The arm IV was placed in on Thursday evening. By Friday the IV caused me so much pain, I complained to my nurse who took it out and placed a new one in my hand that day. Now ever since then it’s been stiff and I feel like a needle is still in. Anyone else feel this way after a bad IV and what does it mean?
I’ve had lots of issues with veins, having sensitive ones myself.
Sometimes the catheter, (the tiny tube that goes into your vein to provide fluids, medication, etc.) can come OUT of the vein, starting to pump fluids / whatever else into your tissue instead of your bloodstream itself.
You can typically tell when this is happening either by red blotchiness, OR lots of swelling / water weight. I would be able to tell because they would put a little tightened net around my arm to keep all the tubes in place, and if you pulled it back a little, you could see HOW swollen it was through the netting itself.
Don’t freak out, just explain your concerns.
(Source: my-lupus-state-of-mind)
