Late effects of RT

User

Posted 21 Jun 2019 at 21:42

Hi just putting this out there. Has anyone or does anyone know if it’s possible to get bowel issues years later as a result of RT. I know bowel Cancer is a possibility but I’m trying to dismiss that thought.

I sailed through RT but over the last couple of months I’ve had a change in bowel habits ie looser, more frequent. I had a stool test late March when I was 60 but that was fine. However GP decided to try another stool test last week and it came back inconclusive. Blood tests were ok. But low and behold I’m now on the two week referral route for a colonoscopy.

Really hoping it’s some RT side effect but know it could be something very sinister

Bri

User

Posted 22 Jun 2019 at 02:03

I do recall reading 4.5 years from RT is a common time for bowel side effects to happen, not cancer, but some tiny damaged blood vessels to break. The post RT "cooking time" (the time the RT continues killing cells) is different for different organs. The prostate carries on cooking for 12 - 18 months, but it may be that the bowel carries on much longer - I don't know. I recall one of the urologists at the FOPS support group mentioning an organ which carries on cooking forever, but can't recall which that was.

That's not to say you should dismiss bowl cancer. That can happen irrespective of PCa, and unfortunately, having one cancer is no guarantee you won't have another.

User

Posted 22 Jun 2019 at 03:18

About 5 years ago I had a little blood showing with stools. My GP put this down to blood vessels becoming fragile due to radiation but surprisingly if that was the case, it has not happened since except on a couple of occasions when I was very constipated which I am rather prone to generally and for which I take a capsule laxative to help loosen the stool when needed. A strange thing is that periodically, may be averaged out at once in 10 weeks, I get very loose stools and a touch of diarrhea yet my wife who shares the same food is not affected. (We are both very careful regarding food storage and preparation and personal hygiene in this respect so I don't think that is a problem). The looseness can last for half a day to two days and I wonder whether it is a reaction to medication for various things or something to do with the RT. I have just learnt to live with it and hope it does not happen at inconvenient times.

I did have some stool samples checked as part of study, I think is was by Nottingham University some years ago and there was no problem found.

Edited by member 22 Jun 2019 at 10:16 | Reason: Not specified

Barry

User

Posted 22 Jun 2019 at 08:36

Thanks for the replies. I’m really hoping I’m not jumping onto another treadmill. With the PCa recurrence I was hoping for some summertime respite and now this.

It feels like my imminent retirement isn’t going to be much fun

Bri

User

Posted 22 Jun 2019 at 10:49

Bri

I am now just over two years post SRT without HT. The destruction of my bladder is almost certainly down to the effects of SRT and the signs started about six months post RT. My bowel movements have changed, I now don't go for three days then go three times in two hours. I had blood when wiping and passing motions about a year ago and went down a similar path to you. I had a colonoscopy aborted five minutes before the procedure, but then opted for the CT version of the colonoscopy. Nothing was found. The prep for the two variants are similar, the camera version has the an advantage in that if they find minor things they can sort it while in there. Hope all goes well and stop worrying. Thanks Chris and Dawn.

User

Posted 22 Jun 2019 at 11:55

Cheers Chris. It’s not so much worry but more feeling pxxxed off that there may be another cancer to deal with and everything that comes with that

Bri

User

Posted 23 Jun 2019 at 09:48

I don't think anyone has mentioned scar tissue: the bowel is normally a very 'plastic' organ that can adapt well to different diet, pressures and changes in circumstances. Scar tissue, on the other hand, is fairly inflexible, rigid, and intolerant of change.

The bowel is very susceptible to damage by radiotherapy, and some scar tissue is an inevitable result. This means that you can have problems many, many years after the original treatment: any time for the rest of your life, in fact.

Just a thought. Don't assume it's another cancer when there are other possibilities.

Good luck with the investigations.

User

Posted 23 Jun 2019 at 11:38

Thanks Andrew I’m really hoping it’s something like that. Do you know if it’s a common occurrence

Bri

User

Posted 23 Jun 2019 at 17:58

Sorry, don't know the odds. When I was 'discharged' at the end of my hormone therapy, the oncologist gave me a long lecture about how I needed to avoid constipation, watch out for rectal bleeding, and generally be on the alert. The bowel is a fairly fragile thing, so I'd surmise that problems - mostly small - aren't that uncommon. Touch wood, nothing so far for me!

User

Posted 23 Jun 2019 at 18:07

I’ve been having occasional attacks of proctitis - a burning sensation in the rectum - since the end of my RT 3 months ago. It’s uncomfortable, but there are no other symptoms, so I can live with it. It typically lasts for two or three days and then subsides again.

Cheers,

Chris

User

Posted 23 Jun 2019 at 20:37

Hi Bri , I am 100% incontinent , I had RT , and now when I go for a number 2s I bleed through my willie ,
But I think that's life 8 1/2 years into this
good luck
Barry

Edited by member 23 Jun 2019 at 20:39 | Reason: Not specified

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