Fecal Transplant - I took the plunge! PART III

Hi Killcolitis

When I first discussed the issue with my GI, he took it upon himself to call Dr Borody to discuss the pros and cons of someone in my condition attempting the treatments.  His call was returned within about 2 days.  Do you have a GI who would be willing to call or email the centre on your behalf?  They would likely get a speedier response...btw, I am sure that someone has previously posted a link on this forum to Borody's protocol.  I followed his protocol, and its not terribly complicated.

kind regards

Amygrace

Post Edited (amygrace) : 4/18/2010 9:12:06 AM (GMT-6)

Killcolitis - I paid 300 Australian dollars.

debdee - if you read the whole of this  thread bearing in mind it is in 3 parts you will come across Borody's protocol. Basically it consists of antibotics, fecal infusion by colonoscopy or via a gastric nasal tube or perhaps via enema over 5 to 10 days and the infusion must be put together in a certain way.

Hi all, it's now a matter of weeks (approximately 3!) before I attempt a five to seven day fecal transplant routine! I thought I would post my plan here as I begin to order supplies and see how everyone is feeling now that even more time has passed since you all first tried this! Subdued I hope you're still going strong :)

The first GI doc I went to see for my (eventually diagnosed) IBS problems recommended trying a 3 day liquid diet to try and "restart my system" because my symptoms had come on so suddenly (all in one night!). In my infinite wisdom (read: vast ego-induced stupidity) I skipped this step, believing that since I had been suffering for a month or more, solving the problem couldn't be so simple. After reading a book called the IBD Remission Diet (or something to that effect, the exact title escapes me at the moment) that advocated the use of an elemental diet for a period of time to calm everything down and starve out bacteria, I started looking at some medical reports about the efficacy of elemental diets in healing the mucosal lining and normalizing small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, and since then I've returned to the advice that first doc gave me with new insight. Hopefully coming full circle will do the trick!

Now looking at Dr. Barody's protocol for the transplant, which I believe involves a 10 day low-fiber diet and course of antibiotics I've decided maybe I could do one better and eat a low-residue diet for those 10 days! I've also seen people discussing whether the procedure might be more effective at a time when the colon is less inflamed, and though as an IBSer I don't have major inflammation hey, I figure I'll take every precaution I can to give myself the best odds going into this, and 10 days on an elemental-style diet (I've chosen to use the product Vivonex Plus, though only for 7 days as it's quite expensive; the first 3 days I figure I'll drink Gatorade and/or Ensure) seems like a good way to ease inflammation.

So:
-Days 1-10: Antibiotic
-Days 1-3: Ensure/Gatorade
-Days 4-10: Vivonex Plus
-Days 11-16/18: Fecal transplant once a day and a high fiber, gluten/casein free diet (food sensitivities may or may not be playing a role in my problems, I figure might as well cut out the 2 most common offenders just in case! Plus it'll force me to eat more fruits and veggies).

What does everyone think about this plan? Hoping to hear uplifting stories of success, courage and dedication! Good luck to everyone in your pursuits of health, I'm hoping to be on the field at nationals next year going for a title :)

-Jesse

Idkwia,

I don't have D or C actually, I just have chronic loose stools, occasionally on the D side but not usually with the urgency accompanied by D, and then the rest of the normal symptoms; pain, gas, incomplete evacuation etc.

I'm going to talk to a doc about the antibiotic, but I believe Barody recommends something broad-spectrum so I'll probably see what the doc offers me.

I've looked at absorb plus as well, but if I'm not mistaken it has whey protein or another full protein in it rather than just free-floating amino acids. I'm not sure how much of a difference this makes, but Vivonex has been mentioned in some of the medical type reports I've read so I just thought I'd trust that, thanks for the input though!

I'll keep you posted as I get going, I'm considering setting up a blog where I could post every day and add pictures of the equipment I'm going to use (nothing too graphic lol), I figure if this really works for me then I would want to be able to show people exactly what I did!

Thanks for the reply.

-Jesse

I was diagnosed with UC in 2007 (after quitting smoking) with severe D, blood loss, and axial arthritis that wouldn't quit. I was able to get the bleeding under control almost immediately with Rowasa enemas and Asacol, but was never able to get rid of the arthritis. Even after I was declared in remission by my GI, I still had daily shoulder, mid-back, and SI joint problems. The arthritis has been bad enough to force an attempt at a career change to something where I am not sitting all day.

A week ago, I decided to give FT a go to try to stave off early flare symptoms and a huge spike of increasing arthritis pain. I am using my wife as a donor and am still taking my 2 daily Lialdas. I am currently on day 6 and have performed 1 infusion per day. I plan on completing 10 days of infusions. I haven't used antibiotics or made any significant changes to my mostly vegetarian diet.

I am ecstatic to report that although my shoulder arthritis is not completely gone, my mid-back and SI joints feel better than they have in years. The blood that I began to see on the toilet paper after day 3 of the process was gone again at day 4. My flare symptoms (lower abdominal pain and fatigue) have also gone away.

Although I am definitely seeing good results so far, I still plan to complete the full 10 days of infusions (or maybe more). I really want to try to give this new bacteria a shot at colonization on top of the existing flora.

I will update again after I complete my infusions and again a few months later.

Hi idkwia. My procedure was as follows:

1) Donor sample was placed in a Zip-Loc bag (with the easy zip tab).
2) Approximately 1 to 2 cups of distilled water were added to bag.
3) I then squished everything together by hand (my hand was outside the bag).
4) Rectal syringe was then used to suck contents up into syringe bulb (amount varies).
5) Contents were infused.

I used a syringe called the "Faultless Rectal Syringe." I would provide a link, but I'm not sure it's allowed. The thing was around $8. My main criteria when choosing this type of syringe was ease of cleaning.

You want to process and infuse the sample as soon as you can, without refrigerating it.

I used the amount that can fit in about one to two syringes--half was water and half poo.

Hi all, minor setback as my doc decided it was best to do stool testing before hand. I start my stool test tomorrow and got my scrip for my antibiotic a couple days ago. At this point, I'm looking to start my 10 days of antibiotics on Sunday, meaning transplant is planned for Wednesday after next. Little frustrating to have it pushed back, but my sister/donor is in medical school and wants to work with a doc so my hands are tied.

@runcycle- great to hear good news! Please keep us updated :)

IChasefrisbees - well done for starting, that is good news. I think that everyone has problems initially doing the infusion so no doubt you will improve. Are you using a syringe like Runcycle did?

Runcycle - how are things with you now?

Good luck to everyone who started the FT...

I have a question. I have been thinking about the FT lately as well. I could use either my 8 year old kid or my wife as a donor, but I would like to test their stool for parasites, etc. Do you guys know if there are any labs that would test the stool without doctor's order as I don't think there is any way I could obtain an order from a doctor to have either of their stool's tested. They are healthy, but I know my wife had been on antibiotics about ten years ago and my kid has probably been exposed to all kinds of stuff at school (whether it matters or not).

Please let me know your thoughts.

Thanks!

Hi all, end of day 2 here. Didn't feel well during the day, cramping (not a usual symptom for me) persisted for much of the day. However, I just had a BM that was (warning: explicit and gross tmi on the way!) well formed, solid and a natural dark brownish color, and I had no feeling of incomplete evacuation (one of my biggest problems.)

I hope this bodes well for the next 3 days, the blender was definitely a big improvement over just mashing in a bag. Good luck to everyone and I hope this helps!

Would it be OK to use an empty Rowasa bottle?