My 21 year old autistic son’s response to fmt at Dr Froomes office in Melbourne (2019) Paul Froomes, AU 

Paul Froomes, Queensland or Melbourne, AU

Archivist

Member
Joined
Jul 13, 2023
Messages
40
Ok so I am getting so many responses, questions, requests for pm that I’m having trouble keeping up. That’s good don’t hesitate to ask me anything I will try to answer, but I thought I’d try to get everybody some more information here. Ryan did 15 treatments at Dr Froomes office in Melbourne. After that we went home and tested a family member to be the donor. We have been doing it maybe 2 to 3 times a week for four more months, which I have estimated Has been about 50 treatments for Ryan. At this point we will probably do about one a week and start tapering down. This is an enormous amount but autism requires a lot of fmts compared to other illnesses fmt treats.

Next people are asking about his improvements. His autism was to me moderate. The school might say severe. He was in the lowest functioning classroom at an autism school. They call it life skills class. First and most obvious he has lost 45 lbs. His other improvements are much less stimming, like 90% less. For him stimming was constant vocalizing. He is much calmer, much less angry outbursts almost extinguished. His language is slowly improving;more complete sentences. He wants to be helpful and participate in the group instead of isolate from it. He had scratchy bumpy skin on his upper arms which is gone. His stool went from chronic diarrhea to type 3 or 4 stool and brown. It used to be pale or orangey. He’s so happy. He is still obsessive but less than before. I really don’t know how far this will take him. He is still autistic but doing the best he ever has. He’s 21 years old. I hope that answers and I will pm as I can to those who asked. I am posting this to encourage other parents out there and to encourage anyone who is considering fmt really. I’m so not used to being the one with a success story! I’ve been trying and failing since he was 2. When I heard about this I just knew it was the answer. His gut went wrong the same time as the autism happened. I wish everyone the best of luck!


Original 18 Dec 2019 (3 comments).
 
FMT Clinics
  1. I included all required info
I hope I'm not prying too much. My 2yo nephew is exhibiting signs of moderate to severe autism. I've read that it can be tied to the gut, so I'm trying to get all my ducks in a row to talk to me brother.

Did you do any stool testing prior to treatments? After? I saw someone commented about heavy metals and I didn't know if there's anything to that.

@Michael Harrop - What research is available on the autism and gut connection? I didn't notice much searching the site so maybe what I saw before was baseless.
 
For one thing, corelation does not always equal causation. It might be possible that autism causes those changes in gut microbiome and not the other way around. Autistics for example are picky eaters which does impact the microbiome.

Are you sure that the relationship between gut microbiome and autism is causal? Autism is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder that is caused by alternations in brain development occuring already before birth, I am a bit skeptical that shoveling someone else's poop down one's intestine can reverse such deeply rooted changes.
 
For one thing, corelation does not always equal causation. It might be possible that autism causes those changes in gut microbiome and not the other way around.
This sounds like you did not adequately review the cited material.

Are you sure that the relationship between gut microbiome and autism is causal?
If you review the evidence for yourself it should be quite obvious.

I am a bit skeptical that shoveling someone else's poop down one's intestine can reverse such deeply rooted changes.
It's great to be skeptical, but you're demonstrating that you didn't bother to review the evidence before commenting, which isn't good.
 
@Michael Harrop

In one study core ASD symptoms were reduced by 49% after FMT and in another study the decrease in ASD symptoms was just 6-10%. Why do you think does such a discrepancy exist?
 
Back
Top