Help with no gas, empty bowel diet during RT.

Posted by carlsbadguy @carlsbadguy, 18 hours ago

I'm scheduled to have fiducial markers and SpaceOAR placed Aug 4/5 and 5.5 weeks of radiation treatment starting on Aug 17. I have a sample diet and eat/don't eat list of foods from my RT's Nutritionalist and have done plenty of research. However I had a partial colectomy 8 years ago due to severe bouts of diverticulitis and lost about 12 inches of my colon. As a result, I am a pretty gassy person, and my bowel almost always feels full or close to full, with 2 and sometimes 3 BMs a day. What foods/meals have worked best for those of you who have undergone RT? I'm tempted to just not eat during the morning/day before treatment, but I will only get each week's schedule the Friday before.

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mjp0512 | @mjp0512 | 7 hours ago

I used these guidelines for 30 sessions of IMRT last fall. Didn't miss a session.
https://www.nutrition.va.gov/docs/Oncology/RadiationTherapyforProstateCancerNutritionMar2025.pdf
Only other thing I did was not eat anything past 6PM and only a slice of dry toast to take meds with before treatment. Good luck! 👍

brianjarvis | @brianjarvis | 7 hours ago

I also got each week’s schedule the Friday before; that allowed me to plan not only my meals, but also my full bladder/empty bowel routine as well as my regular schedule around the appointments. (My appointments were always scheduled at 2:00PM or 2:40PM.)

Diet-wise —> I decreased red meats; increased fish, salads; added more fruits, vegetables, and grains/nuts; cut out soft drinks; cut back on processed foods, and made other tweaks here and there. I also added a protein/fruit smoothie every morning, and a protein bar & two energy bars every day. (I think that was helpful in sustaining energy and endurance during the months of low-testosterone due to ADT.)

I also exercised (lifted weights and ran 5Ks or swam) daily.

In the weeks leading up to my radiation treatments, I practiced the full bladder/empty bowel routine every day. By the time of my first treatment, I had the routine down to a ritual.