Symptoms that can occur in RA include:

• joint pain and tenderness
• joint swelling
• morning stiffness that lasts at least 30 minutes
• loss of energy
• low-grade fever
• weight loss
• fatigue
• loss of appetite
• dry eyes and mouth
• red and puffy hands
• firm bumps of tissue under the skin on your arms and hands (rheumatoid nodules)

One of the main features of RA that differentiates it from other types of arthritis is that the joint stiffness is worst in the morning after waking. When symptoms of RA first begin, they tend to affect your smaller joints first: those of the wrists, hands, ankles and feet. As the disease progresses, larger joints become involved such as the shoulders, elbows, knees, hips, jaw and neck.

Another feature of RA is that symptoms tend to come and go: periods of severe symptoms called flare-ups or flares may alternate with periods of remission.