Woman Gets 'DIY Poop Transplant,' Ingests Pills with Brother's Fecal Matter to Combat IBS Symptoms

Daniell Koepke recounts her experience with a fecal microbiota transplant, or DIY poop transplant, after battling irritable bowel syndrome for years.

In the new Netflix documentary Hack Your Health: The Secrets of Your Gut, Koepke said that during her studies, she began to experience indigestion, stabbing pains from accumulated gas and severe constipation.

“It’s really hard for me to remember what it was like to eat food before it became associated with anxiety and pain and discomfort,” Koepke, a doctoral student in clinical psychology, said in the film.

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After five years of doctor visits and antibiotics that didn’t work, Koepke turned to a fecal microbiota transplant. According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, this procedure involves collecting feces, also known as stool or poop, from a healthy donor and introducing it into the gastrointestinal tract of a sick patient.

The transfer of fecal bacteria and other microbes from a healthy person to a sick person can help restore the balance of bacteria in the gut.

“There’s really compelling evidence for fecal microbiome transplantation, but the science is still evolving. We’re still working to see if there really is a benefit to larger populations and if the benefit is long-lasting,” Jack Gilbert, a microbial ecologist at UC San Diego, says in the documentary .

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Although the proposals were initially rejected, Koepke, feeling as if she had exhausted all other options, went ahead with the process. At first, she took fecal transplant pills from her brother’s donated stool.

Prospective donors should not have been exposed to antibiotics in the past six months, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine. They should not be immunocompromised or at risk of infectious diseases and should not be living with chronic gastrointestinal disorders, such as inflammatory bowel disease.

After starting the procedure, Koepke gained weight and suffered from hormonal acne similar to her brother’s. Gilbert later informed Business Insider that bacteria present in the patient’s stool can affect the recipient’s body.

After that, Koepke decided to switch donors and used her boyfriend’s chair. However, not long after that, she experienced a depression similar to her boyfriend’s. Reflecting on this, she noted, “Over time, I realized that my depression was worse than it had ever been in my life.”

Later, Koepke returned to her brother’s chair, noting in the documentary that her depression disappeared within a week.

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education