Please Describe Your Veins

[ramakentesh]

Hi guys

would you mind answering some quick questions:

How do your hand and feet veins look when you first wake up but have not gotten out of bed?

How do they look when you feel symptomatic?

How do they look when your up and mobile and feel ok?

Do you have prominent or visible veins in general or in your arms and perhaps legs?

thanks.

[ramakentesh]

Ill start by describing mine:

1. non existent - cannot see any

2. non-existent, hands and feet very vasoconstricted

3. my veins appear in my hands and feet but not elsewhere

4. I rarely have visible veins and it is very hard to get blood from me.

[issie]

This will be affected by whether or not we have EDS or not. Most of the people I've talked to with EDS have very visable veins, thin skin and bruise very easily. I had varicose veins removed in my legs when I was only 26. The veins in my hands are very visible and in my feet - but, they can never get a vein - because they always break. They have to use the main, big vein in the crook of one arm (only) for everything - it has allot of scar tissue that has built up over the years and it can take a punture whereas - all other veins can't.

Why, what kind of research or interest do you have with this question?

To me, it would seem that those of us with vein issues should have very lax veins that would need to be supported with hose - but, most test that I've done - on myself - seems to point to me being overly constricted. So, it's all very confusing to me. I think with the laxity of the veins, with the collagen deficiency - maybe, the pooling is worse and that slows the constrictive action down of the veins - with varicose veins the levers that are supposed to push blood back up your leg - don't close properly and there is pooling in the veins. So, if the pooling is so bad then maybe the vein is extended to it's maxim and therefore, we come up as being vasoconstricted - when we really are quite the opposite. But, with the dysfunction - it presents the opposite.

Okay, I don't know if anyone could follow the way my brain works. This is all speculative on my part.

Since EDS affects all the veins in a persons body - it could make us appear to be Low Flow POTs and that would explain the pooling in our legs/feet, arms/hands and abdomen. I do feel better with some constriction on my legs - but not too much and also an abdominal binder helps me with naseau - unless I'm really swollen and then nothing helps.

I also wonder if our blood is too thick and that may be one reason why we come up as hypovolumic and we can't seem to hydrate properly?

I believe that inflammation plays a big part in our problems.

Issie

[Chaos]

I have very visible veins. The lab people's eyes always light up when they see my veins. LOL When I'm up they're very prominent in my forearms and hands, shins and feet. One time when I was very symptomatic in a clinic setting, I know they couldn't get blood out of a vein that had worked for the prior draw. (think it was for the catecholamine test). Worked fine in supine but not after the ten minutes standing part.

I don't think they're as visible when I'm lying down. However I have noticed, back when I could exercise a lot more than I can now, that my veins were getting more and more prominent as I exercised more.

[Lemons2lemonade]

Before I was ill I could not see my veins. Since then, they have become more.prevalent on my chest and up my arms--specifically from te breastbone and up to the shoulder

Out of bed, normal

Symptomatic very small, especially in my wrist

They look medium when I'm up and moving around, feeling well

People.have troubles getting into my veins. The techs always ask if I am dehydrated. I always giggle and tell them I am on medication to retain water.

[peregrine]

First waking - normal as far as I can tell

Symptomatic - the same, definitely

Mobile/feeling okay - the same too!

Visible veins - yes, my veins are for the most part visible, and I rarely have had technicians have trouble finding a vein anywhere. They're even willing to do IVs in my forearm because the veins are so easy to find. Lots of visible veins all over my body (worth mentioning I have very pale skin).

[maggie]

I have always had very small veins, and getting a blood draw is quite difficult on me. Once while I was in the hospital they had to put my iv through my jugular vein, that was not fun.

Maggie

[McKenzie]

I have always been a hard stick. However, the veins in my legs do get more pronounced throughout the day.

[sue1234]

You can't see my veins anywhere generally. But, when I have a "surge", that's the only times my hand veins rise up. Same if I've been upright towards my limit.

[Dizzysillyak]

I haven't seen any correlation between how I feel and the looks if my veins. My bp drops upon rising

tho so I get symptomatic quickly.

If I've been standing up too long, the veins in my feet begin to hurt.. And sometimes, the ones in my

hands get engorged and hurt. Heck if I can figure out why tho ..

Blood draws used to hurt all the time but lessened after I'd been on this diet for a couple of years.

Now, they only hurt if I'm freezing or seriously dehydrated.

Of interest tho .. I had 5 saline + meyer's cocktails last year. One a week. The first time I had this,

my veins hurt so bad that it took 4 hours. The next time it took almost as long. The time was reduced

each time until, I finally was in and out in appr 30 minutes. Painfree .. Sadly, that was the only improvement.

I don't know if it means anything, but I have a sideways vein in one of my arms that makes drawing blood

interesting ..

Tc .. D

[bellgirl]

My veins have always been prominent, and I'm an easy stick They love to see me coming to draw blood or start an IV...My veins are even more prominent in the warm weather. My blood is extremely viscous; almost looks like syrup. If I don't exercise enough, or if I'm on my feet too long, I have some swelling and pooling which can cause some pain in my lower extremities. I've been on medication for hypertension for about 12 years now, and now that I am on a med to decrease my heart rate, my blood pressure stays pretty low, but I used to have low blood pressure, when I was younger, and I'm fine as long as it doesn't go below 90/50. When I am standing still, which I don't like to do, I have to move alot or cross my legs, or even squat to prevent pooling. I also where tights in the cool weather. It helps immensely. I have more trouble in the summer months. So winter is my friend.

[Sif]

I've always had very visible and prominent veins all over my body. They seem to become slightly more prominent when I stand although it's not a huge change. I have good veins to draw from in general but people often have trouble getting anything from them for some reason and it can take awhile to find a vein that'll cooperate! I always have arms covered in bruises because of this, lol.

[ramakentesh]

Interesting how different this is for different POTSies...

[RichGotsPots]

My veins look fine but last time I was in the hospital the IV was painful and clotting and when they tried to move it they couldn't get a good vein. After several tries I was feeling like a pincushion ouch..They said a had weird vein valves. I get a lot of aching in my legs and feet, all I've noticed is I have tiny spider veins near my ankles.. I did a venous duplex doppler of my legs today and they came back fine...

[GingerA]

My husband was the first to notice the difference in my veins. When I don't feel well or just before I have a crash my veins (esp. in my hands) look like they are swollen. My hands look very old at these times but when I am having good days they do not bulge like that. Does any one know why they do this?

[julieph85]

How do your hand and feet veins look when you first wake up but have not gotten out of bed? normal- which is large and visible

How do they look when you feel symptomatic? large and visible

How do they look when your up and mobile and feel ok? large and visible

Do you have prominent or visible veins in general or in your arms and perhaps legs? veins only large and visible in my hands and arms. Everywhere else they aren't visible. My veins have only been like this since i had pots. Before pots you couldn't see my veins and I was a hard stick.