Fecal Transplant anyone?

Probably a waste of time for even colonic Crohn's, let alone small bowel Crohn's. (The overwhelming majority of gut bacteria reside in the colon.) If you like expert opinions, here's an up-to-date review by an Australian GI called Thomas Borody. Even he doesn't support the use of FT for Crohn's and he's massively into bacteria. He supports anti-MAP therapy in Crohn's, for example; I'm personally not convinced by MAP either, but what do I know. I am, indeed, no expert.

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3742951/?report=classic
www.cdd.com.au/pages/disease_info/crohns_disease.html

BTW - a quote from the recent study in Seattle: "In a first-of-its-kind research study just concluded at Seattle Children’s, the treatment significantly helped kids with Crohn’s."

To all the PESSIMISTS or REALISTS out there: I am not saying this is proof and we have found a cure, nor am I saying that the FDA has approved this as treatment for IBD.
All I am saying is that if there is a treatment, and it's relatively harmless (as is agreed on by most conventional doctors), and there is a chance that can be helpful to me, I will NOT stand around and wait for more research or the FDA... life is too short!

kRealtor: All the best. Please do let us know what happens after the fecal implant, so that others can benefit from your experience.

hld4good: Could you please tell us the names of the bacteria that you ingested? Did you take probiotic capsules? I drink 1 liter SCD yogurt everyday. I have seen a lot of improvement. I have limited the bacteria to only lactobacillus acidophilus, bifidus and steptocaccus thermophilus in the beginning. I'm planning to add some more later. I also take probiotic capsules, but don't see any positive effect. probably the bacteria are dead because of the room temperature or it may be a low quality product.

You'll probably get more information if you post on the UC board, but I actually had one done via colonoscope since nothing was really working for me. I have Crohn's colitis, but most of the transplants that are done for those other than C. Diff are for UC. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to help for me, and I continued to do some myself after the original one, but perhaps it wasn't enough times. Of course, there are several factors that could also come into play, perhaps my donor wasn't the right match for me (she was my mom, so maybe it would've been more beneficial to have someone whom I never lived with as a donor), or maybe her bacteria wasn't beneficial enough.

I was contacting a guy who cured his via fecal transplants, and his donor was his mom. The mom as a book out now, but I haven't read it:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Fecal-Transplant-Guidebook-Constipation/dp/0991952022

There are a lot of things you may want to consider if you plan to do one. I have to get going, but I will try and remember to update. You may want to think about cleaning out your system, ie. like a colonoscopy prep. Also, make sure you donor is safe, either screened or else someone you know and trust. It should be a non-dangerous procedure, but you could transmit diseases through it as well. I hope if you do it, that it works out for you. NCOT is right, Dr. Borody is pretty much the pioneer for FTs, but he focuses on UC.

scifigal, I would seriously see if your GI will do one for you to help your c. diff situation. That is what it was originally for, and it's success rate is really high.

Usher, Here's a list of the probiotic species in my daily capsule. I also use them to make probiotic yogurt.

Lactobacillus acidophilus DDS 1
" plantarum
" casei
" rhamnosus
" brevis
" salivarus
Bifidobacterium lactis
" longum
" bifidium
Streptococcus Thermophilus

Sorry I didn't respond sooner. I must stress that this is only one piece of the picture, but a very important piece because my beneficial gut flora had been destroyed by antibiotics and immunosuppressives over 38 years. www.enzymestuff.com has very good info about the function of each species in our intestines. I like it because it is written in understandable language, not scientific lingo. There is an advertisement on the last page. I don't use the product and have no interest in the company. Just wanted to make sure no one thinks I'm selling something. Good luck to all of you and I hope Krealtor finds the right answer.

Hi hld4good,

Thanks a lot for the information. I have only more question. Sorry for troubling you again. I'm a little skeptic about the probiotic capsules, since they're not refrigerated unlike yogurt starter. Do the capsules actually contain living bacteria when stored in a cool and dry place?

The probiotic bacteria in the yogurt starter are limited. Can we use probiotic capsule powder to make yogurt? I read an article which says most of the probiotic bacteria are destroyed in the stomach by HCL acid and bile. However some make it to the intestine and start reproducing. I came across probiotic capsules which says it is HCL acid and bile resistant. Which is the better way to ingest probiotic bacteria? yogurt or capsules? I'm a little confused to choose either capsules or yogurt.

Any suggestion would be appreciated.

Post Edited (Usher) : 3/26/2014 4:42:48 AM (GMT-6)