veins being more visable liver related?

[Poppygrace23]

Hi all 👋

I was diagnosed with Nash liver 18 months ago.

I recently had a check up ultrasound showed slightly enlarged fatty liver, not much change and ct scan which was unremarkable. ( I am loosing weight and excerising as much as I can )

But recently I’ve noticed my green/blue veins very visable, all over really, legs, sides, chest, arms and Also pink /purple thin veins in my elbow creases I’m fair skinned anyway, but they seem more visable they don’t stick out at all.

Is there a connection with fatty liver?

Anyone else have this?

Does it mean my liver isn’t coping well?

Would a ultrasound and ct scan be able to pick up cirrhosis?

A worried mum of 3 children here!

Worry that I won’t see them grow up!

sorry for all the questions, thank you so much if you have read all of this

Many thanks

[Laurenluv]

Did they check the flow in portal vein during your ultrasound?

[Poppygrace23 in reply to Laurenluv]

HiI’m not sure, I remember them saying the portal vein was normal? during the ultrasound

I’ve heard of Caput medsuea

but the veins aren’t around my bellybutton.

I will ask my gp and check when they open after Christmas.

many thanks

Lauren

[TBSW]

Hi, I had NASH, and my veins were very prominent, especially the spider veins, on the inside of my knees. Nobody seemed especially worried about these at the time. Congratulations on the weight loss, and exercise. your giving yourself the best chance of seeing your children grow up. As you say your ultrasound was unremarkable, so take this as a positive, that it may never develop into anything more sinister. Believe me, I wish I'd listened, as sticking to a diet and exercise regime is a hell of a lot easier than having to undergo a transplant. Best wishes

[Poppygrace23 in reply to TBSW]

Hi tbswThanks for replying,

Did your veins become more visable quickly?

Mine seemed to have become visible overnight.

I’m so sorry to hear that, how are you now?

I hope your doing ok?

How long was the progression from Nash to cirrhosis I’m guessing ?

Take care x

[TBSW in reply to Poppygrace23]

Hi, my issues were initially picked up via routine blood tests for my underactive thyroid. My LFT's were raised significantly, so I was referred for an ultrasound. This diagnosed the compensated liver cirrhosis. Then an endoscopy showed oesophageal varices, and portal hypertension. I was told that if I lost weight and looked after myself, I would probably never need a transplant and would more than likely die in old age of an unrelated condition.

That was five years ago. However after 3 years I developed Hepatic encephalopathy, which is when toxins from your liver, settle in your brain. Unfortunately this is a life threatening complication, and the only treatment is a transplant. It took almost 8 months for me to pass the assessment to be put on the transparent list, and each day I got a little worse. I was no longer allowed to drive or work for safety reasons.

I can only describe HE as being like a drunk, dementia patient. My husband managed to keep working, but he was in constant fear that I would wander off during the day, or worse still attempt to drive somewhere, so he ended up hiding the car keys. In May this year, and almost a year to the day of being on the list, I had gotton so ill and weak, that I was within weeks of being taken off of the transplant list as I wouldn't have been strong enough to survive.

But thankfully after 4 weeks in hospital, being tube fed, I finally got the call. I am now six months post transplant, and even though I have been left with kidney disease and a heart condition. I couldn't be more grateful that I'm still here, thanks to my donor and her family. This is why I hope you don't ignore the doctors advice about losing weight, believe me, if I could go back in time I would certainly act upon their advice.

About the veins, I can't say when I first noticed them, but I believe it was quite early on

I first put it down to age, until I realised about my liver disease, however as I said, none of the doctors ever seemed overly concerned about them.

Please don't worry as I'm sure if there was anything to worry about, your doctor's would be all over it. Take care and a happy new year.