# Fecal transplantation: Is it for you? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 10, 2011, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fecal-transplantation-is-it-for-you/567158 "2011-01-10T23:35:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fecal-transplantation-is-it-for-you/567158/61 "2011-01-18T22:06:52Z")
One thing, how come they can’t just take the bacteria from the aforementioned slurry and put it in a pill form? Hopefully a white or blue colored pill form. (Certainly not brown for goodness sakes.) ---
**Author:** ![taxi78cab](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47c2d/32.png) [@taxi78cab](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/taxi78cab)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fecal-transplantation-is-it-for-you/567158/62 "2011-01-18T23:18:37Z")
A woman from my church just had this done as an experimental procedure at the Mayo Clinic. She had the through-the-nose kind and said that was the worst part because she was awake, and it caused a horrible nose bleed that wouldn’t stop so they had to take it out and put it in the other side. She said there was horrible pain. That seems like the worst part. But this week in church she announced that her c. diff. was cured. So in the end I think she thought it was well worth it. Given that experience, I’d have to say that, yes, I would do it. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fecal-transplantation-is-it-for-you/567158/63 "2011-01-18T23:32:18Z")
> [@Locrian](#): > > One thing, how come they can’t just take the bacteria from the aforementioned slurry and put it in a pill form? Hopefully a white or blue colored pill form. (Certainly not brown for goodness sakes.) See Post #2 and #3 **in this very thread**. ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fecal-transplantation-is-it-for-you/567158/64 "2011-01-18T23:48:08Z")
Why has it fallen out of favor? ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fecal-transplantation-is-it-for-you/567158/65 "2011-01-18T23:53:34Z")
I’ve heard of it, and I’d have no problem doing it if my doctor thought it was the best course of action for whatever was ailing me. ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fecal-transplantation-is-it-for-you/567158/66 "2011-01-19T00:33:37Z")
> [@Askance](#): > > See Post #2 and #3 **in this very thread**. Sorry, Ask. I read the whole thread but didn’t realize they were talking pharmaceuticals. Shit. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fecal-transplantation-is-it-for-you/567158/67 "2011-01-19T00:38:09Z")
Never. I’m too old for that shit. ---
**Author:** ![llazzllo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a698b9/32.png) [@llazzllo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/llazzllo)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fecal-transplantation-is-it-for-you/567158/68 "2011-01-19T03:19:54Z")
Talked to my sister, she says she’s heard of it and wants to do it. (She’s been suffering from C. Diff for over a year now, and been hospitalized several times because of it.) Now the only problems are finding someone to perform the procedure, and someone to give a shit. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fecal-transplantation-is-it-for-you/567158/69 "2011-01-19T05:24:38Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Does anyone else picture a a tube going from one person’s ass to the other’s nose? > “Okay…you inhale and you push” Coming this summer… _The Human Centipede II: Now They’re Just Getting Silly_ ---
**Author:** ![alindallas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f17d59/32.png) [@alindallas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alindallas)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fecal-transplantation-is-it-for-you/567158/70 "2011-01-19T12:28:17Z")
Perhaps the real question here is whether you would rather have another person’s shit stuck in to you by your nose or up your ass. Hmmmmm. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fecal-transplantation-is-it-for-you/567158/71 "2011-01-19T12:54:27Z")
> [@alindallas](#): > > Perhaps the real question here is whether you would rather have another person’s shit stuck in to you by your nose or up your ass. Hmmmmm. Assuming \*\*Irishman \*\*is correct and the ass route is more like a colonoscopy than an enema, I’d be sorely tempted to take the NG tube. Not that NG tubes are fun, but colonoscopies looks pretty dreadful. OTOH, they give you Versed for up the butt stuff, so that’s a plus… ---
**Author:** ![senpai71](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7993a0/32.png) [@senpai71](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/senpai71)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fecal-transplantation-is-it-for-you/567158/72 "2011-01-19T17:49:49Z")
> [@appleciders](#): > > Why has it fallen out of favor? Same reason leeches and maggot therapy fell out of favor: we figured we could do it better, faster, cheaper and without the ick factor. Then we realized that the ‘natural’ way (and obviously shoving someone else’s poo up your own back end isn’t really ‘natural’, but you get my point) actually worked better. ---
**Author:** ![cantara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6f9a4e/32.png) [@cantara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cantara)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fecal-transplantation-is-it-for-you/567158/73 "2011-01-19T18:10:44Z")
[))\<\>((](http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8702563628543862383) video (little kids talking) [))\<\>((](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Me_and_You_and_Everyone_We_Know) wikipedia source ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fecal-transplantation-is-it-for-you/567158/74 "2011-01-19T19:32:20Z")
> [@appleciders](#): > > Why has it fallen out of favor? It fell out of favor because of the ick factor and because antibiotics were thought to be an easy, more clean route to accomplishing the goal. Antibiotics were the wonder tool. What they have discovered is that sometimes antibiotics doesn’t work - it kills the good, and the bad is getting resistant. Ergo, dig up an old option and see if it works. Hey, it does. Crap, now we’re back to dealing with the ick factor. ---
**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fecal-transplantation-is-it-for-you/567158/75 "2011-01-20T02:48:04Z")
They could take reasonable steps to reduce the ick factor. 1. color the fluid so that it is not recognizable. 2. deoderize the fluid. There may be a few ways to do this. A quick vacuum should remove a lot of the stronger odors without killing the bacteria. Throw in a mild perfume. 3. change the damned name and call the fluid something happy. Actually, I wonder if there could be a quick way to put the fluid in water soluble capsules. Then the whole tube to the throat thing wouldn’t be needed. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fecal-transplantation-is-it-for-you/567158/76 "2011-01-20T22:47:19Z")
I was kinda wondering the same thing (gelcaps). I’d rather have to swallow a horse pill or two than endure the tube. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fecal-transplantation-is-it-for-you/567158/77 "2011-01-20T22:54:59Z")
> [@WarmNPrickly](#): > > 1. change the damned name and call the fluid something happy. Craptabs? Stooltastic? Bowelblow? Fecalflex? Shitrax? Restorpoo? ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2011, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fecal-transplantation-is-it-for-you/567158/78 "2011-01-21T01:44:36Z")
> [@Locrian](#): > > One thing, how come they can’t just take the bacteria from the aforementioned slurry and put it in a pill form? Hopefully a white or blue colored pill form. (Certainly not brown for goodness sakes.) > [@Askance](#): > > See Post #2 and #3 **in this very thread**. > [@Locrian](#): > > Sorry, Ask. I read the whole thread but didn’t realize they were talking pharmaceuticals. They weren’t talking about pills in posts 2 and 3. I’d like to know the answer to your question also. I’ll also ask **Qadgop the Mercotan** , do I get to pick the donor? Cause it’d be a lot less icky if I knew the donor was my wife, and not maybe some homeless guy trying to earn a few bucks… ---
**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2011, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fecal-transplantation-is-it-for-you/567158/79 "2011-01-21T03:52:43Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > I was kinda wondering the same thing (gelcaps). I’d rather have to swallow a horse pill or two than endure the tube. Yes. Maybe you have a gelcap tube that you fill with the poo, then a machine that twists off segments like a hot dog. Voila! You have pills filled with poo. It should be simple enough to do that any doctors office could have one. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2011, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fecal-transplantation-is-it-for-you/567158/80 "2011-01-21T04:07:21Z")
I can do that without a machine. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fecal-transplantation-is-it-for-you/567158.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fecal-transplantation-is-it-for-you/567158.md?page=5)