Side effects of Radiotherapy

Hi katiec60 I am sorry to hear you are struggling with the side effects of radiotherapy. I had radiotherapy and I do know what you are experiencing. The radiation makes the tissue swell so I think this may be effecting the cough. For me the internal burn that I felt in my oesophagus was the worst. 

Trying to ease a cough is not easy, you can try all the usual things to see if it helps, drink honey and lemon, sleep upright, and have a fan blowing on your face. I don’t know what pain killers you are on, but do speak to your medical team about that.  Radiation stays in your body for a few weeks after the treatment has ended, and it continues to build up in your body until it peaks, and then you feel yourself go back down the other side of that hill. So side effects can continue for some time unfortunately, but the good thing to remember is all the time it is in your body, it is still doing it’s job to shrink the tumour. 

I hope it settles for you soon. 

Thank you Chelle , the Dr said could be upto 12 weeks its only 5 weeks as yet .  So could get better yet with no side effects left looking on the optimistic side, as it won't be the end for me, waiting for scan to check the effects . Find the  cough is worse slightest effort  and I have got pain in the chest bit like the muscles won't work. Causing restless nights to spite fan, painkillers etc .  So heres to an improvement soon . 

Hi kariec60

I too developed a cough from the radiotherapy.  Mine was very 'wet', so much so that I pebble-dashed everything; car dashboard, TV, laptop screen etc.  Tissues were not sufficient, so i had to use kitchen roll.  I put it down to my lungs getting rid of all the debris caused by the radiotherapy/internal sunburn.

The chest pain could be from all the coughing.

If you are  worried, please discuss with your cancer  team.

Hope you start to feel better soon.

Kesgy x  

Hi Kesgy, thank you for reply , I have spoken to the cancer team  and they agree its radiotherapy side effect but the treatment has been done so we can only hope given time it will subside. One suggestion was regular sips of water. Another was herbal cough medicine. So I will just keep plodding on in the hope things will alter given time . I like your expression internal sun burn  not good for me though with two BCCs been taken from my skin  over time, and the current lung cancer  diagnosis . But when your given a cancer diagnosis  with more than one tumour you tend to expect the medics to advise on whats best for you. Things no doubt will pan out as we go . Take care

Hi katiec

Internal sunburn is not connected to skin cancer, but rather the effect that radiotherapy can have internally.  With lung cancer, it tends to be evident when the healthy tissue in the  espophagus (food pipe) is  'caught' by the radiotherapy.  This happened in my case;  hence the post treatment cough.

Hope this helps a bit.

Kegsy x

 Hi Kegsy  sorry for delayed reply. Thank you for your explanation . Nobody as explained what might be the cause  but its not improving unfortunately. Only time its Ok is if I stick to total rest which is difficult when you are a widow.  time will tell I am sure.  Its a month to go before  I see the consultant to reveiw the way forward following scan on treated area. Enjoy your weekend. x

Hi Katie, I had radiotherapy for a 3cm left lung adenocarcinoma, my last treatment being 15th December 2023. I had a very dry cough that hurt my throat, also slight oesophagus discomfort at times when eating solids. That all cleared up after a couple of months.

Regarding the pain in your chest, it could be your ribs. Adenocarcinomas are usually on the outer parts of the lung, and, if the cancer is near to the chest wall radiotherapy can affect the ribs, i.e. thinning the bone, sometimes a rib fracture can occur and is only picked up on CT scan. I am now seven and half months post-treatment with radiotherapy and I have got an area of my ribs where the radiotherapy beam was directed that is very sore to touch, also my sternum. Every now and again I will get a stabbing pain if I lift heavy objects on the left side. My second follow up CT scan is this Tuesday 2nd, so things will be clearer.

Regarding your first follow up CT scan, please don't expect definitive results, that's because radiotherapy to the lung causes inflammation in the area for quite some time after the radiotherapy ends and the oncology/radiologists sometimes cannot get a clear view. My first CT scan, which was early March this year, showed a lot of inflammation, which the oncologist said was normal, but by a small miracle they could see that the lesion in my lung had shrunk by almost 50%, something they said was really positive so soon after my treatment. Because of the quick reaction of the radiotherapy I did not need to be seen again until six month's later, hence my 2nd CT scan on Tuesday.

You are very early post-treatment, so side effects are expected and it will take time to fully recover.

Best wishes

Ann 

Thank you Ann, the deputy for the consultant explained  about the inflammation said around  12 weeks to clear, its around 6 now so thats half way.  the first scan is in around three weeks. Its difficult when both lungs are effected as they have to be done seperately. The side effects are minimal in one sense  and it feels like the muscles not the ribs just gets you down especially when dealing with other factors in health. But none the less  I know I will get through this if somewhat the worse for wear.  . Hope you are slowly recouping your health its marvelous the treatment available now  if caught early enough, even for more serious things like the lung.  Have a nice day x