Kefir has really helped with chronic constipation

[Eloise8]

My son is almost 11 and we have been battling this for 9 years- I’ve posted before.

He’s been on movicol but never knew when he needed to go and always leaked even though he wasn’t constipated. We added senna and that really worked to begin with - he started getting urges and there were less leakages. But then it stopped working and he got impacted do we had a clear out then there were constant leakages.

A friend told me kefir had worked for own constipation issues. We tried some and it’s really helping.

You can get it from polish shops but also I’ve seen it in Sainsbury’s (in London) . It tastes a bit like yoghurt/creme fraiche. You can get flavoured versions but we’ve also added stuff to it - honey, chocolate powder etc.

Sometimes the consistency is like thick milk other times it’s more lumpy. A polish colleague said the lumpier the better because that is the live cultured bit. I’ve seen people giving away kefir grains on my local Facebook page so you can make it yourself.

It’s only been a couple of week but he’s hardly had any leaking (maybe once or twice a week instead of every day morning and eve). It could still all go horribly wrong but just in case it works for anyone else.)

He’s just having a small bowl once a day as pudding but I can imagine it being nice with cereal.

[HollyGriffo]

That's great to hear! Is it milk kefir? Cow or goat? I drink water kefir for IBS (it helps), unfortunately my daughter (suffers with chronic constipation) doesn't like it and can taste itveven when 'hidden' in smoothies.

[Eloise8 in reply to HollyGriffo]

Oh no that’s a pain - I remember having to disguise movicol with milk and nesquick when my son was little. He’s never liked smoothies either - or any fruit and veg - hence his constipation.

I have no idea if it’s cow or goat! I didn’t think there was a choice. It seems to be so different each time. There are many different polish shops near me and I keep trying different brands. One in Sainsbury’s said it was baked too! I thought one flavour was mint because there was a green leaf on it but I asked a polish lady and she said it just meant natural!