Radiation Proctitis with bleeding and urgency

Contact your urologist immediately. They are the ones that handle these type of issues.

I had 5 weeks IMRT and a HDR Boost procedure that ended about 3 months ago. I still have urinary frequency/urgency and bowel urgency and I had a gel implant to protect the rectum. My frequency is dropping every so slightly every month

I had stage 3 adenocarcinoma of the cervix and after undergoing chemoradiation treatment, I developed radiation proctitis and had similar symptoms to what you have described. It has been about 9-years and it does improve greatly with time. It didn't go away completely and other things can aggravate it, but it is not like it was in the first year or two. I also had bladder damage and pain. I went to a therapist that treated cancer patients and they helped break up any scar tissues in the areas that were causing pain and it helped a lot.

Hi Debra, so sorry to hear that you had to deal with all of that pain : (. My husband might need radiation soon so I am worried about side effects. Can you please tell me what kind of therapist helped with pain ?

Thanks so much in advance < 3

I have radiation proctitis

Mine started 9 months after the end of radiation.
I am still seeing a gastroenterologist.

Now I mainly bleed when I eat certain foods. People report different food triggers.
My main one is myristic acid. Foods high in myristic acid include Palm oil, beer, wine, and nutmeg. (BTW I can still drink hard liquor without the bleeding effect. )

Urinary urgency is aggravated by coffee and other caffeine drinks.

Fecal urgency for me is related to how much dairy I consume. The more dairy, the more likely I will have an episode.

I also had 6 weeks of hyperbaric oxygen therapy which helped me heal and I have been much better since.

I also take 2 probiotics and one prebiotic. If interested I can list these.

I also had a procedure where the sores in my colon were cauterized during a colonoscopy.

I am better now but there is always the concern of how far am I from a bathroom if I need one in a hurry.

@ededed Great to hear you were allowed access (and presumably insurance coverage) for hyperbaric oxygen and that you are doing much better now.

I'm seeking approval for hyperbaric oxygen three months after the completion of my radiation (my bleeding has been continual during this time, although it's getting somewhat better now) and the process is moving slowly.

Yes, I did have insurance coverage. The treatment is a commitment of time but I feel it was well worth it.

@chippydoo, how are you doing? Did the bleeding resolve? What helped?

No it really hasn't resolved. I might have a day or two without only to return with uncomfortable inflammation and urgency. I've tried Preparation H for a couple of weeks and it didn't do anything. Guessing I need to find a GI guy that deals with this. I am 7 months post radiation. Thank you for asking.

@chippydoo Hey Chip, find a doc who has a LOT of experience in post radiation proctitis. There are plenty of ‘excellent’ surgeons who really don’t deal with this very often and their approach may be less than optimal.
Phil