Help with no gas, empty bowel diet during RT.

@jbristow3682

Thanks for sharing since our RO also told us that my husband should not change diet, that they do not do that with their patients since it brings more "unknowns" into equation and that it can cause digestive system to go berserk with so many changes.
They just want BM happening the morning of treatment and a full bladder.
Maybe it is California thing lol 🤷‍♀️ ! We are in the Bay Area - "Chill bro " lol lol

@heavyphil thanks, I was able to download and print a FODMAP food list. Easy now to understand why I have been so gassy. I have been eating a slice of 21 grain bread toasted with half an avocado every morning for years. Lunch is a smoothie with protein powder with frozen mango and frozen ripe banana. Dinner was lean meat or fish with rice or potato and always a large bowl of raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, peaches, etc. Pretty much everything I have been eating is on the restricted FODMAP list. We grocery shop on Fridays, so I will be drastically changing my diet starting Friday night.

@carlsbadguy The biggest factor in the diet is the portion size; you really have to LIMIT the amounts of ‘good’ fiber rich foods.
Radiation tx. is a balancing act between having enough “oomph” to have a bowel movement and not too much of it to have gas. I used Healthy Fiber (Amazon) 3X/day with lots of water to keep regular; it is non fermentable guar gum based.
Phil

@surftohealth88 not a California thing, maybe an individual RO's thing. I also live in SoCal, and will also be making about a 30 minute drive south, but down the 5 instead of the 15. My digestive system is already going berserk, I'm trying to calm it down. I eat healthy, but many of the foods I eat cause some of us an abundance of gas so I need to make a change. If your husband is lucky enough to be able to continue his present diet, get up and have a BM, retain no gas, and fill and hold his bladder through his treatment, he's blessed, at least in that regard!

@heavyphil thank you again, I found the product on Amazon. The directions state use 1 scoop a day? If you took 3 scoops a day, how much water were you drinking? I'll be replacing a fair bit of fiber following a strict FODMAP diet, but I don't want so much fiber that I get backed up. Good that it's non fermentable, as it shouldn't bring any gas into the equation. I'm 6 ft and 190 lbs if it makes a difference.

PS. What helped me a lot was that they happened to schedule almost all of my treatments for the same time each day. I felt that the 12:45 time that 19 of the 20 treatments were scheduled for was just about perfect for me. I would get up around 5 a.m. and have a light breakfast, then nothing until after the treatment for the day was over. I was able to establish a routine.

A big worry for me was how to arrive at the treatment table with a full bladder. I'd ask after each treatment for the operators to tell me how full my bladder was that day. They'd give me a number, like 80, which meant my bladder was 80% as full as it was when they did the CT-Sim session to plan the treatments in the first place. The ideal would be 100. Given the abilities of the machine they were using, they said 80s were acceptable, but that 100% or fuller than at the CT-Sim would be better.

An operator clued me in to how I might learn how to arrive in optimum shape. He said things didn't just depend on drinking the two cups of water "x" number of minutes prior to getting on the table. How hydrated was I when I drank the 2 cups of water? One day I squeezed in my daily visit to the YMCA prior to the treatment and worked out for an hour with weights. My bladder was its lowest number that day even though I drank 3 cups of water at the prescribed time.

The routine I eventually developed was to drink 2 cups of water 2 hours before presenting for treatment, then 2 more cups 1 hour before, then the prescribed 2 cups at the prescribed time. I think I tended to be dehydrated compared to most patients most of the time. I had to learn to pay attention to signals my body was producing indicating I was dehydrated. I also did not visit the gym prior to any more radiation treatments. This routine had me quite often hearing my bladder was exactly as full as it was during the CT-Sim.

Things fell apart around treatment 17. Side effects were setting in. I was fending off extreme fatigue, and fairly severe diarrhea. The bladder prep still worked, but bowel prep, which had not been a problem until then, became the problem.

They'd say they couldn't do the treatment and send me off to the bathroom while they treated another patient to see if I could clear my rectum. How was I supposed to clear my rectum and still hold a full bladder for an extra 15 minutes? Things went very far south when I tried holding my penis closed by hand while trying to take a crap only to watch blood dripping out of my penis as a result. I don't know how I made it through the last 3 treatments.

One thing I tried early on was to fast prior to the treatment, i.e. no breakfast. The nurse later explained as I told her how big my headache was after that treatment was it was a bad idea to suddenly subject my system to a fast during the stress of radiation treatment at my age. I didn't try that again.

@climateguy Ah memories…they handed me a Fleet enema once and told me to go to the bathroom…but DON’t pee!!
The enema initially had no effect so here I am doing jumping jacks, squat thrusts and punching myself in the gut to get things moving…thank goodness for large handicap access lavs!
I too used the prick pinch when the time arrived but no blood🥹…
If there was A hidden camera in that bathroom somebody could have made a killing on YouTube….
Phil

I was at 12 noon everyday. I would usually have a protein shake with blueberries or raspberries around 5 hours before. I would take two GasEx's and small Miralax dose. Also carried a small enigma with me in case rectum wasn't clear. Had to use it twice. They didn't like it and I didn't care.

@carlsbadguy
Oh I am so sorry to hear that your guts are acting up : (( - did it start just recently due to ADT drugs ? : ( Also, I see that you will have proton RT so perhaps there are differences there too, who knows. )

Mr. Surf is very regular in general with 2 to 3 BMs a day (same as me) because we eat Mediterranean diet from early childhood. Things that produce gas for us are known offenders - beans and cruciferous vegetables, but no bloating or anything even close. So, we will only eliminate them during RT to be on a safe side.

We will try to get appointment between 10 am and 1 pm and that will work really well for him. He will be driving about an hour in one direction if traffic cooperates , if not - it could easily take 2 . 😬 But he usually takes business calls on long rides so time flies faster.

"Lucky "- well he considers himself being lucky in many aspects 🥰 (and he is) , however having PC or anything connected with it can not be "lucky" lol BUT yes, it would definitely make things much easier during RT.

As you said in your previous post - every list on different websites will list somewhat different food items and it can be soooo confusing. So, it might be the best to stick with what works for you - you know your guts the best 👍.