Just as it is important to learn and know all about the effectiveness and healing features of a drug medication such as cabergoline, knowing everything about the precautions that need to be exercised when using the same drug is a must for the user. Precautions for groups and dosages are extremely important to know and practice as revealed in this article. Read on to find out more.
Precautionary warnings for different groups
For pregnant women: It’s only right to start with pregnancies since cabergoline is a drug that can help women who are breastfeeding.
Cabergoline has been categorized as category B pregnancy drug which can only meant two things:
- Past research on animals has shown no evidence that a fetus is at risk when the mother decides to use the drug.
- Studies on humans aren’t sufficient to show that there is a threat to the fetus when the drug is taken.
If you are pregnant or are planning to be, you should talk to your doctor about whether or not you can take the drug while you are pregnant.
No human studies have ever been undertaken to provide clear directions on this and if the drug doesn’t affect animal fetuses it doesn’t mean that human fetuses won’t be affected. However, the drug should only be taken during pregnancy in an emergency situation.
If you are taking the drug and you become pregnant, don’t hesitate to immediately call your doctor.
For women who breastfeed
No evidence is available to say that this drug medication passes into a mother’s breast milk. If it does, the child being breastfed may get side effects.
It’s also possible that when reducing prolactin in the body cabergoline may also prevent you from making breast milk. You should therefore talk to your doctor if you are breastfeeding your child.
You have two options available, you can either stop breastfeeding or stop taking cabergoline.
For seniors
People who are getting on in years still have the liver and kidneys they used when they were first born. It stands to reason that they may not be as efficient or strong as they once were.
This means they can only process cabergoline (or any other drug medication), more slowly now than before.
This allows more drug to stay in your body for a longer period of time which in turn increases the risk of more side effects happening.
For children
As with fetuses in the womb, no studies have been done to ascertain the effect of cabergoline on children.
The standing medical practice now is that the drug medication shouldn’t be used in children under the age of 18.
How to take cabergoline correctly
The information provided here applies to cabergoline oral tablet which means that dosages and forms of drugs may not be included.
However, for the cabergoline oral tablet, your taking of the drug will inevitable depend on:
- what your age is
- the condition that’s being treated
- the severity of your condition
- any other medical condition that you have
- the way you reacted to the first dose
Dosage forms and potencies (strengths)
- form: oral tablet
- strength: 0.5 mg
Dosage for high prolactin levels
This dosage should be applied to those who have high levels of prolactin
Adult dosage (ages 18 to 64 years of age)
- Standard dose: 0.25 mg to be taken twice a week.
- Dose increase: Your doctor may increase your dose by 0.25 mg. However your doctor’s decision will depend on your prolactin levels. Your doctor may decide to increase your dose only once every 4 weeks.
- Maximum dose: shouldn’t exceed 1 mg given twice per week
Child dosage (ages 0 t0 17 years)
No studies have been carried out on this drug medication when applied to children. However, the medical practice now is not to use the medication to people younger than 18 years of age.
Senior dosage (ages 65 years and over)
It’s more than likely that the liver and kidneys that old people have aren’t working as effectively and efficiently as they once did.
If that’s the case, they will only be able to process this drug medication more slowly. This means that more of the drug will stay longer in your body, increasing the risk for you to get more side effects.
When this happens, your doctor may start to decrease your dosage or introduce you to another treatment regimen. When your dose is reduced, this drug medication won’t accumulate in your body.
Take the tablet as directed
The cabergoline oral tablet is used only as a treatment for the short-term. It poses many serious risks if it’s not taken as prescribed by your doctor.
What happens if you suddenly stop taking it or you decide not to take it period? It will mean that your prolactin levels will continue to be high.
For women, high levels of prolactin can alter the process of a woman’s ovulation, breast milk production, and menstrual cycles.
For men, high levels of prolactin can cause sexual problems and also affect their reproduction capabilities. Such changes can include a decline in sex urge, as well as the inability to
What happens if you accidentally miss your dose or fail to keep your treatment schedule? Your treatment may completely stop working or may not work as well as you expected. Cabergoline will only work well if there’s always a certain amount of it in your body.
What happens if you take too much of your medication? The levels of the drug in your body may rise to dangerous levels, and if that happens, symptoms may appear which can include:
- Hallucinations that makes you hear and see things that don’t exist
- Fainting feeling
- Congestion of your nasal passage.
If you believe you’ve taken an excessive amount of this drug medication, you should call your doctor or control center or your local poison control center.
If you think your symptoms are severe, you should call the nearest emergency room or your country area emergency phone number.
What happens if you miss a dose? Take your missed dose the moment you remember, but also know when to take your next scheduled dose. If it’s in an hour or two or just around the corner, don’t take your missed does but instead, take your scheduled dose when it’s time to take it.
How can you tell if the drug treatment is working? The telltale sign will be a reduction of prolactin in your body. This will be known when your doctor conducts a blood test to determine the level of decreased prolactin in your body.
Bottom line
It’s comforting to know that you have now become familiar with most of the precautionary warnings, different age groups and different doses together with relevant questions and answers and appropriate action you need to take or that you doctor needs to take to counteract the issues that emerge because you are taking cabergoline. It gives you a sense of confidence in your doctor and pharmacist and more important in the medication itself and all other drug medications!