I have gotten many questions and comments on whether I am still symptom-free. I’m happy to say that I am still symptom-free and actually doing better than I was before getting Ulcerative Colitis. Today it will have been exactly 18 months since I did the last of my self-administered Fecal Transplants at home to cure myself of Ulcerative Colitis. I credit those who helped me along the way, including Dr. Barody for his article about how Fecal Transplant had been used to cure Ulcerative Colitis. Also to Dr. Colleen Kelly for talking to me on the phone and connecting me with others who I could talk to about this including Sky Curtis. Even though I ended up doing it myself without instead of with her I am still grateful for the time she took to help me and the information that she shared.

I also feel that there are several things that I did that might help others complete this procedure. This includes those who have had severe inflammation for an extended period of time and who also have a history of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). In my experience I was doing Fecal Transplants daily until I had a complete remission of symptoms including diarrhea, cramping and muscles spasm. However the addition of the anti-depressant drugs Doxepin and Bupropion Immediate Release caused an almost immediate remission of the remaining symptoms. I think this is because it sufficiently calmed the gut muscles enough to stop diarrhea and allow the new bacteria to finish establish themselves. This was after doing the Transplants on a daily basis for 5 weeks upon the advice of another person who successfully used Fecal Transplants who had done it for 3 months.

To this day I often take Valerian root extract to calm down for a good nights sleep. This also appears to help reduce occasional diarrhea and other IBS-like symptoms that I used to blame on eating certain foods. While I think diet definitely can play a role, I think calming the muscles and nerves in the core on a consistent basis is very helpful. I think it helps because it aids digestion. Whereas stress can cause indigestion because the body moves blood away from bodily functions like digestion. I think this good digestion and lack of any muscle spasms helps promote good, healthy gut bacteria as well. Then the good bacteria also helps digest foods as well as protect against infections.

I am gratified by the amount of attention Fecal Transplants or Fecal Microbiota Transplants been getting lately for Colitis caused by Clostridium Difficile however the next step is going to be more widely applying this therapy to illnesses like Ulcerative Colitis, Crohn’s Disease, Irritable Bowel Syndrome and even illnesses that are not directly related to the gut.

Why has this has not been more widely used for Ulcerative Colitis? The reason is that no single cause has been specifically identified as causing Ulcerative Colitis. I think it is possible that it is either an unidentified bacteria or a combination of several that is the problem. It could possibly be an unidentified bacteria that can also go dormant for extended period of time too. Once this illness has established itself it creates a self-perpetuating cycle in which the symptoms are also causes of the disease. This chicken and egg scenario is one where muscle spasms, diarrhea, malnutrition as well as the body’s inflammatory immune response and ulceration are not just symptoms of the illness but help perpetuate it as well.

In this scenario stress causes the body to go into a flight or fight response which causes indigestion. The indigestion causes either diarrhea or constipation. Then with diarrhea come muscle spasms and cramping. When there is diarrhea the body is more susceptible to bacterial infections or overgrowth of bacteria. The body attempts to fight these bacteria, however it can’t get the bacteria entirely under control. Toxins from “bad” bacteria cause inflammation and might also influence the body’s own immune response might create problems too. Damaged intestinal walls and diarrhea cause malabsorption and further ingestion.

So in summary, I think this is going to become increasingly popular for Ulcerative Colitis in the coming years.