Joint symptoms usually involve three or more joints. The most commonly affected joints are the wrists, fingers, knees, feet, and ankles.

	Inflamed Joint
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Joint symptoms include:

• Increased pain and stiffness in the morning and after inactivity
• Morning stiffness and pain that lasts more than 30 minutes
• Pain and stiffness symmetrically (that is, both feet or both hands are affected, as opposed to only one)
• Red, swollen, warm joints
• Deformed, misshapen joints

Other symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis include:

• Intense fatigue, decreased energy
• Muscle aches
• Decreased appetite
• Weight loss
• Fever and sweats
• Depression
• Problems sleeping
• Anemia
• Bumps occurring under the skin (rheumatoid nodules)
• Inflamed blood vessels
• Bleeding stomach ulcers
• Inflammation of the heart’s sac (pericarditis)
• Inflammation of the heart muscle (myocarditis)
• Lung problems
• Eye problems

Sources:

Arthritis Foundation

National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases

Cecil Textbook of Medicine, 21st ed. W.B. Saunders Company; 2000.

Conn’s Current Therapy, 54th ed. W.B. Saunders Company; 2002.

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