I just finished a long round of antibiotics and my GI system is a mess (stools are kind of drier/denser with lots of undigested material and gut is very sore-TMI) I was reading good things about kefir but after purchasing some read that it can cause constipation. Is this true? I thought probiotics were good for making one regular. Can anyone demystify this for me? in advance.

Hi msimon, it could be because kefir is dairy, and dairy is constipating for some people. You can make kefir with water (but you need a different kind of kefir grain). You can also make it with almond milk and (not sure, but I think) soy milk. Another option is kombucha, which is expensive to buy but extremely easy to make if you can find a friend with a kombucha starter, called a "scoby". Kombucha is a great source of probiotics.

If you tolerate dairy well, I think you'll be fine with kefir.

Thanks Scientist. I tried a little swig last night and had a watery BM today (ouch!) but that is likely due to taking extra magnesium. Just can't seem to get the right balance again after 15 days on strong antibiotics. Arg. How much kefir should a person drink (do you start slow and increase?) and is there a time of day that is best? Should it be on an empty stomach? Thanks in advance :)

One of the problems with probiotics is getting them through the acidic stomach. Maybe a full stomach would be better for that reason - the acid could be more dilute? Just speculating here.
I'd start slow, especially if you tend to have GI problems. Again, it's the dairy I'd be concerned about rather than the kefir itself.
Other than that, I don't really know.
Are you making it yourself? It's super easy to make.

So far as I know I don't have issues with dairy. I think I read somewhere once that the stomach is more acidic when we eat because eating causes the stomach to dump acid into it for digestion. The acidity is supposed to be lower between meals I think...I'll just eat them all day then. Don't think you can overdose on probiotics can you?

Hubby bought some at the store for me. Not feeling up to doing much that way yet...We'll see how I like it first.