Weird Vein Things Going On

[paddbear0000]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't grafts and fistulas in your arms reduce the amount of blood going to your hands? For some strange reason, I have huge veins popping up on my wrist and hand of my graft arm. And just today, I had one pop up running over my graft. i don't think it's an aneurysm because it's not in an area where they stick my needles. Why is this happening?

[Rerun]

I'm not sure....  But, at least your hand is not cold and numb or tingly.  They worry about your fistula steeling blood from your hand.  Do you feel okay?

[paddbear0000]

As far as the hand goes, yeah, it feels okay. It gets a little stiff at dialysis, but that's it. I've been nauseous and vomiting since Tuesday morning, but I don't think it's related.

[Lucinda]

Hey paddbear...same thing with me.  The veins have just come up in the hand on my fistula arm.  The nurse at my training clinic just said it was because of all the activity going on in that arm - the blood is just excited at how many places it can go.  I'm thinking that sounds a bit weird to me!!!

[paddbear0000]

Thanks! Yeah, I've got some veins that are getting as big as my graft! So when that goes, they can just use my natural veins! 

[Bajanne]

That sounds so strange to me!  A vascular surgeon should check it out and explain it better to you.

[monrein]

You should of course have it checked out but when blood in your arm is diverted from one of the two main arteries and two main veins that supply the arm, it would not be unusual for some of the smaller auxillary vessels to take over some more of the function of supplying the arm with blood.  I found that similar things happened to me and also that some of the veins on the left side of my chest (left upper arm fistula) also became more prominent and visible.

[jbeany]

Once they start diverting blood flow with a graft or fistula, everything else adjusts.  I had a bit of steal syndrome when I first got mine done.  It wasn't bad most of the time, but I couldn't hold my arm over my head for more than a minute or two without everything going numb.  Over the last 2 years, the other veins have enlarged enough to compensate, and I don't have that problem anymore.

[kitkatz]

When I have had graft work done on my arm the steel syndrome shows up, then goes away.  Now I just have tingling in my hand if I lie in one position too long at night.