I don't know your age but I will tell you about my mother and her acute arthritis, so you can compare.
It started off with a feeling of flue and slight fever, plus a lot of slime/coughing that would not clear up. It took time (about a year) before she was diagnosed with the onset of acute arthritis because she was 63 at the time and the acute form of arthritis generally affects young people, while the slower form generally affects older people.
The pain and swelling started in a hand, I believe, but did spread witin a matter of months to her feet, wrists and ankles. The rest would be like other stories about arthritis which would be in other places on this board, I guess. Did you look around?