxychloroquine (lol) and dropped 9 lbs in 1 week. I also have OA in my neck, did I mention that I am only 39? The OA is a constant burden, worse than my RA because my arms go numb when I lie down. How come Dr.’s dont seem to be worried about it? This disease is DUMB!!!!
It was my left shoulder where I first had the worst pain since child birth, followed by hives and a taylor bunionectomy on my left foot.
I went to bed perfectly normal and woke up the next morning unable to get down the stairs…well thats how i remember it, i may well have had a few symptoms that i didnt recognise before hand but after 26/27 years its all a little hazy.
xx tina