The other night my husband and I were sitting in the couch after putting the kids down, when he leaned over and said, “Have you noticed your veins getting bigger?” Not the opener I was expecting, but it’ll do in a pinch. The bizarre thing is that I had noticed that very thing the week earlier. The veins in my hands are noticeably larger than they’ve been historically.
The thing is, I don’t know what to attribute the changes to…no medicinal changes to speak of since starting insulin in February, 2016. Of course, big veins run in my family, so maybe it’s linked hereditarily or to my age?
Anyone read anything about veinous changes with insulin use?
There are a lot of things that can affect this. I haven’t heard that insulin is one of them.
Things like your temperature (warmth makes them expand and move closer to the skin in an attempt to cool your body). Recent weight loss (losing weight makes them appear bigger as fat tissue is reduced). How well hydrated you are (being more hydrated will make your veins appear bigger). If you’ve recently had alcohol or caffeine (both will make them smaller and restrict your blood vessels). Certain foods you’ve eaten recently can affect their size. Exercise will enlarge your veins. Certain medications like vasodilators can affect them. Rapid movement of your limbs can temporarily increase their size.
So many things. I don’t think insulin is one of them. (Huge doses of insulin can lower potassium levels in the blood (hypokalemia), but you would need to be in an ER getting intravenous doses for DKA to get anywhere near that level. That doesn’t apply to you.)
Remember, EVERYONE “takes” insulin in some form or fashion (some of us just have to do it a bit differently… ).
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