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The doctor that did my Flex-Sig a week ago has given a name to my gut problems (which started 1 year ago), Radiation induced Colitis (from EBRT). He used an Argon laser to cauterize bleeding blood vessels in my rectum.
I know of one other blogger who has this problem. Anyone know if this problem will eventually heal?
Hi Joe,
AT LAST - Someone has given me a possible reason why I have suffered gut problems since May this year. Is it possible that these have been caused by the radiation, even though the RT(37 treatments, 74Gy) ended 30 months before the gut problems hit so badly?
I did suffer problems in the first year after treatment but these had settled down nicely and I thought I was over it all.
The only way I have found relief from the constant, urgent bowel movements has been to cut out wheat from my diet. This seem to have worked out well over the past month or so.
Hello Joe,
I tried to post about this a few weeks ago but it went nowhere.
Briefly;
I suffered from Irritable Bowel problems for some years. Three days into R/T the problems started. Due to spread of P.Ca. a wider area was to be treated. This resulted in affecting the bowel. Not as bad as you have had, but I did get a little bleeding and the runs- badly !!! + a lot of mucus.
My solution was to go onto a low gluten diet. I also stopped all red meat and dairy produce ( which cause inflammation in digestion as they are slow to digest and require more acid to break down the food).
Rice is fine, also potatoes, all fish ( oily fish about twice a week is o.k.) Vegetables unless any particular type does not agree with you ( I can't eat lettuce for example).
Avoid wheat and yeast.
Stick to oats as porridge ( made with water ), rye bread without yeast, beans, non-wheat pasta only,& plenty of water.
Avoid alcohol, peanuts, salami type meats & products.
Avoid as much processed sugar as you can. Limit fruit intake if you eat a lot of fruit.
It took a little while, but I am all healed up now apart from a bit of bowel urgency in the mornings.I have stuck with a fairly restricted diet which I am now sure has helped with the P.Ca.treatments.
The trick is to stick with the plainest diet; say white fish + rice, then gradually add in more variety and monitor the effects as you increase the variety.
Aloha Rob,
Thanks for your input. There are various forms of colitis .... seems like everyone is affected differently. I have some serious food & drink limitations that were present prior to PC. If I drink more than 5 glasses of water per day, I'm up every 1.5 hrs at night to void a full bladder. I can not eat fruit as my system does not handle sugars (or sugar subs) very well. Sour dough breads, potatoes, rice, pasta, do not seem to be a problem. I've been eating beef for so long ... it would be very difficult to get off it. The other meats just do not seem to have the calories I need. Having some trouble right now keeping my weight up ... down a few lbs more than I have been for years. This depression is not helping right now. Had an good session last Monday ... was looking forward to a session today, but the therapist was sick ... so the next session is a week from Thur.... seems like forever.
Aloha Joe,
Appreciate that your diet is a bit of a difficult one.
I would mention that beef in particular takes days to pass through the digestion. I fact it 'goes a bit rotten' because it stays in the system longer than most other foods. Hence the satisfaction from eating a filling steak etc. Keeps you going etc.
I can't help wondering if this is adding to your slow healing-up process. I bet you are a one big meal a day man (?)
I have found I now do much better with several smaller meals per day. I always try to eat at regular times now and spread the meals throughout the day. This helps blood sugar levels which in turn help the mind I found.
I appreciate you need to sort out the depression, and wonder if the above changes might help this. Try a fish diet for a few weeks and see how you do on that.Don't be afraid to snack between meals for energy ( I need to )and stick with the rice & potatoes for slow-release sugars which you can obviously take.I often have two fishy meals per day for protein.
As I said before; meat & cheese are the most difficult foods to digest and this can be very tiring to the system. Satisfying, but tiring.
Regards
Rob
p.s. The Zoladex kindly provided me with a fog. Found it difficult to concentrate and take in anything new. Often had to read instructions on anything new several times. A real pain at times.
Meant to add- I also avoid all foods cooked in oils.
I found such foods exasperated the problems & am also fairly convinced they don't help the P.Ca. situation either.
Hi Rob,
Actually, I'm trying to eat 4 meals a day, couple of lunches. Ya, I do not know about the meat thing. Never had much taste for fish. Don't like to cook it or eat it. Except out on the trail, like fresh trout.
The colitis & blood is - was I thought caused by the surgery to correct the hemorrhoids, but watching the Fleg Sig picture, they seem to be healed. The blood is just coming from exposed blood vessels. The gas, I just do not know. It could be the meat, when I skip meals (like have a cup of soup) for supper & breakfast to be ready to travel that day, I still have some gas, but not the stuff that comes with it.
Started Fluoxetine today. No idea what will happen. Just hope it cuts down on the crying spells.
Towards the end of that post you wrote about depression, and that 'rang bells' with me.
I seem to be suffering what has been termed 'Uncoping Stress' and for the life of me I cannot understand why it has been hitting me badly over the past few months, when everything seems to be going so well.
I'm becoming convinced it is hormone-related and am currently exploring possible causes and solutions.
I've read that imbalances of adrenaline and noradrenaline and cortisol can cause such anxiety, stress and depression.
I saw an endocrinologist a few weeks ago, and quite frankly, he wasn't very helpful or even knowledgeable about hormones and depression, lethargy etc.
However, he did say that he will re-check my cortisol level in 3 months time. Perhaps there is a link there.
His only advice in the meantime was to exercise and get those endorphins flowing.
You know, I've heard the American guys here talk of the 'Lupron Fog' - Inabilty to concentrate and think quickly when you are on hormone drugs like Lupron and Zoladex.
It seems to me that I am overwhelmed on a daily basis - so many things I need to do, specially paper work, and yet it takes me an age to get through stuff that I could once race through a few years ago.Being unable to get these tasks finished brings me pretty low down in mood.
Has anyone else noticed the same decline in brainpower?
George,
I was on Lupron and Casodex for six months and I had radiation during the middle two months. I didn't notice a "Lupron fog" but I was very depressed. I wanted to keep exercising but I had no energy at all. I gained 20 pounds and that only made things worse. I would cry for no apparent reason. Weekly sessions with a therapist helped a lot. My testosterone is starting to return a bit and I feel great. I'm jogging again (with occasional breaks for walking) and I'm resuming my social life. If the endocrinologist doesn't help, try a therapist. I was reluctant at first due to the stigma but I was hitting bottom so I tried it. I'm glad I did.
Hi Paul,
Exercise is my big feel good. I was not able to exercise from mid Sept 07 to June 08. I am back on it and will die if I half to to keep it going. The one year of Lupron was difficult. The lasting problem was injection site pain, still feel it when I overdue the exercise. The depression really started about 5 weeks ago. Last ADT shot was April-May 08. So I don't know if there is a connection.
Joe
I've started to have some mood issues just recently. My testosterone is still very low but I'm getting a little short tempered and I've been crying. I saw a psychiatrist the other day and she said that this is normal. I'm grieving and I just have to work through it. I'll be seeing my therapist again on a regular basis until I get over this.
Hi Paul,
I've just started down that road, have only seen a therapist once, couple weeks ago. The crying was very bad. This morning was much better. With help from my PCP started taking a prescription on Thursday. Had for the past couple of weeks, gotten my sleeping headed in the right direction. This pill just screws up my sleep something bad. My wife & I decided to give this a week to see where it would go. Last night was still (in my mind) a bad sleep, but this morning I do not have the urge to cry. Hoping that this is progress.
Joe
