I See Veins. Do You See Veins?

[JenniferInOhio]

I am very pale and I see A LOT of veins particularly on my chest and legs. They seem so big and blue against my white skin.

Is anyone else veiny like this??

[MelissaCrystal]

My veins are small, but they are numerous and bright blue under my transparently pale skin =) When I'm sick or sweaty, they're all over my chest and ribcage. Not very attractive.

[valliali]

yes, and they have definitely not always been like this. after i shower, the veins in my arms and hands are huge and bulged. i look like one of those really muscular weightlifters. i have a roadmap of veins on my chest and legs.

[janiedelite]

Me too. I'm very pale-skinned, but when I'm elevating my arms or legs my limbs will be very pale. When I put my hand above my head, my doc commented how pale my fingers and palms were. If I'm standing or have my arms lowered, you can see blue veins everywhere and they bulge, amd my skin will be a combination of mottled red or blue depending on how warm or cool I am.

[delphicdragon]

Have you all looked into Ehlers-Danlos as a possible explanation? The vascular (and classical) types of EDS can cause veins to stick out like that.

Are your joints hyperextenable and is your skin extra stretchy? If so, you might want to bring Ehlers-Danlos up with your doctor.

Ehlers-Danlos is the reason behind my POTS.

Just a thought.

Sara

[juliegee]

Hypermobility and extra stretchy skin is NOT a symptoms of Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, Vascular or Type IV; BUT the translucent skin, with easily visable veins is a symptom, as are prematurely aged hands, and easy bruising. I was just tested by a geneticist for Type IV. I do have the symptoms mentioned, plus many more, but very luckily, I do not have Type IV. There is a definitive blood test available via a geneticist. (Two of my brothers have had early unexplained aneurysms/dissections) that led my docs to worry. I am now being tested for something similar called Loeys-Dietz Syndrome. Scary. I wouldn't worry too much unless you or a family member has also experienced am anuerysm or dissection, or a similiar vein blow out.

Julie

[janiedelite]

I haven't had any family members with aneurysms, although my mom and her sister have terrible vericose veins and I had a vein on my neck blow once when I was carrying trays as a waitress. I have all the other symptoms Julie mentioned. I hope Mayo will consider testing me for this. Thanks for the advice.

[delphicdragon]

Julie-

Hypermobility and stretchy skin are signs of Ehlers Danlos, whatever type.

"The malignant form of EDS (type IV) owes its bad reputation to a proneness to spontaneous rupture of bowel or large arteries. Paradoxically, other manifestations are less dramatic than in some other forms of EDS. For example, joint hypermobility may be confined largely to the fingers and whereas the skin is strikingly thin and translucent, it is only mildly hyperextensible. Bruisability, however, is very striking; indeed, 'ecchymotic type' is a synonym for type IV."

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/dispomim.cgi?id=130050

Sara

Hypermobility and extra stretchy skin is NOT a symptoms of Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, Vascular or Type IV; BUT the translucent skin, with easily visable veins is a symptom, as are prematurely aged hands, and easy bruising.

[Ernie]

Hi,

I see my veins but we also see my husband's veins and he does not have this disorder. The difference between us and a healthy person is that our skin turns blue when we stand up.

[ramakentesh]

My veins are never visible when Im feeling POTSie - infact my hands and feet look super vasoconstricted when I stand and am symptomatic. When I feel well my veins stick out.

The recent work by Dr.J.Stewart has been looking at POTS from a different angle - and he believes High Flow Pots which is perhaps caused by Peripheral neuropathy results in excessive venous pooling in the extremities or legs in particular. On the opposite, Low Flow pots results i excessive venous constriction as would 'Hyperadrenergic' POTS caused by excessive peripheral vasoconstriction.

Dr.J Stewart has also suggested that Normal Flow POTS - characteristed by excessive peripheral vasoconstriction and almost exclusive blood pooling in the stomach - is often associated with EDS.

But I guess my point is not all of us have blood pooling in legs, feet or hands. I certainly dont.

[juliegee]

Thanks for the clarification, Sara. I re-read my post and I wasn't clear You're right, hypermobility and stretchy skin symtoms are most definately signs of EDS, but not what geneticists look for when DXing type IV. Things like super visible veins, premature aging of hands, and easy bruising, history of familial (or personal) anuerysm/dissections would be much more indicative of type IV. A long list of other symptoms is available on:

www.ednf.org

Thanks-

Julei

[jjb]

Thanks for the clarification, Sara. I re-read my post and I wasn't clear You're right, hypermobility and stretchy skin symtoms are most definately signs of EDS, but not what geneticists look for when DXing type IV. Things like super visible veins, premature aging of hands, and easy bruising, history of familial (or personal) anuerysm/dissections would be much more indicative of type IV. A long list of other symptoms is available on:

www.ednf.org

Thanks-

Julei

Hi guys, I just wanted to mention, in re to the premature aging, very visible veins & aneurysms, these things CAN occur w/ CEDS too not just VEDS.

We have CEDS in my family. Most of the woman on my moms side of the family are extremely veiny. Many of us ave premature aging and I have a "bulbous" vessel in my neck (probably the beginning stages of aneurysm).

I wanted to mention this as I had an MRI a couple fo years ago and because the bulbous vessel was only slight, the radiologist did not think it was important enough to tell me PCP. I read it on my report and showed it to Dr Nazli w/ the NIH. She said it needs to be followed.

So if any of you have EDS and have had MRIs, get a copy of your reports & disk.

About the original post, yes my skin is pretty translucent & can see my veins and I am not all that pale. My veins bulge after shower or bath, but cardiologist says that is due to the heat. They also bulge while in bed, I use a lot of blankets so again probably from the heat.

[juliegee]

jjb-

Soory to be dumb, but what is CEDS?

Julie

[momofsara]

Yes,Sara has very visible veins, especially on her chest. They are small, but noticeable. They never bulge, or stick up, thats why she has the power port, her veins are so small and fragile. Susan

[anna]

jjb-

Soory to be dumb, but what is CEDS?

Julie

Hi Julie,

CEDS stands for Classical Ehlers Danlos syndrome.

Anna

[flop]

I have been diagnosed with Hypermobile EDS (type III) but I also have very pale skin with a "road map" of veins visible at certain times.

Flop

[juliegee]

For those of you DXed with CEDS, if you have other symptomology that is also indicative of VEDS, I would encourage you to get tested. I don't mean folks with pale skin with prominent blue veins. I mean folks who have that AND prematurely aged hands, easy bruising, family or personal history of vein blow-out, anuerysm/dissections. A geneticist orders a simple blood test. It is definitive. I believe the average life span of a VEDS patient is 46, but I met many at EDNF who are living much longer. Knowledge is power. Those who know they are affected have annual MRI's, or CT scans to keep track of/and repair anuerysms as necessary. Don't worry unnecessarily, but if many siblings have had early aneurysms- check it out!

Julie

[Megan]

In answer to the original question, yes I can see my veins. I'm very pale. I have EDS type III, but I think part of it is just being so pale. They bulge in my feet when I have blood pooling, but other than that they don't stick out. Getting an iv or blood drawn is horrible. They can never get a vein on the first try.

Meg