Rectal pain after radiotherapy

[040951]

Hi guys I have just completed 5 days targeted treatment is it normal to have rectal pain, when I need to go all that comes out is very liquefied, any ideas of how long these side effects last any advice would be great cheers guys

[Dr_WHO]

I had those issues about 2/3 the way through 38 rounds of radiation. For me it cleared up about two weeks after the zapping ended. A year later occasionally (once every other month) it would return for a day or so. I was told that this was a side effect. HOWEVER, please make sure to discuss it with your Radiologist!

[040951 in reply to Dr_WHO]

thank you my friend any info is great

[Robertleeb]

I started to get diarrhea after 6 weeks of external beam radiation to the pelvic area and narrow urination. I tried the flow max, that has some side effects , one main one was headaches. I got my diarrhea under control by taking Imodium . I also went to my primary doctor to find out why my stool was little dark but not real dark, the primary doctor said to keep track of how it looks because if it is black stool and tar looking to let him know right away. I read a slight darker brown is normal for radiation and should subside after the treatments are done

[040951 in reply to Robertleeb]

thanks Robert

[pjoshea13]

Hate to be a downer, but I'll give you the worst scenario (my experience).

I have to say that my bowels were messed up by the prostatectomy. Apparently, any kind of surgery experience may deregulate bowel movements.

Anyway, after the first five salvage radiation sessions, I had severe discomfort & explosive diarrhea. Imodium was no use at all. Usually a little blood on the toilet paper & rectal pain.

I was prescribed a steroid suppository, which nowhere near addressed the problem.

I would say that it took a year before I stopped needing to be very close to a toilet. A walk across town from parking lot to restaurant was designed to include as many bathrooms as possible - just in case. (Bad dreams invariably included featured toilets that were in a horrible state.)

For rectal discomfort, I found it useful to first clean the area using a small cotton pad soaked in witch hazel, which is an astringent, and then apply a dab of Calmoseptine. It's an amazingly effective product.

Hopefully, your issues will resolve quickly. But, be aware that the problems will ultimately go away.

Google <"Radiation Proctitis">.

Best, -Patrick

[040951 in reply to pjoshea13]

Thanks Patrick

[Robertleeb in reply to pjoshea13]

Thank you pjoshea13, I started using some form of depends just in case for either situation. my stool returned to normal today , no dark stool anymore and no more headaches, I have 3 more visits to the radiation center and I will be done. I am also on Hormone therapy , I forgot to refill my prescription for Casodex 2 days before Christmas and went 5 days with out it. my headache is totally gone, I think the headache was scary because my father and sister had strokes and both of them have passed because of it. I had only one sample core in my prostate that was cancer. I think the hormone therapy Lupron did its job and have 2 more months out of 6 months shot. my psa keeps dropping, from .4 when I got the shot and its .1 now. everything is going in the right direction and I pray every morning thank Jesus for another day. God Bless us all here and I thank all for the great information I have received here. I know my journey is not over but I feel I will get better because of staying positive even with all the side effects, I realize there is no easy way dealing with prostate cancer. we just have stay focus, I am a true believer in Jesus is my savoir. I don't push my Christian ways on anybody I promised myself and the lord if I get through this I would be a promoter of Prostate cancer awareness for men to get a PSA test in my music doing free concerts dedicated to awareness . I met a young man at urologist office in the waiting room and he said his PSA was high, he looked like in his 20's. I was sad to hear that and I will pray for him to get through this.

God Bless

Robert

[mlengle]

Ten months ago I had 30 external beem zappings. A product called SpaceOar was placed beforehand as a barrier to protect the bowel. I assumed it worked as I had zero SDs other than fatigue.

Are they using a barrier on you?

Best,

Mike

[040951 in reply to mlengle]

No Mike I had 3 gold markers placed in my prostate they then target these, then I had 5 days radiotherapy instead of the normal 20 its a trial that am on to try and reduce long term side effects a normal treatment days takes 15mins my treatment took 30 mins as they scanning all the time they will now monitor me for 10 years if it works it will be great just have to wait and see my friend

[rjr681]

I had my prostate cancer back in 2003 and had hormone treatment and then radiation. I am now 78 and still going strong though a bit slower. Rectal problems, it was sore partway through the radiation and like a fool I did not mention it (just wanted to get it over with) so went to chemist and got some H cream. It helped then, a couple of days later it came back and I mentioned it to the nurse. they stopped the treatment for a few days gave me a different cream and then added the days on at the end. There had been Zinc in the cream I used effectively putting a metallic object in the last place I needed it .

If you have any problem tell them straight away. I should have known better being ex military and know a lot about. the effects of radiation.

Yes I still have problems some of the time due to radiation scaring which makes it painful at times.

I just remember the alternative. I was lucky enough to have it found early, with no spreading to the bones.

It came back once and I had hormones again to bring my PSA down and now I am only on monitoring having been told by my oncologist that I will probably still have a bit when I eventually pop my clogs and if it does come back he will "fix it" again.

I believe that the treatment now has improved since I had mine but the basics of telling them if there is ANY problem still applies.

[Snooker77]

I finished radiotherapy and chemotherapy in December! I had a few days when it was really painful! But then it gets better