Swelling pain and stiffness in hands

Hi All, I recently moved and had to lift and carry many large heavy boxes. Since then I’ve been waking up with very painful swollen hands to the point where I can’t make a fist and it slowly improves throughout the day. I also had night sweats off and on. Is this something that occurs with RA or could it just be a result of the extreme over use? I have crohns and have been tested for RA since I’ve had joint aches and pains in the past but so far no one has been able to say for sure what it is. RA does run in the family. Thanks all for any insight.

Thanks MsOuchie, yes my doctor was considering a diagnosis of either RA or psoriatic arthritis based on symptoms I’ve had over the years but I don’t feel like I have enough evidence to accept either of them yet since there’s been no definitive test that’s come back positive. I’m not sure if waking up like this is normal for someone who’s done a bunch of lifting several days ago but my fingers are painful, swollen and stiff and I’ve started to notice aching in my toes the last few days. I’m on remicade already for Crohn’s disease and the doctor wanted to change another medication to methotrexate to help with the joint issues but I’d rather be sure that that is what it is before throwing more medications at it.

Jeanneac, thank you for your response!
I had a similar experience. I used to get inflamed knee joints when the crohns was active. That went into remission with the remicade but i still have flare ups of the joint problems, mostly my hands and fingers now. I guess I will have to go back to my Rheumatologist. I was on plaquenil for a while but but stopped because I wasn’t sure if it was doing anything or the problem had resolved on it’s own.

Strangely, I have Osteoarthritis in my knees and ( Distal Interphalangeal Joints ) not RA.

You need to keep taking the meds in order keep the inflammation under control.
RA pain can last up to 3 or more hours.

Hope you feel better Labradorite!