morning stiffness that lasts a while IS RA.

it's great you are writing here. welcome glad you are here.

what would also be nice for you is a comprehensive book on RA to start plowing through. when I was diagnosed I purchased about 3 online at amazon used then I checked another 3 out at the library. see if you can hit the information before your rheumie talk about it in the office so you can ask back questions when she prescribes or tests.

it's chronic for a lifetime but there are HUGE gradations of functionality. don't take other's answers as gospel or personal as RA is like pregnancy every story is different.

your rheumie probably started you out on dmards (disease modifying anti rheumatic drugs) and there are a lot of em. your rheumie should have talked about each one you are on and how long it takes for it to hit therapeutic level.

for your entire life now you will be on ra meds, probably and always tweaking them. there is no standard in standard ra because each case is unique.

i like the websites raguy and to a lesser extent rawarrior (she whines too much for my taste everyone is different). i also like the national institutes of health. and i have never met a library book that i did not love. start reading and researching until you are boring every family member out of their mind and they all want to divorce you (that was a joke)

welcome again. yeah morning stiffness sucks. you will have to add way extra time to your morning commute and pre work rituals since you will be slowed down from it. think of it as the new calmer slower you - the silver lining is that I am less crazy woman in the am (smiling)

depot

For me, even though my medications are working pretty well, morning stiffness and tenderness in my feet that make walking difficult for about an hour is typical. If I nap later in the day or sit too long, it comes back to one degree or another but improves pretty quickly once I get up. Staying fairly active, moving around, and walking seems to help keep most of the RA symptoms at bay the rest of the time.

It wasn't like that before my meds (MTX and a biologic in my case) really started to work. Then morning stiffness and pain would remain pretty bad for hours, well into the afternoon or even all day. Each time I saw my Rheumatologist when we were trying find meds that worked for me, he would always ask how long the pain and stiffness lasted in the morning and if I said anything longer than an hour, he would just shake his head and say "We've got to get that solved." Now when I answer "…about an hour" he nods like that is about the best that I can expect– Like I had hit the target of a 70-80% improvement that he said the goal when I first was diagnosed and my long initial flare-up was in full swing.

Morning stiffness is pretty common in RA. Mine lasts about an hour and a half everyday and recurs to a lesser extent if I take a rest in the afternoon. I don't recall having anything better than one hour of morning stiffness even when the drugs were helping somewhat but I'm a very severe case so don't assume you will have as much difficulty.

With regard to your hand puffiness a
In your ring finger. Keep a close eye on how tight it is getting. I waited too long once and the circulation in my finger was impaired to the point that I had to have the ring cut off. I had my wedding ring resized up but even then when my ring started feeling tight again I got it off with cold soapy water before it was too late. I'm wearing it on my little finger now.

You should feel free to check in with your rheumy when you have a change in symptoms that worries you.

Thank you all for your information. I am only on Plaquenil and my rheumy said it would take 2-3 months to work and I am only about 5 weeks into it now. My symptoms still make me wonder how I am doing. Every day I seem to get worse but overall my symptons are still mild I guess. The worse part is not knowing what is next or how I am doing.

RA takes ages to get your head around, so please feel free to ask any questions here. Everyone is different so the right meds can take time to find, a bit of a roller-coaster ride. Hopefully, you will find meds that work quickly. Try to read as much information as you can from reputable sites (Depot has given you a couple here). Welcome to this group. I am sure you'll find a great deal of support here.

I'll echo what others have said. RA is lifelong you didn't just "catch RA" you had it before the symptoms in your body/DNA, something just triggered or switched it on. You will soon be hyper aware of your symptoms whether it is RA or NOT & this it totally normal! Like depotblue stated, everyone IS different & symptoms will very widely! The one thing I've also learned about RA is just because you don't have it now, doesn't mean you won't have it later, but it doesn't mean you WILL. Just because you had it before doesn't mean it won't creep back again later. So in the end I'm trying to learn to let go of all the hyper vigiliente observations. It's good at first but the longer you have it the more it'll drive you nuts trying to listen to every "creek, ping & ding" in your body and ask, "Is that RA"??

A tight ring? For me this means I had a potato chip attack the day before.

I am glad to see that some people still have a sense of humor. Mine seems to come and go bit I think it's getting better. Thanks again for all of the comments. I expected to be stiff eventually but I was hoping that it would go away with the right meds.

CLASSIC RA! What do you mean you have it 6 weeks? You were diagnosed 6 weeks ago? What meds are you on?

Holding your hands under warm water helps morning stiffness...also Aspercream.

I was diagnosed 6 weeks ago without any typical symptoms. I was started on Plaquenil 5 weeks ago. My rheumy started me out on that because she said we caught it very, very early and I currently only have mild RA.