Edit with a bit of an update...questions about RA/symptoms

To help my stiffness I do gentle stretching and heat to ease them.

Thanks, Couch and Celebrate:) Yes, we do live in tick country but I wasn't going outside at all before my symptoms began. I hope all of my bloods come up negative. I actually wonder if it's just a virus? I hope so. The only thing that really bugged me was the finger pain and I've been having knee pain (medial knee pain, I think it's called)--not joint pain but on the sides of my knees. K...glad to know that it doesn't mean RA and could be anything. This fever/exhaustion is killing me and making me quite miserable. Happy Easter!

See a rheumatologist, have them do a blood panel AND x Rays. Sometimes RA hides from blood tests ( mine does) the x Rays will tell the Rhumy what is going on in your hands.
If you get red swollen joints I would take photos of your hands to your appointment too. Sometimes on appointment day your body decides it's doing great. ( until the day after the appointment then it starts all over again.) your symptoms " sound" like RA however RA is as unique as the person it is attacking. There just is no way of telling. Remember blood work is a good test BUT if it were up to blood work alone ... I'd be labeled a hypercondriac .
Good luck. Let us know how it turns out

I would agree with PainSherlock, if the bloodwork comes out good then ask about x-rays or mri's as RA can sometimes be seen on the films before it turns up in the bloodwork...which kinda is a bummer, this happened to me bloodwork was all normal and then a hand mri showed RA...and RA can give you flu type symptoms...hope your doing better soon and will hope the best for you...
Post your results when you find out, okay...
Many well wishes and prayers...

The thing about doctors most. Of. The. Time. They don't want to jump the gun.
1. These tests are expensive. Insurance companies and doctors do the waltz all the time.
2. They don't want to " scare you".
3. Wouldn't the world be a happier place if antibiotics were a cure for the aches and pains and stuffy noses... Coughs... Etc.
4. He'd rather treat a virus than the other possibilities.
So yes it could be a virus. Your children have been bringing home microsptic pets. HOWEVER RA is an autoimmune condition so your little house guests could be contributing to malaise but are not the cause. You could have a virus BECAUSE your immune system is so busy attacking you it gave the virus a number and told it to have a seat. And oh goody ... You may even start to feel better I the same amount if time it takes for a normal virual infection to clear and this is just because your body isn't flaring.
You have an uphill battle ahead of you. It took me years and years and visual nodules on my fingers AnD an x Ray for someone to believe me.
Before I was treated like a drug seeker. I have been through the wringer. I have the best rhumy in the area and he at least 1. Took me at face value. 2. Did tests..( they were neg) and to back up the tests 3. He did x Rays . Not tests then X-rays he did it all at once because RA is no laughing matter.
Keep a journal with photos to take to the doc
I am not bashing general practioners but rhumitologists go to school several years after they get the md out of the way they see things that are easily missed by a GP. Try to see if they will give you a referral to a rhumy. It is really important.

Hello...this'll be my last post:) So most of my results came back, and I spoke the nurse at the doctor's office, but they would NOT tell me my results. She said that the doctor wants to wait until he gets all of my results back to make a diagnosis. This scared me a bit, so I called the lab. The only test that hasn't come back yet is the Lupus Anti-cog. test. The rest of them arrived the next day! I'm annoyed that my doctor won't tell me the other results, but I'm sure that they're all negative because I can't imagine him not calling me if they were positive! That would be pretty...messed up! So I'm assuming they're all negative.

Thanks again for your support!

Flower

I Don't ever assume anything. Wait for your appointment for results.
This is a hobby of those of us who get regular infusions at my doctors office. It's kinda fun and passes the time. We get our bloods back and the nurse lets us borrow an actual text book ... Kinda hard to understand but we look up our results and what they mean. It's kinda where I came up with Pain$herlock , you have to be your own detective but you have to have a good relationship with your doc also because self educating on RA is good but some doctors especially on a first visit can be offended especially for those who have self diagnosed. And you haven't done that.
Get a copy of your results and go over them your self at home it's tedious but if you put your result in s Google search you'll get what that test was because we are not doctors so we don't know what all those codes in capital letters mean but Google does ! Lol,
The doc that ordered the tests , is a rhumitologist ? I hope so because again a " reg" doc may not have the expertise to see where RA maybe hiding.
Mine is a non aggressive per se instead of standing in front of a train type damage ( hard and fast ) I have a lawnmower after me ... Slow but still painful and damaging none the less. RA hides in me. I had an angel of a primary doc who saw that I had osteoarthritis ( sediment rate through the roof ) but when I complained of nodules on my hands and extreme pain he diagnosed RA sent me to one rhummy who said , well you LOOK heathy and your so young. I don't agree with your doctor , I don't even think you have fibro you don't LOOK depressed" he told me to take a Pilates class and I'd feel better. What a joke. My PC doc was not only disgusted he was shocked. But this yahoo was the only doc I could go to because of my insurance back then. So he prescribed methotrexate himself and it started helping. Then my insurance changed and he sent me to my current rhummy, it so wonderful because most referring doc know the doc they are sending you to. I see the rhummy and he had never heard of my doc it was strange. It didn't hit me for a while my pc was researching rheumy in the area to find the top dog. This rheumy did the bloods and x Ray every joint in my body head to toes. When I went for my results ( yes she finally got the point of the post !!! ) he said everything came back normal. I think he saw the look on my face ( that sinking feeling ) he touched my hand and said " wait , waait, but in your x rays I see rhumitoid arthritis is attacking you." Oh the relief someone believes me. I almost burst into sobs. I'm not crazy. I'm not a drug seeker making up false pains, I became a human being with a disease and I could now fight this disease with this doctors help. He was a god send I've been seeing him for the last 7 years and have had improvement for where I was before.
Sorry this was long I just want to bring the point home. Test results are only good when they are read properly and you need to have different test approaches because RA is " tricksey" as gollum would say. Get x Rays !!! The longer RA is squating in your body it is causing damage if you have it. Please let us know how it turned out and update us on how you feeling (( hug))

Get the x Rays. If you do have RA the fever is from inflammation caused by your immune system. Just as the immune system destroys invading bodies in your body it is working on destroying your body. It's attacking itself . The longer it has free reign the more damage is done. And the pain in your fingers is that is it's likely target. Untreated it could eat away the catalege and protective sacs in your finger joints. These small areas allow us to move our fingers. You could loose movement and deformity if you have RA. Please get an X-ray , 10% or more people with RA have neg bloods. And RA or not something is going on in your body. You need a proper dx to begin to feel better. I'm worried for you now. I have said it before without x rays I would never be dx with RA. Please keep us updated. Love always . Worry wort grandma

Thanks:) Just took a look at my labs. CRP and ANA were negative and "RA Latex Turbid" was 11.3, so all looking good. Yeah, my temp is 100.0 right now...joint pain this morning. I'm going to have to go back to the doctor b/c I'm feeling terrible. Thank you again. I appreciate all of your help and input.