# When Feces Is the Best Medicine



## Jeffrey Roberts (Apr 15, 1987)

Fecal transplants have been proven to successfully treat certain types of infection, but proponents of the treatment are still fighting what they say are unnecessarily strict regulations.

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## Nicole Wahab (Jul 7, 2014)

All this for people with c.diff but what about us IBS'ers?


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## tummyrumbles (Aug 14, 2005)

I haven't found anyone claiming long term success with this procedure. There are quite a few forums around where people discuss it, including here, but I can't find one person who has claimed it's a long-term cure.

This quote sums it up very well: David Rubin, MD, co-director of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center at the University of Chicago Medicine says "We have no clue what we're doing by filling people's sick colons with the bacteria from someone else."

It's really a long-shot theory that a fecal transplant alone will permanently correct a bacterial dysbiosis. The success stories seem to be anecdotal and I'm not sure how they arrive at their conclusions. Do the companies ring up people and ask them how they're feeling? I'd like to see at least one fecal transplant undertaken in a laboratory with before and after tests, offering conclusive proof that not only was the bacterial dysbiosis there in the first place, but what kind of bacteria it was, where it was, a clear link between it and IBS symptoms, then the final proof that not only was the problem bacteria eradicated but evidence of a now healthy colon populated only by good bacteria. I don't think in a thousand years there will ever be a test like that. The whole practise seems to be witchdoctery. I don't think it's even considered yet for IBS. They seem to be targeting C-diff mainly.

I found this topic on a Crohns forum. A lady was getting everyone's hopes up when she claimed success with this but then she just vanished, as they all do. She said she ate no junk food at all and it's possible that had more to do with it. One fellow here had the procedure and posted a youtube clip, but there's no follow up. I get really annoyed with people who post these miracle quack cures then just drift off. Maybe they're embarrassed to admit failure but I'd have a lot more respect for someone admitting that it didn't turn out all that well after all instead of just leaving everyone wondering.


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## peppermintandvinegar (Apr 17, 2016)

I think this story belongs in this thread: http://www.theverge.com/2016/5/4/11581994/fmt-fecal-matter-transplant-josiah-zayner-microbiome-ibs-c-diff.

A young ex-NASA researcher with a rebellious streak does a DIY experiment to change his own microbiome, both inside and out. His ultimate goal is to rid himself of IBS-D. A reporter writes up the story. Looks like he believes that it worked, at least in the short term.


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## acureisoutthere (Jun 28, 2014)

Just an update. It's been two years since my successful DIY FMT to rid myself of IBS-D. I am doing fine and have had no return to problems, with the exception of dairy {I still have some issues with dairy, but it is greatly improved}.

With that said, I have worked hard to avoid products that may be harmful to my microbiome. I am avoiding GMO foods because glyphosate has been found to be killing our good, beneficial bacteria. I avoid processed foods mainly because of their high salt content (kidney disease) but also because of the emulsifiers (which cause gut inflammation )and other additives. I try to cook from scratch and try to eat a variety of fresh fruits and fresh vegetables which are good for my microbiome. I've installed a whole house chlorine removal filter. I rarely use mouthwash. I am not using toothpaste and just brush and floss daily with water. We actually have to change our mindset, and start thinking about what is best for our good bacteria(they're the ones keeping us healthy). I try to eat fermented products because these have been found to promote a optimal environment in the gut for our other bacteria. I respect that for some with IBS, some of these steps may not be possible, I understand, I've been there.

I wish more people with IBS would volunteer to participate in clinical trials for IBS using an FMT. I believe it is the only way we are going to prove to the FDA that FMTs do reverse IBS-D and that they could then relax their ruling to allow them for all people that suffer with IBS-D. It's the next step.

We have more bacteria cells in and on our body than human cells. Most of these are good and helpful. The trouble is, we've been unwittingly damaging this ecosystem and killing off our good bacteria. The average American has lost 40% of the diversity of this ecosytem as compared to remote tribes that have never had antibiotics. I suspect that for many with IBS, they may have lost slightly more than 40%.

We have trillions of bacteria in our digestive tract. They play many roles in our health. Medical researchers are connecting damage to this ecosystem of bacteria, with one disease after another. What is really interesting is; pioneering researchers are reversing other diseases besides C. Diff. MS has been reversed. There are three MS patients in Australia that were in wheelchairs. After their FMT, they are now walking on their own. Some of the other diseases that have been reversed : Chronic Fatigue, Depression, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Chron's, Autism and of course, IBS. It give one an idea of the huge role this ecosystem of bacteria plays in human health.

An FMT restores the missing species and the normal balances between good and bad bacteria in our gut. When I got rid of the ecosystem of bacteria that I had, and replaced it with the ecosystem of bacteria from my donor, my symptoms went away. I got all of the foods back that used to cause me problems. I can now eat them with no problem.

Sure, there are challenges to an FMT. The first one is that 90% of these bacteria are anaerobic. So, any exposure to air and we risk killing them. There is also the appendix to think about. The appendix is now thought to be an important reservoir for bacteria. So, when doing an FMT, one has to overcome this natural re-colonizer. It's why for some people it takes several FMTs to re-set their ecosystem.

FMTs work. Dr. Thomas Borody has reported a success rate of 80% in reversing IBS-D. Of course he has the proper equipment to do this correctly and he has 25 to 30 years of experience, far more than any US doctor.

Dr. Brandt in New York did a trial for Clostridium Difficille using an FMT. He acheived an 98 % success rate with two FMTs. That's an exceptional cure rate and it seems that C. Diff. is much easier to reverse than IBS.

Our skin is crawling with bacteria (mostly good and helpful). It's normal. It's OK, they keep us healthy by out competing the bad ones. Different species like different areas of our body, their own niche. In our mouths we have from 600 to 800 species of bacteria. We have thousands of species in our gut. Almost all people have different microbiomes, or a different makeup of species in their microbiome. The bacteria on our left hand is different than from our right hand. We emit a cloud of bacteria as we go about our day. Whether we like it or not, we live in a bacteria 'world'. The important thing for us to realize is that we live with mostly good, helpful bacteria, and they keep us healthy by out competing the bad ones.

But, we all carry some bad bacteria. It's normal. They help to train our immune system. In fact, many people carry the C. Diff. bacteria and they have no problems. It is when they have a course of antibiotics for another problem that C. Diff. often rears it's ugly head and causes problems. The good, helpful bacteria were out competing the C. Diff. until the antibiotic came along and killed off many of the good ones, thus giving the C. Diff. a chance to attach to the epilitium and to proliferate, which then leads to a really nasty diarrhea problem.

Honestly, I wish everyone on these forums were reading and learning about the human microbiome. It will help them to understand the root cause of their disease. Then, I would also hope that with that knowledge, more people would be active in asking for policy changes that will protect our health and stop the damage to our microbiomes.

Like I said, I am doing fine after my DIY FMT. I would do it again in a heartbeat, if I had to. I am so happy to not have my symptoms anymore and I just wish with all my heart that more people could experience the return to health that I have found.

We have to remind ourselves, we are mostly bacteria. It's OK. In fact, we are teeming with bacteria and they outnumber our human cells. Then, we have to remind ourselves that most of these bacteria are commensal (they benefit from us and we benefit from them).

Then, we have to realize the fact that we've been unwittingly killing them off and we are connecting loss of species and disruption of normal balances with one disease after another, including IBS-D.


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