Anyone have bowel issues after radiation for breast cancer?

Posted by sue417 @sue417, Oct 31 5:18pm

Hi
Has anyone experienced bowel issues after radiation treatment. I am having a colonoscopy. My surgeon thinks I may have colitis. I have have IBS. It was fine during treatment but has not been 6 mths post treatment. I lost 20lbs during treatment.

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Rubyslippers | @triciaot | Oct 31 11:08pm

I did have some problem which turned out to be caused by dehydration. By the time radiation was over I was an incredible 118 lbs - had not been that low since I was 14 years old. I’ve realized that I don’t drink enough water when I have doctor’s appointments or procedures like MRIs and radiation. I’m afraid I’ll have to go to the restroom so I stop drinking fluids. My cancer treatments were out of town so it added another layer of trying to not have to use a restroom because of travel. The dehydration caused me bowel issues.
I now realize that my body doesn’t bounce back as quick as I thought it would. It was just over a year post surgery that I really started to feel like me. I functioned fine immediately after surgery and through those 12 months, but there were issues here and there that weren’t quite right yet.

sue417 | @sue417 | Nov 1 7:57am

In reply to @triciaot "I did have some problem which turned out to be caused by dehydration. By the time..." + (show)

Hi
Thank you for sharing your story. Can I ask how much weight you lost during treatment. I was was 166 pounds.When I started now , i'm 143lbs . I also had to travel one hour out of town for my treatment. I stayed in a hotel from Mon to Friday for 2 wks. I had 20 treatments in 10 days. I am also having brutal menopause symptoms since going off H r t. My fatigue 6 months post treatment seems to be getting worse.Is this normal. I am having depression on a supplement 5.H.T P from my naturopath not working like it used to.
I tried ciprolex for anxiety from the gp. It was a nightmare. It sucks Dr don't care about menopause. They don't get enough training it's archaic. If I could go back I would not have had radiation. I was stage 0. They overkill.