Successful home administered FT

[AJmicro]

Hi all,

About a month ago I did a home administered fecal transplant with a protocol from a friend who is a gastroenterologist and the support of a naturopath. It was kind of scary, but it went well. I have been totally symptom free and feel better than I have in years. Total cost was about $60 and it took one evening and a whole day to do. I would happy to share my personal experience and the protocol I used off forum if anyone is interested.

A bit about my C. dif experience:

1999 Giardia - Flagyl (metronidazole)

2000 C. difficile - Flagyl (metronidazole)
3 separate hospitalizations. First one, C. dif positive, second two C. dif negative. Lost 40 pounds, broke 2 ribs and fractured my sternum from vomiting.
Diagnosed as celiac, recovery aided by gluten free diet

2009 Sinus infection - antibiotics
2009 C. difficile - Flagyl (metronidazole)
Never fully recovered. Horrific d* for 6 months. Tried different elimination diets for IBS symptoms "IBS Free at Last". Removed all dairy from diet as well as alliums and many sources of fructose (apples, grapes, coconut etc.) which helped but I was still not back to normal.

2011 MRSA Staph infection - treated without antibiotics
Terrified to take antibiotics after 2009 experience with sinus infection. Doctor agreed, daily wound irrigation in the clinic and topical antibiotics only. Drained for 9 weeks and one year later I still don't have full use of my leg.

I read up on fecal transplant and learned that clinical trials have shown some patients being able to take antibiotics without recurrence. Also, I had lingering IBS symptoms and a laughably limited diet so I wanted to see if it could help me. It did and I am very happy with the results. No symptoms and greater overall energy than I have had for years!

Also is there a way to post documents in this forum? I'm a microbiologist and I follow the scientific (and popular) literature on fecal transplant. Here's my current bibliography. Thanks.

Aas, J., C. E. Gessert and J. S. Bakken (2003) "Recurrent Clostridium difficile colitis: Case series involving 18 patients treated with donor stool administered via a nasogastric tube." Clinical Infectious Diseases 36(5): 580-585.

Eisen, J. A. (2011) "Transfaunation and fecal transplants: What goes around comes around literally and figuratively." The Tree of Life (blog). http://phylogenomics.blogspot.com/2011/ ... lants.html

Ho, N. and V. Prasad (2011) "Lacking the incentive to cure? Recurring Clostridium difficile diarrhea and our reluctance to use fecal transplantation." Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology 45(4): 379-380.

Khoruts, A., J. Dicksved, J. K. Janssen and M. J. Sadowsky (2010) "Changes in the composition of the human fecal microbiome after bacteriotherapy for recurrent Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea." Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology 44(5): 354-360.

Khoruts, A. and M. J. Sadowsky (2011) "Therapeutic transplantation of the distal gut microbiota." Mucosal Immunology 4(1): 4-7.

McKenna, M. (2011) "Swapping germs: Should fecal transplants become routine for debilitating diarrhea?" Scientific American.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/artic ... ping-germs

McKenna, M. (2011) "Fecal Transplants: They work, the regulations don't." WIRED Science Blogs, Superbug. http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/ ... ants-work/

Silverman, M., I. Davis and D. Pillai (2010) "Success of self-administered home fecal transplantation for chronic Clostridium difficile infection." Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology 8(5): 471-473.

Smith, T. C. (2007) "Fecal transplants to cure Clostridium difficile infection." Scienceblogs.com: Aetoiology. http://scienceblogs.com/aetiology/2007/ ... p#c4515877

Zimmer, C. (2010) How microbes defend and define us. New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/13/science/13micro.html

[Kathy George]

Thanks for sharing!!!! I experienced recurrent c-diff for many months, and, finally, resorted to Home Enema Infusions which cured me. The actual therapy method can be quite intimidating, but the end result is just amazing.

[amyc]

It's great to see the articles on transplants in wired and scientific american. The info is finally getting out there.

[beth22]

Great news. I'm supposed to do a FT at home for lingering IBS and food intolerances. I sent you a pm.

[debdee]

Congratulations on your success! That is great news! Thank you for sharing what finally cured you. I know it will help others.

[renamom]

I'm glad you feel better!

I did 2 infusions (the first was a fluke though bc I couldn't hold it in) before taking dificid. I think FT should be part of a cdiff treatment along with medication. For example, folks should have a few infusions after vanco or flagyl or even dificid to replace what is lost or damaged so the gut flora has a head start to flourish.

[renamom]

Btw, how may infusions were you able to do?

[debdee]

Have you been able to eat most all foods again? Including dairy?

[AJmicro]

@renamom I only did one infusion, but it was large volume (600mL) and I retained it for 2 hours.

@debdee I'm so enjoying feeling healthy on my current diet that I haven't started any food challenges yet. I'll keep you guys posted on how it goes.

[debdee]

Thank you for keeping us posted, Allison. I think I may have some food issues, but not sure which ones.... sometimes it seems like all of them! I did have an ELISA test and eggs came up as the most reactive -- where my body made antibodies against it. I love eggs! I have cut way back on them.

[Bobbie]

thx. copied in CDI - Transplants/Infusions.

[Palmsbythesea]

My mom has c diff and we did an at home with small amounts 3 days in a row. Seemed like it was helping and then she felt weak and tired so we stopped. A couple weeks later we did another at home with the full 250ml and she was able to hold 6 hrs. She felt great the next day. First bm was formed and we thought all was well... but the following day she was very very ill with worse diarrhea than she had ever had and it seemed like it was all of her body fluids and now she is having more diarrhea than ever. I have not heard anyone else say they have had ill effects. I would appreciate any input. We followed the treatment protocol and again it seemed like things were great for 24 hrs then the next day and forward they have been horrible.
She is also drinking kefir quite regularly.

[AJmicro]

@Palmbythesea, I had eaten dairy all my life through my first C dif experience and 10 years of a gluten free diet (I'm a celiac). But something happened to my gut during my second major C dif experience and I was no longer able to eat dairy. I've been off dairy for 2 years now and have not done a food challenge yet post-transplant. I would avoid major allergens while your mom is recovering, especially if she is in a weakened state. There are dairy-free ways to get beneficial bacteria. My naturopath recommended Florastor for a month or so right after my second C dif (Saccharomyces boulardii = yeast with some clinical trials for preventing C diff recurrence) and now I take PB8 which is a mixture of 8 strains of probiotic bacteria.

Best of luck on your mom's recovery. I'm hoping to eat dairy again, but wow did it make a mess of me after my second C dif infection. Bloating, gas, diarrhea I kept a detailed food journal for 2 years and have been able to isolate exactly which foods were causing problems. I have added some of them back in as my gut healed even before the FT. The elimination diet I used (recommended by Dr. Alexander Khoruts) was IBS Free at Last.

[beth22]

I also became lactose intolerant with c diff, so the kefir and any dairy your mom might be eating could be part of the problem. Was her donor tested for other pathogens? You might have your mom do a stool culture and a test for c diff to see if anything shows up.

AJ micro - Where do you get a copy of the elimination diet?

[debdee]

I agree with Beth and AJmicro. I also had, and still have, a tough time with dairy. I submitted a blood sample and had an ELISA food intolerance test done. It came back that I'm intolerant to all dairy except goat milk and mozzarella cheese. The results even showed I was intolerant to whey in the protein powder mixes. I also was wondering if you had your donor tested for pathogens? I had my donor tested, but then my donor went to Mexico between the time of testing and infusion and I ended up with a parasite. Praying that your mom gets well soon!