What are the side effects of acamprosate?
Like virtually all medications, acamprosate can cause side effects, but these are usually minor and go away as patients continue to take the medication. In European controlled clinical trials, the only types of symptoms that were consistently more common in subjects taking acamprosate than in subjects taking placebo were stomach symptoms. These were usually mild, tended to occur when subjects first started taking the medication, and consisted primarily of loose bowel movements or mild diarrhea. Some subjects also had changes in their sex drive—sometimes this was increased and sometimes decreased, but there was no definite pattern. As with many drugs, sometimes people on acamprosate develop skin rashes or itching. In earlier studies, subjects on acamprosate and those on placebo both experienced equal amounts of this type of symptom. Patients should tell their medical clinician of any side effects.
