Restoration of ovarian function by low nocturnal single daily doses of bromocriptine in patients with the galactorrhea-amenorrhea syndrome.

Eighteen hyperprolactinemic patients with either amenorrhea or both galactorrhea and amenorrhea were treated with 2.5 mg of bromocriptine per day supplied at night. Ovulation occurred in 16 patients, and 8 wishing to conceive became pregnant. One of these patients became pregnant for a second time at a bromocriptine dose as low as 1.25 mg/day. Normal ovulatory cycles in four women receiving 2.5 mg of bromocriptine per day could also be maintained at 1.25 mg, despite the differences in the degree of prolactin (PRL) inhibition. Progesterone and luteinizing hormone levels measured for both bromocriptine levels were consistent with ovulatory cycles. The low, single dose of bromocriptine per day supplied at night decreased PRL levels, but normalization of blood levels did not always occur. Eighty percent of the patients ovulated with prolactin values over 25 ng/ml (normal value = less than 20 ng/ml).