Any suggestions for protection from occasional fecal pellet leakage?

artstrands
artstrands Member Posts: 1
in Anal Cancer #1

I had Anal Cancer in 2008 and was successfully treated with chemo and radiation. It has been 13 years and I am finally searching around for help with a continueing problem due to nerve damage of not realizing I have leaked poop and having it drop out of my panties and into my clog!! Horrible! I take Clear lax and magnesium and do Kegels but it keeps happening, always a total surprise. I don't want to wear full-on fecal incontinence diapers but wonder what less intrusive guard exists. Maybe I should sew tighter elastic around my panty legs? Anyone else dealing with this?

Thanks,

artstrands

Comments

  • PainInTheBum
    PainInTheBum Member Posts: 99 Member
    edited November 2021 #2
    I'm 2 1/2 years out of

    I'm 2 1/2 years out of treatment and have issues with this sometimes too.  Could use some advice also.  It's SO annoying!  It has happened several times when I'm sleeping too....very embarassing.

  • feckcancer
    feckcancer Member Posts: 189 Member
    edited November 2021 #3
    bentonite clay

    i am nearly 6 years on from stage 3 with spread to lymph nodes. NED since end of treatment. Same as everyone else who has been through this i have had issues with diarrhea as I am healing and I have found Bentonite clay is really helpful for me. . It is recomended to take 1 teaspoon of bentonite clay in a glass of water once a day for a month. Then i don't take unless I find I am having diarrhea often again. if you try it pour a glass of water first then add the powder and stir.  it will clump up if you add the water to the powder. don't take any medication 2 hours before or after drinking bentonite clay. 

    There is lots of info online about bentonite clay.

    I also take imodium x2 then x1 after each runny bowel motion (up to 8 per day) if I have diarrhea badly or i eat something my gut doesn't like (i am not to bad now and know what triggers diarrhea for me so avoid but every now and then something will suprise me). I take them immediately as soon as i have  diarrhea because I have found that waiting just makes it worse and it won't stop otherwise. When I had really bad diarrhea all the time in the first few months after treatment and I was worried I might leak my oncologist suggested taking 2 imodium every morning to help firm everything up. I also loosely followed a 'white diet' (info on the internet) then too. it took 3 years from treatment before I could tolerate brown bread and even now if I have to much it can cause diarrhea.

    If I am going out in the morning I don't have coffee as I find that can sometimes cause diarrhea and I watch what I eat. I have found food high in fibre can cause diarrhea for me so avoid foods that are known to help constipation. 

    Apparently high doses of magnesium can cause diarrhea so if that can cause diarrhea in people that haven't had radiation to their gut like us the magnesium you take may be contributing to your diarrhea/leaks as our guts are so sensitive now and will probably be like this forever. Also clear lax is used to treat constipation so that won't be helping your leakage problem either.

    Hope this helps. Take care

     

     

  • feckcancer
    feckcancer Member Posts: 189 Member
    #4

    I wanted to add on to here to say my doctor recommended porridge for breakfast to help with diarrhoea as she said the part of our bowel that takes water away has been damaged and having porridge can help soak up some of that excess water which will help firm up your bowel motions. I have tried it and it seemed to work too

  • Dodiefae
    Dodiefae Member Posts: 41 Member
    #5

    Is oatmeal the same as porridge? Or is it something else?

    In the year after my treatment ended, every time I ate oatmeal, I would immediately have an accident in my pants with no warning. I’ve been afraid to try it again.

    Thanks

  • feckcancer
    feckcancer Member Posts: 189 Member
    #6
    https://csn.cancer.org/discussion/comment/1692191#Comment_1692191

    I was worried about that when my doctor suggested it & so I made sure I was not going out the day I tried it just in case. I don't know what would have happened if I tried it earlier but maybe it could have set me off if I tried it in the first few years when it seemed I was sensitive to everything except the white diet . Still don't completely trust porridge so if I am going out I skip it. I had to google to see if oatmeal was the same as porridge and this was the answer:

    Why is oatmeal called porridge?

    For oatmeal, the bran is removed from ground oats, while porridge, in the form of a dish or recipe, is named after the type of grain used to make it. An example of this is cornmeal, which is porridge made from corn. In this same way, porridge made from oats is called oatmeal. Porridge is not unique to western culture

    I eat uncle tobys porridge which comes in sachets. I choose that because I felt the more processed it was, the better it would be at not causing diarrhea but who knows?

  • Dodiefae
    Dodiefae Member Posts: 41 Member
    #7
    https://csn.cancer.org/discussion/comment/1692251#Comment_1692251

    thanks for your explanation!

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