Precautions
Drug information provided by: Merative, Micromedex®
It is very important that your doctor check your progress at regular visits to make sure that this medicine is working properly. Blood and urine tests may be needed to check for unwanted effects.
This medicine may cause tardive dyskinesia (a movement disorder). Check with your doctor right away if you have lip smacking or puckering, puffing of the cheeks, rapid or worm-like movements of the tongue, uncontrolled chewing movements, or uncontrolled movements of the arms and legs. The risk of tardive dyskinesia is higher if you use this medicine for longer than 8 weeks or if you take other medicines containing metoclopramide for more than 12 weeks. Treatment for longer than 12 weeks should be avoided in all but rare cases.
Tell your doctor right away if you have inability to move the eyes, increased blinking or spasms of the eyelid, trouble with breathing, speaking, or swallowing, uncontrolled tongue movements, uncontrolled twisting movements of the neck, trunk, arms, or legs, unusual facial expressions, or weakness of the arms and legs.
Check with your doctor right away if you have seizures, difficulty with breathing, fast heartbeat, high fever, high or low blood pressure, increased sweating, loss of bladder control, severe muscle stiffness, unusually pale skin, or tiredness. These could be symptoms of a serious condition called neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS).
Metoclopramide may cause some people to be agitated, irritable, or display other abnormal behaviors. It may also cause some people to have suicidal thoughts and tendencies or to become more depressed. Also tell your doctor if you have sudden or strong feelings, such as feeling nervous, angry, restless, violent, or scared. If you or your caregiver notice any of these side effects, tell your doctor right away.
Your blood pressure might get too high while you are using this medicine. This may cause headaches, dizziness, or blurred vision. You might need to measure your blood pressure at home. If you think your blood pressure is too high, call your doctor right away.
This medicine may increases your risk of having fluid retention (swelling) and volume overload, especially if you have cirrhosis (liver disease) or heart failure. Check with your doctor right away if you have a decrease in the amount of urine, noisy, rattling breathing, swelling of the fingers, hands, feet, or lower legs, trouble breathing at rest, or weight gain.
This medicine may increase prolactin blood levels if used for a long time. Check with your doctor if you have breast swelling or soreness, unusual breast milk production, absent, missed, or irregular menstrual periods, stopping of menstrual bleeding, loss in sexual ability, desire, drive, or performance, decreased interest in sexual intercourse, or an inability to have or keep an erection.
Check with your doctor before using this medicine with alcohol or other medicines that affect the central nervous system (CNS). The use of alcohol or other medicines that affect the CNS with metoclopramide may worsen the side effects of this medicine, such as dizziness, poor concentration, drowsiness, unusual dreams, and trouble with sleeping. Some examples of medicines that affect the CNS are antihistamines or medicine for allergies or colds, sedatives, tranquilizers, or sleeping medicines, medicine for depression, medicine for anxiety, prescription pain medicine or narcotics, medicine for attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder, medicine for seizures or barbiturates, muscle relaxants, or anesthetics, including some dental anesthetics.
This medicine may make you dizzy, drowsy, or have trouble with thinking or controlling body movements. Do not drive or do anything else that could be dangerous until you know how this medicine affects you.
Do not take other medicines unless they have been discussed with your doctor. This includes prescription or nonprescription (over-the-counter [OTC]) medicines and herbal or vitamin supplements.
Portions of this document last updated: April 01, 2024
Copyright: © Merative US L.P. 1973, 2024. All rights reserved. Information is for End User's use only and may not be sold, redistributed or otherwise used for commercial purposes.