Effect of bromocriptine mesylate on induced hyperprolactinemia in stabilized psychiatric outpatients undergoing neuroleptic treatment.

Therapeutic doses of phenothiazines increased serum levels of prolactin, resulting in a number of side effects. Bromocriptine, a potent dopamine agonist, appears to effectively reduce the serum prolactin level. In this open pilot study, bromocriptine mesylate (Parlodel, Sandoz) was administered in an escalating dose schedule to 11 stabilized psychiatric outpatients with hyperprolactinemia resulting from thioridazine HCl (Mellaril, Sandoz) treatment. 6 of 9 patients showed decreases. Overall global psychiatric evaluations were unchanged over the course of combined therapy for all but 1 patient, who showed improvement. The trend of decreased prolactin serum levels indicates that bromocriptine mesylate may prove a useful adjunct to reduce the side effects of hyperprolactinemia.