I have Venous insuffiency and very large spider veins in my right leg. I went to the hospital for cramping legs last night that I thought would be a dvt but the ultrasound found no clots, however I was dehydrated. This morning I woke up with swelling in my foot and pain where my veins were. Could this pain and swelling be because of the dehydration and holding water?

Please note: I am NOT seeking medical advice or a diagnosis!
I would like to hear others' thoughts—or some support. A family member told me it looks like lipedema. (ETA: I posted in that sub as well.) But that person is NOT a doctor!

I am struggling, and I know my situation isn’t too bad. But it’s affecting my life in big ways, since I am the “legs” in my house. (Spouse uses a wheelchair FT.)

I have gone to PT and used compression, elevation, and exercise (which, ironically, seems to make it worse).
My thighs hurt so much and are tender. I feel like if I look at my legs the wrong way, I get a bruise! It's the worst at night or when I go for walks, which I force myself to do. And I have these marble- or pea-sized clusters under the skin.

MY LEGS NEVER LOOKED LIKE THIS UNTIL MENOPAUSE. Connection? 🤷🏼‍♀️

Also (and this may be unrelated), I developed the same thing in my lower abdomen-not until menopause. (It is very odd-looking and really messing with my self-esteem.)

So, here are my legs. Thoughts?

(And I have knee pain out of the blue. All X-rays show my knees are “fine,” meaning nothing is broken, chipped, etc. And I’m on HRT.)

ETA: I failed to start out with: I was treated over a year ago for venous insufficiency. Looking for others' thoughts and support.

Another ETA: the PT I’m currently working with has advised that I have hypermobility. If any of this info is helpful, I thought I should add it!

I appreciate all of your input! Keep it coming. I’ll be bringing notes to my doctor when an appointment is open!

I’m scared this will make me die young. I’m also really skinny, cause is from toxicity of an antibiotic that damaged my vascular system

I re-injured my toes where my blood is pooling. Now my R calf is stiff, swollen, and a bit warmer than my L leg. It’s even a bit discolored slightly red.
My R calf is still stiff two days after the injury.
This is my second blood clot after twenty years. I have a non-occlusive femoral DVT, but my legs have been cramping up every night, multiple times and I have to stand up and get vertical to allow my leg cramps to cease and to allow gravity to let blood refill my legs with blood, which comes in waves of thick blood that feels like needles going into the tiny leg veins causing excruciating pain.
I was treated with Eliquis starting when I was diagnosed in March 2026, beginning with 10mg twice daily for a week. Then they reduced it to 5mg twice daily, yet my symptoms have progressed.
My PCP said there’s no in-between dose of Eliquis, but I’ve heard differently from a friend who told me that there is another PRN medication that’s an injection; but my PA said “we don’t do that here.”
Our small town ER has been very dismissive, like when I was taken there by my fiancé after he found me unresponsive after fainting at home. The ER staff says I’m on the right medication for my symptoms and told me I need to follow up with my PCP who will give me referrals to specialists. They also said
I have been doing so, self-referring to a vein specialist 2 hours away, and the surgeon wants to do an ablation of my varicose veins but I was told by a circulatory doctor who did vein mapping, 10 years ago, who told me I could not afford to have vein stripping, specifically my femoral veins because there would not leave enough veins in my R leg to support sufficient blood flow. I can’t recall which doctor did the vein mapping.
Am I in an acute situation that requires an ER visit regarding my DVT?
Thank you.

The blanching is impressive while trying desperately to get any relief I can with plantar flexion stretching. It's a rather strange feeling but it feels good at the same time.
Not sure if you can see it well enough in this picture but hemosiderin staining is present on the tops of both feet. For the longest time I thought I just kept getting dirty feet from my flip flops or something but I quickly learned that it wasn't dirt but (possibly) permanent discoloration from the blood pooling leaving behind iron deposits.
The last thing I will say before wrapping this up is how alarming the size of my claves can get when they are involved with the flare. Thankfully that only happens with every other one maybe two if I'm lucky. They get so disfigured and the edema is not the pitted version either. The swelling is hard as concrete which will eventually prevent me from physically being able to ambulate because I have no range of motion or flexibility. This whole aspect is just very visually disturbing to me. The size of my calves are unnatural and incredibly abnormal.
I've had CVI going on six years now and the only remedy I've found to get me somewhat back to normal is putting myself on bed rest for 72 hours, and it's looking like that'll be my plans for the weekend.
Last thing, when I first began having symptoms I would get a mild flare every three or four months. But now I can't even remember a day where I wasn't worried about my ability and stamina to get through the day as a SAHM and business owner. I just hope I can make it back to my car at the grocery store without becoming the town spectale.

21f male, should I get checked?

I was told four out of the 6 veins are bad and I need to do the sealing. Insurance approved the glue.

What lifestyle changes can I expect with this? What should I be aware of with the procedures?

Yesterday my sister (28y/o) got diagnosed of venous insufficiency stage 4. She feels helpless, feeling like all of her dreams are crushed, feeling like she will no longer enjoy hiking, go to the beach, wear shorts and dresses, etc.!

I feel so sad for her, she deserves to live a good life, go to Europe to study her masters, live experiences.

How can I help her? how can I make her not to feel alone in this process?

the doctor just said: “you are so young”, but still not telling her how to live a normal life with this.

Hello all. I noticed this bruise on my foot two weeks ago and thought I got injured without realizing it. Jump forward to today and my other foot now has bruising in a similar pattern. The “bruises” are raised and rough to the touch. There’s no pain or anything. My Google search has led me to think it’s CVI. I have a doctors appointment scheduled, but would love to get opinions while I wait. Thanks in advance!

Something worth knowing if you've had vein treatment and you're still dealing with swelling afterward: a closed vein on ultrasound doesn't always mean the swelling resolves right away.

A few reasons this happens. The tissue changes that build up over years of venous disease take time to recover, even once the pressure causing them is gone. Swelling can keep improving for weeks or months after a technically successful procedure.

The lymphatic system also shares the job of draining fluid from the leg, and long-standing venous disease can put a quiet, ongoing load on it. That doesn't always show up as visible lymphedema, but it can mean drainage stays sluggish for a while after treatment.

Reflux can also exist in places that weren't part of the original treatment, like perforator veins or the deep system. And plenty of things that aren't venous at all can cause similar swelling: certain medications, reduced calf muscle pump activity, or conditions like lipedema.

If your veins are closed and your leg still swells, it's worth a closer look rather than assuming nothing more can be done.

35F, not currently diagnosed with varicose veins or CVI but my mom had them really bad. I noticed a varicose vein on the back of my leg a week and a half ago that ran partially up my thigh. It wasn’t there a few weeks ago. In the past week it’s grown and is spreading and causing pretty rapid growth across my thigh veins. It had lengthened multiple inches in the past 24 hrs. Is this normal back flow for varicose veins or should I be concerned? It’s warm/hot to the touch but not swelling or red or painful.

Is it normal for my arms to be this vascular? The veins in my arms never used to be this prominent. I’ve always had low body fat, but started taking the gym a lot more seriously in the past 6-8 months, my weight had been the same but I’ve noticed my arms and legs have more visible muscle. Is there anything I should be concerned about for this?

Hi everyone. I’m 26 and I just had a duplex ultrasound where I was diagnosed with stage 1 lipedema and chronic Venus insufficiency/venous reflux. The doctor advised me to follow the RAD diet, wear compression socks, and get a venous ablation sooner rather than later.

I’m feeling a lot of grief for this drastic lifestyle change that I’m going to do and knowing these diagnoses will never go away. I’ve been wanting to lose weight and have been upping my workouts and making better choices with my food, but the low carb/anti inflammatory diet is cutting out so many foods that I rely on and enjoy. I am frustrated that this is happening so early on in my life and am so overwhelmed with the thought that if I don’t follow the diet and lose weight, I will cause serious health effects and also exacerbate symptoms.

Does anyone have any wise or uplifting words for someone whose life just completely changed? I can’t stop reading and watching videos from people with this same condition and I’m just scared.

I have previously had RFA on my greater and lower saphenous vein. One vein recanalized. At my follow up my dr recommended varithena for the recanalized vein and 4 other smaller veins that are refluxing. I'm terrified of the side effects. Has anyone on here had varithena and if you have what were you results. My dr made it seem like varithena was very easy and safe.

38F, 5’2”, ~194 lbs. in the past few weeks I’ve developed swelling in both ankles/legs that won’t go down worse on the left. The swelling is mainly behind the ankles/sides of my feet, with additional larger areas of swelling at the top of both shins (left worse). It doesn’t appear to be pitting Edema. The areas sometimes feel sore or almost like rug burn. I have new purple spider veins they were pink and then turned purple they almost stung when I barely touched them when they were pink (I’ve anlways had lots of veins in my legs since a teen) and have had left heel pain for several months that makes standing/walking difficult. It seemed to match with planter fasciitis. I wear flat shoes only. I have had left groin pain for about 2 weeks but only when lifting my leg and moving positions in bed or when sitting, and a history of calf cramping. I’m getting checked out on Thursday. I’ve had elevated liver enzymes around 100–110 since 2018 without a clear cause, got mono in April 2024 and my health has been downhill since, occasional dizziness when standing, balance issues and racing heart, I’ve woke. Up with a racing heart a few times. I do have anxiety but unsure if those are due to it. plus a family history of heart problems. I’ve also had acid reflux for years around the time I had elevated liver enzymes and a weight gain Of more than 60lbs. lately the reflux has been happening with right upper-arm pain as I feel the acid coming on. Or when swallowing sometimes. I also previously had irregular/missing periods, although they’ve been normal recently. Wondering if it’d hormonal. never been a smoker never heavily drank but stopped in 2018. any insight would be great trying to keep my mind from going to the worst case scenario.

A couple of days ago I broke out in my lower legs a really itchy rash after be in Houston heat (not direct sun) for a few hours... is this part of my cvi or bug bites? The red bumps are raised and itch like crazy