Rheumatoid Arthritis Fatigue - Testing Options
The most common of the rheumatoid arthritis fatigue is joint pain caused by the membrane surrounding the joint becoming inflamed. While it can affect nearly every joint in the body, it most commonly attacks the smaller joints in the hands, feet and the cervical spine. Severe rheumatoid arthritis fatigue often leave patients with painful movement and can be debilitating.
Although the smaller joints are the usual target, when it attacks larger joints such as the knees, elbows and hips movement may become so painful as to be impossible. There may also be swelling in the skin surrounding the joints, accompanied by tenderness. However, in many patients many of the rheumatoid arthritis fatigue will be worse when they first get out of bed, lessening after an hour or so of painful movement.
Patient Symptoms Vary
For many people suffering from rheumatoid arthritis early symptoms may also include swelling of the skin, especially around the joints, due in part to small blood vessels near the surface of the skin being affected by the disease. Those who wake up in the mornings with stiffness, swelling and severe pain that sees to lesson the longer they are awake, may be showing rheumatoid arthritis fatigue and should contact their doctor for confirmation.
There are also some complications that, although considered rare, that can be devastating to the patient. Hardening of blood vessels, kidney problems and heart disease have all been attributed to this form of arthritis. Doctors recommend early diagnosis and appropriate treatment as soon as the rheumatoid arthritis fatigue are noticed. About one third of the deaths in patients with rheumatoid arthritis have been attributed to heart disease.
In it’s early stages sufferers of rheumatoid arthritis fatigue may not suffer from joint degeneration. But the prolonged effect of the disease is to cause deterioration in the cartilage and joints. This effect becomes more pronounced in x-rays as the rheumatoid arthritis fatigue becomes more prevalent in the body.
