Rhuematoid Arthritis runs strong in the female side of my family - and some of the men have it also... also Lupus etc. My sister is very deformed in her hands from it at 48 and has had surgeries to both hands done at the Mayo Clinic and her hip is necrosing (bone is dying) and will soon need a replacement. With all this history it was not too surprising when I first had heel pain as I have aches all over at different times - but did not really associate this pain with the arthritis until I saw the podiatrist. He said it can also be a form of this connective tissue problem and that since I was prone to those injuries (tendonitis, bursitis, etc.) it was not surprising with the long standing I do that I developed PF.
If you are experiencing other problems, wrists, shoulders, hips etc. and you generally feel achey/exhaused - you should see a Rhuemalogist and get some blood work done to determine if you have the Rhuematoid factor in your blood or if there is some other disease going on in your body... many are related including fibromyalgia. Good luck to you from a Minnesota neighbor. Diane R.