"Poop pills" - consult update.

Treatments, possible treatments, unsubstantiated/unproven treatments. Consult your doctor first.
Planet
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"Poop pills" - consult update.

Postby Planet » Thu Feb 12, 2015 3:25 pm

Hello everyone,

I wanted to update anyone who is interested about my consult with the doctor from Bright Medical Clinic about "poop pills". I had a phone consult with DR.Campbell yesterday, she was VERY nice on the phone and answered all the questions I had.
Below I would write questions I have asked and the answers she gave me.

Note: I did ask her permission to post on this board what we discussed. So here it is:

1. Pills vs Enema Infusions - which are more effective against C.Diff?
In her experience both are equally effective. Pills, for obvious reason, are less yucky :) I was interested in pill treatment, so the rest of the questions would be about pills.

2. How are the pills prepared?
Basically they take donor stool and via medical centrifuge separate the wanted bacteria from unwanted stuff (like fiber, undigested chunks, etc). The good bacteria is then encapsulated into pills and the rest is discarded. From one good poop they would usually get somewhere between 15-30 pills (you would take them all in one treatment). (Note: do not quote me on this as I am typing from memory and over simplifying the process). The total preparation time takes ~3 hours.

3. How many people have they treated with pills from C.Diff and what was the outcome?
The clinic introduced the pill treatment in March of last year, so they have been doing it for ~11 months now. During those months they have treated ~20 patients with poop pills. All, but one, were a success, meaning the C.Diff did not came back. The one patient relapsed 5 days after treatment. However, majority of patients did two consecutive days of treatment with poop pills (In Dr. Campbell's experience two consecutive days is the most effective protocol), the patient that have relapsed only did one day of treatment (I did not ask for the reason) and the patient was in his/her 80's, so the age might have been a factor also.

4. Is there a risk of introducing an unwanted bacteria to a small intestine if pills dissolve too quickly? Any adverse reactions reported by previous patients?
Like with any treatment there is always a risk of unwanted side effects. The clinic is following Dr. Tom Louie protocol on preparing the pills and is triple encapsulating them to make sure they do not open up too quickly. Based on Dr. Louie research triple encapsulation ensures that the pills survive stomach acid, whether they open up all the way in the large intestine or sooner is unknown at this point. To date, Dr. Campbell told me that patients treated with pills have not reported any significant side effects. After listening to her explanation on how they prepare pills I felt that the pills would be quite safe to ingest orally.

5. What is the prep work for the patient?
The clinic is using Dr. Borody's protocol for the prep. Basically if you are on antibiotics for C.Diff you would stop taking them 24-48 hours before treatment. The day before treatment the patient would use laxatives to cleanse the colon. On the day of treatment, the donor would drop off fresh stool, the patient would wait at the clinic during the preparation of pills and as soon as they are ready ingest them with water. Repeat the next day, only this time no laxatives :)

6. Can you freeze pills and take them with you for future use?
In theory yes, and the clinic would help you to freeze them, however there are no studies to show how effective pills are after they have been frozen. She told me that some patients would put them on dry ice to fly home. At home you would need a deep freezer to keep them at an adequate temperature.

7. I am breastfeeding, can I take poop pills?
Short answer is Yes. There are no studies done on that, so who knows really... This is my opinion not the doctor's: To me it seemed logical that it should be safe, since all you doing is introducing good bacteria to your colon, its like probiotics on "steroids", hahaha. It is for sure better than taking months worse of very harsh antibiotics (Again this is my opinion only, please ask you physician about it if you are considering poop pills).

All in all, Dr Campbell made me feel very comfortable with the "poop pills" treatment, she was very helpful and knowledgeable.

Also, forgot to mention, you can use your own donor if you have one. If you do not have a suitable donor the clinic has bank of donors they can choose from! The clinic also does infusions via enema, if you do not feel like swallowing poop :)

Hopefully this would be helpful to someone, if you have any question feel free to ask, I will try and answer them.

seekingcure
Long Time Contributor
Posts: 1907
Joined: Mon Mar 25, 2013 1:28 am

Re: "Poop pills" - consult update.

Postby seekingcure » Thu Feb 12, 2015 4:03 pm

Thank you so much for all the great information and your time and effort to post it here to share with all of us. This sounds like a very promising option and I hope it works for you if you decide to go this route.
Bea

beth22
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Joined: Tue Apr 07, 2009 2:23 pm

Re: "Poop pills" - consult update.

Postby beth22 » Thu Feb 12, 2015 11:52 pm

Yes, thanks for posting. I'm just wondering if people got IBS after those pills, but I guess you can get them after any FMT or even if you don't have FMT. I think taking so much vanco caused mine.

Bobbie
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Joined: Sat Aug 06, 2005 8:00 pm

Re: "Poop pills" - consult update.

Postby Bobbie » Fri Feb 13, 2015 12:52 am

Thx, Planet. Good info. Hope all goes well.

Will refer to your post in FMT forum.

Misscshell24
Long Time Contributor
Posts: 420
Joined: Wed Sep 10, 2014 3:41 pm

Re: "Poop pills" - consult update.

Postby Misscshell24 » Fri Feb 13, 2015 7:13 pm

Thank you for posting. A lot of good and interesting info. Glad they were thorough and answered all your questions. It's great to have peace of mind and know your options, just in case.
Michelle

megan2
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Joined: Tue Dec 09, 2014 4:37 pm

Re: "Poop pills" - consult update.

Postby megan2 » Fri Feb 13, 2015 9:06 pm

I would recommend using your own donor if you can. Less problems with allergic and other reactions.


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