Kinda gross... but effective? “Extreme probiotic transplants”

“Extreme probiotic transplant” is my own euphemism for fecal matter injection. It is a better sounding way, at least to me, of saying fecal microbiota transplant, in other words and in popular media – a poop transplant.

Microbiota transplants
The concept is to inject healthy microflora in the gut of someone afflicted with unhealthy gut bacteria. So, the idea is really not about fecal matter per say it is about getting healthy bacterial flora inside your gut if you are sick.

I never heard about this and it was first mentioned to me by my teen age son during our weekly Saturday afternoon walk. He was telling me what they were learning in biology class. At first, I was pretty grossed out and I am not someone who appreciates scatological humor. But as a curious person and someone who does suffer related gut issues, I did a few web searches and saw that indeed these types of transplants were a thing. Looking at Wikipedia apparently the concept has been around for over a thousand years. It seems to be experiencing a renaissance of sorts with more and more positive trials and case studies being performed. From what I have read about other forms of probiotics it is a lot more effective as compared to other ways of ingesting probiotics. For example, the yogurt drinks you can buy in stores. As far as I have researched those probiotic drinks are pretty ineffective because they just can’t dose them with enough probiotic bacteria to really make a difference.

From what I understand about fecal matter injection (FMI), the disease which it used to treat is Clostridium difficile infection (CDI). FMI has not yet been proven effective for other conditions. Studies are actively being performed to see if it can help with obesity and weight management but it looks like the jury is still out.

CDI is a common bacterium that is found throughout our environment and can be easily transmitted. Not everyone develops symptoms or problems that are caused by it, but those that are can have quite serious issues. In my case(1), I had been on proton pump inhibitors for about four years to control acid burning in my stomach. I did not have much reflux, more just very painful burning. I do not know if I have CDI, but apparently taking medications to reduce stomach acid, such as proton pump inhibitors (like omeprazole) can increase the chance of CDI problems.

In closing, as you are probably already quite aware, your gut health is super important because this is one of, if not the most, important parts of your immune system. Many pathogens are caught and killed in your stomach and gut. All the nutrients your body and brain need to function correctly are first processed through your guts. If your gut system is not working well – you are not well. I am not a doctor or a medical professional, however, if you suspect you are suffering CDI or issues where this FMI procedure may help, you may want to research it and discuss it with your doctor.

Proton Pump Inhibitors
On another but related topic - if you also are taking a proton pump inhibitor and interested in stopping, this is my own experience with that. I do not think I have CDI and I have never had an FMI procedure.

I do have a hiatal hernia and was prescribed to take a proton pump inhibitor medication which I was on for about four years. During that time, I gained over 20lbs and in general felt like crap. Whenever I stopped taking the pill my stomach burned and it hurt so much tears would stream down my face in the middle of the night. So, I was really not up for stopping the pill given the painful effect of stopping. However, I have started to see more and more negative press about proton pump inhibitors. Finally, I worked up the courage and have been completely off of them already now for about three months. I did not stop cold turkey, but just kept halving the does each week over the course of about four weeks and then stopped. In addition, I made slight changes to my diet and have been focusing on dropping a few pounds. After stopping the proton pump inhibitor, even though I had been weaning down the doses, I can tell you the resurgent burning and acidic burning was horrible and painful for about eight weeks. I wondered if I was crazy and just inflicting more damage on myself and making a bad situation worse. However, after about eight weeks the situation started to get better. In conjunction with the diet changes and dropping so far about 5 pounds, I have had far fewer and far less painful flare ups. I still rely from time to time on Gaviscon which is like Pepto Bismol but only have to resort to this on rare occasions.

The most major dietary change I made was no alcohol. I love all kinds of alcohol: wines, spirits, beer. I never was a heavy drinker but enjoyed a glass from time to time, especially socially, but it just got too painful. Because of the associated pain, stopping drinking was not difficult. In a few months, I do hope to be able to re-introduce a good glass of wine from time to time. My friends tell me I am just as silly and entertaining without drinking, however, this is usually after they have had a glass or two. I have also greatly reduced my sugar, dairy and gluten intakes and this has helped with a bit of weight loss as well. My biggest nemesis is coffee which I love and am not willing to let go. I know it does not help but I still have to have one or two cups a day.

Although common sense is to consult with a doctor, I have to confess, I did not consult with my doctor prior to stopping the proton pump inhibitor. I will go in for a check-up in a few weeks.

Note: This is like two posts for the price of one. One post about FMI and another about proton pump inhibitors. Thank you for your readership.

A few articles on the subject researched for input to this post:
https://www.wired.com/2013/01/fecal-clinical-trial/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fecal_microbiota_transplant
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-gut-bacteria-help-make-us-fat-and-thin/
http://edition.cnn.com/2016/09/25/health/fecal-bacteria-obesity/index.html
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/c-difficile/symptoms-causes/dxc-20202389

Photo by Eric Erbe, digital colorization by Christopher Pooley, both of USDA, ARS, EMU. - This image was released by the Agricultural Research Service, the research agency of the United States Department of Agriculture, with the ID K11077-1. This image is in the public domain because it contains materials that originally came from the Agricultural Research Service, the research agency of the United States Department of Agriculture.