I'm interested in conversations about and I want to talk about
Know exactly what you want?
Show search

Notification

Error

Radiotherapy bowel preparation question

Email this conversation Print this conversation
User
Posted 01 Mar 2024 at 07:32

Hi again


I'm soon to start RT and have a genuine question. Do you have to use a mini enema prior to every session even though you may have already emptied your bowel previously?


Not a pleasant subject I know but......

User
Posted 01 Mar 2024 at 18:44

Hi Atlas,


Yes, a delightful game isn’t it. I’ve just completed my 20 sessions of EBRT. Each at a different time but mainly in the mornings. The routine was first Do the enema then hold on for as long as you can within 45 minutes and then go poo. Then, report yourself ready to start drinking a bottle of water. Drink the bottle within 15 mins then wait 30 mins for the treatment start time. RT treatment itself takes just a couple of mins but you need to wear one of those riddiculous backless hospital gowns 😬.  
I’ve got to say that most days I didn’t see the point of the enema. I start most mornings with a good old fashioned dump so there’s nothing stacked up waiting to come out. I just viewed it as a necessary part of the game and got used to it, I’ve long since accepted that there’s no joy in any part of the disease and treatments.


You will be fine. Remember to take a book.


Good luck


Spongebob


 

User
Posted 22 Jun 2024 at 13:00
I'm on salvage radiotherapy (33 doses of 2 Gy) and HT (3 monthly injections) and it hasn't been that bad at all.
From the HT I have zero libido and mild hot flushes but nothing significant. Slight weight gain.
From the SRT it's been pretty much plain sailing - a bit of fatigue to start with that has now pretty much gone. The hardest part has been retaining the urine for the session especially if they are running late. No bowel problems at all.
But as you say, everyone reacts differently.
Good luck!
Show Most Thanked Posts
User
Posted 01 Mar 2024 at 09:57

Atlas, I used the mini enema every day. My appointments were at different times. I just used the enema something around three hours before my appointment time. 


Thanks Chris 

User
Posted 01 Mar 2024 at 10:22
Your hospital will tell you if you need to use mini-enemas - some hospitals use them for all, some hospitals don't use them and some hospitals only give them to men who are not managing to empty their bowel consistently.
"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." Soren Kierkegaard
User
Posted 01 Mar 2024 at 11:32
Hi Atlas,
I was told to use them by the Radiologist, even if I had emptied my bowels that morning.
They wanted to make sure there was nothing left at all!!!
First time I have ever had to use an enema, and I was rather anxious, but was not a problem at all.
Chris
User
Posted 01 Mar 2024 at 18:44

Hi Atlas,


Yes, a delightful game isn’t it. I’ve just completed my 20 sessions of EBRT. Each at a different time but mainly in the mornings. The routine was first Do the enema then hold on for as long as you can within 45 minutes and then go poo. Then, report yourself ready to start drinking a bottle of water. Drink the bottle within 15 mins then wait 30 mins for the treatment start time. RT treatment itself takes just a couple of mins but you need to wear one of those riddiculous backless hospital gowns 😬.  
I’ve got to say that most days I didn’t see the point of the enema. I start most mornings with a good old fashioned dump so there’s nothing stacked up waiting to come out. I just viewed it as a necessary part of the game and got used to it, I’ve long since accepted that there’s no joy in any part of the disease and treatments.


You will be fine. Remember to take a book.


Good luck


Spongebob


 

User
Posted 01 Mar 2024 at 18:46
As mentioned above depends on the procedure followed by your hospital. For me, ar Clatterbridge, the policy was mini enema when got to hospital each time whether emptied bowel or not prior. Not every hospital follows this policy, you may have had your planning appt and the full procedure, enema or not, change diet or not is usually made clear then?
Peter
User
Posted 01 Mar 2024 at 19:16

I had my SRT at Mount Vernon, they didn't give me any enemas. 


Kev.

User
Posted 01 Mar 2024 at 19:25

By the time you are about halfway through your RT sessions you will find you won't require enemas (assuming you are issued with them). By that time I was able to take a dump at will (and sometimes when I didn't will it 😬).

User
Posted 01 Mar 2024 at 20:53
It does seem to be that requirements vary according to hospital - one factor may be the machines, the most up to date are better able to tolerate variation in rectum content. I was told to take daily laxatives (provided) which proved mostly OK and a mini-enema only when out of range.

Just do what the local hospital ask. They are very aware of the sensitivities.
User
Posted 02 Mar 2024 at 08:10

Originally Posted by: Online Community Member
It does seem to be that requirements vary according to hospital - one factor may be the machines, the most up to date are better able to tolerate variation in rectum content. I was told to take daily laxatives (provided) which proved mostly OK and a mini-enema only when out of range.

Just do what the local hospital ask. They are very aware of the sensitivities.


Yes, that is very true - their machines vary in age & other factors. 
I remember at Addenbrooks, they stressed a low "Wind" diet, was the most important factor. The treatment itself, makes you want to poo more, anyway - which goes on afterwards.
As a previous said, not much of the treatment is nice - but it's probably not as bad as not being alive, if you have no treatment. 
The devil & the deep πŸ˜†

User
Posted 02 Mar 2024 at 08:22

I was told to use the enemas for the first 10 days, after that you didn’t need them. It sounds awful but it really wasn’t…I was told just to lock myself in the toilet when I arrived at the hospital, use the enema and stay there until it worked…usually within 5 mins. It took all the anxiety away from finding a toilet when you’re desperate. Depending on how far away from the hospital you live you may be able to use them before you leave for the hospital. The Radiolologists will keep you right😊

User
Posted 12 Mar 2024 at 18:33
The protocol I was given is to use the enema for the first 9 of my 37 sessions only.
User
Posted 22 Jun 2024 at 12:55

Hi, I'm on AS at the moment but have been offered shortish dose (3 months) of hormones followed by 20 sessions of IMRT/IGRT, followed by 2 more months of HT. I recognise everyone can react differently, but I'm curious how fellas have got on with RT side effects. Fully understand if you don't want to share, what are often considered personal details. Hoping it's all going/gone well for you Spongebob.

User
Posted 22 Jun 2024 at 13:00
I'm on salvage radiotherapy (33 doses of 2 Gy) and HT (3 monthly injections) and it hasn't been that bad at all.
From the HT I have zero libido and mild hot flushes but nothing significant. Slight weight gain.
From the SRT it's been pretty much plain sailing - a bit of fatigue to start with that has now pretty much gone. The hardest part has been retaining the urine for the session especially if they are running late. No bowel problems at all.
But as you say, everyone reacts differently.
Good luck!
User
Posted 22 Jun 2024 at 15:59

I completed my treatment in May. Main side effect was excessive wind and the feeling that I needed to 'go' all the time. This soon got better.


I'm fine now.. The HT side effects have gone now too. Don't miss the night time hot flushes!


As others have said everyone is different.. If you have any issues at all talk to your radiotherapist they will be able to help you.


 


Good luck!

User
Posted 22 Jun 2024 at 16:02

Thanks AtlasAl. Good to know. It sounds like your through it. Well done!

User
Posted 22 Jun 2024 at 18:52
I had 37 sessions of RT. Think the actual effects of RT were 'restricted' to urgency as far as bladder&bowel concerned. Generally it was bladder urgency during&after treatment for a while. The bowel problems came a bit later & did include some accidents, maybe 3. On occasion when I knew I'd be out for a while I'd use imodium and that seemed to work ok, didnt do that too often. Wet farts were a common thing. Things settled down after a while though.
I was tired etc but I was also on Zoladex (3yrs) abiraterone &enzalutimide (2yrs on trial).
Generally RT isnt too much bother especially if you dont have too far to travel for treatment otherwise its good to know where you can get to toilet to empty bladder on journey.
Peter
User
Posted 22 Jun 2024 at 18:58

Thanks Peter, much appreciated. Not sure yet what specific drugs I'd get if I go this route, but would be for a total of 6 months. I connected really well with the Consultant Radiographer and have confidence in her. Could wait till early in the new year and have SBRT, but it was explained that the side effects are the same, though usually more severe to start with, then pass over a similar timescale to IMRT. As I'm retired and it's only about 25 minutes to the hospital, 20 doses isn't really a problem for me. Thanks again and good luck with your progress.

User
Posted 22 Jun 2024 at 21:07

Hi PSA Sniper,


It’s now 4 months since I completed my 20x EBRTs. The main impact at the time was on my bowels, kept me indoors for a couple of weeks before daring to get out and about again. There are some waterworks logistics to solve for the journey to and from radio treatment, my journey could be anywhere between 45 mins and 1.5 hours, but managed it ok. I used to work on the fact that a bottle of water isn’t actually that much.


Since treatment completed my bowel issues have now settled down, though changed a bit i.e. I find that I often have to go last thing at night and when I wake up I HAVE to go, even before attempting to reach the kettle for a cup of tea. I did have some dodgy moments and experienced the occasional unpleasant wet farts that others have well documented and probably something that was on the England players minds the other night as one possible explanation for their dismal performance. Hoping that for me, the bowel issues are all firmly in the past 🀞.


My main problems now are with the ongoing impact of HT (Prostap). Hot sweats, permanently knackered and just being weak - my body doesn’t seem to build muscle, but anyway for me I just have 2 more years of that to go 😬


You will be fine πŸ‘


cheers


Spongebob

User
Posted 22 Jun 2024 at 22:11

Thanks very much for the reply, which is very reassuring. Hopefully you on the home straight now and the very best of luck for the future fella. πŸ‘ 

 
Forum Jump  
Email this conversation Print this conversation

Join the online community now.

Click through to become a member and gain access to support, information and real time replies.




MenuTop ▲
©2024 Prostate Cancer UK