dietary suggestions during pelvic radiation

Most likely a dietician would recommend the BRAT diet (Bananas, Rice, Applesauce, and Toast) as the radiation can cause diarhea. I am not going to lie, this one I had a really hard time wrapping my brain around. However, the dietician had given me a study on cervical cancer patients and those that took probiotics and those who did not take probiotics.

The women who took them had no hospital stays or severe diarhea or dehydration. The numbers were just numbing to my brain.

I had taken them all along, and other than initially learning to 'adjust' some after radiation started, I did not have a lot of issues and would suggest asking if they are ok to take. To me, gut health is very real and it needs to be taken care of daily. Just me.

Probably too late to help hikinggirl, but I didn't find out about using probiotics until I was having constant diarrhea about 2 weeks into radiation. Probiotics helped immensely. Others said to start them a week before radiation, and continue throughout. Someone who had done this said they had NO diarrhea, which is just incredible to me.

Hello @JDC7178, I'm sorry you are going through this. I finished pelvic radiation 18 months ago and wanted you to know that I too experienced fecal urgency and incontinence for about a year or more. I carried spare clothing too. It certainly restricted my activities and I was miserable. I'm here to say that it very gradually improved for me. I am still cautious but it is better. I don't expect that my digestion and eating will return to what it was before radiation - but as we know, everyone is different.

It was the nurse practitioner at my GP's office who finally suggested probiotics more than eight months after finishing radiation. Actually she handed me a sample box of Florastor - and that made a big difference. I think the box says 2 pills a day are recommended, but I started with 1 pill to check my tolerance. Now I take it only 1 pill when needed. I kept trying to treat the diarrhea the way I would with food poisoning or a stomach bug: not eating. But important advice I was given was to make sure I kept eating a variety of healthy food, even if it was just very small meals, since the bowels need a routine reestablished. Also I have big problems if I allow my stomach to empty completely and then try to eat a meal. I can't skip meals anymore and never take immodium. Now I travel with bananas and saltines in my car so that I never go more than three hours without eating something.

If possible, seek the advice of nutritionist/dietician as there is potential for disordered eating if an oncologist is suggesting weight loss for any reason; my nutritionist was helpful to me by encouraging me to gradually establish a normal diet - something that had never been a problem before radiation. Also helpful is physical therapy with someone who specializes in pelvic issues. Mine helped me understand what was happening physically, and had me track the pattern of eating/not eating and "accidents."

Wishing you health.

Hi MoeKay,

It's the Florastor Dual Action Probiotic Supplement for adults (blue box). I was told that the contents of probiotics vary so much so what works can be hit or miss depending on what is going on in your own gut. I do hope you find something that helps.