Comments on: Michael’s Story http://thepowerofpoop.com/fecal-transplant-success-story-5/ Promoting safe accessible fecal transplant Sat, 14 Mar 2015 10:03:41 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=4.1.1 By: Christian http://thepowerofpoop.com/fecal-transplant-success-story-5/#comment-1258 Mon, 09 Dec 2013 02:44:27 +0000 http://thepowerofpoop.com/?p=460#comment-1258 Hi Michael,
I am honestly thrilled to read that FMT has worked so well for you. What an amazing story. It really shows the importance of more people – laypeople as well as medical practitioners – becoming aware of this option and its potential. It would be wise of us to reconsider our disgust towards our most important allies: our gut microbes.
What I am really curious about after reading this article, is whether FMT has had any effect on the ADHD that you mention. I am aware, of course, that the ADHD has most likely not been your primary concern (taking into regard your other symptoms and the prospect of surgery). But apart from the great improvement of your gut health, perhaps you have noticed additional effects of the FMT in relation to your ADHD? There seems to be a recognition of the relation between our gut flora and the functioning of our minds. For example the connection between a compromised gut flora and autism is a recurring theme. I have not managed to find much on the topic of microbiota and ADHD, but I did come across one person raising the topic.
Doctor Natasha Campbell-McBride thus claims that the health of your gut is directly related to syndromes such autism, dyslexia, dyspraxia, depression, schizophrenia, ADD and ADHD. Her answers to these conditions are primarily dietary changes, and I must say that I am sceptical of the capacity of dietary changes to restore our gut flora. However, it seems to confirm that there is a relation between an unhealthy microbiota and ADHD, and that a healthy gut likewise could improve this condition.
I don’t know if you are aware of this particular research, but I have included some links here for you or anyone else who might be interested:
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/07/31/dr-natasha-campbell-mcbride-on-gaps-nutritional-program.aspx
http://www.westonaprice.org/childrens-health/gaps

This may not compare to a scientific study, but a lot of positive feed-back on the Amazon reviews of her book may suggest that at least some people can subscribe to her ideas:
http://www.amazon.com/Gut-Psychology-Syndrome-Depression-Schizophrenia/dp/0954852028/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1386554619&sr=8-1&keywords=gut+and+psychology+syndrome

Last year I was diagnosed with ADHD and I would be really interested in exploring the potential of FMT in helping me to deal with this diagnosis. My own hypothesis is that my lack of concentration, my restlessness, my awful working memory, fatigue etc. may be related to a compromised gut flora (perhaps not exclusively, but perhaps to some extent).
What gives me further reason to believe that I have a compromised gut flora is the nature of my bowel movements. While I cannot compare its severity to the stories that I come across here – including your own – I do experience very irregular bowel movements, bloatedness, stomach pains and other symptoms. Furthermore I have been developing several allergies over the years. As a young teenager I all of a sudden became allergic to cats, later pollen and grass, then dust, then wool… Last year I got eczema around the eyes, and then later on my body. The medical practitioners did of course not have any solution to that apart from treating the symptoms with topical steroids.
The connection between gut flora and allergy, I think, is nothing new:
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/448473

This article, which establishes a link between allergy and ADHD, is also quite interesting in this regard:
http://www.annallergy.org/article/S1081-1206(13)00357-8/abstract

Excuse my detour, I just wanted to paint a picture of a possible relation between ADHD and our gut flora to anyone who might be interested in exploring it. Let me get back to my initial question: have you experienced any changes to your ADHD-related symptoms since you started with FMT?

I hope that you will get to read this message. In any case, I am looking forward to hearing from you or any others who have an opinion on this matter.

kind regards
Christian

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