Home > Celiac Travel Blog > My Fecal Transplant (FMT) Treatment 17 Month Update
My Fecal Transplant (FMT) Treatment 17 Month Update
Published 23 February, 2015
TweetSince I posted my original video about my FMT (fecal microbiota transplant) treatment, many people have been in touch asking how I’m getting on now. I’ve tried to get back to people personally but I thought it would be easier and more helpful if I posted an update.
So here goes...
My diet is by no means where I want it to be, but I find it helpful to remind myself of the position I was in before I had the FMT treatment a year and a half ago. I only went for what I considered fairly radical treatment because I was at the end of my tether.
After many years with a steadily contracting diet, I had reached a stage where I thought I might soon be unable to eat anything without being made ill. After many disappointments over the years I went into FMT with as low expectations as possible. The result was literally life-changing for me.
So I could go on about how much more energy I have now and how much better my concentration and mood is, but you want the hard facts, so I figured the best evidence is the food I am eating now compared to before the FMT:
My food list before FMT treatment in October 2013
- Super-fresh ground beef (mince) - ‘super-fresh means supermarket-bought with at least 5 days left on the sell-by date.
- Super-fresh ground lamb.
- Sweet potatoes
- White potatoes
- Frozen spinach
- Beef dripping / tallow
- Olive oil
- Cooked carrots
- Cooked parsnips
- Cooked cabbage
Tasty eh? :-)
Food list after FMT treatment (Feb 2015)
When I started writing this, I realised it was going to get pretty long, so here’s a different approach…
I still can’t eat anything with much histamine in it, meaning aged meat, fish, some leaves etc. A little is OK, so I’ll have one or two rashers of bacon with breakfast or a small piece of ham or smoked salmon with lunch.
I also have to avoid the nightshade family apart from white potatoes, so no tomatoes or peppers. Again, a little raw in a salad is fine.
The best things that have come back into my diet are:
- Eggs
- Avocados
- Coconut milk
- White rice
- A little bacon!
- All salad vegetables - a massive raw salad every lunchtime seems to help with my health generally.
- Gf bread - I tend to steer clear generally but when travelling this is a godsend.
I can also generally eat out happily at restaurants. Pre-FMT this was impossible but now I can do a 5 day business trip and still have a functioning brain at the end of it.
No nuts, no grains, no pulses. Which is in line with the auto-immune paleo protocol.
Because of these ongoing restrictions, I've been back to the clinic twice for a single dose top up each time. I don't think these have made much of a difference. But here's what does...
Feed Your Bugs - Prebiotics FTW!
One thing I’ve learned from getting the FMT and becoming aware of all things bacterial is that bugs need fed. And I seem to do much better when I take care to feed my (donated) bugs. I do this with huge raw salads containing as many different varieties of vegetable as possible and by supplementing with prebiotics.
My favourite prebiotic is Biotagen - this one containing lactose I didn’t get on with at all. What also helps is resistant starch, which is making big news in the paleo world right now.
I’ll be testing out other prebiotics, and potentially some probiotics over the next few months, so I’ll let you know how that goes.
I hope this has been useful, and if you have any tips for me, please get verbal in the comments section.
The original FMT post is here.
