Fecal Transplant - I took the plunge! PART I

Way to go inspector! I thought my method was pretty crude, so I'm a little scared to ask what "far cruder" means (but still a little curious ... too bad they don't offer Private Messages on this board).

Still getting by on the first one. I've been eating HORRIBLY (mostly candy) and not sleeping much (<4 hours per night) due to work stresses, so the past few days haven't been perfect (3-4X/day with a tiny bit of urgency, solid, no blood/mucus), but 2 weeks ago I would have been living in the bathroom if I tried this food/sleep schedule.

Once I'm back to working at home (a week or two) I plan to do a proper 5 day course of transplants, but for now I'm still EXTREMELY happy with the results. I think the secret to my success was holding it for 6 hours after transplant. The soothing effect was almost immediate though, so holding it was much easier than I expected.

LuckyLindy said...
Once I'm back to working at home (a week or two) I plan to do a proper 5 day course of transplants, but for now I'm still EXTREMELY happy with the results. I think the secret to my success was holding it for 6 hours after transplant. The soothing effect was almost immediate though, so holding it was much easier than I expected.

Yes. That is what I experienced too. Almost immediately after doing the fecal transplantation, I didn't have to go again for a long time. The fecal transplantation worked immediately. It was as if the bacteria immediately took hold and multiplied.

Having colitis was a big warning for me. I now eat right. I eat some spinach and sunflower seed butter almost everyday. I take probiotics. And I'm eating foods that are healthy for the colon--such as whole grains. I don't want to take the chance of having to be on antibiotics for some infection only to get another flare. In fact, I just had to be on antibiotics for periodontalitis. Thank goodness it was administered locally. I'm still not out of the two-month period for increased risk of getting a flare due to having taken antibiotics though.

I'm glad that so far it has been a success for you. Hopefully, people will become more aware of the procedure's possible benefits.

Subdued, You mention in your signature that you eat foods that are anti inflammatory and low in fructose. What are those? Thanks!

So UC and UP are a lack of bacteria in the colon? Or our bodies ability to produce the correct bacteria within the colon? Strange how one day I was fine, noticed alot of gas for one week then bam blood and mucos for the next 3 months before getting the scope, diag with Ulcerative proctitis. Where did you research the info on this Lucky Lindy? If it is working thats great! happy you are doing so much better :)

LuckyLindy, Great to know that it's going well.

I think finding the right donor makes a huge difference. And a word of caution for people who are interested in trying this is that you obviously should not use a donor whose medical history you aren't completely sure about.

I thought I would post an update. I have always strongly believed that my issue was related to some imbalance from heavy antibiotics from an ACL reconstruction. Thankfully I did not get MRSA.

For sure the chemistry of my skin has improved dramatically. I have battled excessively oily skin on Asacol from the start. Since starting the FT my skin feels like it has a protective layer of oil rather than feeling like a WD-40 production plant.

So far however I cannot say that I have had the same stool improvements. I am feeling better but I still have less then perfect poop. I also use Konsol psyillium and that helps a lot. I am planning a once a day regimen for 6 days (bought a box of 6) rather than the 1x a week I have done to this point.

Can't say I enjoy doing this. I find it somewhat reprehensible but am optimistic that it will work. One difference between LL and me is that I never change my diet really and just plow through the flares with planning my eating, toileting, around my shedule. Also, the fork wisking of the mix didn't do it for me so I use a ziplock baggie to knead the mixture until ready - an inexact science for sure. Then I cut a corner of the baggie to make the transfer. Mostly nothing is handled directly in this manner. YUCK I know.

guila said...
Subdued, You mention in your signature that you eat foods that are anti inflammatory and low in fructose. What are those? Thanks!

Hi Guila,

There is a good article about anti-inflammatory foods at http://nutrition.about.com/od/dietsformedicaldisorders/a/antiinflamfood.htm . My diet consists of mostly anti-inflammatory foods, although I will eat some pro-inflammatory foods when I'm in remission. I also add turmeric powder to many of my foods and drink ginger teas (without the added sugar). Turmeric and ginger are highly anti-inflammatory. Here are two links that list some anti-inflammatory herbs and spices: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/top-12-superfood-herbs-and-spice.html and http://ezinearticles.com/?Traditional-Uses-of-Some-Anti-Inflammatory-Herbs-and-Supplements&id=94022 .

Most people on this forum do not seem to be fructose intolerant. I am; so I don't eat or drink any foods/beverages high in fructose or containing HFCS. Most fast food places put HFCS in their beverages, deserts, sauces, breads,.. pretty much everything but the cheese and meat. So I mostly eat at home, and when I do eat out, I'm very careful about where and what I eat and drink. Honey, syrups, and many fruits are also high in fructose/sorbitol. Fruits that are relatively low in fructose and have a low fructose/glucose ratio are fresh bananas, pineapple, citrus, and berries. These are the only fruits I'm eating right now.

If you google 'Barody Toying with Motions', you will come across a PDF article written by the australian researchers who have been very active in this field.  There is a good account of how to go about administering a fecal transplant.

guila said...
Thanks, Subdued. My son is not taking anything with HFCS as he has been following (kind of), the SCD diet. I say kind of because I know he has been eating some rice and potatoes as it is very very hard to follow the diet the exact way. He eats pieces of turmeric roots, garlic, and ginger several times a week also. He is eating all fruits, at least he feels he can eat them, so when I saw your post I was worried that he would have to drop one more thing.

I am very tempted to try the fecal transplantation if I can possibly convince my son. Could you give some details on how you prepared it? (I mean, did you use any saline solution like the other member here? How many times did you do it? Are you symptom free?

Hi Guila,

Fecal transplantation has had the most success with people who have bacteria imbalances in their colon. I was on and off of antibiotics for many years; so I was a good candidate for the procedure. If you feel your son could have an imbalance of fecal flora, then it is worth a try.

My method was similar to LuckyLindy, but it was also slightly different. I used the poo from my granddaughter. She was breastfeeding at the time; so her poo was a gooey mixture. Perfect for doing fecal transplantation. I scooped up the poo from her diaper as soon as she went, mixed it with a bit of warm tap water, added the mixture to a syringe, and used the syringe to put the mixture up my butt. The syringe came with a long, removable tip. Using the tip helped to make sure the mixture got up far enough. I immediately started to notice results. The bleeding got less, and I didn't need to poo for many hours. At the time, I had been pooing frequently.

I did fecal transplantation three times over three days. The bleeding stopped after the third day. I had been on 25 mgs of prednisone at the time. Every time I reduced my dosage from 30 mgs to 25 mgs, the bleeding would return. After doing fecal transplantation, the bleeding stopped and my goal became to get off the prednisone ASAP. It took me about a week and a half to do so. I was getting some bad side effects from tapering off the medicine too quickly. The joints in my hands hurt and my knees would make loud popping noises whenever I walked downstairs. What was so amazing to me was that my joints were getting inflamed from reducing the prednisone so quickly even though I do not have arthritis, yet the inflammation in my colon did not return. My GI said my recovery was amazing.

Not many people have tried fecal transplantation. It seems to either work miraculously or not at all. Some factors that might have helped the bacteria multiple were that I used the poo as soon as possible, held it in as long as possible (although like LuckyLindy, doing the fecal transplantation helped me to not have to go), used a donor that is a blood relative, used poo from someone who had never taken antibiotics, mixed water with the poo so the poo was broken up, and did the fecal transplantation when the inflammation was not too severe.

Good, I'm glad to hear it seems to be helping. Keep us updated!

     Did any of you talk with your GI doctor about this?  I never heard of this method other than in this forum.