Can Effexor XR cause constipation and weight gain?
Dr. Ballas: The easy answer is always “yes. Any medication can have almost any side effect.” A peek at the package insert will show that most drugs cause multiple, contradictory side effects (for example, insomnia and sedation, constipation and diarrhea, etc.) A better way of looking at this question is to ask it in terms of comparisons. Effexor is generally less sedating than Paxil; it causes less constipation than Remeron, but more than Paxil. And you can ask which side effect is more likely for a given drug: Effexor is more likely to cause nausea than either constipation or diarrhea; Paxil is more likely to cause diarrhea than nausea or constipation, etc… No doctor can predict how you will (or will not) respond to a medication, but this is the way I would approach it. Additionally, raising or lowering the dose might help side effects, sometimes in unexpected ways. Remeron makes you tired; but raising the dose actually makes you less tired. Weight gain is a common complaint in thos
