Symptoms

Rheumatoid arthritis symptoms may come and go all because of the tissue and how inflamed it actually gets.  When the body's tissues become inflamed, this is the time when the arthritis or disease is actually active.  When the arthritis is active, some symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis are joint stiffness, joint and muscle aching, lose of appetite, minor fever, and fatigue especially in the joints.

Most of the time the symptoms can be found more in the morning with the aching and stiff muscles and joints.  Also, this same type of feeling could come about after a long time of non activity.  When the disease is active, this is when joints will become swollen, red in color, tender, and painful.  All this is happening because the actual joint's lining tissue is inflamed, and the result of this is producing more joint fluid.  Also the actual lining of the tissue of the joint will thicken and hard when inflamed.

When this type of arthritis comes, most often it is that both sides of the body are effected with it in multiple joints.  Some of the smaller joints can become infected in the wrist and  hands.  Most of the time when this happens, some of the simplest daily tasks become difficult and painful.  Things such as opening a door, handling small objects, using a telephone, these type of tasks that many patients will find to be painful to handle. 

While long term inflammation of this arthritis can cause hardening of cartilage, bone, and even some body tissues. This kind of wear and tear can result in weakness in bones and muscles, along with loss of cartilage, joint destruction, deformity, and even loss of function. 

Though sometimes in rheumatoid arthritis, this disease can actually become inactive or almost like a remission state.  Though remission can just happen or through treatment become inactive, and could last up to weeks to years.  While in remission, the rheumatoid arthritis symptoms will slowly disappear and the patient more likely with feel well or normal again.  When the rheumatoid arthritis comes back and is active again or what is called a relapse, all the major symptoms can return.

Rheumatoid arthritis is a disease that when inflammation can effect all major organs such as lungs, heart, etc.  So some more serious symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis would be dryness in eyes and mouth, chest pains, hoarse voice, and firm lumps around the elbow and fingers.   These are all some of the more serious symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis.  And most of these symptoms are from the long term effect of rheumatoid arthritis that is inflamed and now the disease is actually attacking your body's organs.