Osteoporosis

Hello Beryl, it’s great to hear from anal cancer survivors who have reach the five years period. I was diagnosed as osteoporotic when I was going through the menopause in my fifties and took the alendronic tablets once a week for five years. Sixteen years on and no medication and took up walking with the Ramblers. I am coming up 11 months post treatment and my oncologist did say that the treatment can affect the bones and she would give me a scan if I experienced any pain. Three months post treatment I experienced terrible pain in my hips and they diagnosed bursitis and said my bones didn’t show any fractures. If I had shown signs they would have suggested treatment. I have read that we can experience late side effects from the treatment which is really frustrating when you feel every is going well and then you get knocked down. Hopefully you get the right treatment and advice on how you can gain some muscle and bone strength to help. Julie

Hello Beryl, 

I am 9 months post chemoradiation. I recently had an X-ray and scan for my right hip which started playing up after the treatment. It started with a deep ache not so painful and I couldn’t just get up from sitting and set off walking. I had to wait for my hip to get in place! I felt more like 102 than 52. Seems there is a bit of radiation damage there but no necrosis (which is more serious). 

They say I’m going to have some arthritis in there and have suggested a DEXA scan for my bone density at some point soon. I started taking collagen supplements and I honestly cannot tell you the difference. Apparently marine collagen is the most effective so I’m just changing to a new supplement  that has won many awards called Ingenious Collagen+ which actually has medical trials confirming its effectiveness. I’ll let you know what I think. But the collagen I’ve been taking seems to have made a difference. I can just get up and walk now. Very occasional ache not 24/7 like it was. Maybe it just healed itself or maybe it was the collagen, but I’m going to continue with them as my skin hair and nails have also improved! 

Speak to your team and GP and get some investigations which will help you know which path to take. I hope you get some answers soon. 

Best wishes

PPR x 

Thank you for both repies!

I have been well looked after by my consultant, GPand Bone Health and I'm due to start annual bisophonate injections in June.

I just wanted to know if anyone else had problems after the radiation (long term)