Side effects of radiotherapy for rectal cancer

Voice over: Radiotherapy can cause many different side effects, such as tiredness. The side effects you get will depend on the area you're having treatment to.

This video is about the side effects you might have if you are a woman having radiotherapy to the pelvis or abdomen.

Louise: The abdomen, the tummy, can be affected by radiotherapy, but it depends on which particular part of that we are treating as to what side effects you may experience. If we are treating the upper part of your abdomen and we are irritating your stomach, sometimes you can experience a little bit of nausea, potentially a little bit of vomiting.

This would normally start quite early on if it is going to be a problem and the doctor would prescribe you some medication to help with that.

Carla: I felt sick constantly. I was having Complan drinks and smoothies and milkshakes with fruit and things in. Jelly sweets, anything that had got sugar in that I could suck on or chew on.

And ice cream. I know it was like October/November when I had my treatment, but I was having ice cream every day.

Louise: If your bowels are being irritated by the radiotherapy, you may find you end up a little bit more gassy. Flatulence might be a bit of an issue and sometimes you can find you can end up with some diarrhoea.

Carla: I started to get really, really bad diarrhoea. And they were giving me Imodium-type tablets to combat that.

With the wind, the wind's horrible. It's not nice at all, as a lady, to have wind. There’s tablets available that I can take for that.

Louise: If you do find that you are having some issues with your bowels, always consult with the team before you take any action. It might be they recommend you make some small dietary changes to help with this, cutting out foods which are very high in fibre or very spicy foods.

If you're having issues with diarrhoea, they may also recommend some particular medication to help with that.

Some radiation treatments to the pelvis may also cause some irritation to your bladder, so you might find you need to pass urine more regularly. It may also be more urgent with you passing smaller volumes. Sometimes you may find that there's a little pain or discomfort when you're urinating, or you can't fully empty your bladder like you would do normally.

Carla: If I need to go, I need to go, and if I can't go, I've got to have pant-liners in.

Louise: We would highly recommend during your radiotherapy that you stay well hydrated. We would recommend you drink up to 2 litres of water or squash a day to ensure that this happens.

Drinks to avoid would include anything containing caffeine, so any kind of tea or coffee or decaffeinated drinks, fizzy drinks and alcohol as they all naturally aggravate your bladder.

Radiotherapy can unfortunately have an impact on a woman's sex life. This is because you can end up with some vaginal drying and also you can find that the tissues in the vagina can become a little bit tight as a result of the treatment. The radiotherapy team will support you during treatment to help with any of these particular symptoms.

Carla: You're given dilators when you first finish your treatment and you have to use it for 10 minutes every day just to keep the scar tissue from sticking together and causing an obstruction.

Louise: These are little tubes that are inserted into the vagina that just gently help stretch the tissue to prevent any scar tissue from building and any shrinkage of the muscles. We can also give you some lubrication to help with any sexual activity as well. This can help you moving forward with both your sex life, but also with future internal examinations.

Infertility is a possible side effect of radiotherapy. If you are concerned about infertility after treatment, before you do start any radiotherapy, it's best to talk to the team and they can talk you through potential fertility treatments, such as storing your eggs prior to starting treatment.

It's always best to be open with partners when you're going through any kind of treatment, especially as this may have an impact on them too. It means that you can work through the problems together.

Voice over: If you’re experiencing a side effect that hasn't been covered in this video, you can find more information on the Cancer Research UK website.

Voice over: Radiotherapy can cause many different side effects, such as tiredness. The side effects you get will depend on the area you're having treatment to.

This video is about the side effects you might have if you are a man having radiotherapy to the pelvis or abdomen.

Louise: The abdomen, the tummy, can be affected by radiotherapy, but it depends on which particular part of that we are treating as to what side effects you may experience. If we are treating the upper part of your abdomen and we are irritating your stomach, sometimes you can experience a little bit of nausea, potentially a little bit of vomiting.

This would normally start quite early on if it is going to be a problem and the doctor would prescribe you some medication to help with that.

If your bowels are being irritated by the radiotherapy, you may find you end up a little bit more gassy. Flatulence might be a bit of an issue and sometimes you can find you can end up with some diarrhoea.

Keith: Digestion seemed to be quicker and I was having to go to the loo more. Everything seemed weaker.

Louise: If you do find that you are having some issues with your bowels, always consult with the team before you take any action. It might be they recommend you make some small dietary changes to help with this, cutting out foods which are very high in fibre or very spicy foods.

If you're having issues with diarrhoea, they may also recommend some particular medication to help with that.

Keith: They gave me a course of Fybogel to take, which did help. I still have to take that now and again. Before the radiotherapy I was having problems anyway, but they became a bit more acute afterwards. If I needed to go to the toilet, I needed to go. We went on a holiday to Cornwall and it became the toilets of Cornwall tour.

Louise: Some radiation treatments to the pelvis may also cause some irritation to your bladder, so you might find you need to pass urine more regularly. It may also be more urgent with you passing smaller volumes. Sometimes you may find that there's a little pain or discomfort when you're urinating or you can't fully empty your bladder like you would do normally.

Keith: I don't drink coffee anywhere near as much. Alcohol, maybe I have 4 units a week. I was advised to drink cranberry juice. Tea as normal. I drink water through the day.

Louise: We would highly recommend during your radiotherapy that you stay well hydrated. We would recommend you drink up to 2 litres of water or squash a day to ensure that this happens. Drinks to avoid would include anything containing caffeine, so any kind of tea or coffee or decaffeinated drinks, fizzy drinks and alcohol as they all naturally aggravate your bladder.

Another symptom that some men might find as a result of the radiotherapy is that they have issues with erectile dysfunction. If this is the case, please do alert the radiotherapy team. There's a lot of support out there for gentlemen with this particular issue.

Keith: After the radiotherapy things were not the same. I was put on a course of a kind of a Viagra type of thing, but also on ejaculation I got a lot of pain.

Louise: Radiotherapy can cause infertility. If this is a concern for you and you would like to consider having children in the future, before you start a course of radiotherapy, it is best to discuss your options with the team. One of the options may be sperm banking.

It's always best to be open with partners when you're going through any kind of treatment,  especially as this may have an impact on them too. It means that you can work through the problems together.

Voice over: If you're experiencing a side effect that hasn't been covered in this video, you can find more information on the Cancer Research UK website.