Treatment of hyperprolactinaemia with metergoline for periods up to 5 years: clinical and biological tolerability.

Forty patients with hyperprolactinaemia were treated with metergoline (8 to 12 mg/day) for periods up to 5 years. Analysis of the results of clinical and biological tolerability showed that treatment was generally well tolerated and although 28 patients complained of drug-related side-effects of various kinds, principally nausea, these were usually mild, present at the beginning of treatment and disappeared spontaneously in spite of continued metergoline administration over a prolonged period. No patient stopped treatment because of side-effects. Laboratory parameters also stayed within normal levels and there was no evidence of any alterations in the ECG. It is concluded, therefore, that metergoline is a well-tolerated as well as an effective ergolinic compound for use in those patients in whom prolonged treatment with a prolactin-lowering drug is considered necessary.