Radiation cystitis

Hello Cynthia,

I don't know much about radiation for cervical cancer or how its long-term side effects compare with radiation for prostate cancer. After prostate cancer treatments RC is most common within the first three years and the risk decreases with time but never goes away.

It is usually self-limiting and the initial treatment is much like what you describe -- treat the symptoms, watch out for infections, and wait for it to go away on its own. But we do have some members here who have been treated with hyperbaric oxygen for intractable cases. Hyperbaric oxygen treatments involve putting the patient in a pressure chamber and giving them extra oxygen to breathe. I am not sure of the course of treatments -- I think it is for an hour or so a day for a few weeks. For some guys it seems to help when nothing else does.

You might ask your urologist about it. And, if you think your urologist is stuck and not making any progress, you might consider a second opinion.

I just went through 30 (2 hour) hyperbaric sessions for different reason, and I can tell you, that so far, it has had zero effect on any of my radiation damage from the flawed SRT that I underwent in 2009. I was hoping as a bonus to what I was being treated for, that the hyperbaric that I underwent would help. But it hasn't.

In the almost 5 years since the radiation bout ended, I have seen no improvement from the damaged areas, and no improvement with the chronic pain and the chronic fatigue. I was told in advance, that both would likely remain with me for the rest of my life.