varicose veins, OMG, someone please help me :((

[bebbeau]

i am 27 weeks and in the last few weeks i have had varicose veins come up just on one leg

and one of them REALLY, REALLY hurts me

i have had really nice legs before, is this it, are they here forever, or do they fade any after the baby is born?? and is there anything i can do to ease them for now?

this is dc3 BTW and am 34

am genuinely really really distressed

anyone??

can't be just me surely :(

I have this on one of my legs, OP, and the advice I've been given is to wear those very attractive support socks you get in the chemist. Apparently the best thing is to put on in the morning, before you even get out of bed. Not sure how that works with having a shower!

I had this with DD2. They were big and they ached and my leg felt very sluggish. I got a prescription from my GP for a full length support 'sock' (toe to top of thigh), which was mildly annoying to wear but stopped my leg from aching when it was on (all the time apart from when I was in bed or in the shower). I kept it/them for wearing for flights afterwards too. So I'd recommend that you talk to your GP as it may not be beneficial for you to have a support sock that finishes at the knee and I think the full length ones have to be prescribed.

I can't really comment as to whether you'll keep the varicose veins after you've had your baby as my case was different to yours, in that sadly I'd never had nice legs and also I'd developed and had varicose veins stripped from both legs before, when I was around 25. They weren't an issue during my first pregnancy (when I was 34) but blew up for my second (36) and haven't ever gone down again (but don't ache unless I have too many days in a row of not sitting down enough).

thank you both

and sorry to hear you have suffered too, its horrible,

how did you manage to get yours stripped snowstorm ? i would not have thought the nhs offered it as they would probably see it as "cosmetic" ? or did you go private? (hope thats not too nosey lol)

I only had one small (throbbing, tender) lump on my thigh back then but when the consultant scanned both legs, both legs were bad enough to warrant them being stripped. It was done through my work health insurance. One night in hospital and both legs done. It didn't hurt, as such, just took two weeks to be able to walk at anything other than a snail's pace as they were so swollen (and I was wearing a pair of what could only probably be described as 'support chaps' full time ... so I missed a couple of weeks of work. Apparently if you have just the one done then you can be back up and at 'em the next day though ... or so they said.

After that I went back to have the small but visible veins injected but that was excruciatingly painful for me in the places that they were injecting (back of the knee - yikes) and so I didn't go back for the rest of the course and decided to wear trousers more instead.

I asked about having them re-done when I was at the GP's a couple of years ago (I have obvious bulging veins on both legs now) but the GP said that they don't really cover it on the NHS and it'd have to be a private job. As I don't work, I've got two children, no pain and a lot of pairs of jeans, I've just left them. It's only really bad if we go on holiday as they are exposed then (my children ask what they are now) and I have to remind myself that if people stare then it's because they are out of the ordinary ... and at least it is just 'cosmetic' and I have full use of both legs ... etc. etc. If they start aching more (they were a b*stard when we moved house and I didn't sit down for about a week, unpacking and so on) then I might look into it again.

I'm genetically predisposed to varicose veins though, yours could simply disappear after you've had your baby and your body returns to being just yours ... and then hopefully you'll get your lovely legs back again! I'll hope that for you!

thanks snowstorm

oh god thats worried me now that they don't do them on the nhs :(

if they don't go away after this pregnancy it is seriously going to get me down, they are fucking horrible

Well the most important thing is that you are okay - so why don't you try and get an appointment with your GP. See what you should be doing now (support sock thing etc.) and get an idea as to possible options afterwards, should the veins persist.

My very largest vein (enormous, I nearly named it) disappeared completely after I gave birth ... so there is definitely hope for you more normal vein'y types!

LOL at nearly naming the biggest one :o mines the same, i had an absolute panic when looking in the mirror one day as i seemed to have this big lump sticking out the side of my knee, i was like, WTF is THAT then looked closer and it was a vein

perhaps i should see the gp....i have to say i don't like the sound of support socks i am 34 not 84

oh the glamour of pregnancy

Well the GP may not say that the support socks are the right thing for you so again, don't panic yet.

In saying that, if your legs are really aching, they're a bit of a pain (can roll down a bit) but you can hide them under trousers, not admit them to anyone (think big pants) and go from sluggish legs to legs like battery bunny's legs . I guess all the blood flowing in the right direction equals lots of lovely energy!

And as for being 34 and not 84 ... well I was exercising (trying to walk) up and down the hospital corridors with my bruised and bandaged legs when I was 25 ... alongside lots of really old people, who were all really surprised that I was having the same job done as them. Trumped you there by years .

yes i guess all i can do is go the the gp and see what she / he says

i did't realise my affected leg felt sluggish as well, but it does. it helps lying with it up as high as poss although its not always possible :o

bless you having to go through it at 25, that must have been hard. was it painful, and what was the recovery like?

oh sorry just read back and you did say a bit about the recovery. i have serious preggerz brain

I had terrible varicose veins in my left leg when pregnant with DD2 - got them about the same stage as you. I also developed Vulcan varicose which are as hideous as they sound . But DD is now 6 mo and they've pretty much gone so there is hope!

for Vulcan read vulval...

I developed varicose veins in my left leg and also vulval (beancounting I feel your pain!) in my last pregnancy with DC3. I was prescribed a lovely surgical stocking by the consultant . After delivery the vulval ones disappeared quickly and the ones along my leg became a lot less prominent, I was just left with areas that looked like bruising that would occasionally swell slightly with a lot of standing, but really weren't a problem.
I'm now nearly 26 weeks pregnant with DC4 and have varicose veins,still just in one leg, from my ankle ,along my shin, spiraling around to the back of my knee and up to my groin, and yes those vulval ones are flaring up too!
I spoke to my midwife weeks ago who said she couldn't do anything and I would need to see the GP. I made an appointment with my GP who said she couldn't prescribe any supportive hoisery and I would need to see a hospital doctor.
I looked on some of the older threads here and looking at advice given to others I bought some support tights from a website called "pebble". They look like normal tights rather than surgical and do seem to help, I certainly notice a difference in pain levels on days I haven't worn them.
You can get footless too ,in a range of colours.
At my 20 week appointment the doctor at the hospital said those tights were fine to use and she wouldn't prescribe anything else at this stage. The advice was to avoid standing for long periods, keep the leg elevated when possible, they'll consider surgery once baby is born and we see what I'm left with!
I'm glad it's winter rather than the middle of summer so I can wear support under jeans/boots etc but the tights look fine with dresses/skirts too.
Yes ,the veins are unsightly and uncomfortable but it's unfortunately part of pregnancy for some people,it's not very glamorous! I know there's a good chance they'll improve a lot after delivery and after losing 4 pregnancies between DC3 and DC4 I'm just thankful to be pregnant and don't feel like I can complain too much,especially when I feel little one wriggling around!