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Radiotherapy Diet - diet, radiotherapy, food, adjuvant

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User
Posted 16 May 2014 at 09:51

Hi All,


I had a prostatectomy in January 2014 and am now due to start radiotherapy.


I've got the planning appointment next week and have been sent the dietary advice to follow from now on until the end of my radiotherapy. It tells me some of the things I shouldn't have - Baked beans, nuts, peas, lentils, red kidney beans, soya beans, pulses, onions, sprouts, cabbage, broccoli, prunes, kiwi fruit, raw apples, bananas and says to avoid caffeine, fizzy drinks or diet drinks, spicy food and to limit alcohol. What it doesn't say is what you can eat and drink. It gives a vague "Avoid food which makes you feel bloated or gives you excessive wind". With IBS that doesn't leave a lot these days!


Does anybody have any tips based on experience please? 


If it mentions that I can't have raw apples and bananas does it mean I can have oranges and orange juice because they are not listed, for example? 


What can you eat that'll make you "go" without bloating you or causing excessive wind? I've spent a lifetime adhering to the "healthy" food advice only to find that now I shouldn't eat most (all?) of it. I like my bowl of muesli and bran with soya milk for breakfast. Sounds like that's off the menu. Is it? I like fruit, veg, salads. Can I have them? 


I suppose what I'm asking for is a list of what I can have rather than what I can"t. Does anybody have one, please?


Thanks.


Jaypee

User
Posted 16 May 2014 at 16:16

Jaypee,


 


I had a diet sheet that had what I could and couldn't eat on it from the Radiotherapists at the time of my CT scan prior to treatment. This is to reduce the amount of radiation hitting the bowel. Even thought I followed the dietary advice. The pre-CT scan on the first session indicated that I had excessive wind so I had to walk around for a while to disperse it.


Other men with similar issues elected to administer an enema prior to RT to reduce the risk of bloatedness. I am sure if you contact your specialist nurse you will get more advice. I can assure you that the food I was advised to eat was bland and some of the foods on the list I knew would give me wind.


I hope you can get some better advice or maybe others here suffer from IBS and have coped with the RT.


 

User
Posted 16 May 2014 at 17:09
Hi Jaypee

I have just finished my RT without any serious effects and found the following helpful

http://www.guysandstthomas.nhs.uk/resources/patient-information/nutrition-and-dietetics/low-fibre-diet.pdf

Hope it helps

Roy
User
Posted 16 May 2014 at 20:05

Hi Jaypee,


 


If you are eating bran I'm not surprised you have IBS !  Awful stuff which scours the bowel & leave it inflamed. Anyway, here's some foods you can have.


 


http://www.christie.nhs.uk/booklets/415.pdf


( page 16 onwards list high & low fibre foods )


Bear in mind : foods that contain insoluble fibre ( not good ) include:


•wholegrain bread
•bran
•cereals ( best avoided prior to R/T except oats )
•nuts and seeds


Oats & Rye are soluble fibre. Thus porridge is a gentler cereal.


I have to avoid yeast so use sourdough breads. Preferably rye.


If you read through my profile you may glean a bit more http://community.prostatecanceruk.org/editors/tiny_mce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif


 


 


 

User
Posted 16 May 2014 at 09:51

Hi All,


I had a prostatectomy in January 2014 and am now due to start radiotherapy.


I've got the planning appointment next week and have been sent the dietary advice to follow from now on until the end of my radiotherapy. It tells me some of the things I shouldn't have - Baked beans, nuts, peas, lentils, red kidney beans, soya beans, pulses, onions, sprouts, cabbage, broccoli, prunes, kiwi fruit, raw apples, bananas and says to avoid caffeine, fizzy drinks or diet drinks, spicy food and to limit alcohol. What it doesn't say is what you can eat and drink. It gives a vague "Avoid food which makes you feel bloated or gives you excessive wind". With IBS that doesn't leave a lot these days!


Does anybody have any tips based on experience please? 


If it mentions that I can't have raw apples and bananas does it mean I can have oranges and orange juice because they are not listed, for example? 


What can you eat that'll make you "go" without bloating you or causing excessive wind? I've spent a lifetime adhering to the "healthy" food advice only to find that now I shouldn't eat most (all?) of it. I like my bowl of muesli and bran with soya milk for breakfast. Sounds like that's off the menu. Is it? I like fruit, veg, salads. Can I have them? 


I suppose what I'm asking for is a list of what I can have rather than what I can"t. Does anybody have one, please?


Thanks.


Jaypee

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User
Posted 16 May 2014 at 16:16

Jaypee,


 


I had a diet sheet that had what I could and couldn't eat on it from the Radiotherapists at the time of my CT scan prior to treatment. This is to reduce the amount of radiation hitting the bowel. Even thought I followed the dietary advice. The pre-CT scan on the first session indicated that I had excessive wind so I had to walk around for a while to disperse it.


Other men with similar issues elected to administer an enema prior to RT to reduce the risk of bloatedness. I am sure if you contact your specialist nurse you will get more advice. I can assure you that the food I was advised to eat was bland and some of the foods on the list I knew would give me wind.


I hope you can get some better advice or maybe others here suffer from IBS and have coped with the RT.


 

User
Posted 16 May 2014 at 16:23
Thanks for the reply. Maybe someone out there has been given some good information on this in the past, or knows where I can find it.

Hope what we've been given isn't typical!
User
Posted 16 May 2014 at 17:09
Hi Jaypee

I have just finished my RT without any serious effects and found the following helpful

http://www.guysandstthomas.nhs.uk/resources/patient-information/nutrition-and-dietetics/low-fibre-diet.pdf

Hope it helps

Roy
User
Posted 16 May 2014 at 19:38
I was given a low fibre diet sheet but was advised not to start it unless I started to develop problems. As it turned out I didn't have any real problems so just ate as normal. Obviously we are all different

Bri
User
Posted 16 May 2014 at 20:05

Hi Jaypee,


 


If you are eating bran I'm not surprised you have IBS !  Awful stuff which scours the bowel & leave it inflamed. Anyway, here's some foods you can have.


 


http://www.christie.nhs.uk/booklets/415.pdf


( page 16 onwards list high & low fibre foods )


Bear in mind : foods that contain insoluble fibre ( not good ) include:


•wholegrain bread
•bran
•cereals ( best avoided prior to R/T except oats )
•nuts and seeds


Oats & Rye are soluble fibre. Thus porridge is a gentler cereal.


I have to avoid yeast so use sourdough breads. Preferably rye.


If you read through my profile you may glean a bit more http://community.prostatecanceruk.org/editors/tiny_mce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif


 


 


 

User
Posted 16 May 2014 at 23:52
Thanks all, but especially Roy L and Rob - those links are really helpful. Thanks!
Begs the question, why didn't I get something like them sent to me?
User
Posted 28 Jul 2018 at 10:46

I have had my Pre planning CT scan completed at the second attempt due to excess intestinal gas. As I have a way to travel this was unwelcome 


I want to prevent this at my 20 fractions of EBR which start on the 7 August 2018.


Any advice on diet apart from eat normally gratefully received, as I seem to be a natural gassy person!


 

User
Posted 28 Jul 2018 at 11:06
What have the team told you about diet - did they want you on a high fibre, low fibre or anything goes regime?

Things you can cut out to reduce gas - fizzy drinks, beer, broccoli, cauliflower, brown bread / brown rice, beans, lentils or foods with natural fructose in them (pears, onions, some fruit squash, etc)
"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." Soren Kierkegaard
User
Posted 28 Jul 2018 at 22:10

Originally Posted by: Online Community Member
What have the team told you about diet - did they want you on a high fibre, low fibre or anything goes regime?

Things you can cut out to reduce gas - fizzy drinks, beer, broccoli, cauliflower, brown bread / brown rice, beans, lentils or foods with natural fructose in them (pears, onions, some fruit squash, etc)


lyn


 I did reply to this earlier but it seems to disappeared into the ether somehow so I briefly go through it again 


 My first attempt on Monday at my planning CT scan failed due to too much intestinal gas.  I was given a powdered laxative to take for three days and then re-present myself on Friday [yesterday].  This time I was lucky and they were able to take the scan as the intestinal gas I still had was higher up 


 After my scan was finished and my tattoos were done I asked the  radiographer about diet she told me that they did not give out diet advice as changing my diet could cause diarrhoea or constipation and I was just to carry on eating normally. 


 Now of course I perfectly understand this but I have always been a flatulent person so that is why I have come on here asking for advice 


 I have read that taking some probiotic drinks can help the digestion and therefore reduce gas in the system and also have seen a list of foods to avoid so I know that much all I wanted was if anyone else with experience had anything more to add .


 The last thing I need is for any of my fractions to be delayed or cancelled due to intestinal gas as it is a real pain getting to the hospital via a park-and-ride and two bus journeys

Edited by member 28 Jul 2018 at 22:12  | Reason: Not specified

User
Posted 29 Jul 2018 at 00:42
When John had gas they just told him to go for a walk round for 20 minutes or so. If it becomes a problem, they will advise you to change your diet at that point; for the time being, you have been mapped with some gas in you and if that is your natural disposition, the computer programme is now being written with the gas in mind?
"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." Soren Kierkegaard
User
Posted 05 Aug 2018 at 15:45
I just started radiotherapy after prostatectomy in April. I was given a rather detailed diet recommendation, what to eat and drink and what to avoid. Some of it seems a bit contradictory at first (all food rather favoring constipation: low fiber! no fresh fruit or vegetables; but the doctor would prescribe me a laxative if I needed one...Well, if I had my normal "mediterranean diet" with whole bread, some bran, my fresh salad and veggies, I would not need a laxative, never had one).
But on second thought, the diet seems to avoid mostly the generation of gas; in my case, the PET scan has seen rather well localized PSA-active cells, so that radiation therapy (33 sessions to go!) can focus on specific site; that's where they don't want to see gas in the intestine, I guess. So no champagne, beer, all-bran; but still some fruit juice is allowed. I'll try to stay as close as possible to my usual diet, avoiding high fiber stuff and any bubbles or bubble-generators.
We'll see how it goes. I am more worried about nausea, hate being seasick!
User
Posted 05 Aug 2018 at 15:54

I was very disappointed with my radiographers attitude on my diet. I failed one Radiotherapy setup session due to too much intestinal gas, barely  made it through the next one after 3 days on Laxico.


 And the contradictory advice was ”just keep eating as normal we don’t want your weight to go up or down“! well my eating as normal is giving me intestinal gas! 


So i have googled and will,avoid the usual foods like beans, onions etc and no fizzy drinks, including beer.  My oncology nurse advised me to eat a protein rich diet between sessions along with lots of fluids to help the cells that had been radiated by collateral damage Recover.


 So I am in a balancing act and have to decide for myself to make sure none of the protein rich diet is likely to cause intestinal gas,  I will find out tomorrow when I have my first radiotherapy treatment if I have it right.  I certainly hope so as it is a drive to a park-and-ride and two buses to make it for treatment about a six hour day for each fraction and having a treatment cancelled would be devastating 

User
Posted 10 Jun 2022 at 10:10

Thank you for directing me to this booklet - the link has changed to:


415-radiotherapy-to-the-prostate.pdf (christie.nhs.uk)


in case anyone else wishes to check it out


 


 

 
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