Cabergoline

Cabergoline is a prescription medication used to treat high levels of prolactin. Cabergoline belongs to a group of drugs called dopamine receptor agonists. These work by reducing the amount of prolactin in the body, which reduces symptoms of high prolactin including infertility and bone loss in women or men. 

This medication comes in tablet form and is taken twice a week, with or without food.

Common side effects of cabergoline include constipation, fatigue, and a sudden drop in blood pressure. Cabergoline can also cause dizziness. Do not drive or operate heavy machinery until you know how cabergoline affects you.

Cabergoline is a prescription medication used to treat high levels of prolactin. Prolactin is a natural substance that helps breastfeeding women produce milk but can cause symptoms such as infertility, sexual problems, and bone loss in women who are not breastfeeding or in men.

This medication may be prescribed for other uses. Ask your doctor or pharmacist for more information.

Cabergoline may be found in some form under the following brand names:

• Dostinex

Common side effects of cabergoline include the following:

• constipation
• fatigue
• a drop in blood pressure when standing (postural hypotension)
• dizziness

This is not a complete list of cabergoline side effects. Ask your doctor or pharmacist for more information.

Tell your doctor if you have any side effect that bothers you or that does not go away.

Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects. You may report side effects to the FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088.

Tell your doctor about all the medicines you take, including prescription and non-prescription medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements. Especially tell your doctor if you take:

• phenothiazines such as chlorpromazine (Thorazine), thioridazine (Mellaril), fluphenazine (Prolixin), perphenazine (Triavil), prochlorperazine (Compazine), and trifluoperazine (Stelazine)
• haloperidol (Haldol)
• thiothixene (Navane)
• metoclopramide (Reglan, Metozolv ODT)

This is not a complete list of cabergoline drug interactions. Ask your doctor or pharmacist for more information.

Serious side effects have been reported with cabergoline including the following:

• hypotension. Hypotension, or low blood pressure, may cause you to feel faint or dizzy. Be careful when rising from a sitting or supine (lying down) position.
• Pathological gambling, increased libido (sexual drive), and hypersexuality have been reported in patients treated with medications such as cabergoline. This side effect has shown to lessen with dose reduction or discontinuation.

Do not take this medication if you have:

• uncontrolled hypertension or known hypersensitivity to ergot derivatives
• a history of heart valve disorders
• a history of lung, heart, or retroperitoneal fibrotic disorders (a rare disorder that blocks the tubes that carry urine from the kidneys to the bladder)
• are allergic to cabergoline or to any of its inactive ingredients 

Medications can interact with certain foods. In some cases, this may be harmful and your doctor may advise you to avoid certain foods. In the case of cabergoline, there are no specific foods that you must exclude from your diet when receiving this medication.

Before taking cabergoline, tell your doctor about all of your medical conditions. Especially tell your doctor if you:

• are allergic to cabergoline or to any of its ingredients
• uncontrolled hypertension or known hypersensitivity to ergot derivatives
• a history of heart valve disorders
• have liver problems
• a history of lung, heart, or retroperitoneal fibrotic disorders (a rare disorder that blocks the tubes that carry urine from the kidneys to the bladder)
• are allergic to cabergoline or to any of its inactive ingredients 
• are pregnant or are breastfeeding

Tell your doctor about all the medicines you take including prescription and non-prescription medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements.

Tell your doctor if you are pregnant or plan to become pregnant.

The FDA categorizes medications based on safety for use during pregnancy. Five categories - A, B, C, D, and X, are used to classify the possible risks to an unborn baby when a medication is taken during pregnancy.

This medication falls into category B. A pregnancy test should be done if there is any suspicion of pregnancy. Continuation of treatment should be discussed with your doctor.

It is not known if cabergoline crosses into human milk. Because many medications can cross into human milk and because of the possibility for serious adverse reactions in nursing infants with use of this medication, a choice should be made whether to stop nursing or stop the use of this medication. Your doctor and you will decide if the benefits outweigh the risk of using cabergoline.

Take cabergoline exactly as prescribed.

This medication comes in tablet form and is taken twice a week, with or without food. 

Take cabergoline exactly as prescribed by your doctor. Follow the directions on your prescription label carefully.

The recommended dosage of cabergoline for starting of therapy is 0.25 mg twice a week. Dosage may be increased by 0.25 mg twice weekly up to a dosage of 1 mg twice a week.

If you take too much this medication, call your healthcare provider or local Poison Control Center, or seek emergency medical attention right away.

If this medication is administered by a healthcare provider in a medical setting, it is unlikely that an overdose will occur. However, if overdose is suspected, seek emergency medical attention.

• Store at controlled room temperature.
• Keep this and all other medications out of the reach of children.