I've just had my first Remicade infusion, and as usually happens with me, it took 3 tries to get the IV inserted, and a more experienced nurse had to get called over to help. I have very low blood pressure, and tried to hydrate well beforehand. The first nurse said I had "a lot of valves in my veins" that caused the problem.
I was wondering if anyone knows if there is a way to prepare yourself for getting an IV that would make it go better. My husband suggested doing some jumping jacks before.
I've been reading about it a little bit, and see there are various sizes of needles, and I wonder if they were using the larger size needle the first times, and if I should ask for a smaller one since I have a history of problems with this. I know they need bigger ones for blood draws, but if not, maybe they can use a smaller one. A friend who had trouble with this told me once she overheard the RN say "We're using the PPO needles. Let's switch to the good ones."
I'm also not sure whether it's best to warn the nurses that this is generally problematic with my veins, or if that will just jinx it. So far I've gone with not warning them, but I'm rethinking that and feeling like I should warn them so maybe they'll get the more experienced nurse right away. But I have a feeling they're pretty stubborn about letting the first person who comes up try.
I was wondering if anyone knows if there is a way to prepare yourself for getting an IV that would make it go better. My husband suggested doing some jumping jacks before.
I've been reading about it a little bit, and see there are various sizes of needles, and I wonder if they were using the larger size needle the first times, and if I should ask for a smaller one since I have a history of problems with this. I know they need bigger ones for blood draws, but if not, maybe they can use a smaller one. A friend who had trouble with this told me once she overheard the RN say "We're using the PPO needles. Let's switch to the good ones."
I'm also not sure whether it's best to warn the nurses that this is generally problematic with my veins, or if that will just jinx it. So far I've gone with not warning them, but I'm rethinking that and feeling like I should warn them so maybe they'll get the more experienced nurse right away. But I have a feeling they're pretty stubborn about letting the first person who comes up try.