Giving the dopamine agonist cabergoline (Dostinex, Cabaser) or bromocriptine (Parlodel) to heavy men with prolactinoma -- a noncancerous pituitary tumor that produces the hormone prolactin and causes prolactin levels to be be greatly elevated -- appears to cause weight loss.

Weight loss seems to occur in heavy men only, whereas lean men gained weight.

One woman gained 33 lbs, however, in the other 16 women, there did not appear to be much of a weight change after 6 months.

This is based on a very small sample size -- only 3 heavy men and 2 lean men -- so these results should be viewed as very preliminary.

By approximating body weight from a chart in the paper, here are the weight changes in the 5 men.

• 11 lbs weight loss in one man, reducing weight from 260 lbs to 249 lbs


• 7 lbs weight loss in another man, reducing weight from 220 lbs to 213 lbs


• 4 lbs weight loss in another man, reducing weight from 176 lbs to 172 lbs


• 4 lbs weight gain in another man, increasing weight from 148 lbs to 152 lbs


• 12 lbs weight gain in another man, reducing weight from 143 lbs to 155 lbs

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Here is a comment from someone who gained 50 pounds while taking various dopamine agonist drugs, that is drugs that directly stimulate dopamine receptors, and enhance dopamine.

Comment: Not all drugs or supplements that increase dopamine cause weight gain, in fact, some cause weight loss. But this person's experience is still a good one to be aware of. Read the entire article | Email this article

Dopamine agonists, that is drugs that stimulate dopamine receptors, such as Mirapex (pramipexole), can cause compulsive eating and weight gain according to a new paper from researchers at Colum Read the entire article | Email this article