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Radiation Proctitis?

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Posted 9/22/2011 5:56 PM (GMT 0)
Has anyone here been diagnosed with this after their rad therapy?
My father is over a year out from his treatment, his PSA is still undetectable, but he is still battling with pain in the rectum area.
He hasn't had any scope exams since getting his prostate cancer treatment, and is going to ask his doctor for a colonoscopy to see what they can see.
From the pain he describes, I'm guessing he has radiation proctitis.
Is there any treatment they offer that works to control the pain (outside of pain killers)??

Thanks
Posted 9/22/2011 6:11 PM (GMT 0)
I haven't sufferred from it, but I do understand that it is a possible side effect, thankfully of very low incidence. The rad-onc should be monitoring him and helping with this.
Posted 9/22/2011 7:44 PM (GMT 0)
I had a bout of it, but it was short-lived. I was pretty uncomfortable, especially with bowel movements, until I got a prescription for ProctoFoam. It's a steroidal foam that has praxomine, a topical pain killer. It cools things down, reduces inflammation and pain.
I'm guessing a doctor would try something like that first.

Being a year out, he might not be suffering from the acute variety, like I had, which is easily treatable and temporary in most cases. He might have chronic radiation proctitis. That can be difficult to fix. He'd probably need to go to a special clinic that uses special techniques (lasers, argon gas) to ablate (destroy) the bleeding, inflamed tissue. The Mayo Clinic has a page on this here:
www.mayoclinic.com/health/proctitis/DS00705/DSECTION=treatments-and-drugs

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) has also been used in the past--I don't know with what level of efficacy.
Posted 9/22/2011 7:49 PM (GMT 0)
I should add that I'm due for my 50 year old rite of passage--the colonoscopy--in a few months, and I'm curious as to what the doc will see. Things are still a little different down there for me--more prone to gas, for example, and sometimes when I pass gas, a little mucus comes with it, which I assume indicates I still have some irritated tissue, all these years later. Others have reported similar experiences here--the "don't trust a fart after radiation" thread from a few months ago.
But the worst of my discomfort is long gone, and I hope your father gets some relief soon. It's a depressing condition.
Best--
Posted 9/22/2011 11:13 PM (GMT 0)
Amen to the "don't trust a fart after radiation".  Haven't been able to safely pass gas away from a toilet since I was zapped.  Nothing like a wet fart to ruin your day at work.  Squid.

Posted 9/23/2011 12:02 AM (GMT 0)
that's not a pretty mental picture there, subic, lol
Posted 9/23/2011 12:16 AM (GMT 0)
Have had no issues with this at all. Am now 18 months out from last rad treatment. Hope his rad-onc can help him get some releif.
Posted 9/23/2011 3:37 PM (GMT 0)
Wet Farts? Dr says no way can it happen when it started 3 weeks ago. Now he is saying possible. Most likely will go away after 3 or 4 weeks when finished. Also feel bloated after meals and take Rolaids or GasX to relieve that. Does not matter what I eat! I have had 30 treatments so far and have to fart on the toilet to make sure.

Kind of glad to hear that I am not the only one with this issue.
Posted 9/23/2011 3:46 PM (GMT 0)
At 14 months post-RT it is still a real and present problem for me. No real change since a little improvement in the two months post-RT.
Posted 9/24/2011 2:07 PM (GMT 0)
142, did you have RT with a CT scan. I have been told that makes a big difference. Hate to think I will have to watch passing gas with distrust.
Posted 9/24/2011 7:22 PM (GMT 0)
My RT was IGRT, with Calypso markers. My discussion on RT is linked in my sig.

They worked - I had a couple of days that I went a bit out of position, and everything stopped.

Posted 9/24/2011 9:31 PM (GMT 0)
I started to notice a rectal pain around treatment #30 of 40.  I said something to my rad. about it and adjustments were made to the target area and strength of the radiation.  It took nearly 4 months after the treatments for the pain to go away and the rad injury to heal.  Have not had a problem since.
Posted 9/24/2011 9:38 PM (GMT 0)
gibson the best answer here is from Gallileo
I read an article and saw a few stories about men having difficulty with radiation induced proctitis. Their treatment was some time in a hyperbaric chamber. It did not give 100% relief from these side effects but it did help a great deal in tolerating pain. If this is indeed proctitis indued by radiation, your dad needs to ask about that therapy...

Tony
Posted 9/25/2011 12:22 AM (GMT 0)
I have had trouble for 3 years since my radiation, some mornings have to be near a toilet until at least 9.30, some days ok, I am used to it, but it is annoying, colonoscopy was ok.

Mal.
Posted 9/25/2011 3:09 AM (GMT 0)
I had it....It was not especially painful, but it was annoying and worrisome. I had blood in my stool for a few months approximately 6 months following my radiation. Hopefully a colonscopy will provide piece of mind...ask your doctor to perform argon plasma coagulation (if he deems it necessary) during the colonoscopy. APC often puts an end to proctitis. It certainly ended mine.
Posted 9/25/2011 2:27 PM (GMT 0)
Maybe my oncologist was telling me the correct story. The Low Dose CT scan corrects the positioning each time and has better targeting for the prostrate. I am sure anyone that has had ER has heard this.

Sometimes my rectum does burn a little after, but seems to go away in a couple of hours. Dr did check it last week when we talked about gas and bloating.

I have to drive 40 miles each way for treatment, but it sounds like it was worth it to be on the newer machine.

I will have my colonoscopy in Dec and will ask Dr about the plasma coagulation - thanks riverbend for info.
Posted 1/29/2012 1:22 AM (GMT 0)
For anyone who has had radiation and is getting a colonoscopy please be sure that your GI knows you have had radiation and under NO conditions should the area near the rectum be biopsied or pierced in any way. This will lead to a fistula that cannot be easily repaired or healed. I had my doctor sign a paper to that effect before I had my colonoscopy after reading several horror stories because doctors biopsied suspicious areas that were effected by radiation.
My doctor said he saw areas near the rectum that he could tell were radiated, but saw no damage. I had a few wet farts during radiation, but they were gone in a month or so. A daily dose of Metamucil works great in firming up soft stools and loosing hard stools. This was the best tip I picked up on the radiation sites as most of the guys sware by it.
Posted 1/29/2012 5:13 PM (GMT 0)
Been reading up on Metamucil as a result of this thread.
In Holland it only seems to be available in lemon and orange flavour and sweetened with aspartine.
Is a neutral version available? And is the active ingredient (pysillium seeds) available in another form.
Alf
Posted 1/29/2012 8:37 PM (GMT 0)
Im so glad to have discovered this forum.  Since last May i have got so much support for all my woes in realting to my diagnosis of pc.  every step of the journey so far has left me with a scar BUT none worse than the present one where i just can't get to the toilet in time - either kidneys or bowels.  The tsunami hits me at the most awkward of moments and it is so embarrassing - especially if I am out for my walk that everybody keeps telling me is essential if i want to improve my 'wellness' after the radiation.

Last week, i was told by my that i could go back to work.  How can I dear friends?  this is a worse problem than my pc as at least it wasnt evident to anybody that i had it at all at work BUT now the type of work i do standing up all day, working at physical tasks it is just not on.  I can't do it and this is the first time in my life that i succumbed to saying 'i can't do this'.  Please someone reassure me that i shouldnt be going back to work until i get my engine working properly again.  This must be the most embarrasssing problem anybody could have.  I feel like a child once again and it is NOT anice feeling right now!

For those of you who had these SE's in past after RT how long did it take until you could return to work again.

Thanks to everybody out there with their own little woes..

CJD

Posted 1/29/2012 9:17 PM (GMT 0)
CJD:

I am so sorry to read of your plight. Isn't there some way you can convince your doctor to attest to the fact that you cannot do the kind of work you are currently doing??

I had plenty of problems during my SRT. Oddly enough, I have hemmrhoids and that was a big concern but they never acted up much.

A month ago I started getting sharp pains very low down and burning in the butt. Fortunately, it resolved in a couple of weeks, but it was miserable. The pain was in an area that bothered me during the SRT so I suspect it was again related to that.

For those who tout radiation as a safe and effective tx., just read this thread.

At least with my surgery, the incontinence appeared immediately but resolved quickly. With radiation, one never knows what tomorrow might bring.

Mel

Posted 1/30/2012 1:44 AM (GMT 0)
Mel, your comment "For those who tout radiation as a safe and effective tx., just read this thread" paints all radiation with a pretty broad brush.  Of course there are SE's with all treatment choices but please be careful not to mix apples and oranges.  Most of the responders on this thread who have troubles are guys who have had SRT, not brachy or other radiation as a primary therapy.  As JT pointed out in another thread, "SRT usually has a wider margin than primary radiation and should have a higher reported incidence of bowel issues."

 

I don't have any data to cite on the subject but anecdotally JT's conclusion would mirror what we usually see on this forum.

 

Tudpock (Jim)

 

 

Posted 1/30/2012 2:06 AM (GMT 0)
Tud,

I agree with your reply above. It does seem like those with the worse SE from RT, are those that went SRT, like myself. When you target the entire prostate bed, realtivily, it's a larger target, with many more areas that could be effected by "scattering". For all the talk of the precise targeting advantages of IMRT and IGRT, scattering still can take place, and that is what is typically causing the damages being discussed. I agree too, that RT, whether conventional or in the form of seeds, tends to generate a lot less side effects, both those considered minimal, and those considered serious in nature.

For all the trouble and crippling side effects that I got as the result of SRT, I have never had any of the BM related issues, loose stools, for a better word - wet farts (just sounds gross), or BM urgency. Most of my damage was directly in the bladder and bladder neck, and all the nerve bundles related to those areas.

Once again, I think you do great trying to keep a balanced view, with little obvious bias. A hard trick to do sometimes, as bias is all about opinions.

David
Posted 1/30/2012 2:23 AM (GMT 0)
Tud:

You are correct. I was thinking of SRT (not BT) and should have made that clearer.

David -- you haven't lived until you've experienced the joy of a wet fart.

There are two such types:

1) You immediately know that it wasn't a fart or

2) You think it was a fart... until you take a few steps or sit down or..I would say a 2-5 second delay before you KNOW.

And thus ends Wet Fart 101.

Mel

Posted 1/30/2012 2:46 AM (GMT 0)
mel, that was a lesson i don't think i needed to learn, lol, glad i am not dealing with that.

david
Posted 1/30/2012 3:07 AM (GMT 0)
hey Mel have you ever had a wet fart after taking your fish oil pills on an empy stomach ?  dude try it cool !

ed

 

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