fecal transplant help

wow that sounds like a pretty good turnaround! I'm glad it went better today.

I remember the noises that came from my son's gut for the first month or so after starting FT were so loud I swear it would wake him up! There's definitely a battle going on in there and if you keep doing FT daily and keep bombarding the good bacteria in there I think you'll have a decent chance of success.

I wouldn't use Canasa and definitely NOT flagyl. LDN should be okay as I don't believe it will affect your new gut flora but I'm not sure on this.

Let us know how it goes tomorrow.

Great news, let the battle begin.  To answer your question....I would stop all other probiotics during your FTs.  If you still have D, I think you could keep S. Boulardii going though.  Once the D stops, you could stop that to and just finish up the FT protocol. 

I recommend you guys youtube, "Dr. Lawrence Brandt, fecal transplant, Ulcerative Colitis".  He is the US version of Borody, and the one that helped guide my son via emails through his early FT days.  Anyway, he very candidly and confidently talks about his views on FT and the future regarding its impact on IBD.  I think there is a 3 part interview.  He is reported to be the first to do the FT via colonoscopy.  He supports the infection theory, but acknowledges an autoimmune reaction and combination of the two in IBD.  

Hang in there Bananagirl, keep at it and keep posting.  We ALL want to see you be successful.   

[trojen said.......I recommend you guys youtube, "Dr. Lawrence Brandt, fecal transplant, Ulcerative Colitis". He is the US version of Borody, and the one that helped guide my son via emails through his early FT days. Anyway, he very candidly and confidently talks about his views on FT and the future regarding its impact on IBD]

Hi trojen,

I saw Dr. Brandt's youtube, very informative and tried to contact him but unfortunately haven't been able to get in touch with him yet. My son is stuck on 20 mg of prednisone for more than two months now and can't reduce it. Prednisone affects his eyes. He wants to do FT but wants a doctor to be involved. It would be a blessing if we can get in touch with Dr. Brandt.

I wasn't aware that S. boulardii helps with D. If stools are somewhat semi solid does it help there too?

bananagirl, hope you are doing even better today.

ok. today's update is here!

i held the FT for 5 hours today. i didn't have any cramps all day except for around dinner time. no sick stomach today and no fever.

probably won't be doing FT tomorrow since my donor says she doesn't go on tuesdays or fridays. so it will always be 5x a week unless something comes up or she magically has a poop on an "off" day.

i also posted about this on another thread but Jackson Siegelbaum called today about their colonoscopy FT and they said i am not a good candidate due to the severity of my disease. i am pretty sad because i figured i would go to them as a backup plan if my DIY didn't help. i am just gonna stick with it though and keep getting better. i am determined for it to work and get me into remission.

my concern ever since i started is my lack of appetite. i am not hungry at all and am forcing myself to eat. i almost fainted in the kitchen today because i think i let my blood sugar get too low or i'm still anemic. is there anything i can do to increase my appetite (besides exercise)? i don't wanna do exercise because i'd be standing and wouldn't be able to hold the transplant long enough. i will continue to force feed myself just because i know it will help the FT. i just feel like i'm getting full on way too little food.

tankor, thanks for your suggestions. it's funny you mention juicing and smoothies because that's exactly what i am eating! i just keep losing weight and my mom is on my case about it. i figure when i am better, i will naturally get my weight up again. my longest juice fast was almost 4 weeks. i didn't notice UC improvements but i'm sure it can help others.

do you mean doing a laxative enema before each FT? i don't think that would work with me. i feel like it would repeatedly clean out my donor's good bacteria every day. i make sure to go to the bathroom before each FT just so it is cleaned out.

banana,

you said you haven't done a FT in several days.
I'd recommend doing just a plain water enema or colonic before your next one.
The idea is to clear out space so the FT has the least amount of competing bacteria when
you insert it. Having a clean colon also means the infusion has the best chance of making it
the entire distance along the GI tract.

When borody & Bianca James were doing FT many years ago, Bianca would do a colonic before each
infusion. What your trying to do is slowly colonize the GI tract. There is no FT protocol anywhere that
i've seen from any doctor that doesn't try to clean the colon out first. I think if your starting over you
should try to clean your colon out before the first one, and perhaps thats it. Either with colonic, enema,
or a colonic lavage which are sure your familar with.

Bianca James is an expert in colonics and has also assisted Borody on FT. Here are some of her colonic guidelines

1. Is the treatment process controlled by turning switches (either by you or the therapist) when you feel full.

2. Does all waste go through a tube or do you eliminate into a toilet built into the treatment unit. (If faecal waste and water needs to go through a tube ) then it’s the closed system and due to the delicate state of your bowel I would not recommend this method. If you eliminate into a toilet built into the couch then it’s an open system and you would be safe to proceed.

3. What is the size of the rectal tube (if pencil thin – OK if larger than 2mm in diameter - NOT OK)

4. I don’t know the place the colon therapists say they got their training. See if you can find out how long training took, and what it intailed. As I mentioned before I would be happier if a registered nurse was doing treatments.

Hi Joanna,
Way to go! Sounds like you are on your way though there may be ups and downs. Just keep going. As for exercise, I think for the first little while rest really is the best thing. It's important to let your body focus its energy on healing as much as possible.
Keep us posted, we're rooting for you!

Post Edited (killcolitis) : 5/8/2012 8:31:44 AM (GMT-6)

edbar, that's what i was thinking. i don't know what the purpose of water enemas would do. it would probably irritate my colon even more.

tankor, i have been doing FT every day and don't want to start all over again if that's what you mean. i'd be using the same donor stool so not sure how it would benefit me.

last night was tough. i am getting very painful cramping. i had stopped taking slippery elm and marshmallow root before i started FT and i am adding it back in today.

consistency is still diarrhea with some hard poops in there. very smelly!!! i think i went 6-7 times yesterday. hoping each day will get better though. i don't expect it to be a quick healing process. just gotta keep up with it and have faith that it'll work. i won't stop until i am better.

couldn't do a transplant on tuesday because my donor didn't produce a stool. i feel beyond sick right now. i am thinking about going to the hospital. i am going to the bathroom 3-4x an hr and am having the worst pain ever. i don't know what to do. i was planning on doing another FT wednesday morning but i don't know if i'll make it til then. if the cramping doesn't go away, i need something. is there anything i can take for all this cramping and spasms? my doctor has never given me pain meds before but im going to call in the morning (it's 3am right now) and ask for something. any recommendations? not even sure if she will do it but i'm asking anyways

i am to the point where i will try humira. i didn't want to but i am in such bad shape at the moment. i just really didn't think i would have such a harsh reaction to the FT. i have only read about how it saved people and my symptoms are getting worse.

Joanna,
First, I'm so sorry.
Second, if you email me and are interested I can refer you to someone who has an FT protocol which might help you. I believe the fact that you were showing positive signs initially was a good sign but that the inflammation in your guy is too high for the bacteria to colonize properly.
If it were me I would go in to the hospital. If you are going 4 times an hour you will end up there anyway pretty soon so better get stabilized sooner than later. I don't know what reaction you had to pred but if it's absolutely off limits then ask for IV vanco and whatever else they will give you. Can you take tylenol? Maybe you could get on that?
If you can get stabilized and the inflammation under control then don't give up on FT (if you don't want to obviously). It might still work. Or, if you do humira, maybe it will be your wonder drug and you can forget about this disease for a while...
I hope you get this sorted asap and will be thinking of you.

I'm sorry you are doing so poorly. I hope things turn around soon!

Joanna,

I hope you got some help. You mentioned before that you can not take prednisone, may be you reacted taking it orally but through IV you might be fine. I know some one who can not take antibiotics by mouth but through IV it's fine. I pray we hear good news from you that things are turning around in positive direction.