I am having just 5 sessions of radiotherapy for rectal cancer and had my second one today. Tonight I am having a bad aching sensation in my pelvic floor. I have taken paracetamol and Ibuprofen but neither seems to be doing anything. Has anyone else suffered from this and what pain relief worked.
Hi TickN25
I’m Anne, one of the Community Champions here on the Online Community and, although I'm not a member of this group, I noticed that your post hadn't had any replies yet. Responding to you will 'bump' it back to the top of the discussion list again.
Being in pain is no fun so I'm hoping that since you wrote this it has eased. If not, have you told your CNS as they be able to prescribe or recommend what would be best to take. If you can't get in touch with them before the weekend and you're still in pain, you could always ring NHS111 for advice.
While you're waiting for replies, it would be great if you could put something about your diagnosis and treatment into your profile as it really helps others when replying to you and also when looking for someone on a similar pathway. It also means that you don't have to keep repeating yourself. To do this click on your username and then select 'Profile'. You can amend it at any time and if you're not sure what to write you can take a look at mine by clicking on my username.
"Never regret a day in your life, good days give you happiness, bad days give you experience"
Hi TickN25
I am sorry to hear that you are having side effects from your pelvic radiotherapy.
Hopefully you have had a chance to mention this to the radiotherapists now. I had pelvic radiotherapy in 2022 for endometrial cancer and it did cause some side effects. I found that the actual radiotherapists were good at asking about effects before each session and could often suggest things that would help. I was also told that I could contact the radiotherapists after my last session if needed at any point.
I know for me side effects did seem to intensify for a short time after my last session and I was told that this is normal and that the radiotherapy is continuing to work. They said that although the radiotherapy is very targeted there is still some damage to healthy cells in near by areas- this can take a while for them to recover. Fatigue is also normal.
I hope that you have been given some better pain relief and things are settling. If they are not then I would suggest calling the radiotherapy dept (if it has now finished) or contacting your GP /NHS 111 for pain relief/advice.
You can also give the Macmillan Support Line a call if you would like to talk to one of the nurses about this.
Jane
That's good news
