--- title: Which works better for premenstrual breast pain, cabergoline or bromocriptine? description: Both drugs reduced breast pain equally well, with about two-thirds of women in each group responding. Cabergoline caused far fewer side effects. url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/cabergoline-versus-bromocriptine-for-symptomatic-treatment-of-premenstrual-2010/ --- - [Niyora](https://niyora.com/) - [Research](https://niyora.com/research/) - [Library](https://niyora.com/research/library/) - Which works better for premenstrual breast pain, cabergoline or bromocriptine? Randomised trial, 2010 # Which works better for premenstrual breast pain, cabergoline or bromocriptine? Both drugs reduced breast pain equally well, with about two-thirds of women in each group responding. Cabergoline caused far fewer side effects. Moderate study design 140 women with premenstrual breast pain (61 received bromocriptine, 67 received cabergoline) ## What they did A randomized, open-label trial where 61 women received bromocriptine 5mg daily during the second half of the menstrual cycle and 67 women received cabergoline 0.5mg weekly during the second half. Pain was measured on a visual analog scale, and a 50% or greater reduction was counted as a positive response. Side effects were tracked throughout. ## What they found Positive response rates were similar: bromocriptine 66.6% and cabergoline 68.4%. Pain reduction was greatest in the second month for both drugs. Bromocriptine caused significantly more side effects: vomiting in 28% of women versus 4.5% with cabergoline, nausea in 39% versus 20.9%, and headaches in 23% versus 6% (P = 0.023, 0.001, 0.006 respectively). Dizziness rates were similar between groups (26.4% vs 14.9%, not significant). ## What it means for you Cabergoline and bromocriptine work equally well for cyclic breast pain, but cabergoline is much better tolerated with fewer side effects, particularly nausea and vomiting. This was an open-label trial, meaning women and doctors knew which drug was being taken, which could have affected results. 66.6% vs 68.4% pain relief success rates (bromocriptine vs cabergoline) 28% vs 4.5% vomiting rates (bromocriptine vs cabergoline) 140 women with breast pain studied ## About the study Original title Cabergoline versus bromocriptine for symptomatic treatment of premenstrual mastalgia: a randomised, open-label study Authors Aydin Y, Atis A, Kaleli S et al. Journal European journal of obstetrics, gynecology, and reproductive biology Year 2010 Study design Randomised trial Participants 140 What was tested Bromocriptine 5mg daily versus cabergoline 0.5mg weekly, both given during the second half of the menstrual cycle Read the paper [doi.org/10.1016/j.ejogrb.2010.02.024](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejogrb.2010.02.024) ## Topics [Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-pms/)[Pain and headache](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-pain/)[Bloating, breast tenderness and physical symptoms](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-physical-symptoms/)[Diuretics and other drugs](https://niyora.com/research/topics/treatment-diuretics-other-drugs/) Research tells you what helps on average. Niyora helps on the day it hits. Calm down, see it another way, and decide what to say, with a PMS and PMDD app built by a doctor. ## Related studies Randomised trial, 2014 Does the combination of sumatriptan and naproxen sodium reduce menstrual symptoms and migraine? Randomised trial, 2024 Do hormonal changes in obese women cause worse PMS, and can medications help? Randomised trial, 2002 What treatments work best for cyclical breast pain? Non-randomised trial, 2023 Does mefenamic acid help relieve PMS symptoms? Survey study, 2023 Does PMS affect school performance and relationships in female medical students? Cohort study, 2006 How should severe period pain in teenagers be treated? Ask AI about this page Copy prompt ChatGPT ↗ Claude ↗ Perplexity ↗ Google AI Mode ↗ Grok ↗