The Epstein-Barr virus isn't the only virus suspected as an infectious agent in RA. Other examples include retroviruses and parvovirus B19, which causes fifth disease.
When lupus affects the joints, the symptoms can mimic those for RA: pain, stiffness, and swelling. Typically, they're not as bad with lupus. You also may have other symptoms that are common with RA, such as a mild fever, weight loss, and dry eyes. Lupus can trigger some distinct symptoms of its own.
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is frustrating enough on its own. But about 15 percent of people with RA develop a complication that affects the tear and saliva glands, causing dry mouth, dry eyes, dry skin, and additional symptoms that further aggravate their arthritis. It's called Sjögren's syndrome (SS).
Can multiple sclerosis be mistaken for rheumatoid arthritis? Multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis share similar symptoms, so one condition can be mistaken for the other. However, this is rare because diagnostic testing methods vary between two conditions.
Lupus. Lupus, or systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), is a potentially fatal autoimmune disease that affects many parts of the body, including the joints, skin, blood vessels, and internal organs. "The arthritis of lupus can mimic very closely that of rheumatoid arthritis," noted Dr.
The main link between fibromyalgia and rheumatoid arthritis is that they have similar symptoms and cause pain. Their similarities can make diagnosis difficult, so it is possible for fibromyalgia to be misdiagnosed as rheumatoid arthritis.
The hallmark symptoms of the disorder are dry mouth and dry eyes. In addition, Sjogren's syndrome may cause skin, nose, and vaginal dryness, and may affect other organs of the body including the kidneys, blood vessels, lungs, liver, pancreas, and brain.
Specific Tests for Sjögren's Syndrome
To make a Sjögren's syndrome diagnosis, doctors must see specific antibodies (blood proteins) in your blood. They also need to see a pattern of inflammation, found most often on the salivary glands of your lips, which is characteristic of Sjögren's syndrome.
Nonetheless, RA is not the only condition which includes joint inflammation, fever, and fatigue as its symptoms. In fact, these are also common in several other conditions like Fibromyalgia, Osteoarthritis, Ankylosing Spondylitis, Psoriatic Arthritis, Gout, Lupus, and infectious arthritis.
Because these diseases cannot be diagnosed based on symptoms alone, a rheumatologist will probably order blood tests to check for various autoantibodies, which are markers in your blood that your immune system makes when it is attacking itself.
Differences between RA and lupus
RA primarily affects your joints, including the fingers, wrists, knees, and ankles. RA can also cause joints to become misshapen, whereas lupus usually doesn't. Joint swelling is common in RA but rare in lupus.
Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune condition, which means it's caused by the immune system attacking healthy body tissue. However, it's not yet known what triggers this. Your immune system normally makes antibodies that attack bacteria and viruses, helping to fight infection.
The exact cause of rheumatoid arthritis is unknown. Researchers think it's caused by a combination of genetics, hormones and environmental factors. Normally, your immune system protects your body from disease. With rheumatoid arthritis, something triggers your immune system to attack your joints.
Overexertion, poor sleep, stress or an infection like the flu can all set off RA symptoms. With a predictable flare you'll temporarily feel worse, but your symptoms will resolve in time. Unpredictable flares have more uncertainty associated with them.
Blood tests
In Sjögren's syndrome, the immune system produces antibodies that attack healthy areas of the body. These can be found during a blood test. But not everyone with Sjögren's syndrome has these antibodies, so you may have the condition even if a blood test does not find them.
Sjogren's syndrome patients often develop a purple-to-red rash that does not lighten when pressure is applied. They may also show purpura (rashes with blood spots) that's indicative of vasculitis (inflammation of blood vessels). If you observe any of these rashes on your skin, consult a dermatologist.
Sjögren's syndrome can also cause swollen or painful joints, muscle pain or weakness, dry skin, rashes, brain fog (poor concentration or memory), numbness and tingling sensations in the arms and legs due to nerve involvement, heartburn, kidney problems and swollen lymph nodes.
In Sjögren's syndrome, the immune system attacks the tear and saliva glands, and other secretory glands throughout the body. The reasons for this remains unknown, but research suggests that it's triggered by a combination of genetic, environmental and, possibly, hormonal factors.
Joint pain is one of the most common symptoms of Sjögren's syndrome. Multiple joints are painful, usually episodically with periods of joint pain, known as “flares”, followed by periods of little or no joint pain. Tenderness and swelling of the joints, when present, are indicative of inflammatory arthritis.
Who Gets Sjögren's Syndrome? Most people with Sjögren's syndrome are women. You can get it at any age, but it is most common in people in their 40s and 50s. It occurs across all racial and ethnic backgrounds.
Lupus. When lupus, a systemic autoimmune disease, affects the joints, it can cause symptoms similar to RA. Most people with lupus also experience flares, where symptoms get worse, then improve or disappear. Other similar signs of lupus and RA include fatigue, fever, and dry eyes.
Rheumatoid arthritis causes visible damage to joints. Fibromyalgia does not. Rheumatoid arthritis also gets progressively worse, causing swelling and sometimes deformities. The pain from fibromyalgia is more widespread, while rheumatoid arthritis is concentrated initially to hands, wrists, knees and balls of the feet.
However, because fibromyalgia can cause chronic pain and fatigue similar to arthritis, some people may advise you to see a rheumatologist. As a result, often a rheumatologist detects this disease (and rules out rheumatic diseases).