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Cologuard and Colonoscopy came back positive: Waiting for my plan
Colorectal Cancer | Last Active: Mar 10 10:39pm | Replies (29)Comment receiving replies
My stomach issues began the second week of chemo and radiation. They called it radiation enteritis. Uncontrollable diarrhea. I lived on baked potatoes, toast and English muffins for months. I tried Imodium but was fearful of constipation. My tumor was in the anus and extremely painful. The cramping was awful. There were times when I thought I was going to vomit from it. The gastroenterologist gave me Dicyclomine and that helped with the cramping. One day, I woke up and the diarrhea stopped. Just like that. It was replaced by fecal incontinence. I don’t know which was worse. I now wear heavy duty sanitary pads 24/7. I saw the gastroenterologist yesterday and she said I have Proctitis. I will have a colonoscopy next week. I’m hoping, with time, everything will heal. The thought of living like this indefinitely is more than upsetting. Has anyone else had these issues?
Replies to "My stomach issues began the second week of chemo and radiation. They called it radiation enteritis...."
Hello, I developed a case of severe proctitis soon after Radiation Therapy ( 25 Cycles over 5 weeks without break) concurrent with Xeloda tablets twice a day. During the first few weeks it was very bad , I had to literally stay in the bathroom throughout the day. Food intake was almost negligible - only rice gruel three times a day. Pain, soreness in the anal area, extreme fatigue -- you name it and I was suffering with all these. Tried equivalent of Imodium , Loparamide tablets to arrest frequent motions . Due to low food intake it was mostly gas and small amount of stool each time.
After about three months I feel relatively better. Food intake has improved and frequency of bathroom visits have come down.However , the sensation to go is constant and I still have to make 8 to 10 visits a day. As a result I do not leave home ( anyway I feel weak as well). Nowadays I take one tablet of 2 mg Loparamide each day which is a very small dosage. I am not sure if it is useful now.
Hope with more time bowel movements come down further and stabilise. You will feel better with some more time. Best wishes . Mallika
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Hello @rioa21
We do have other members who have mentioned Proctitis after radiation therapy including @mallika58 and @stmaximus. I hope that they will join this conversation with you and share their experiences.
Here is some information from Mayo Clinic's website about this condition: Radiation proctitis can begin during radiation treatment and last for a few months after treatment. Or it can occur years after treatment. In this article from Mayo Clinic, there are medications that can help with radiation induced proctitis.
– Treatment for proctitis caused by radiation therapy https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/proctitis/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20376938
Did your gastroenterologist suggest any of the treatments mentioned in this article? What type of medications are you taking for this condition?