What causes swollen joints, pain in the ankle, elbow and wrists along with running fever?

Posted on Mon, 24 Mar 2014

Question: For the past month to two months I have been experiencing swollen joints, pain and aches in the ankle, elbow and wrists along with running a fever up to 101. My doc has put me on steroids and antibiotics and things got better but now all the symptoms are back after being off the meds for 8 days.

Answered by Dr. Saurabh Gupta (1 hour later)

Brief Answer: Fever is not expected and can represent an infecti Detailed Answer: Hello, Thanks for your query. Fever is not expected and can represent an infection. People with rheumatoid arthritis are at increased risk for infection because of their disease and frequently because of their medications. Many of the medications used to treat rheumatoid disease suppress the immune system of the body that is responsible for defending against infectious microbes. Furthermore, these medications can increase the risk of a more serious infection when a bacterium or virus strikes. Notify the doctor as soon as a fever occurs so that infections are treated at the earliest time possible. It requires only symptomatic treatment with analgesics or nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), antiviral. Occasionally, a brief course of low-dose prednisone is used. Physical therapy as indicated. I do hope that you have found something helpful and I will be glad to answer any further query. Take care

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar