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Joint symptoms

The common main symptoms are pain and stiffness of affected joints. The stiffness is usually worse first thing in the morning, or after you have been resting. The inflammation causes swelling around the affected joints.

Other symptoms

These are known as 'extra-articular' symptoms of RA (meaning 'outside of the joints'). A variety of symptoms may occur. The cause of some of these is not fully understood.

• Small painless lumps or 'nodules' develop in about 1 in 4 cases. These commonly occur on the skin over the elbows and forearms, but usually do no harm.
• Inflammation around tendons may occur. This is because the tissue which covers tendons is similar to the synovium around the joints.
• Anaemia and tiredness are common.
• A fever, feeling unwell, weight loss, and muscle aches and pains sometimes occur.
• In a few cases inflammation develops in other parts of the body such as the lungs, heart, blood vessels, or eyes. This is uncommon but can cause various symptoms and problems which are sometimes serious.

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