Stool Transplant...Not Looking So Gross Anymore...

I've written about stool transplants before.  But even since then, my perspective has changed from something abstract to something that's a personal possibility.

It's been a week and a half since my first Simponi injections, nothing has changed, and I know I'm teetering on the edge of hospitalization.  After more than a year on high doses of prednisone, I want to avoid getting back on that roller coaster.  There aren't a lot of options.

This article about FMT (fecal microbiota transplant) was in the New York Times yesterday.  In short, taking a healthy person's stool and "transplanting" it into a sick person's colon can populate the sick colon with healthy microbes.  And it seems to really work when all else has failed.

Next time I see my doctor, I'll be asking about this. (Is that how you know you're at the end of your rope?)

Simponi: Not A Moment Too Soon

Just last month, Simponi became the newest biologic to be approved by the FDA for ulcerative colitis. 

And as I'm in a downward spiral of a flare, I'll be switching to it as soon as my insurance approves it.  (Or, I should say, IF my insurance approves it...please, please, please.) I've been injecting two Humira pens every week; Simponi will be one syringe every month. So that's nice. But the real question is, "Will it work?"

Let's hope so. I'll keep you posted. 

The other new development (or at least, new to me) is that there's a blood test to see if you've built up antibodies to Humira.  It's really expensive, so I'm skipping it since it's pretty obvious the Humira has stopped working, but it's nice to know that option exists.

And finally, for anyone else pregnant/breast feeding and on biologics, my doctor is telling me to continue to breast feed when I switch to Simponi.  He says that if the drug could have an effect orally, we could take it by mouth, but it's very fragile and will not pass to baby. Again, let's hope so!