Urgency Problems

I found the radiotherapy incredibly difficult after it had finished. It wasn’t helped by the menopause. I had several places on my dog walks where I had to disappear to wee! I had surgery 3 months after that, and a temporary ileostomy. That certainly helped my bladder to calm down. I did experience a slow bladder for a short time after my reversal. Hopefully you’ll soon feel an improvement. Sending you lots of good wishes.

Dear Kentman

My own experience of bowel urgency is due to LARS post surgery, so it may not apply to you. But just in case, I take 4mg Ondansetron in the morning, usually every other day, and one 2mg of Loperamide in the evening. This has taken me from being housebound to some sort of new normality. Perhaps the colorectal team could see if this might be worth a try in your case. 

Hi Jools63,

Thanks for reply. My treatment of 25 sessions of chemoradiotherapy followed by 3 sessions of internal brachytherapy (Papillon radiotherapy) was to shrink and eliminate the tumour thus avoiding surgery. It looks as though it has been successful, tests and examinations next month will I hope confirm this. I felt really rough for several weeks, the soreness has now settled, and radiation- burnt skin has also healed. I did have urinary flow problems for a while. My GP prescribed Tamsulosin which helped but made me go dizzy because it has the side effect of lowering your blood pressure, so I stopped taking it. My main issue is still the faecal urgency, sometimes I have only seconds of warning, so have to be near toilet all morning!

Dear Wellspring,

Thanks for info on medications. As I have not had surgery they may not be appropriate, but I will ask my encology team about it.

Best wishes, Kentman.

Hi Kentman. It’s still quite early days since your treatment ended but I would have thought that loperamide would be ok to use but check with your team first? It’s horrible when the urge comes so quickly. Do you practice sphincter exercises? I was told it’s sometimes better to try and ‘hold it in’ until the immediate urge passes then you can find a toilet although I can appreciate that that’s easier said than done sometimes.I’ve attached a couple of links that may be of help?

 Regaining Bowel Control

https://bowelcancerorguk.s3.amazonaws.com/Publications/RegainingBowelControl_BowelCancerUK.pdf