FMT Safety Procedures Summary

Disclaimer

Do not do this yourself.

I am not a doctor. I. AM. NOT. A. DOCTOR.

This is not medical advice. And I don’t mean this as a bla bla bla cover my ass thing. I mean it.

_ Do not follow this. _

This document is here to illustrate the extent to which I took precautions because of the risks and lack of safety studies in doing an [animal sourced FMT]. I want to help medical researchers and trained doctors work toward proper human safety trials and push this space forward. I am releasing this document specifically to avoid putting people at risk.

This is not instructions. Treating them as such may lead to your death or worse. Please do not.

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There is currently NO DATA on the safety of using animal-sourced feces for FMT in humans. No studies have been conducted to understand potential risks like allergic reactions, transmission of zoonotic diseases, or unintended long-term health impacts. Proceeding without data carries unknown and potentially irreversible health consequences.

When I did my risky n-of-1 FMT from an animal source, I took extreme precautions and sought out to cover as many of the risks as I could. But unlike human trials, where there is a track record of safety when done using screened donors and under medical supervision, doing a DIY one is a different issue and much more risky and have had had lead to sepsis and death. And my thing wasn’t even a human DIY option.

As far as I can tell I was the first person who’s tried doing this with animal sources, if you don’t count ancient medical techniques that we’ve lost to time. I had to make this up as I went and am certain I missed things and made mistakes. This is why I want to get actual scientists involved and get legitimage research done.

Also, while I have spent a lot of time exploring this space, these precautions are heavily informed by my own obsessive tracking of my health and my particular circumstances (both health issues and environmental circumstances. I have been working diligently on my own health issues as basically a full time job since 2014, and even literally was employed as a independent (medical) research assistant for part of it. My life has been dedicated to this space and even then this is not something I can recommend to anyone.

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I did this fully knowing the risks. As I said on my twitter:

“To be very clear. I was willing to die. I didn’t want to die, and I took precautions… But even FDA approved FMT donors can be unsafe. If you think some random autistic guy eating dog shit is medical advice… Please get help. Drug-Resistant E. coli Bacteremia Transmitted by Fecal Microbiota Transplant”

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I have been hoping to work with medical researchers to try and get proper safety trials done before releasing the process to the public for review. My expectation is that in explaining how seriously I took this process I can dissuade people from doing it themselves.

Any specific details I provide about my experimental trial process are being shared solely for the purposes of:

• EDUCATING MEDICAL RESEARCHERS about what has already been undertaken so they can design safe clinical studies.

• Advancing scientific understanding of the potential risks and unknowns involved with animal-sourced FMT.

Under no circumstances should the information I provide be interpreted as medical advice or instructions for others to attempt on their own. I am not endorsing or recommending self-experimentation. The goal is responsible discussion and research under medical oversight, not dangerous replication of my methods.

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Due to the complete lack of safety research, animal-sourced FMT should ONLY ever be administered as part of a strictly controlled clinical trial under close MEDICAL SUPERVISION. It would be irresponsible and dangerous to attempt this without oversight from trained doctors and researchers. To wit: I am an idiot, and what I did was very foolish.

If you are facing something that is debilitating and you think might be treatable by an FMT, please find a doctor who can help you perform one from a properly screened human donor.

If you are facing a serious medical condition, I strongly advise DISCUSSING ALL TREATMENT OPTIONS with your LICENSED HEALTHCARE PROVIDER before considering or experimenting with any alternative therapies. Self-treatment carries too many risks compared to evidence-based care from medical experts.

Relevant Background and Caveats

Do not try this.

This is not intended to be instructions. It meant to be informative of what I did. No more, no less.

I do not recommend replicating anything within this document. I am merely documenting what I did in my trial. My hope is that by getting enough details written down, saner minds can use this to do more formal investigations and perform the needed safety trials under medical supervision.

I am a 30+ year old autistic male (assigned male at birth). I have an autism diagnosis. My main special interest the past few years has been with gut microbes and related. I have a social support network that allows me to communicate via text for when my words fail me. I also do not have access or a means to access healthcare and am largely living in poverty. I am unemployed and unable to get on disability. I have been living off of donations and with a very understanding significant other. I considered this a ‘method of last resort’, and not something to be taken lightly.

I spent the past 8 or so years of my life hyper-focusing on quantified self measurements for my own health issues. I have done less risky experiments in the past I am intimately aware of problems associated with my bowels and have spent a considerable amount of time experimenting with things that impact them. To emphasize my knowledge about myself and extent of my self-obsession in this space: I have even gone as far as successfully predicting my own genetics relevant to autoimmune related gut issues / mental health factors.

I do not recommend doing this trial on your own, or on another individual, or at all. But especially if the person doing the trial does not have the ability to express themselves. I do not recommend this trial to be done on children. Gut microbiome research on children is still in it’s infancy and disrupting the normal development of the gut may lead to any number of complications, up to and including death.

Even as an adult this is an extremely risky thing to do. FMTs are still new and risk-prone even in human-to-human forms. I do not know of any studies, nor active trials, experimenting with animal feces for human use.

There is very little that can be referred to for how to perform such an FMT safely. While there is a large number of examples showing the use animal products within historical medicine (even showing up in Pliny the Elder’s writing), these techniques have long since been lost to time. I largely made up this process up as I went based on my own intuition and obsessives focus on my own health. Extension of this process to anybody else will be fraught with unknown perils that I can not foresee. So to reiterate: these are not instructions and I am not intending for you to replicate what I did.

Running into complications here is highly likely to be life threatening. And as this involves the gut microbiome, even if you do not die„. unforeseen circumstance may rise that could lead to great suffering. Mental health outcomes potentially include up to and including depression and psychosis. Likewise there is a high risk of parasites and pathogenic strains of bacteria/fungus taking over your system, with potentially irreversible lifelong consequences.

I did this process fully willing to die, and was willing to deal with these results should they have arisen.

Pre-FMT Preparations

This section outlines the steps taken in the year leading up to the FMT trial to establish a baseline level of health and recover gut function. Equipment was purchased to thoroughly monitor vital signs and detect any potential issues. Baseline data was collected on key indicators over one month.

• Spent 1 year recovering gut health and stabilizing Crohn’s symptoms (promote gut barrier integrity)
• Selected feces that had been screened for parasites, metagenomically tested for various pathogens, and manually inspected to ensure no parasite eggs were present.
• Tested the FMT pills on our household dog who had weird leg problems and gut health challenges
• Purchased $200 of vital monitoring equipment
  • SPO2 monitor (can do heart rate as well)
  • Blood pressure monitoring cuff
  • 2 different body temperature sensors
  • Grip strength measurement tool
  • Ketone test strips
• Researched antibiotics/medications for potential sepsis
• Established 1 month baseline of:
  • Vitals (to track for potential sepsis onset through fever/changes)
  • Mental state (to monitor for cognitive/mood changes)
  • Sleep (changes can indicate issues, manage non-24hr syndrome)
  • Diet/hydration (ensure proper nourishment, rule out deficiencies)
  • Bowel movements & Bladder Function
• Sought out a competent person to check for flaws in the plan and used that person to objectively assess progress
  • Identified 3 additional safety contacts to receive daily updates on my status
• Measured mental state twice daily using online tools ( https://humanbenchmark.com/ )
  • A memory test
  • A reaction time test
  • A Stroop test
  • Typing skill test
• Already tracked sleep as part of managing non-24hr syndrome
• Spent time to ensure I had systems in place to ensure regular access to food and sleep
  • Acquired a new refrigerator (thank you donators!)
  • Acquired and set up storage bin for dried goods
• Rearranged my living environment to make it very easy to consistently take measurements.
  • Moved my bed and desk to ensure I could take measurements immediately upon waking
  • Acquired storage bins to keep vital measurements at hand
  • Set up a space in the bathroom to ensure consistent measurements there
• Told my closest family that I was going to do it, my rationale, and how I might die
  • Told them I loved them.

Emergency Failsafe

• Set up a protocol for ending the trial early, with progressively stronger steps taken depending on the reason why.
  • Simple fasting
  • Fasting + Lots of garlic and other herbal antibiotics known to promote gut stability
  • Forced bowel voiding thru herbal remedies (experience with these in treating Crohn’s related diarrhea/constipation played a role here)
  • Using red wine as a gut voiding and antibiotic tool (have experience with doing this safely from a previous experiment)
  • Pharmaceutical Antibiotics from a clinic + Fasting
  • Go to an ER

During FMT Trial

Procedures followed during the active trial period are described here, including slow dosage escalation with continuous monitoring. Daily recordings of all tracked measures were shared with designated safety contacts.

• Slowly ramped up dosing while continuously monitoring for fever
• Sent daily recordings of all monitored items to contacts
  • Weekly mental health tests and regular contact
• Maintained access to sepsis treatments
• Ensured reliable nutrition through-out

Post-FMT Monitoring

Continued tracking after the trial concluded is explained to check for lingering effects and confirm stability. Maintaining diet to provide support to the developing gut microbiota.

• Continued frequent monitoring and logging of all items
• Consistency in nourishment to support gut bacteria

Additional Testing

Pre- and post-trial microbiome assays via stool sample analysis specified to objectively track changes and rule out undesirable shifts.

• Pre and post Viome health + gut microbiome tests(to verify FMT engraftment and detect undesirable shifts)
• Pre Psomagen gut test to confirm Viome was reliable.

Monitoring Details

Specific parameters logged on a daily basis are explained, covering stool characteristics, urinary markers, and other bodily functions/sensations.

• Logging and rating stools for liver/gut health (Bristol scale, color changes from normal, abnormal mucus or digestion issues)
• Logging urinary parameters (observe for dehydration, infections from frequency, color abnormalities)
• Logging libido/arousal (note if hormone fluctuations impact health/behavior)

Safety Contact Details

The section provides context on communicating the thorough monitoring plans to designated contacts for added oversight of health and well-being.

• Monitoring plans explained to contacts
• Who to call that lives with me, to get me help if there is a concern
• Explain what would constitute a problem
  • Lack of daily responses (with respect to my sleep challenges)
  • Upward or downward trends in my vitals that raise concern
  • Changes in my communication style or difficulty speaking / writing
• A detailed list of what I was taking and when, my existing health concerns, and other important details should I be incapacitated and need to be brought to the ER
• Decided on a plan if something unforeseen should occur

Miscellaneous Thoughts:

Vital Signs Monitoring

• Track for potential onset of sepsis through fever or changes in HR, BP, etc.

Mental State Tracking

• Monitor for any cognitive/mood changes that could impact safety decision making

Sleep Logging

• Changes in sleep can be early indicator of issues, important for managing non-24hr syndrome related issues around jet-lag and circadian rhythm related changes to vitals.

Diet/Hydration Tracking

• Ensure proper nourishment for gut and rule out nutrient deficiencies

Stool Monitoring

• Track liver and gut health through Bristol scale, color changes from normal

Urinary Parameters

• Observe for dehydration or infections through frequency and color abnormalities

Libido/Arousal Logging

• Note in case of potential hormone fluctuations impacting health or behavior

Microbiome Testing

• Verify FMT engraftment and detect undesirable shifts not captured by other metrics

Contact Safety Plans

• Explain monitoring plans for extra oversight in case mental status declined