Still doing great at 6 months after a fecal transplant

I am at the 6 months mark and still drug free and symptom free.

I recently ordered some kefir grains online to make homemade kefir. Note that am not using kefir starter, but kefir grains - there is a difference. They are not actually 'grains' but really more like 'blobs'. Added to milk and left on the counter for 24 hours, changing the milk in to a strong probiotic. It is sort of like a watery yogurt. A bit of honey or fruit to make a smoothie and it is delicious and healthy. You can use it with coconut milk if you aren't ready for dairy milk.

“Yogurt contains transient beneficial bacteria that keep the digestive system clean and provide food for the friendly bacteria that reside there. But kefir can actually colonize the intestinal tract, a feat that yogurt cannot match.

Kefir contains several major strains of friendly bacteria not commonly found in yogurt, Lactobacillus Caucasus, Leuconostoc, Acetobacter species, and Streptococcus species.

It also contains beneficial yeasts, such as Saccharomyces kefir and Torula kefir, which dominate, control and eliminate destructive pathogenic yeasts in the body. They do so by penetrating the mucosal lining where unhealthy yeast and bacteria reside, forming a virtual SWAT team that housecleans and strengthens the intestines. Hence, the body becomes more efficient in resisting such pathogens as E. coli and intestinal parasites.

Kefir’s active yeast and bacteria provide more nutritive value than yogurt by helping digest the foods that you eat and by keeping the colon environment clean and healthy. Because the curd size of kefir is smaller than yogurt, it is also easier to digest, which makes it a particularly excellent, nutritious food for babies, the elderly and people experiencing chronic fatigue and digestive disorders.”

Teri

It has been 5 months of no UC symptoms - no blood, mucus, no gas, no cramps, no diarreah, no feeling like I have to 'go' all the time, etc.  I am still eating SDC but plan to test a few other foods soon.

My digestive system is still functioning normally. I am feeling better than I have in years.
 
(Read the procedure I did for a home fecal transplant on my November 2012 post.)

I had been feeling a sort of 'stress' or a tightness in my shoulders off and on for a few years now, starting about the time I started having hot flashes.  UC started when the hot flashes started as well. I believe that hormones and UC may somehow be connected.

 In January I started taking two vitamin B complex pills a day and after about 2 or 3 weeks, I noticed that feeling is now gone. It could be that my digestive system was not metabolizing vitamin B correctly.

 I have been reading about the appendix and how scientists are figuring out that it isn't a useless part of our body after all, but a place that stores a back up of bacteria to restore our colon after a sickness, that may have flushed out all of the good bacteria, as a stomach virus would.

This makes sense. It also makes sense why some have to do multiple fecal transplants as the bad bacteria has probably taken over the appendix and is waiting to restore itself not long after doing a fecal transplant.

I must have somehow gotten enough transplant slurry into my colon and possibly into the appendix as well, that I began recovering right away and didn't need the weeks and weeks of transplants that some have done.

I hope if you are reading this and you or a loved one is suffering from symptoms of UC or Crohns that you will consider using a fecal transplant to restore gut bacteria. It is SO worth it and it is the beginning of healing, where as the drugs the GI's prescribe, only turn of your immune system's response to the presence of the bad bacteria

 There is SO much information out there from people who have been healed by this. Go to the Power of Poo blog and you can join a private Facebook group where many who have done fecal transplants, or are currently in the process of doing them to be healed from UC and Crohns.

http://thepowerofpoo.blogspot.com.au/2012/11/fmt-hits-facebook.html 

Teri 

Read the procedure I did for a home fecal transplant on my November 2012 post. 

That day my colitis turned around and I finally began recovering from the gas, diarrhea, blood, mucus, urgency, etc. I no longer suffer from these symptoms and do not take any medications.

I am also eating fermented foods and still on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (no sugar, no starch, no yeast, no lactose, no wheat) which may be helping the fecal transplant become established amongst the bad bacteria that had taken over in my colon.

These two other sites will be encouraging to those interested in using a FMT to restore their gut bacteria.

Great story and his site is very informative. http://fecaltransplant.org/my-story

The Power of Poo might be helpful too -  www.thepowerofpoo.blogspot.com

Teri 

Still doing great, now 3 1/2 months after doing a home fecal transplant also known as fecal bacteriotherapy.

I still produce a trophy one to two times a day, with no blood, no mucus, no cramps, no diarrhea and no gas. Still eating SCD and making the homemade yogurt and homemade fermented vegetables.

I am back to 106 lbs, my weight before the Zpack antibiotic I took in February of 2009. In mid-October when I did the home fecal transplant I was down to 95 lbs. I feel great and have plenty of energy, just like before the Zpack.

I am SO thankful I did the fecal transplant! I am now able to leave my house and not be concerned about where every bathroom is and the anxiety that goes along with all that. I can now have people over to my house again and not feel like I will be excusing myself several times to use the bathroom.
It is SOOO freeing!

For those of you thinking maybe I had c-diff and not really UC, I was tested at least twice, if not three times for c-diff and each time came up negative. I actually started out with proctitis then it went to colitis. I suppose the next progression would have been Crohn's.

For those of you thinking about doing a home fecal transplant, I would encourage you to go for it. You have nothing to lose. Some have done multiple transplants because the don't seem to 'take' the first time. I would encourage you to press on as well. It could be that a different donor is needed as we all have different strains of bacteria. Or it could be not enough fecal material was used, or the implanted bacteria didn't have enough to eat and starved - this is why I used the psyllium emptied from about 5 or 6 fiber pills.

I want others to heal as well and not be sentenced to a life of expensive drugs to 'stay normal'. It really isn't normal anyway - those drugs just suppress your immune system's response in trying to fight off the damage caused by the bad bacteria.

If anyone has questions, you can post questions on the SCD-Plus Yahoo group.

Teri