If you're taking flaxseed for the oil, then yes, you should be taking the oil or possibly the ground form (though note that flaxseed isn't a good source for omega 3s, as very little is actually converted to a usable form by the body). If you're taking it for constipation, you need the whole seeds. They swell in the digestive tract, providing bulk, and they also develop a mucilaginous (slimy) coating which helps move them and everything else along. The swelling is why you need the extra water. You won't get this effect from the oil, you need the bulk provided by the seeds. Ground flaxseeds seem to be popular but I can't speak for them personally: I can't stand the flavour and the whole ones work for me, so I just use those. If you use ground flaxseeds, apparently you should grind them immediately before eating to avoid rancidity. The whole seeds don't provide any nutritional value as they're passed undigested, you're taking them for a different purpose here. You can also get prescription products which do a similar job, but in my experience are full of weird additives and taste peculiar. Some people like to put the flaxseed into liquid, which can include orange juice or breakfast cereal, and let it swell up before they take it. As far as I remember, it takes longer to consume as there is substantially more of it after swelling, plus you notice the flavour more. Anyway, apparently the dose is up to 3 tablespoons daily, though work your way up and see how you get along.

I get constipation as a side effect from some of my meds (not ones I take full-time, thankfully) so I've had to learn how to deal with it. If I'm just taking painkillers for a few days, I will use extra magnesium supplements. If I'm taking painkillers for longer, that's usually when I break out the flaxseed.

Of course, what complicates the issue is that constipation can also be caused by insufficient fat in the diet, and that's probably why some people are recommending flaxseed oil.

Wow this is so interesting. I have chronic diarrhea, and you would think with everything you eat going straight through you would lose weight. Doesn't work that way oddly enough.

My doctor suspects my troubles are related to medication I am on. Unfortunately alternatives have proven ineffective so I simply have to live with it.

Does anyone else deal with alot of nausea? Sometimes eating is the only thing that settles my stomache.

I get nausea occasionally, and particularly on some meds. I've been prescribed buccastem for it, and it seems to work reasonably well for me. You can get a tablet which you swallow, and a tablet which you hold between your upper lip and your gum while it dissolves, so that if you vomit then at least the tablet is still there. It tastes vile. I've also been known to munch on pickled ginger for migraine nausea. Pickled ginger, by the way, is dead easy to make and tastes really gorgeous, and now I have a random urge to make vegetable sushi.

I'm sure there are a number of meds for diarrhoea, has your doctor tried you on all of them? The bulking agent approach is meant to work for diarrhoea as well as constipation, although I generally reach for the loperamide when I get diarrhoea.

Sorry to hear you have chronic diarrhea. I have Crohns Disease and know completely what it is like to live with this. And like you I have often wondered how could this weight not let go quicker with this condition. But true it does not work that way. People constantly remark to me about how I am the healthiest and largest person with Crohns they have ever seen. I'm sometimes unsure if I was just complimented or insulted
Anyway I did go on healingwell.com and read the Crohns forums where it is really common for "cronies" to be over weight.

Anyway, back to the subject- dealing with nausea...yes I have had that too and it is a hard one. I've learned my body and I have found that if I allow my stomach to get really empty I have a lot of bile that does build up there. If that happens I will get terribly nauseated. So I have to make sure that something is on my stomach during the day. Low fat wheat cracker is good. Or measured out dry cereal to crunch on, etc.
My biggest problem is diarrhea. I have come to believe that a lot of the extra weight is fluid- not all of it but a good portion of it. If you are like me because of the D I am so thirsty all the time. And I am constantly drinking. A good thing too or we would get dehydrated. I am always having problems keeping a good potassium and mineral balance. I have actually been hospitalized several times because of that very thing.
I try to control my D though diet and immodium. You have to be careful to take immodium after eating because if you take it on an empty stomach over a period of time it can hurt your stomach or it has mine.
Sometimes the foods help sometimes they don't- but here are some that have helped me... sweet potato (natures perfect food) I feel full after eating it- I love the taste- and they are full of vitamins. I wash mine real good and lay it wet in the baking dish. I pour a cup of water over it. Bake it uncovered until a knife easily slides into it. The water goes into it as it is baking. And it makes for a moist fluffy potato. I do the regular potatoes this way too.
The other foods are bananas, 1 cup of rice, an apple a day (it's true), cheese measured for calorie control.
We really are dieting with an obstacle here because the D makes us feel empty and hungry but if we keep eating we will not lose weight. But we have to eat to keep our body healthy. So we are having to find the perfect balance in our diet here. It's really hard isn't it!?
I hope you feel better soon and find the best way for you to learn to live with this issue.

Speaking of diarrhoea, I'm getting that a lot at the moment. Normally I have wholewheat pasta, but all that fibre isn't meant to be the best idea for diarrhoea. However, I find that white pasta doesn't leave me very satisfied. I intend to continue eating pasta if I can, so does anyone have any thoughts on this whole and white pasta? It looks as if it could be a decent compromise. The fibre content is in between wholewheat and white, and the calorie content is nicely low as a bonus. I've never had any kind of pasta with oats in it, though, so I have no idea what that would be like.

Have you tried rice pasta? I was eating that for awhile when I thought I had a problem with wheat, and I still eat it now and then.

I spent a year off gluten and found all the GF pastas to be on the insubstantial side, to be honest. There are some decent rice/corn blends out there, and a rice/millet one which was probably the best but far too expensive for me.

I get constipated really easily. What works for me is ground flaxseed in my cereal every morning (at least 2 tbsp) and, strangely, raw pineapple for dessert at lunch (probably 1/4 of a whole pineapple). As long as I eat these every day I'm regular!

If I have to take Coedine painkillers, like for a recent surgery, heaven help me! I have to break out all the laxatives, stool softeners, etc that the druggists has to offer!

These types of problems are a pain in the you know what!!

Esofia and Jessy.

Just want to thank you for yor comments, the whole and ground flax has been a blessing. I mix the two and add them to yogurt.

Thank you for sharing your experiences.

So glad to hear you're doing better!

I'm trying to make sense of the quilt in your avatar. Sampler quilt? Something from a class or show, since it has writing pinned to it?

Another remedy for intestinal complaints is 2 tablespoons of RAW pumpkin seeds every day.

You buy them at the health food stores and Trader Joe's. The shells have been removed. And they must be the raw ones.

If you search for "pumpkin seeds remedy" in the internet you will find all the conditions they can remedy.

Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.
Thomas A. Edison (1847 - 1931)

Thank you for noticing, that is the quilt kit that my DH got me for my birthday. Haven't put it together yet, but can't wait.