Fecal Transplant - Microbial treatment

[ballerboy]

Hi guys,

This is my first post on the forum - I am a 24 year old male who just graduated from university last year and have been working in my first full-time job.

I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis when I was just 9 years old - caused by a horrific bacteria called C-Difficile, which had been detected and cured at the age of 15 through a fecal microbiota transplant (poop from a healthy donor gets injected into your body through the anus/rectum - designed to equip you with millions of healthy types of bacteria in order to rebuild your lower digestive system)

However, ever since I hit puberty at age 15, I noticed the typical POIS symptoms every time I ejaculate - brain fog, anxiety, depression, sore muscles, fever, widespread pain, amongst others.

I really feel like most of you guys, has stopped me from living life to my full potential.

I recently went and saw an autoimmune specialist who put me on Zyrtec (anti-histamine) every morning and soon before O, and it seemed to have diminished the severity of symptoms from about a 9 to a 6.5 (not too much).

However I have had some recurring gut issues lately, and I suspect many food sensitivities. I am currently on a gluten and dairy free diet, as these foods tend to trigger similar symptoms to the above every time I consume.

So I am going in for a 5-day consecutive run of fecal transplant therapy to see if fixing the gut altogether will cure my POIS overtime. I'm hoping it will be a major breakthrough for my body, and subsequently, give you guys some hope.

The transplants were traditionally to be used for patients with bowel disorders, however it seems to be working for people with other autoimmune problems, as the gut is technically our body's second brain. Refer to the link below for an example of how FMT has been used to cure/reduce symptoms of patients with autism.

http://www.ageofautism.com/2015/03/autism-and-the-microbiome-will-fecal-transplants-be-the-next-awakenings.html

I'll keep you updated on my progress, I'm on a mission to improve not only my life but for all of you involved here.

Best wishes to all,

[Limejuice]

Good luck with this new quest, be safe, and thank you for sharing this new approach!

[Warrior]

I wonder if OP went ahead with this. Anyone else have any info on fecal transplant potentially curing POIS? Decent chance POIS is caused by gut dysbiosis of some kind, though we don't know for certain.

[Warrior]

Here's an update from OP posted around the same time period he created this post from a reddit post he made:

UPDATE: I'll separate them into numbered sections to allow you all to see different perspectives from my experiences over the last half-year. Two different perspectives and arguments to further our investigation into POIS as patients:

POINT 1:

6 months ago, I had 4 rounds of FMT done, all on separate days in the same week. I felt an instantaneous, positive effect on my overall feeling of health, vitality, and well-being. My digestive system felt awesome, I had massive bouts of positive physical/mental energy, and was able to ejaculate 2x a week without any POIS symptoms.

In order for your new bugs to flourish Post-FMT and to get the most out of your treatment, it is highly recommended that you instantly follow and maintain a high-fibre diet, so that the new bugs migrate throughout your bowel successfully, and eventually become 'yours'. This process takes approx. 3-6 months post treatment.

HOWEVER, it felt to me that the positive effect of POIS as a result of FMT was unfortunately, extremely short-term. I have a high suspicion that this is my own fault, due to the following factors:

(i) I went on an overseas holiday to the USA from Australia about a month after. This was my dream holiday that I had booked 8 months in advance - and the nurses conducting my FMT treatment stated that it wasn't advisable that I travel overseas for about 6 months post-treatment to allow the new bugs to find their home in my colon, as the bacteria in food, and the environmental composition overseas is very different to home - this could have predisposed me to a high risk that did not see the full benefits from my FMT. (I just had another round of FMT this week, and prior to recent treatment they did not pick up any new, and harmful pathogens in my stool test, hmm. anyways, let's see how I go after this lot).

(ii) I am on a gluten free diet, however before my USA trip and after my first lot of FMT treatments I may have had too many foods that contain dairy, soy corn and other starches in my diet which may have prevented the successful effect from FMT somewhat on POIS (for those that don’t know – these are the most common food allergens and it is recommended that they all be eliminated from your diet if you suspect that you suffer from POIS – after my new lot of treatments, I’m going to focus more on getting this done and will notify you guys of my results). In summary, try and focus on eliminating gluten, dairy, soy, corn from your diet, and incorporate more prebiotic and probiotic sources on a daily basis. More info can be found here: http://www.drperlmutter.com/eat/brain-maker-foods/

ARGUMENT 1: What can we hypothesize from my experiences in Point 1?

From my experience, we may be able to hypothesize that the microbiota within the digestive system plays a crucial role in the functioning of all of our bodily systems (endocrine, musculoskeletal etc.)

As a result of years of research, There is a new theory that has been developed, referred to as the ‘Gut-Brain Axis’. For those who have never read about this topic, I’ve included a direct quote from the Wikipedia article below: The gut–brain axis is the biochemical signaling that takes place between the gastrointestinal tract and the central nervous system.[1] That term has been expanded to include the role of the gut flora in the interplay; the term microbiome-gut-brain axis is sometimes used to describe paradigms explicitly including the gut flora.[1][2][3] Broadly defined, the gut-brain axis includes the central nervous system, neuroendocrine and neuroimmune systems including the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis (HPA axis), sympathetic and parasympathetic arms of the autonomic nervous system including the enteric nervous system and the vagus nerve, and the gut microbiota.[1][3]

This makes me highly suspicious of a possible link between POIS and autoimmunity related to the microbiome-gut brain axis. In particular, there has been increasing awareness regarding a condition named leaky gut syndrome, which occurs when intestinal permability is present in the body. Basically, we all have tight junctions in our bowels which keep our bugs from leaking outside our intestinal walls, and in the healthy individual with no signs of autoimmunity, these areas are often working as normal. For those of us who have loose junctions (intestinal permability), bugs may leak from inside the bowel and travel throughout the system/bloodstream as toxins, and causes the body to pretty much go haywire and attack itself. This is what autoimmunity is – when one’s immune system becomes compromised. As the gut has a special connection to the brain (mentioned before in regards to the gut-brain axis), sufferers of leaky gut syndrome may become victim to not only primary effects (gastrointestinal symptoms) secondary effects of what is happening in the gut wall – (POIS, CFS, Fibromyalgia, eczema, autism, etc.)

If this argument is indeed spot on, the health game will turn upside down. I strongly believe that conditions like CFS, Fibromyalgia – (which all have unknown causes as identified by the medical and scientific community by the way) wont really exist anymore and doctors will find out that they are misclassified – as the root cause is likely intestinal permeability. Stay tuned for my round 2 FMT progress…

POINT 2:

I went to see an immunologist about 12 months ago in order to further explore my treatment options. She believed that my symptoms were real, and offered a trial and error experiment to rule out whether or not POIS is indeed triggered by an allergy, rather than other factors. She recommended 3 treatment options in order, and advised to move to the next option if the prior had failed:

i) Antihistamines (to be specific, “cetirizine”, otherwise known as Zyrtec) – 10mg tablet daily + 10mg extra tablet immediately after ejaculation ii) 1 month trial of the following: Cetirizine (dosage as shown in option 1) + Montelukast (10mg, twice daily, this is a leukotriene receptor antagonist, which is an allergy medication used for the maintenance treatment of asthma and to relieve symptoms of seasonal allergies) iii) Prednisone (25mg) – 1 hour before ejaculation or immediately after – this drug is an anti-inflammatory steroidal medication used to treat many autoimmune diseases such as Ulcerative Colitis.

I tried Option 1 and found that my symptoms went down from 10 to about a 6 or 7. The fact that they had some effect was intriguing.

Did not experiment with Option 2 due to personal reasons (I am already medicated as it is having Ulcerative Colitis), but I indirectly did have to take Prednisone on my trip to USA as I fell ill. Funnily enough, when I took it I did proceed to ejaculate – no symptoms.

ARGUMENT 2:

This may indeed confirm that POIS is an autoimmune/inflammatory response by one’s own body as a result of ejaculation. Whether or not it is due to toxins from the colon leaking out and causing havoc throughout the body, is indeed unknown at this stage, but there is a strong case for the medical community to investigate over the next decade and beyond.

CONCLUSION: I believe one's personal experiences can change lives if utilized correctly. I will begin to take on the responsibility of working my absolute butt off to try and kill this thing for me, and hopefully you guys.

The fix hopefully is: FMT (restore the healthy balance of gut bacteria), lifelong avoidance of common allergens in the diet, daily consumption of prebiotic/probiotic rich foods (maintenance of new and improved gut bacteria), stress management techniques, daily supplemental intake (DHA/Omega 3, Q10, Multivitamin, Vit D, Tumeric Etc.)

Don't know for sure, but it seems that our' body's ability to recover and rejuvenate itself after strenuous biological processes is very poor. Post Exercise, Post Sex, etc, we don't seem to pick up very swiftly - takes a while. I am going to take a gamble for a year and hopefully I'm on the money - that it's gun/brain related.

No, I'm not a doctor, but I had the drive to take a stand and manage my Ulcerative Colitis when I was a teen, become an athlete and finish college, all with POIS. I will come up with something to hopefully find a solution for most of you, hopefully all of you. We are all strong enough to go about our daily lives carrying such a ridiculous load of physical, mental stress that none of you deserve, imagine how strong we will be when we cure this thing and come out of the other side vibrant and healthy.

Fight on and Take Care,

So basically he experienced short-term relief from POIS symptoms immediately after the FMT, but thinks he may not have followed the correct post FMT protocols of diet, not to travel, etc. FMT sounds very interesting for a potential POIS cure that may be more realistic.