8 months post SRT and going backwards.

For the continence part, have you been keeping up with pelvic floor exercises?

For the solid, liquid, or gas question, you have nerves in your rectum to detect this, although they're not brilliant at detecting the difference even without having had any prostate treatment. The radiotherapy temporarily wipes those out, and it takes months for them to start working again. The radiotherapy does cause an excess of rectal mucus - the rectum assumes it is being irritated by an infection, given it has no knowledge about radiation, and this is its reaction to flush out the infection (which probably doesn't exist). I think it's quite common that the occasional bout of this continues for many months afterwards out to a year or more, but does eventually stop.

Hi Peter.

I know nothing about radiotherapy or salvage treatment but just wanted to show my sympathy. I'm two and a half years post surgery, and although I'm currently clear, I still dread BCR.

I feel the disappointment and frustration you must be going through in (a) discovering surgery had failed, after almost three years of thinking it had done the job, and (b) then having to have radiotherapy, and being left with these very delayed side effects of that salvage treatment. I'd struggle to cope with that.

I hope they manage to get things sorted for you, mate. 👍

Edited by member 26 Jul 2025 at 09:02  | Reason: Typo

Peter, my salvage RT did considerable but rare damage to my bladder, but I had been fitted with a suprapubic catheter before the 33 sessions in case it closed up an existing stricture. I did suffer with the wet fart, loose motions and anal cramps. It did take some time for the bowel to settle down,a long time ago now so can't really remember how long, perhaps 18 months before my bowel habits were better than before SRT. The rare bladder issues continued and I now have a permanent suprapubic catheter. Mry surgery was 2014 and SRT 2017. 

Also been on decapeptyl since March this year along with apalutamide but can't say they have affected my toilet habits.

Thanks Chris 

Hi Peter, I had SRT in 2017 and unfortunately continue to have urinary and bowel symptoms. I can leak from my bowel without being aware and go through phases of never trusting a fart! I had a colonoscopy in January and the doctor mentioned a lot of damage in terms of raised veins etc. I was diagnosing see with radiation proctitis years ago. I really hope your symptoms are temporary and resolve. 

You've been through the mill Ido4 and I wish you all the best. Thanks for your response; I will just have to wait and see how I go from here. Sometimes, when I read posts like yours and Chris's I realise, in the circumstances, how fortunate I am.

Peter

I think the reason is that problems arise well down the road when an irradiated cell tries to divide. The radiation scrambles the DNA and it fails to divide and dies. That is basically what happens to the cancer cells but there can also be the same damage with some of the surrounding good cells when they try to divide. I believe it takes about two years before you are free of any post therapy radiation effects but that doesn't necessarily mean you are going suffer radiation effects for two years. My bowels had a mind of there own for a period after SRT but it gradually sorted itself out.