Bromocriptine-associated headache: possible life-threatening sympathomimetic interaction.

We present two cases of severe headache associated with the use of bromocriptine for lactation suppression in otherwise healthy women. In each case, the additional use of a therapeutic sympathomimetic agent resulted in extreme worsening of symptoms with development of hypertension and life-threatening complications (ventricular tachycardia and cardiac dysfunction in one case, seizures and cerebral vasospasm in the other). Sympathomimetics in combination with bromocriptine in patients with a bromocriptine-associated headache during the puerperium may be dangerous.