Bowel problems after Radiotherapy for Cervical Cancer

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Hi! I have just joined this group and wanted to find out if anyone out there are having chronic bowel problems after cervical cancer.

i was diagnosed in 1991 when I was 37 I had a radical hysterectomy with radiotherapy treatment for 6 weeks. I am thankful that I survived to tell the tale however many years after treatment I have developed major bowel problems. Approximately 10 years ago I was diagnosed with Bile Acid Malabsorption and take medication and was told to stick to a low fat low fibre diet which I follow. This helped with the chronic diarrhoea and multiple toilet visits but as time has past my symptoms are worse than ever! Multiple toilet visits 10 plus a day and horrendous bowel leakage. I have had a colonoscopy and all was normal so advised to take Imodium but this is just a quick fix not a long term solution to this problem. Life is difficult but there doesn’t seem to be much help and I’m now desperate. I have terrible urgency too feel so alone. I am also underweight and anaemic.

SarahH21 3 months ago

Hi Lambethgal and welcome to our group.

I’m really sorry to read of your bowel issues, especially so long after your treatment.

I appreciate you have had a clear colonoscopy, but the fact that your symptoms are even worse, and especially that you have leakage, would suggest that you need to be assessed by your doctor again. One of the other ladies in the group reported bladder issues just recently, and I did direct her to the Pelvic Radiation Disease Association-www.prda.org.uk to see if there was any information there that might be helpful.

Is your doctor helping with your anaemia and the fact that you are underweight? I’d really recommend making an appointment to see your gp again to see if there is anything that can be done to help you. It must be extremely debilitating to have to live with these issues, especially since your treatment was so long ago.

I don’t think I’ve come across anyone in the group who had treatment such a long time ago, but there may be other ladies who can identify with ongoing bowel issues, and hopefully they will come along and reply. Unfortunately I can’t help with this as when my cancer recurred, I had my bowel removed so I live with a permanent colostomy now.

Please go back to your doctor and make sure they are aware of how difficult this is for you and let us know how you get on.

Sarah xx

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Beth2 3 months ago

Hi Lambethgal

I'm approx 7 years post treatment and have been experiencing increased bowel problems for a number of months now. One minute I'm constipated and then suddenly I'll get abdominal pain followed by diarrhoea plus I'm struggling to keep weight on, despite regular meal times and a generally healthy lifetstyle. Just today I was plagued with needing several visits to the toilet for bowel reasons, which was quite a challenge as I was out and about in an unfamiliar town!

My GP has recently referred me to a gastroenterologist (6 month waiting list!Q) following a normal bowel screening result.

As Sarah has mentioned, the PDRA may be helpful. They have a forum on Health Unlocked https://healthunlocked.com/ where there are a number of posts from people suffering with late effect bowel issues.

I was diagnosed with stage 2A squamous cell cervical cancer (node negative) in 2017 following symptoms: persistent, watery, yellow vaginal discharge then post-menopuasal bleeding. My treatment was a radical hysterectomy followed by chemo-radiotherapy. My long term side effects include lymphoedema and urinary retention which I manage with intermittent self catheterisation.

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