Bowel changes after treatment.

I’m 13 weeks out today and I still don’t trust a fart. I’m also still going 3-4 times a day but it’s rarely hugely urgent although I do know that if I eat breakfast I’ll want to go pretty soon after so I just adjust when or whether I eat depending on what I’m doing. I don’t get pain - just the normal ‘I need to go’ feeling. 
Can you tie it in to eating anything specific? If you can work out the cause then maybe you can adjust accordingly. Unfortunately though, there’s a new normal for us all that we have to get used to. xx

Hi Michelle F6eb802 Im coming up 15 months post and occassionally have a sudden onset of pain prior to having a poo. I still get urgency and still have accidents and like Crystaltipps73f2a8 says i never trust a fart. X

Hi Michelle,

It is still quite early days. The damage done to our insides is massive and it can take a while to heal. 

There are a couple of things you could try. I remember someone here saying they'd been told they could take diarrhoea control tablets if they needed to go out and wanted a bit of reassurance, so you could perhaps try that. You can also get a card - I think from Macmillan - called 'Got to go' or something like that which you can show to have access to toilets if you need it, especially if there are no public loos around.

You might also want to look at what you are eating, some veg can be tricky for people with our condition, and there is a way of eating called Low FODMAP, which was designed for people with IBS and might be helpful for you.

I am sure you will get through this soon as your body repairs itself, but maybe you can make it a bit more tolerable. Good luck. xx

Hell0 Michelle F6eb802 

I seem to say this such a lot to so many people, and if I have already said it to you I do apologise!  But it is early days.  I had huge urgency in the early days sometimes barely making it to the loo but then things calmed down a bit.  Even later I would still have never gone out without going to the loo two-three times but I was relatively safe afterwards.

As Mrs Vanilla has said MacMillan supply a card, but in fact I never had to show that.  On the few occasions when I was in a shop and couldn't wait, I just told the nearest assistant I was a cancer patient and had to use the loo urgently and every time was ushered to the staff loos quickly.

You will probably see a gradual improvement over the next couple of months, I do sympathise as I know it is very stressful to deal with.  And, as always, mention your difficulties to your oncologist on your next appointment.  S/he mightn't be able to help, in fact most of them can't, but I think if more of us told our oncologist of the problems we face the after care might improve...here's hoping.

Hoping for an improvement for you soon.

Irene xx

Hi Michelle F6eb802 , 

If you haven’t already done so I’d always advise trying a food diary documenting food eaten & reactions if any. My digestion changed after treatment & some things that I could previously tolerate I just couldn’t anymore, it wasn’t the things I expected, I thought maybe I’d have to give up my curry nights out with the girls but strangely spice didn’t cause an adverse effect, coffee did (still does), eggs did in the early days but I can tolerate a couple a week now, I can eat berries & bananas but other fruits sometimes cause me issues & I don’t do well with sugar at all! I used to drink raw goats milk kefir every morning before breakfast which did amazing things for my gut health (I really need to start that again!). 

As has already been mentioned it’s still very early days for you yet & hopefully things will settle down as time passes, if you want to go out but are worried about the toilet situation you could try using loperamide just be careful as you don’t want to swing completely the other way & as Mrs Vanilla has suggested maybe get yourself a card to carry, you can get these through Macmillan & believe it’s called a ‘ just can’t wait’ card that will give you access to disabled toilets & facilities that the general public wouldn’t normally have access to.

Nicola