Abstract
We experienced a female case of duodenal ulcer who developed hyperprolactinemia with breast milk discharge due to the administration of oral cimetidine (Tagamet).
This 27-year-old female patient noticed nausea and epigastralgia when hungry in Aug. '81, which subsided with commercial drugs. She developed epigastralgia again in Mar. '82, and visited our hospital in July. She was diagnosed as duodenal ulcer by the upper GI series on July 29 and was placed on 800 mg/day of oral cimetidine on the same day. She noticed milk secretion on Sep.7, and her serum prolactin level was 43 ng/ml, and this was reduced to 2.0 ng/ml after the administration of bromocriptine (Parlodel). When she took 400 mg of both cimetidine and 2.5 mg of bromocriptine before sleep, her serum pro-lactin level remained 14.9 ng/ml.
There has been no reports describing such an elevated serum prolactin levels of over 40 with rather small doses (800 mg) of cimetidine like this case. Bromocriptine was effective both in reducing the serum levels of prolactin and in terminating the milk secretion. and this drug might be useful for hyperprolactinemia caused by oral or intravenous admin-istration of cimetidine.
