I was diagnosed when I was 22. It started with a pain in my left foot. I am a server and thought I needed new shoes, but the pain would not go away. I waited a year before I finally went to have it looked at. They did an x-rays and found erosion of the bone in two of my toes. I was sent to my doctor to start testing. I had no other symptoms (other than fatigue) until the winter of that year when I fell and hurt my wrist. The pain in my wrist did not go away and seemed to spread though out my other joints. Both feet, ankles, toes, wrists and knees were all in severe pain until I could no longer walk and I was finally diagnosed with RA.

My symptoms came on gradually over time (possible a year or two) numbness in my hands and feet. Pain in my hands in particular -- trouble writing. My son, a medical student at the time told me to see a Rheumatologist, which I did. Diagnosis was RA. He put me on a number of medicines each one either stopped working or caused side effects I couldn't live with (like huge sores in my mouth from Methotrexate.) I am on Cimbia right now and Medrol.

When I found out that I had RA, my symptoms were sore feet every morning and two swollen or painful joints in my hands.