Managing the late effects of pelvic radiotherapy ... - Macmillan Cancer

Managing the late effects of pelvic radiotherapy in women
Symptoms
Some women find that their symptoms don’t cause them too
many problems, and that they can manage them fairly easily.
Others may have more severe changes that interfere with how
they live their day-to-day lives.
The symptoms of late effects to the bowel can include:
••
bleeding from the back passage (bottom)
••
passing mucus (a clear, sticky substance)
••
cramps or spasms in the bowel and/or feeling that you
haven’t emptied your bowel completely (tenesmus)
••
diarrhoea or severe constipation
••
needing to rush to open your bowels (urgency)
••
leaking or soiling (incontinence)
••
passing a lot of wind.
The change in the way the bowel works may be slight,
for example, having to go to the toilet twice a day instead
of once. But sometimes bowel changes can have a much
greater impact, interfering with day-to-day life.
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