Isn't it romantic? (cn: poop, lots of poop, and also some medical stuff)

[untonuggan]

So yesterday I had my fecal transplant to help treat the C difficile that I have been increasingly unsuccessful at battling. (Hey, I did warn you there was poop, right?) Basically the mechanics of this involved getting an enema...of donor poop that has been pre-tested for communicable things. And then lie down for a long time and rotate around so the donated microflora could settle into different parts of my gut.

(Alternatively, I could have gotten a colonoscopy with the scope coated in donor poop, but I hate getting knocked out.)

Here is how you know your partner really, really loves you: They spend all week eating super healthy food and exercising and getting enough sleep, just so they can produce the best donor poop for you at really early o'clock to help (hopefully) treat a potentially fatal disease. (I did mention that C difficile can be fatal, right?)

Although partner says in actuality it did not take her that long, and my end of the process was much more onerous.

So far, the fecal transplant seems to be helping. I won't go into my bodily functions in detail with you, but I will say they are less bad. And also, I did not know how much pain my abdomen was in until I stopped being in that much pain. Also also, my appetite has gone from, "I only want to eat bland things and chocolate and tea and I guess I'll force down the occasional vegetable," to, "Some healthy fruit sounds nice."

ALSO, had an intriguing conversation with my doctor while he was doing the procedure. He is a bit of a fecal transplant evangelist, as he says there are many good things in poop that we don't know about yet. He thinks in the future this procedure *may* be used to treat inflammatory bowel disease(s) and even things like arthritis. So I was like, "I wonder what it will do to my fibromyalgia..." and he was like, "I will be curious to find out."

I am in *less* pain today than I was yesterday, but I am reminding myself that I have pain ups and downs and that is one day of sample so it doesn't count by itself and not to get my hopes up.

But but but wouldn't it be funny/wonderful/amazing/ironic if all this time, a little bit of crap could make me feel even a little bit better?

Comments

[sid]

Who knew? I hope you have v. good results from this!

[untonuggan]

Thank you! (nice icon, btw!)

[shanaqui]

That last line made me giggle. I hope so, though.

[untonuggan]

Hee, I'm glad it made you giggle. :D *fingers crossed*

[phlox]

It certainly would be ironic! Now, if that could be applied to metaphoric crap too--wow, the possibilities for world peace!

And agreed, you have an awesome partner. :D

[untonuggan]

World peace would be nice indeed! :D

She is so awesome, indeed :D

[jelazakazone]

I am so glad to hear that you are already feeling better, even if it's just tiny things like reduced stomach ache and improved appetite. <3

[untonuggan]

<3 Thank you, m'dear!

[sage]

Oh, that is so cool! I love it when new science has great results & docs are actively advancing their fields.

I very much wish you a speedy and complete and good humored (because poop is funny!) recovery. \o/

[untonuggan]

Huzzah for science and doctors who are curious!

Thank you! And yes, poops is funny! <3

[alee_grrl]

I have heard very good things about fecal transplants and am glad to hear that you are already feeling better.

[untonuggan]

<3 Thanks!

[alee_grrl]

Oh that new icon is so perfect for you. <3 <3 <3

[untonuggan]

It's one of djinni's! I looooove it!

[alee_grrl]

djinni is awesome. I love his work.

[untonuggan]

+1

[lilacsigil]

I am fascinated by all the new research into fecal transplants and I'm excited to know someone who had one! Your partner is very kind and I'm glad you're feeling tentatively better.

[untonuggan]

Thank you! :D

[cadenzamuse]

I have heard good things about fecal transplants, so I find it pretty fascinating shit! (Sorry, I couldn't resist...)

Anyway, I hope it helps, and I'm glad it seems to be helping so far. ♥

[untonuggan]

Hee, the puns are part of the fun!

Thank you!

[aome]

I was pointed here byjelazakazone. I have Crohns/UC (after a mere 9 years, the jury still seems to be out on their diagnosis). I have had Bad Things happen which were attributed to the biologic meds (humira, remicade), and no other med seems to work. I'm trying to control with diet but two doctors have told me there's no point because it won't help. I feel better (not cured but better) So I don't know whom to believe. Anyway, would love to know if your treatment could be used for my sorry of illness. I had no idea there was such a thing as a poop transplant. Kudos to who ever thought far enough out of the box to come up with the idea.

Good luck with your recovery. I hope it works for you! (Honestly, is take a poop transplant over cdiff meds any day. They left SUCH a horrible taste in my mouth!)

[untonuggan]

Hi!

Oh Gods yes Flagyll has got to be one of the worst meds every invented. Side effect wise, at least; I know it's important for c diff but srsly it sent me into a spiral of mental hell for about a month.

From what I understand, the poop transplant thing is still very much in the experimental stage. Part of this is because drug companies haven't figured out how they can make a profit off of it, so they are trying to get the FDA to put up lots of roadblocks to its use (then again, this may be different if you are not in the US). Right now it's not covered by insurance (in the US), because...stupid reason...there is no *code* for it. Like you know how there is a code for every procedure they do? Well, there's no code for fecal transplants. Also, the donor has to be tested for communicable diseases before the transplant, and the insurance company won't cover that (it runs about $200 per person, if the first donor doesn't work out obviously more testing is needed for additional donors). Also, you have to find a doctor willing to do it...

Right now I think *most* doctors who do them are just doing them for C diff, because that's what it's been (mostly) proven to treat. The "possibly for inflammatory bowel disease/Crohn's/etc." has not been tested yet, because testing = funding = but we'd have to make money off of this and it's not a drug so how would we make money? Which is just *let me bang my head against the medical establishment several times*

There *are* instructions on the internet for doing this at home (it's basically a poop-and-saline enema, the way I had it). The HUGE DISCLAIMER is that you want to make sure that whatever poop you use does not have things like, you know, HIV, hepatitis, parasites, or other things that would make the situation worse and not better. Basically, the $200 worth of tests I was talking about earlier, which unfortunately you cannot order yourself.

tl;dr Could poop transplants possibly help a huge number of disorders? Yes. Will insurance pay for them right now? No. Are there clinical trials going on as we speak? I don't know, I hope so, but there are a lot of roadblocks being put up by fucking drug companies via the FDA. Can they maybe be done under the radar at home? Yes, but be sure the poop is safe poop first.

[calissa]

I'm glad to hear that you are feeling better and will keep my fingers crossed that things continue to improve.

Also <3 to your partner. Pretty awesome.

[untonuggan]

Thank you!

[shehasathree]

oh, wow. Glad it's helping, and your partner is clearly AWESOME.

[st_aurafina]

That is the best, most romantic gift ever, seriously. <3 <3

I hope it is amazing, and that it has amazing, unexpected and beneficial effects. (Maybe not super powers, but super powers of feeling better.)

[untonuggan]

I feel pretty much 50% more super than I was feeling before, which is indeed a romantic gift. <3

[sine_nomine]

This is absolutely phenomenal... that it so far seems to be working, that your partner seems like an amazing woman, and that you're still able to keep a sense of humour about it all.

:-)

[untonuggan]

:D Hee! thank you!

[sauscony]

I'm so glad you are feeling a bit better already. The sucky thing about bowel issues is how slowly they progress, so you don't even realize how awful you've been feeling until you start to feel better. Fecal transplant is fascinating to me. I read about it a few years ago and if my Crohn's ever flares up again, I'll consider this.

[untonuggan]

There's a comment a bit further up that I won't repeat because SUPER LONG but it goes a bit more into the particulars of getting a fecal transplant, if you're interested in reading it. <3 Here's hoping no more Crohn's flares for you, though.

[jb_slasher]

I hope the crap helps. Pardon the pun. <3

[untonuggan]

I hope the crap helps too! :D And puns are fun, heh. At least in this situation. (What can I say, I like poop jokes...)