Update: I got my fecal transplant via colonoscopy yesterday, at
this clinic outside Oslo, Norway. The clinic claims to be fairly cutting-edge in terms of its clinical approach to fecal transplants.
This was the process:
- I fasted the whole day before the treatment.
- To empty the digestive system prior to the procedure, I took Endofalk according to a specific schedule the day before the colonoscopy. It's used because its laxative effect doesn't persist after the colonoscopy.
- Two hours prior to the procedure, I took 4 2-mg tablets of Imodium, which is usually sold as an anti-diarrhea drug.
- Prior to the colonoscopy, they gave me intravenously a pain reliever, but also more importantly a drug that calms down and virtually immobilises the gut for a while. Can't recall the name of the drug.
- The colonoscopy itself was virtually painless and pretty quick. I could see the video stream from the colonoscopy camera in high resolution on two big screens. They soaked up any remaining liquid and fecal matter in the gut, before inserting the fecal matter via a tube
- I could see them insert the fecal matter into the tube via syringes. And wow, it was a lot! I'd say a quite full gut's worth of poop.
- During the colonoscopy and for the subsequent hour, they monitored me carefully and gave me some more Imodium and the drug whose name I can't recall to make sure it stayed in.
- I lay on a hospital bed on my right side for an hour after the treatment, followed by carefully walking around the clinic for a good while, to make sure I didn't have a bowel movement. Apparently the first couple of hours after they insert it are the most critical.
- All was well, and I went home. As instructed, I ate very very small meals at a 3-hour interval. They said I shouldn't continue fasting, because the new microbiota need nourishment.
- Now I've got to try and retain the fecal matter as long as possible, to let the new bacteria set up shop.
- Over the next two months, I've been instructed to stay away from processed food and food that would normally irritate my gut, such as gluten. This surprised me a little bit. Only after some time has passed should I try to introduce those foods.
Overall I'm super happy with the procedure, and confident that they are doing a good job applying the incomplete science of gut health in a clinical setting. They monitor the result of every treatment, and have a pretty high rate of symptom reduction or elimination. But it should be mentioned they only accept patients when they believe a fecal transplant can be successful. By far the biggest indication for that, according to them, is if the symptoms started after an antibiotics treatment. This is based on their own clinical research.
Ultimately it's a crap shoot (pun intended) as to whether it will relieve my IBS. And whether it'll help my POIS is yet another big question mark. They say it usually takes 2-3 weeks for IBS symptoms to clear up (if they do), and 2-3 months for cognitive and fatigue symptoms to go lessen or go away (again, if the treatment turns out to help).
Why they go for colonoscopy instead of gastroscopy is a bit of a long story. But they do offer the latter as well, it's just not the first thing they try for various reasons. If my treatment doesn't work, I'm tempted to go back and try fecal matter from a different donor, potentially with a different procedure. But let's see how I do first. In total the whole thing ended up costing about 26000 NOK including consultation and drugs.
NB! Do not try this at home! There is a billion reasons why it should be left to professionals IMO. Also, please note that I'm not advocating for FMT as a general POIS cure. It makes sense to try in my particular case because of IBS and a clear connection between gut symptoms and other POIS symptoms.Please post any questions in this thread. I don't read the forum regularly, so I'm likely to miss anything except DMs and posts in this thread.
