Welcome to our community! I'm sorry to hear that you've been diagnosed with RA, but I want you to know that it is possible to get on with your life with this disease. You may want to check out my post for people who are new to RA - it pulls together a recollection of links to articles in our archives on various aspects of living well with RA. I can also highly recommend that you pick up a book called the First Year of Living with Rheumatoid Arthritis, as it's a fantastic resource and learning tool that can help you adjust to the new reality.

Strenuous physical activity may trigger a flare of your symptoms and can put stress on your joints that will cause you more pain. You don't mention what kind of job you have, so it's hard to give you any kind of specifics, but I would recommend that you discuss the issue with your rheumatologist. as a person living with a chronic illness, the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) entitles you to accommodations in your work, i.e., ways of making the job physically easier for you to do, provided that you can still do the essential duties of the job with accommodation. Check out my post on working and RA for links to places that can help you determine what kind of accommodations might be appropriate for you - for instance, the government has a program called the Job Accommodation Network with staff who are able to help you talk through the possibilities, as well give you pointers on how to approach your supervisor.

Good luck! Please keep us posted on your progress?