Do people with liver disease normally experience swollen blue veins in the hands/arms/chest?

[joezip]

Hello all;

I'm glad I've found this forum, as I've been very confused and anxious about my symptoms for a while now. About a year ago, I was diagnosed with fatty liver disease. At the time, I had abdominal pain, bad fatigue, increased bilirubin, and mildly increase AST/ALT. Since then, I've quit drinking and sugar, lost weight and force fed myself huge amounts of spinach, and my enzymes have improved, but what I want to know about is my VEINS. Around the time that this all started, I noticed that the veins in the backs of my hands were hugely swollen, and I also noticed I could clearly see all my blue arm and chest veins that I don't recall being visible before. My friends and family all told me that my swollen veins are normal, or tried to convince me that it was because I had lost weight (I had lost 10-15 lbs at the time). Now that I think about it, I notice that some other people have prominent veins in their hands and arms, so I'm starting to think it might be normal, but I just don't remember ever seeing the veins in the back of my hands before my liver troubles started last year. I just want to know: Is this normally something that's associated with liver disease? Should I be concerned about it?

[Garyvh]

Probably been there all along but you never noticed.

Being diagnosed with a health problem can make you suddenly super aware of your body.

Mine are the same as on your picture, and they were the same way, way, way before having liver issues.

Warm weather makes mine bulge more too.

Portal Hypertension, one of the symptoms of advanced liver disease can cause very prominent vein's on your abdomen, but it'd usually be accompanied with ascites etc.

That's not what we're looking at in your photo.

G

[joezip in reply to Garyvh]

OK that's good to hear from someone experienced with liver disease. I will try to put it out of my mind. I'm absolutely sure my veins didn't look like that before though. I've actually looked through pictures from two years ago, and I can clearly see that my hands looked completely smooth. Around the same time I began to be tested for liver problems, I suddenly developed various cardiovascular symptoms. My veins began to bulge, my fingers and toes began to feel numb and fall asleep easily, and my exercise tolerance became markedly worse. Is it possible that any of these issues could be related to liver disease?

[Porphyriamaniac]

Hi joesip, if you lose weight your veins will be more prominent, my mum has thyroid problems, can't put weight on and her veins are more prominent now because of that. Even mine when I'm hot or have been exercising will stick out where they don't normally, it's completely normal.

[joezip in reply to Porphyriamaniac]

thanks for the reassurance!

[BCS123]

I have Budd-Chiari which is a blood clot in one of my hepatic veins in my

Liver and I have been noticing this for the last 2 months. I’m also on warfarin.

[Hopeimok123]

Hi,

I was wandering Joezip how were your symptoms now and if you got any change in diagnosis since or not?

I am experiencing very similar issues.

[joezip in reply to Hopeimok123]

Almost all my symptoms have gone away by now. I still have very occasional, and mild URQ pain and I still have fatigue, to some extent, but losing a lot of weight and 2 years of abstaining from alcohol has helped a lot. Exactly what was going on with my liver when i suddenly started having symptoms (almost 3 years ago now) is still somewhat unclear, but I've had bloodwork redone many times and several ultrasounds, plus an electricity test, and my internal medicine doctor has given me a clean bill of health. My only current diagnosis is mild fatty liver, which I am still hoping to reverse with continued fasting, abstention from alcohol, and good diet. Current theories are that I had a gallstone and passed it (I think this may be what happened, that I was exposed to a hepatotoxic in the lab and experienced liver damage but recovered, or that I have some sort of intolerance to alcohol. The swollen veins have not quite gone away, but they do seem to be a little less prominent than they used to be. As other posters have mentioned, I may have had them before but never noticed (I think this is unlikely), and they are also associated with warm weather, and with weight loss (this might be the correct explanation, as I did lose a lot of weight since I first began to experience symptoms).

[Hopeimok123 in reply to joezip]

Glad it’s all looking ok now. Good to hear. Thanks for giving such a detailed update. Much appreciated

[alfredthegreat]

Hi joezi,

I noticed that my veins were more prominent through my liver problems.

I did lose weight though and my skin was a lot paler than normal with spending more time indoors through feeling unwell, so that in itself would make veins stand out as darker. I don't know your age but veins do generally get more prominent as the skin thins with age with age.

I am 20 months post transplant now and my liver is working extremely well.

I was outside a few days ago in the garden and the warmth of the sun brought my veins up noticeably on the back of my hands. I showed my hands to my wife and she said that there was nothing to worry about as the back of her hands were the same and she has no liver problems.

Regards.

Alf.