How to treat rectal bleeding? Started after prostate cancer radiation

Posted by bill6161 @bill6161, Mar 11, 2023

I have prostate cancer which had metastasized to the pelvic cavity.
Started abirateron, then 26 external radiation treatments. For following five months I was doing great except for a lot of sweating and weakness. But stayed very active, ate well, and normal daily bowel movements. Then one month ago started rectal bleeding most days with stool. Dr says it is not unusual and should stop with time, but get a colonoscopy if bleed too much or really hurts. How to tell if bleeds too much ??? How to handle this??

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Sarmajor | @sarmajor | Jun 26 9:37am

In reply to @beluga "Had you tried other treatments before HBOT? If so, which ones and did any of them..." + (show)

I just posted my overall treatment history. I’m not sure if you can search on my ID of “sarmajor” but see if you can find it.

Sarmajor | @sarmajor | Jun 26 9:50am

Look for my comment on the @vancouverislandhiker comment area. The moderator will not let me re-post.

beluga | @beluga | Jun 26 11:26am

Thanks for the update-I'm disappointed in how long it is taking to get some help/advice from a specialist.

Sarmajor | @sarmajor | Jun 26 11:45am

It took me a while to find two very helpful people and to discover an unknown benefit of a drug prescribed for another issue.
Radiation does some very nasty things in areas of your body that it was never meant to hit. I think that some doctors get frustrated when they hear about new symptoms that may, or may not be related to the radiation. In my case it was blood vessels that were feeding the area that is responsible for fully handling the digestive system. So the first thing they tried was to bulk up my diet and use anti-diarrheal meds. When that didn’t work they moved to the hyperbaric therapy which cured about 70% of my symptoms.
It’s a hit or miss trial with most every treatment they recommend.
I do feel your pain and wish you the best in getting your problem to a level that you can live with.

beluga | @beluga | Jun 26 10:57pm

Thanks for sharing your experience. Finding the right professionals to help is certainly the key to dealing with the problems that radiation presents. A positive attitude and being persistent in seeking the best treatment available makes this process more palatable and certainly goes a long way to making the side effects manageable.