Prednisone / Needle Sticks / Remicade IV / Viens

I was on prednisone for so many years I forget how many. Over the last 5-7 years and the last

( 3 + ) on remicade and the 40-50 ER visits and my many admissions my veins look good, real good but all the years on prednisone have turned them into rubber. They roll and blow. If ANY nurse can get the IV ( ER or Infusion ) gets the IV in on the 1st attempt I ask for their full name and write the Dir. of Nurses telling the Dir. what a wonderful nurse they were, and how they knew their job. It takes and average of 5-10 sticks to get a vien. Have had as many as 15 ( arm black and blue for weeks ). A nurse will only try twice and call someone else in.....Then you have the cocky nurse when you tell them about your viens , then after two tries they say, I guess your right !   Any one else have problems with their viens and IVs ?

Yes, and I ended up with a port so I could still get my remi.

Hi Kurt When I was in the hosp. in Jan I had the same thing going on and felt like walking out the door.Have you considered a port? What about Humira? I drink lots of fluids 2 days before my IV and get my hand wrapped with a warm blanket and then tapped on. Since I have gained weight and not run down it has been better just one try and sometimes that is enough . Hope you get something worked out. lol gail

I used to have trouble with my veins. It doesn't sound like it was anywhere near as bad as a lot of you, but nurses definitely had trouble finding them, and they would roll, as well. I started working out on a regular basis and it has made it SO much better! My veins are visible and only one nurse had trouble since then. I don't know if exercising would be as helpful to everyone as it was to me, it's just a suggestion.