The types and severity of symptoms of Reiter's syndrome vary between individuals. Symptoms of Reiter's syndrome are due to inflammation that can affect the urinary tract, genitals, reproductive system, eyes, skin, mucus membranes, as well as the muscles and joints. However, not all people will have all symptoms, and all symptoms may not occur together at the same time. Symptoms generally develop two to four weeks after a Chlamydia infection or food poisoning. Symptoms can come and go, but generally go away spontaneously within about a year.
Symptoms of Reiter's syndrome can affect the urinary system and reproductive system. Symptoms can include burning or pain with urination, urethral discharge, and frequent urination (frequency). Men with Reiter's syndrome can develop prostatitis. Women can develop salpingitis, vulvovaginits, cervicitis, or salpingitis.
Symptoms that affect the eyes include red, burning eyes with discharge due to the development of conjunctivitis. The eyes can also be sensitive to light (photophobia).
Symptoms that affect the skin include skin rashes and skin lesions, especially on the palms and soles. Lesions can also develop on the penis and in the mouth.
Symptoms that affect the muscles and joints include Achilles tendon pain, low back pain, heel pain, and joint pain due to the develoment of arthritis. Joint pain occurs most often in the hips, knees and ankles. Complications include the development of chronic arthritis....more about Reiter’s syndrome »
The list of signs and symptoms mentioned in various sources for Reiter’s syndrome includes the 105 symptoms listed below:
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The symptoms can affect many different parts of the body, but most typically affect the urogenital tract, the joints, and the eyes. Less common symptoms are mouth ulcers, skin rashes, and heart-valve problems. The signs may be so mild that patients do not notice them. They usually come and go over a period of several weeks to several months.
Urogenital Tract Symptoms
Reiter’s syndrome often affects the urogenital tract, including the prostate, urethra, and penis in men and the fallopian tubes, uterus, and vagina in women. Men may notice an increased need to urinate, a burning sensation when urinating, and a discharge from the penis. Some men with Reiter’s syndrome develop prostatitis, inflammation of the prostate gland. Symptoms of prostatitis can include fever, chills, increased need to urinate, and a burning sensation when urinating.
Women with Reiter’s syndrome also develop signs in the urogenital tract, such as inflammation of the cervix (cervicitis) or inflammation of the urethra (urethritis), which can cause a burning sensation during urination. In addition, some women also develop salpingitis (inflammation of the fallopian tubes) or vulvovaginitis (inflammation of the vulva and vagina). These conditions may or may not cause any symptoms.
Joint Symptoms or Arthritis
The arthritis associated with Reiter’s syndrome typically affects the knees, ankles, and feet, causing pain and swelling. Wrists, fingers, and other joints are less often affected. Patients with Reiter’s syndrome commonly develop inflammation where the tendon attaches to the bone, a condition called enthesopathy. Enthesopathy may result in heel pain and the shortening and thickening of fingers and toes. Some people with Reiter’s syndrome also develop heel spurs, bony growths in the heel that cause chronic or long-lasting foot pain.
Arthritis in Reiter’s syndrome can also affect the joints in the back and cause spondylitis (inflammation of the vertebrae in the spinal column) or sacroiliitis (sa-kro-il-e-i-tes), inflammation of the joints in the lower back that connect the spine to the pelvis. People with Reiter’s syndrome who have the HLA–B27 gene have a greater chance of developing sacroiliitis and spondylitis.
Eye Involvement
Conjunctivitis, an inflammation of the mucous membrane that covers the eyeball and eyelid, develops in about 50 percent of people with urogenital Reiter’s syndrome and 75 percent of people with enteric Reiter’s syndrome. A few people may develop uveitis, an inflammation of the inner eye. Conjunctivitis and uveitis can cause redness of the eyes, eye pain and irritation, and blurred vision. Eye involvement typically occurs early in the course of Reiter’s syndrome, and symptoms may come and go.
Other Symptoms
About 20 to 40 percent of men with Reiter’s syndrome develop small, shallow, painless sores or lesions, called balanitis circinata, on the end of the penis. A small percentage of men and women develop rashes of small hard nodules on the soles of the feet, and less often on the palms of the hands or elsewhere. These rashes are called keratoderma blennorrhagica. In addition, some people with Reiter’s syndrome develop mouth ulcers that come and go. In some cases, these ulcers are painless and go unnoticed.
About 10 percent of people with Reiter’s syndrome, usually those with prolonged disease, develop heart problems including aortic regurgitation (leakage of blood from the aorta into the heart chamber) and pericarditis (inflammation of the membrane that covers and protects the heart). (Source: excerpt from Questions and Answers About Reiter's Syndrome: NIAMS)
When considering symptoms of Reiter’s syndrome, it is also important to consider Reiter’s syndrome as a possible cause of other medical conditions. The Disease Database lists the following medical conditions that Reiter’s syndrome may cause:
Onset of Reiter’s syndrome: 2nd-4th decade
Incubation period for Reiter’s syndrome: 1-3 weeks after an infection
Incubation period for Reiter’s syndrome: When a preceding infection is recognized, symptoms of Reiter’s syndrome appear about 1 to 3 weeks after the infection. (Source: excerpt from Questions and Answers About Reiter's Syndrome: NIAMS)
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The symptom information on this page attempts to provide a list of some possible signs and symptoms of Reiter’s syndrome. This signs and symptoms information for Reiter’s syndrome has been gathered from various sources, may not be fully accurate, and may not be the full list of Reiter’s syndrome signs or Reiter’s syndrome symptoms. Furthermore, signs and symptoms of Reiter’s syndrome may vary on an individual basis for each patient. Only your doctor can provide adequate diagnosis of any signs or symptoms and whether they are indeed Reiter’s syndrome symptoms.
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