Does Contrave cause diarrhoea?
Bottom line
Yes. Diarrhoea is listed among the common adverse reactions on Contrave's own FDA label, published 2025-11-17. It clusters in the days after each dose increase. Contrave steps up on a published schedule that reaches the maintenance dose at week 4, so the pattern most people see is a few rough days after each step and a settling in between — not one long stretch. Once you are at 2 tablets twice a day and no longer stepping up, the trigger stops recurring.
Last updated 2025-11-17 — the FDA label this page quotes
Does Contrave cause diarrhoea?
Yes, and it is on the label rather than only in reports: diarrhoea appears among the common adverse reactions in Contrave's FDA prescribing information, published 2025-11-17. Listed means it was seen often enough in the trials to be printed, not that everyone gets it. Gut motility changes in both directions on these drugs, and which one you get depends on you rather than on the dose. It is listed on the label alongside constipation for exactly that reason. It clusters in the days after each dose increase. Contrave steps up on a published schedule that reaches the maintenance dose at week 4, so the pattern most people see is a few rough days after each step and a settling in between — not one long stretch. Once you are at 2 tablets twice a day and no longer stepping up, the trigger stops recurring. What helps, in the order worth trying: plain, low-fat food for a few days after each dose increase; fluid and electrolytes, because this is the side effect that dehydrates fastest; holding the dose rather than stepping up, if it arrives with each increase. It stops being ordinary at a specific line: diarrhoea that lasts more than a couple of days, or comes with fever, blood, or signs of dehydration. Prolonged diarrhoea is the other route to the acute kidney injury these labels list.
Why Contrave does this
Gut motility changes in both directions on these drugs, and which one you get depends on you rather than on the dose. It is listed on the label alongside constipation for exactly that reason.
When it happens, against Contrave's own schedule
Tablets, twice a day. Each row is a step up, and the days after each one are when this tends to arrive.
| Weeks | Dose |
|---|---|
| Week 1 | 1 tablet in the morning |
| Week 2 | 1 morning, 1 evening |
| Week 3 | 2 morning, 1 evening |
| Week 4 and on | 2 morning, 2 evening |
What actually helps
- 1Plain, low-fat food for a few days after each dose increase.
- 2Fluid and electrolytes, because this is the side effect that dehydrates fastest.
- 3Holding the dose rather than stepping up, if it arrives with each increase.
This is not a GLP-1: it is naltrexone plus bupropion, and its risks are neurological and cardiovascular rather than gastrointestinal. Anyone taking an opioid, including buprenorphine for addiction, cannot take it at all.
When to stop reading and call someone
Diarrhoea that lasts more than a couple of days, or comes with fever, blood, or signs of dehydration. Prolonged diarrhoea is the other route to the acute kidney injury these labels list.
Separately, Contrave carries a boxed warning. Bupropion raises the risk of suicidal thoughts and behaviour in children, adolescents and young adults. The label carries that as a boxed warning and tells prescribers to watch for mood changes, particularly in the first months and after any dose change.
The other 3 common reactions on Contrave's label
If you are thinking of switching
Diarrhoea is on the label of most drugs in this class, so a switch is not a reliable way out of it. What a switch does change is what you pay, and Contrave is $99 a month at the maintenance dose here.
Every alternative to Contrave, with each one's verified price and the date it was read →
Contrave and diarrhoea, answered
- Does Contrave cause diarrhoea?
- Yes — diarrhoea is listed among the common adverse reactions on Contrave's FDA prescribing information, published 2025-11-17. Listed means it was seen often enough in the trials to be printed, not that it happens to everyone.
- How long does Contrave diarrhoea last?
- It clusters in the days after each dose increase. Contrave steps up on a published schedule that reaches the maintenance dose at week 4, so the pattern most people see is a few rough days after each step and a settling in between — not one long stretch. Once you are at 2 tablets twice a day and no longer stepping up, the trigger stops recurring.
- What helps with diarrhoea on Contrave?
- Plain, low-fat food for a few days after each dose increase. Fluid and electrolytes, because this is the side effect that dehydrates fastest. Holding the dose rather than stepping up, if it arrives with each increase.
- When is diarrhoea on Contrave serious?
- Diarrhoea that lasts more than a couple of days, or comes with fever, blood, or signs of dehydration. Prolonged diarrhoea is the other route to the acute kidney injury these labels list.
- Would switching drugs help?
- Possibly, and possibly not — diarrhoea is listed on the labels of most drugs in this class, so a switch is not a way out of it by default. What a switch does change is the price: every verified route to each molecule is priced on this site with the date each figure was read.
Everything above is read from FDA prescribing information for CONTRAVE, published 2025-11-17. Information only, not medical advice — a symptom that worries you is a call to your prescriber, not a search result.