Symptoms

Symptoms
By Mayo Clinic
Signs and symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis may include:

Tender, warm, swollen joints
Morning stiffness that may last for hours
Firm bumps of tissue under the skin on your arms (rheumatoid nodules)
Fatigue, fever and weight loss
Early rheumatoid arthritis tends to affect your smaller joints first — particularly the joints that attach your fingers to your hands and your toes to your feet. As the disease progresses, symptoms often spread to the knees, ankles, elbows, hips and shoulders. In most cases, symptoms occur in the same joints on both sides of your body.

Rheumatoid arthritis signs and symptoms may vary in severity and may even come and go. Periods of increased disease activity, called flares, alternate with periods of relative remission — when the swelling and pain fade or disappear. Over time, rheumatoid arthritis can cause joints to deform and shift out of place.

When to see a doctor
Make an appointment with your doctor if you have persistent discomfort and swelling in your joints.