Struggling with RT side effects.

User

Posted 10 Mar 2025 at 01:47

Did anyone else find the week after RT awful?

User

Posted 10 Mar 2025 at 07:56

jazzy, what do you mean by awful. I felt a bit depressed, I had 33 sessions , I missed the routine, seeing people I had met, I guess I missed the attention,the feeling I was being looked after. I didn't have HT with my salvage RT so I didn't have that to cope with. The bowel issues were just about okay,loose motions and the mucus issues.

Thanks Chris

User

Posted 10 Mar 2025 at 08:00

I was very tired and tender after my Radiotherapy but found that going for a good walk followed by some rest helped, I also stuck to a high fibre diet that helped with my bowels, the fatigue slowly gets better after a month.

John

User

Posted 10 Mar 2025 at 08:57

I think some people find they feel a bit flat after their treatment is over, especially when you’ve been going every day for weeks. The only real side effect I had was urgency, more from my bowels which I had little control over. I’d do have a couple of accidents whilst out walking, and it’s NOT funny, it’s actually really traumatising.

I would just be a little patient and do what you feel able to, do some nice things and maybe plan a holiday or something, give yourself lots of treats😊

Hopefully you’ll start to feel better soon🤞🤞

Derek

User

Posted 10 Mar 2025 at 10:52

My husband finished his 20 sessions of RT on Wednesday last week but is totally wiped out. Barely has enough energy to lift food to his mouth. He’s slept pretty much all day for the last 3 days and nights, although up to the toilet about every hour through the nights. Very sore tummy, bladder urgency and a lot of pain trying to get flow started, diarrhoea & mucus, and most of all the overwhelming, debilitating fatigue. 😢 Absolutely no question of managing to go for a walk at the moment - he’s shattered if he walks from one room to another! From what I’m hearing this doesn’t sound normal 🤷🏻‍♀️. He tried to phone the cancer nurse for advice this morning but couldn’t get through. I’ll get him to try again when he next wakes up.

(Sorry for not posting details in original post … I tried several times but the website kept saying Access Denied, so I gave up typing it all in and went for a short post - technology can be so frustrating at times 😂!!)

Edited by member 10 Mar 2025 at 11:05 | Reason: Typo

User

Posted 10 Mar 2025 at 15:34

Oh dear Kazzy, he is having it tough time of it. I wasn’t really neither up nor down and certainly didn’t have fatigue. I know everyone reacts differently to the various treatments but it does sound like it might be worth talking to someone. If you can get through to your own CNS, call the specialist nurses on here who are super knowledgeable and will take to talk things through with you.

Derek

User

Posted 10 Mar 2025 at 20:57

RT side effects are delayed by about 2 weeks from treatment and are cumulative, so they are at their worse about 2 weeks after RT, and then slowly recover. A couple of the main ones are likely to be anemia because both HT and RT reduce your hemoglobin levels giving you a double whammy for 4-5 weeks after RT, and the RT does invisible damage which your body needs to heal, which consumes the body's resources - probably want to make sure he's consuming protein and carbs and sources of iron.

User

Posted 11 Mar 2025 at 07:30

Hey my dads not long finished RT and he wasn’t good at all it’s caused him to have an haemorrhoid he’s suffered my lose bowels to and also up all night for the toilet he’s slowly getting there but it’s been horrible to watch him like that hope your husband is starting to feel a little better and not forgetting my dad also broke down he felt so low and he’s also disabled from a stroke back in 2017 xx

User

Posted 11 Mar 2025 at 07:59

I finished the last of my 20 radiotherapy sessions 11th February 2025. Main side effects are fatigue which I deal with just by having a short rest. It's a weird feeling like dragging yourself thru treacle.

The other side effects were loose bowel motions but that's resolved itself now. Urinary incontinence, frequency and urgency are the worst for me. Prescribed Mirabegron by my GP. This worked for about a week and appears to have stopped working. Resorting to pads to protect myself from accidents.

Seeing the oncologist and urologist begining of April so will find out what they advise.

User

Posted 11 Mar 2025 at 11:25

Sorry to hear your husband is struggling after RT Kazzy.

The loose motions and fatigue stabilised with me a couple of weeks after completion.

I tried to get out walking as much as possible but I learned the hard way to never trust a Trump.

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