Mild pain and constant peeing six months after radiation

Posted by scottbeammeup @scottbeammeup, Nov 9 8:58am

I completed SBRT in June 2024. I still feel some mild pain in my prostate area when sitting. It's not painful enough to require any medication, but just enough that I'm aware of it and it's annoying.

Has anyone had anything similar? Did it eventually go away?

I'm wondering if bicycling is possibly causing this, but I wear padded cycling underwear AND padded biking shorts so there's a lot of padding when I'm riding.

Also, before radiation, I would get up to pee once a night but ever since I've been getting up 3-4 times to pee and this hasn't decreased. Am wondering if this will improve over time or if it's just part of my "new normal."

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Prostate Cancer Support Group.

@northoftheborder

Radiation proctitis and radiation cystitis can be side-effects of SBRT. Often they don't show up at all; sometimes they emerge shortly after therapy, and sometimes they show up years later; sometimes they go away quickly on their own, and sometimes they don't. They can both be confirmed with imaging (a routine colonoscopy can see the proctitis, while a cystoscopy can see the cystitis: they both show up as angry, inflamed areas on the monitor).

There are treatments if it becomes unbearable, but if you can live with it without too much discomfort, I suggest letting it be and crossing your fingers that it just goes away. I, unfortunately, seem to have both for the long haul, but they don't bother me that often, so I haven't asked for anything like hyperbariatric treatment (pumping my bladder full of pure oxygen every day for weeks to promote healing); instead, I just go easy on the caffeine and stay hydrated. If I have a spicy meal, I know in advance that I'm going to be feeling it in both areas. I've seen specialists for both (proctologist and urological oncologist), and they've confirmed that it's not "cancer-involved", just another little thing to deal with.

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@northoftheborder
I just did a reply to beammeupscotty and had not read your posts. Again great information you have already given on this subject. I too mentioned the bladder not just the prostate being seen as an issue with frequent urination.

Again great advice and information

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@scottbeammeup offhand I do not remember what you said your final decision and your process was. Did your radiation machine have a built-in MRI? Did you do spaceoar?

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@scottbeammeup offhand I do not remember what you said your your process was. Did your radiation machine have a built-in MRI or did they use fused images? Did you do spaceoar?

I am not a bicyclist so I cannot answer that question but a friend of mine who is a bicyclist uses a seat that is actually split in the middle sort of like a good part of the middle of the seat is scooped out.

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@bens1

@scottbeammeup offhand I do not remember what you said your your process was. Did your radiation machine have a built-in MRI or did they use fused images? Did you do spaceoar?

I am not a bicyclist so I cannot answer that question but a friend of mine who is a bicyclist uses a seat that is actually split in the middle sort of like a good part of the middle of the seat is scooped out.

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I did Fiducial Markers and SpaceOAR in April, had five SBRT sessions in June and was on ADT (Casodex and Lupron April through June, then Orgovyx after, which just ended on October 31).

I will look into one of the scooped out seats. Good idea!

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@scottbeammeup

I did Fiducial Markers and SpaceOAR in April, had five SBRT sessions in June and was on ADT (Casodex and Lupron April through June, then Orgovyx after, which just ended on October 31).

I will look into one of the scooped out seats. Good idea!

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Scott, I tried that one - not so good. I got another one whose name has worn off from use but it has NO horn in the front and no upward tilt like others. It is somewhat rectangular and tilts downward by design.
There is no pressure at all on the perineum. You perch on your ‘sit bones’ - the lower pelvic bones - and there is no chafing on the inner thigh either. Scroll thru on Amazon and I am sure you will find many like it.
But forget the donut holes, split seats, etc…they just don’t work.

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@heavyphil

Scott, I tried that one - not so good. I got another one whose name has worn off from use but it has NO horn in the front and no upward tilt like others. It is somewhat rectangular and tilts downward by design.
There is no pressure at all on the perineum. You perch on your ‘sit bones’ - the lower pelvic bones - and there is no chafing on the inner thigh either. Scroll thru on Amazon and I am sure you will find many like it.
But forget the donut holes, split seats, etc…they just don’t work.

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Look at BLUEWIND and TWO MAPLES. Even ghe one from Schwinn looks pretty good. Hard part is to make sure it fits your post, platform or whatever.

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@heavyphil

Scott, I tried that one - not so good. I got another one whose name has worn off from use but it has NO horn in the front and no upward tilt like others. It is somewhat rectangular and tilts downward by design.
There is no pressure at all on the perineum. You perch on your ‘sit bones’ - the lower pelvic bones - and there is no chafing on the inner thigh either. Scroll thru on Amazon and I am sure you will find many like it.
But forget the donut holes, split seats, etc…they just don’t work.

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@heavyphil
Exactly what I found out also. The seat with the donut holes, middle open, etc. did not help me.

I have the seat you are mentioned. Can't remember where I got it. But everyone who sees it asked me where I got it. It is wider than race type seat but has NO tonque. So you do not have pressure on the genitals or transperenial area. The pressure is on your sit bones like you mentioned. Glad you mentioned this seat as I forgot to mentioned what really helped me on other post about bike riding affecting prostate PSA levels.

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@jc76

@heavyphil
Exactly what I found out also. The seat with the donut holes, middle open, etc. did not help me.

I have the seat you are mentioned. Can't remember where I got it. But everyone who sees it asked me where I got it. It is wider than race type seat but has NO tonque. So you do not have pressure on the genitals or transperenial area. The pressure is on your sit bones like you mentioned. Glad you mentioned this seat as I forgot to mentioned what really helped me on other post about bike riding affecting prostate PSA levels.

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JC - I found a worn label on the back. It’s simply called THE SEAT.

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@heavyphil

JC - I found a worn label on the back. It’s simply called THE SEAT.

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Hi, I did not have radiation but had a prostatectomy.
I am a cyclist both indoor and road.
Earlier after the biopsy part, I was back on the bike after a week. I use padded shorts, some shorts are better than others. Also a very slightly padded saddle with a groove, not a cut out. My position puts me on my sit bones and no pressure on my perineum. Experiment, saddles for triathlons have grooves or cutouts in different amounts. Some cycle shops will let you borrow a saddle to see if it suits your profile. Give it a try, good luck.

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Thanks. I had not heard that high-dose has more significant side effects but it makes sense, or at least makes sense that the side effects would appear sooner. My radiation ended towards the end of June 2024 so about five months ago.

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