Hi There,
Does anyone have any advice for sore veins due to chemo, I was told by the chemo nurse on Tuesday that my sore arm was due to the epirubicin burning my veins. It feels very tight and I have sharp pains all the way up to my elbow when I try to stretch it, it feels like they are going to snap…ooooh!! (feels a bit like cording!!)
I have tried a heat pack as advised but any other tips would be great.
Thanks
Fiona xxx
hi fiona
i have only had 1 epi and have what feels like cording just thought it had come back cos i was doing too much… feel it at wrist and inside elbow most uncomfortable… was injected to back of hand… didnt associate it with sore veins but have heard you can get that esp with epi.
hope its not too uncomfortable for you.
Lxx
Hi Fiona- I have the same problem with veins as you say, just like cording. Chemo nurse had to use a different vein for my 3rd chemo last week. She suggested using Ibrobrufen gel on the painful bit but it hasn’t really helped. Says veins don’t like chemo and it will go in the end. Hopefully like all these SE’s!I am concerned as she said she might have to use the other arm which is the bad one and at risk of lymphodoema. Sorry not much help. take care
Annie x
i have the same thing, sore tight veins that feel like they are brusied when i touch them! mentioned it to my onc (ive had 3 fec, x3 left to go) he said it is quite comon and will ease with time. just make sure the nurse administering chemo does it slowly and that you keep a really close eye on how it feels when it’s going in!
Hi there
I’ve had this but I developed blood clots in my arm. If it is feeling really tight and looks swollen at all or red then you should get it checked out. My only symptom was real tightness in my arm - to the point I couldn’t straighten it and I actually thought I’d pulled a muscle. My GP sent me back to hospital where blood clots were diagnosed by ultrasound. Don’t want to scare you but perhaps worth being aware of this as I wasn’t.
Following that I had that sore, tight feeling in my arm until I stopped having FEC and it took about 6 weeks to go.
Annie - I have to have more chemo and I can’t have in the arm that had blood clots or in the arm that I had the axillary clearance in so I’m having a Portacath put in. It’s a line that is put in the chest. Could be worth talking to your oncologist about that…
Elinda x
Hi Elinda- sounds like you have really been through it,poor you. Will certainly ask about a portacath, thanks.
Annie x
hi, i have had 2 epi and have experienced a tight or tender arm like cording. I had to ask nurse to administer it a bit more slowly last as it made my vains sting. will keep an eye on it now regarding blood clots, amazing what you stumble across on here on a lazy sunday afternoon
Luv pauline xxx
Hi there,
have had these vein tightness and pains in my forearm for past 4 chemos (last FEC, then tax) - as a physio by trade, I’ve just kept stretching it out slowly a few times each day and it does seem to settle off but made tighter again with new chemo. Thankfully I’m now just finished so hoping it will go altogether soon. Hope everyone gets on well x
Hi Girls,
Thanks for all your comments. My arm is really pretty sore today and I am concerned about clots. I’ve only got 1 more chemo to go but 15 herceptin after that! So I think I’ll get it checked out tomorrow, better to be safe than sorry, especially where clots are concerned.
Thanx again
Fiona xxx
Hello all
Pleased I found this I have the same problem. I thought it was due to the fact that the vein they tryed on my last chemo blew. I rang the hosp on monday and they told me not to worry unless it swells, changes colour or looks really bruised. Mine is really painful when stretching it I went shoping yesterday and had to use my bad ( lymph clearence arm) arm to get the bags in the car. I now feel better thank you all. Marion xx
Hi
I’m a just about to start my final chemo round. I had epi then cmf. My vein was slightly sore and tight since the first epi. It got a little swollen at my elbow after the first round of cmf. The chemo nurse confirmed during epi that it is phlebitis in the vein and that it will go away after chemo has finished, and confirmed that the swelling is an extension of that, and that too will go away.
Like folks have been saying, if it gets red and hot get it checked.
When you’re getting the chemo injected ask the nurse to let the saline flush the vein through for a few minutes before injection, take the injection as slowly as she can (it has to go in within a certain time period but she can use that whole time), then let the saline run for a good 5 minutes at the end. That flushes the chemo out as best it can and might keep the soreness to a minimum.
Other than that I find gently stretching the arm out helps. I get the injection in the back of the hand, centre vein. It runs up the forearm and crosses to the inside of the elbow. If I straighten my arm then gently turn it out the way so the palm is up, and keep pushing it round in this direction, I can feel the soreness through the forearm. I turn my arm inwards again then gently out. After a few minutes of this the soreness is less. However, it’s still pretty sore over the wrist and I find that I can’t really bend my wrist up when its in the overturned position. It’s just too much stretch. Also try lifting the arm above your head. It’ll hurt that way too, but again just gently stretch it out till it hurts less. You need to do this regularly, and I’m sorry to say the soreness will stay for the duration of chemo. Once the phlebitis is there it’s only the absence of chemo that will let the vein repair.
Keep hydrated. Drink lots of water throughout chemo. It helps. If I let that slip the vein feels worse.
Good news is that I’ve been using the same vein throughout and it hasn’t collapsed.
Best of luck.
Hi Carole,
Thanks so much for this…
I had the district nurse in for my injection this morning and she had a look, she said it looked ok as not red, swollen or hard… I will drink more and do the exercises and see how that goes…
Thanks again
Fiona xxx
mine only started getting sore on friday which was day 16 of first epi… now its gotten even worse… feels exactly like cording i had in the same arm with the first BC in 2006… just keep stretching it but doesnt seem to make a difference sore at the wrist, inside elbow and through auxilla scar to boob and old BC scar.
mentioned to phlebotomist today when getting bloods checked but will say to chemo nurse on thurs too… its not, red, burny or swollen so its prob just the chemo :o( just dont fancy having this for the next 5 months.
my nurse put in the chemo slowly and ran through normal saline before and after chemo… maybe im just prone to it cos i had cording before.
Hi,
Have you asked to have a Hickman line put in?
This is done under sedation and is then in permanently until all the chemo is finished.
It goes under the skin,and dir ectly into the superior vena cava and makes taking bloods and giving chemo a lot easier. It has to be flushed and cleaned weekly but there is very little problem with it except you can’t swim with it in, a small price to pay.
I had mine done before my first chemo and have had no problem at all and am really glad I was given the option.
Liz
sorry only just found this thread.
i have had really sore veins since starting gemcitabine/carboplatin 3 weeks ago.GP said it was tendernitis, or lymphodemia again.
But chemo nurse gave me Hirudoid Gel on wednesday which seems to have done the trick, it says for bruising and thrombophlebitis.
Also sore on right arm after having port fitted last thursday. Still very swollen and bruised but luckily not painful. Took an hour to get a line in om wednesday, 6 attempts! Two in port still too swollen to find. Surgeon had real trouble putting it is owing to tumour pressing on vein. 2 in right arm, and 2 in lymphodemia arm where chemo was eventually given. Oh the joy of it all.
Now trying to find the thread for the Taunton meet up on Monday.
If anyone could bump it up that would be great, thanks.
Marmite x
i wish i got the option of a port-a-cath or central line because they continued to attempt to cannulate my right hand where i had the cording sensation and lymphoedema and my vein basically blew up and was twice the size before i even got connected to the drip… they attempted a second insertion further up same vein and it happened again although not as bad.
i then said i didnt want to get it in my right side and could i get a port or hickman in my chest but was told id only get that if all my veins were knackered 
but means iv now had chemo in my most recently affected side which isnt ideal either.
marmite i have also had thrombophlebitis/lymphangitis and cellulitis as well as cording in my right arm., over the last 3 years which have all been a tad annoying.
Hi Fiona
Thanks for directing me to this post.
I’m due to get my second CMF cycle next week. My veins started going really hard (like cording) just after my second lot of EPI and I’ve not been able to straighten my arm since and it’s really painful. My oncologist advised using Ibrupen gel and heat packs, but they haven’t made a difference. I now have a hard lump about 2” above my wrist, level with my thumb which is really hot and sore. I got it checked by the Dr last Friday who didn’t seem concerned and thought it was maybe phlebitus but I spoke to the BCN yesterday as my arm was also really red over the weekend, who seemed more concerned, so I’m going through to hospital tomorrow to get it checked out by one of the chemo nurses. Will ask about Hirudoid Gel then.
At what point should we get worried about lumps in veins?
Thanks
Helen
Hi helen, i had a lump in my vain a couple of weeks ago. It was in my bad arm where i have been suffering with cording. The lump was a pea size lump in my vain just above the bend in my arm. after speacking to BCN and showing it physio they bothe said it was due to cording. Like you i was very worried but they were right, following my excersises it went on it’s own after a few days. I hope that might help you. I am begining to suffer in ny chemo arm with pains in my vains, have my third fec tomorrow, going to tell them to slow down and use more sayline. Take care
Luv Pauline xxx
Hi,
Have been suffering with phlebitis in my arm quite bad since last chemo, have been using heat packs and doing gentle exercises, now it would appear that I am developing cording from my elbow to wrist on the inside of my good (chemo) arm, it’s vey painful and you can see and feel the cords… anybody got advice for cording? why have I got it and what’s caused it… will stretching it help…
Thanks
Fiona xxxx
Hi fiona, i had cording in my bad arm and i was refered to physio who did a lot of pulling on the cords to make them snap or click. it did work and cleared the cords up. Since i was discharged they are now refering me to see if i have mild lymphadimia in that arm, joy!!! I am not sure if all the stretching and pulling she did has contributed to it but you have to trust them dont you.
Since i was dischrged i have had a couple more cords, i was advised if any more came back i was to keep up the stretching excersises which has helped. so If i were you i would contact physio and in the meantime keep stretching as much as you can. Hope iv’e helped
Luv pauline xxx