Has anyone had diarrhea with radiation?

I’n not a surgeon but I do know anatomy. How can you totally avoid the bowel when it extends so far down in the abdomen?
It doesn’t seem that you are having a pinpoint SBRT (cyberknife) approach but more the conventional blanketing of the affected area, which comes with bowel repercussions.
Just my opinion, not medical advice.

It would be interesting to ask how exactly he is “avoiding the bowel and previously treated prostate bed.” VMAT is very accurate in that it can precisely hit an intended target. But, VMAT does use photons/x-rays; and by their physical nature, photons exhibit high entry-dose, scatter, and exit-dose. (See attached graphic from a webinar I attended a couple of years ago.) This inherent nature of photons can be reduced, but they will still have a GI side-effect (which you’re obviously experiencing).

Yes, diarrhea about 10 days after treatments started. Imodium worked very well and kept it under control. Good luck with your treatments.

Hi there. Even though my RO used SBRT (TrueBeam STX) for a five fraction course, he indicated that even with SpaceOar to protect the bowel diarrhea was a possibility espcially since they also advised a low fiber diet during treatment to keep the bowels "less active" or something to that effect. In any case, I did have some minor diarrhea which I addressed with Pepto Bismol or Imodium, and drinking a lot of water. After a month + since I finished treatment everything is back to normal. Best of luck to you.

I had 20 rounds of SBRT. While I didn't have diarrhea, there was radiation damage visible near the end of my digestive tract during my last coloniscopy (2 years after the radiation). I also took damage to the bottom of my bladder (confirmed by cystoscopy).

It's not just a matter of how accurate the radiation beam is, though SBRT is a big improvement over earlier lead-blanket approaches (with the narrow beam annd constant rotation, superficial burns to skin are now very rare, for example).

My radiation oncologist explained to me that the radiation introduced into the prostate continues to kill cells — cancerous or otherwise — for weeks after the treatments finish, so I wouldn't be surprised if it can spread out a bit from your prostate to surrounding organs (just a layperson's guess).

That can also be a good thing, because it might attack any undetected localised cancer spread (which surgery doesn't), but it can still create discomfort.

Great comment. Thanks for sharing.

YES! 28 RT treatments about a two thirds of the way through I learned not to trust a fart and if i felt rumbling in my tummy get to a restroom STAT. I had a rectal node light up on PSMAT scan so when i did radiation treatments I know they did cover that area. I walked the two miles to and from at first. Towards the end took buses and cabs depending how i was feeling.
I tried to stay active as much as possible. I napped a lot when I got home. Couldn't trust myself swimming so just worked out at the gym.
I changed my diet and wore Depends just in case to radiation appointments. No accidents but a couple of close calls.
My big problem was two days before my treatments were to start they had to rebook me so for the whole treatment my radiation was on a different time each day . I wasn't working so it was doable.
Back to normal toilet wise last radiation treatment December 3.
Learn to be gentle on yourself its a journey not really a destination.

I had a regular MRI last week and had Diarrhea from it. I did a little research and found out that one side effect of a regular MRI is Diarrhea. A few years ago I developed some Nausea from an injury my Dr. prescribed Ondansetron for Nausea. I looked the RX up and it's normal use is for Chemo Patient with Nausea/Diarrhea. You might want to ask your Dr. about this to help your stomach. It got rid of my Nausea in 20 minutes. Plus it settles your tummy and stops you from pooping your brains out.

Hey Jay, funny you mention that drug. Last week my cat developed vestibular syndrome - kind of a vertigo thing. He vomited a few times and wouldn’t eat from the nausea. The Vet prescribed Ondansetron.
He hated the taste, but it worked wonders for his nausea; started eating like a champ and hasn’t stopped!! Didn’t know it worked for diarrhea as well so will keep it handy for when that happens. Thanks
Phil

Yes. 33 RT treatments. I was feeling quite fine for the first 10 or so treatments, then it came on quite suddenly at a New Year's party. I spent the evening in the bathroom ringing in the new year (so to speak). I changed my diet to low fibre/bland, and took Imodium to slow everything down. Serious nausea hit about the same time, so then took Ondansetron about 30 min prior to RT treatment to get ahead of the nausea. It worked fine.

For a month or two after the treatments, I still had mild nausea but a non-drowsy Gravol (this is just a ginger pill as far as I know) helped a lot. Over a year later my GI tract is still jumpy but is slowly settling down.