Little enemies within
Posted on October 18th, 2008 – 9:00 PMBy Josephine Marcotty
It is true, as it says on my blog bio, that I can talk about anything. Even stool transplants. I do have sensibilities, but they’re overpowered by my fascination for the ingenuity of biology.
I first heard about stool transplants from my brother-in-law, who is an infectious disease doctor. He’d heard about it at a medical conference. What struck me at the time is that my brother-in-law thought it was a badly needed solution to a really tough medical problem caused by that sneaky little bug known as Clostridium difficile. (C. difficile for short.)
They look kind of pretty here, don’t they?
photomicrograph of Clostridium difficile bacteria
Hard to imagine that they could wreak such havoc inside the large intestine.
What really amazed me was the brilliance of the treatment – aiding the good guys in the fight for survival of the fittest inside our intestines. I mean, once you get through the disgust aspect of it, a stool transplant is really an elegant medical idea. It’s cheap, readily available, and simple.
Think about it. There’s now a huge industry out there now to sell us pro-biotics, supplements that contain the beneficial bacteria that supposedly keep us healthy. But those supplements contain a fraction of the bacteria we need. One doctor called a stool transplant “the ultimate pro-biotic.”
So what do you think? Is there anything else you’d like to know about the procedure, the infection, the patients who experienced it? Ask away. I’ll answer as many questions as I can here on Monday.
15 Responses to "Little enemies within"
Many people already know that if you take antibiotics, you better be taking probiotics with them. The last thing you’d be doing is taking another round of antibiotics to kill an infection caused by taking them in the first place. This situation seems like it could have been avoided altogether if this were done.
I had a “Partial Ileal Bypass” surgery 31 monthas ago and have had diarrhea every day since then. Do you think this procedure might be the answer to my prayers as well??
I had such a transplant after suffering from C-Diff for a very long time, all other treatments failed. They work and they work fast - miraculously. The good doctor is right and I applaud his logical thinking and open mindedness - it’s a cheap and very effective solution, especially when compared to Vancocin (the standard treatment), which is 36$ a pill and I was taking eight of these pills a day for most of a year. I wish more people did transplants and more doctors and patients were comfortable with them. After six months of C-Diff I found out about transplants and it took me a year to get a doctor to do one. I also wish more doctors simply understood C-Diff better and listened to their patients. In my experience, most doctors are woefully out of touch and cannot think independently. This is the first really frightening illness I’ve ever had and I’m beyond frustrated to have found out how little some doctors actually know about their specialties. I pray I’m never fully at their mercy. The first doctor I asked to help me get a transplant told me it sounded like voodoo and declined even to test my donor, my boyfriend, for pathogens - AFTER I explained the logic behind the procedure and printed out information from the internet for her to read. When I went back to her after having had the transplant - no thanks to her, and after I’d put weight back on and was feeling great she turned to her assistant and said, “She drank poop for her C-Diff”. Jack_ss. I see she read the information carefully. God help us.
What are the tests used to determine the infectious agent? I have has so many and everythiin is “normal”. What are some of the other symptoms - pain? food allergies? any additional links that might be helpful, thanks so very much, Jack.
Ruby, first I have to remind you that I’m not a doctor — I just talk to them a lot. My guess is that your bypass surgery shortened your intestinal tract. If that’s the case, I think it’s unlikely a transplant would work unless you have a C. dif infection. JM
Jack, to test for C.dif, I think they culture a stool sample and see if it grows. Have your doctors tested specifically for C. Dif? For other pathogens? You can check out the CDC’s information at http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dhqp/id_cdiff.html
Also, you check out the C. diff support site, http://www.cdiffsupport.com
C. Black, pro-biotics can be helpful, but medical scientists know so little about the gut flora that they may not know which pro-biotics you need, or which microorganisms are destroyed by antibiotics. As they always say, “more research is needed.” JM
Mishka’s Mom, I’m so glad you had the wherewithal to pursue the treatment. Your story sounds a lot like what I heard from the patients I talked to. A lot of them were dismissed by their doctors at first. But acceptance is growing, especially among infectious disease doctors. JM
After 2weeks of IV vancomyicin from 2 different hospitals I got the “runs” for 3 months…lost 30 lbs. was so weak..thought I was going to die! I went to the Mayo Clinic, What a joke..they said nothings wrong with me..its all in my head? Another clinic said I may have “C. diff” but never gave me any treatment! Not one hospital ever told me about “probiotics”. Still suffering from 7/07…
Mark, have you asked a gastroenterologist or infectious disease doctor to test you for the bug? There are some antibiotics that are the first line treatment for it. JM
Do you think this procedure might also be helpful in treating a person with Irritable Bowel Syndrome?
Antoinette, sorry, I didn’t see your question until today. At this point, no, they are not doing anything like this for irritable bowel syndrome. But I think medical researchers are curious about whether bacteria play a role in that condition as well. If so, they will find that out at some point. JM
I had Cdiff 2yrs ago. Was the single worst thing that has ever happened to me. I truely thought I was going to “poop” myself to death. I also had no knowledge of probiotics.
This procedure would not help someone with IBS. I now have really bad IBS because of Cdiff.
How many colors does it come in?
I have a bad case of colinitis do you think that would c-diff would have played a factor still recovering from it as we speak I would be curios to know I’m 34 and my doctor thinks I have ulceritive colitous never really had a problem till now.
I need to try this!!! Can someone please provide name(s) of MN doctors who test and perform this? Any in the metro or just the doctors in Duluth?
I have/had colitis and have been in remission for 1 year until I took the antibiotic z-pack for an upper respiratory infec and I’ve had colitis like symptoms ever since. I’ve read z-pack can induce c-diff complications.
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