Hi all.
Today was my first of ten FMT sessions at Taymount Clinic and I thought I would document my experience as it may help others to decide if this treatment is worth a shot. At the moment, I don't think I'm going to do daily updates as I'm sure the procedure for the following days will be more or less the same, so I will just make notes as they come.
Quick background
IBS-D for at least 10 years. Diagnosed through exclusion of IBD and other known causes of intestinal upset. Have had every test, scope and scan known to man, and the most I have been told is that I have SIBO, fructose malabsorption, and IBS-D. I have tried every medication available in both Australia and Canada, have spend thousands on supplements (inc probiotics, prebiotics et al), given diets like SCD, FODMAP, Candida diet and many many more a long and serious go, but the only relief I've ever had is from plain old Imodium and chicken and rice. I believe my IBS-D may have been brought on by repeated use of antibiotics as a child.
Initial Consultation
In order to get treatment, you first need to set up a phone or Skype session with the clinic to determine if you are suitable for treatment. They will ask you for a brief history of your illness and diagnosis, tell you about the treatment, it's response rates and will let you know if they think you are a suitable patient. They are not pushy and don't attempt to get you to make a decision then and there. If they believe you are a good fit, they leave it up to you to contact them again to give the go ahead. They say about a third of people notice an improvement very quickly, another third over the next few months and the final third longer or potential not at all. Something to note though is that Dr Thomas Borody, a leader in FMT treatments says that even the most stubborn cases can be resolved over two years of intermittent treatment.
Preparation
There are three different ways to prepare for the treatment.
I chose the second option, but erred on the side of caution and got 3 colonics in the 3 weeks prior to the treatment, and MoviPrep 2 days prior. If you haven't taken MoviPrep before, it is much easier than PegLyte etc. Something I will note here is that Newbery Clinic in Argentina do not recommend any bowel cleansing, and the Australian clinics only require it if your treatment is via colonoscopy.
Clinic
The clinic is located about a 4 minute bus ride or 10 minute walk from Letchworth train station, which is about 24 minutes by train from King's Cross London. I am staying in Stevenage which is two towns over, as there is more accommodation choices, and better access to supermarkets and transport. Stevenage is a 10 minute train ride to Letchworth. It is recommended that you stay nearby, so Letchworth, Hitchin, Baldock and Stevenage are your best options. The clinic is very professional in appearance, somewhat similar to a private day-surgery/naturopath. Each patient is assigned a nurse/therapist that you'll have the entire treatment. The treatments take place in what is more or less a private hospital room, with private washroom and hospital bed.
Day One
I'm going to skip through all the greetings etc and get straight to the treatment. Before you arrive they email you a timetable of what time your session will be each day. The first session is approx 2 hours long, with the rest being 1 hour. You are given a fairly thorough information pack including recommendations during treatment (ie, no large meals immediately prior to treatment), dietary and supplement recommendations post treatment, information on the microbiome and a lot more. The first part of the session is a gentle colonic. Mine was only about 20 minutes long but depending on what's required it can be up to 45 minutes. Their colonic machines looked very advanced and were more comfortable than the colonics I received at home. They then insert a small catheter, send the implant through, then remove the catheter. The bed is tilted so that your head is lower than your feet and you spend 10 minutes on your back while the therapist massages your stomach, followed by 10 minutes on your left side, then 10 minutes on your right side. I was given a prebiotic sachet to take with dinner, and advised not to eat or exercise excessively for the next few hours to avoid a bowel movement. At that point you can get dressed and leave at your leisure. My therapist mentioned that some people can only hold it for the 30 minutes which is enough time, whereas some others can hold it all day. I spent an extra 30 minutes at the clinic to make sure I didn't have any sudden urges then walked the 10 minutes back to the station, and took the train back to Stevenage. Thankfully most of the trains have washrooms so if you have an urge while commuting, you've got somewhere to go. I was able to hold it in for about 3 hours.
Some Notes
The founders, Dr Enid Taylor and Mr Glenn Taylor run a weekly presentation and discussion at the clinic every Tuesday open to all current and past patients.
I tried to ask some questions but I'm still fighting jet lag so I'm not on point at the moment. I asked if they've noticed if FMT works better for those with IBS-D over IBS-C (which is something I've noticed through other clinical reports like Dr Thomas Borody, and DIY patient reports). The therapist said she didn't notice it working better for one subset over the other.
I also asked if the donor stools are tested for strength and diversity of the microbiome, and was advised that they were not. This surprised me because something on their website lead me to believe that they did test bacterial strength. I will try to find this and ask them about it again.
I'm meaning to ask them what excludes potential donors from donating. The answer is more or less on their website (people with any health problems, illnesses and infections, recent antibiotic use, those who eat limited diets, those who have traveled to particular countries recently). However I want to find out how they make sure potentially unsuitable donors don't just lie about eating diverse foods, or antibiotic history etc.
Also, many people trying DIY FMT have noticed that exposing the stool to oxygen while blending it (etc) has a negative effect on the anaerobic bacteria. I will try and ask about their preparation methods and how they protect against this.
That's all I have for now. Hope this is of some help to those considering FMT.
Today was my first of ten FMT sessions at Taymount Clinic and I thought I would document my experience as it may help others to decide if this treatment is worth a shot. At the moment, I don't think I'm going to do daily updates as I'm sure the procedure for the following days will be more or less the same, so I will just make notes as they come.
Quick background
IBS-D for at least 10 years. Diagnosed through exclusion of IBD and other known causes of intestinal upset. Have had every test, scope and scan known to man, and the most I have been told is that I have SIBO, fructose malabsorption, and IBS-D. I have tried every medication available in both Australia and Canada, have spend thousands on supplements (inc probiotics, prebiotics et al), given diets like SCD, FODMAP, Candida diet and many many more a long and serious go, but the only relief I've ever had is from plain old Imodium and chicken and rice. I believe my IBS-D may have been brought on by repeated use of antibiotics as a child.
Initial Consultation
In order to get treatment, you first need to set up a phone or Skype session with the clinic to determine if you are suitable for treatment. They will ask you for a brief history of your illness and diagnosis, tell you about the treatment, it's response rates and will let you know if they think you are a suitable patient. They are not pushy and don't attempt to get you to make a decision then and there. If they believe you are a good fit, they leave it up to you to contact them again to give the go ahead. They say about a third of people notice an improvement very quickly, another third over the next few months and the final third longer or potential not at all. Something to note though is that Dr Thomas Borody, a leader in FMT treatments says that even the most stubborn cases can be resolved over two years of intermittent treatment.
Preparation
There are three different ways to prepare for the treatment.
- Daily magnesium salts capsules (Oxyklenz) for the 4 weeks prior to treatment followed by a colonic 10 days prior to treatment. The magnesium salts will cause softer stools, so perhaps this prep is more idyllic to IBS-C patients.
- 1 or 2 colonics 10 days prior to treatment followed by MoviPrep solution 2 days prior to treatment.
- 3 colonics provided by Taymount clinic in the days immediately prior to your treatment. The last option is an additional charge and adds to the waiting time.
I chose the second option, but erred on the side of caution and got 3 colonics in the 3 weeks prior to the treatment, and MoviPrep 2 days prior. If you haven't taken MoviPrep before, it is much easier than PegLyte etc. Something I will note here is that Newbery Clinic in Argentina do not recommend any bowel cleansing, and the Australian clinics only require it if your treatment is via colonoscopy.
Clinic
The clinic is located about a 4 minute bus ride or 10 minute walk from Letchworth train station, which is about 24 minutes by train from King's Cross London. I am staying in Stevenage which is two towns over, as there is more accommodation choices, and better access to supermarkets and transport. Stevenage is a 10 minute train ride to Letchworth. It is recommended that you stay nearby, so Letchworth, Hitchin, Baldock and Stevenage are your best options. The clinic is very professional in appearance, somewhat similar to a private day-surgery/naturopath. Each patient is assigned a nurse/therapist that you'll have the entire treatment. The treatments take place in what is more or less a private hospital room, with private washroom and hospital bed.
Day One
I'm going to skip through all the greetings etc and get straight to the treatment. Before you arrive they email you a timetable of what time your session will be each day. The first session is approx 2 hours long, with the rest being 1 hour. You are given a fairly thorough information pack including recommendations during treatment (ie, no large meals immediately prior to treatment), dietary and supplement recommendations post treatment, information on the microbiome and a lot more. The first part of the session is a gentle colonic. Mine was only about 20 minutes long but depending on what's required it can be up to 45 minutes. Their colonic machines looked very advanced and were more comfortable than the colonics I received at home. They then insert a small catheter, send the implant through, then remove the catheter. The bed is tilted so that your head is lower than your feet and you spend 10 minutes on your back while the therapist massages your stomach, followed by 10 minutes on your left side, then 10 minutes on your right side. I was given a prebiotic sachet to take with dinner, and advised not to eat or exercise excessively for the next few hours to avoid a bowel movement. At that point you can get dressed and leave at your leisure. My therapist mentioned that some people can only hold it for the 30 minutes which is enough time, whereas some others can hold it all day. I spent an extra 30 minutes at the clinic to make sure I didn't have any sudden urges then walked the 10 minutes back to the station, and took the train back to Stevenage. Thankfully most of the trains have washrooms so if you have an urge while commuting, you've got somewhere to go. I was able to hold it in for about 3 hours.
Some Notes
The founders, Dr Enid Taylor and Mr Glenn Taylor run a weekly presentation and discussion at the clinic every Tuesday open to all current and past patients.
I tried to ask some questions but I'm still fighting jet lag so I'm not on point at the moment. I asked if they've noticed if FMT works better for those with IBS-D over IBS-C (which is something I've noticed through other clinical reports like Dr Thomas Borody, and DIY patient reports). The therapist said she didn't notice it working better for one subset over the other.
I also asked if the donor stools are tested for strength and diversity of the microbiome, and was advised that they were not. This surprised me because something on their website lead me to believe that they did test bacterial strength. I will try to find this and ask them about it again.
I'm meaning to ask them what excludes potential donors from donating. The answer is more or less on their website (people with any health problems, illnesses and infections, recent antibiotic use, those who eat limited diets, those who have traveled to particular countries recently). However I want to find out how they make sure potentially unsuitable donors don't just lie about eating diverse foods, or antibiotic history etc.
Also, many people trying DIY FMT have noticed that exposing the stool to oxygen while blending it (etc) has a negative effect on the anaerobic bacteria. I will try and ask about their preparation methods and how they protect against this.
That's all I have for now. Hope this is of some help to those considering FMT.
