Experiences with
Prochlorperazine

Prochlorperazine is an anti-sickness medicine. It can help stop you feeling or being sick (nausea or vomiting).

You can take prochlorperazine to treat:

sickness in pregnancy
feeling dizzy or a spinning sensation (vertigo)
motion sickness
feeling sick due to migraines
sickness caused by general anaesthetics after surgery
sickness caused by cancer treatment or taking other medicines
problems with balance such as Ménière's disease

Prochlorperazine is occasionally used to treat anxiety.

It comes as tablets that you swallow and tablets that dissolve in your mouth. It can also be given as an injection, but this is usually done in hospital.

Prochlorperazine tablets are available on prescription. You can also buy tablets in a pharmacy without a prescription to treat nausea and vomiting, but only if you've been previously diagnosed with migraines and are 18 years old or over.

Who can take prochlorperazine

Most adults and children aged 1 year old and over can take prochlorperazine.

Who may not be able to take prochlorperazine

Prochlorperazine is not suitable for some people. To make sure it's safe for you, tell your doctor or pharmacist if you have:

ever had an allergic reaction to prochlorperazine or any other medicine
high blood pressure due to a tumour near the kidney (phaeochromocytoma)
glaucoma
a history of blood clots or may be at higher risk of developing a blood clot
Crohn's disease, diverticulitis, a hernia or colon cancer, or any other condition that can lead to a blockage in your bowel
liver problems
epilepsy or any condition that causes fits or seizures
high blood pressure
heart failure
prostate problems (an enlarged prostate)
a condition that affects your blood

Dosage

The dose of prochlorperazine depends on what you're taking it for, but you'll usually take it 2 to 3 times a day.

The dose for children aged 1 to 17 years old is based on their weight.

How to take it

Prochlorperazine tablets come as:

standard tablets that you swallow whole with a drink of water
tablets that dissolve between your upper lip and gum (buccal tablets)

You can take standard tablets with or without food.

Buccal tablets work best if they're taken after meals. This gives them more time to dissolve.

How long to take it for

It's important to take prochlorperazine for the shortest possible time and at the lowest dose that works for you.

You can take it long term if you need it, but only do this if your doctor advises it.

If you take it for a long time and stop suddenly, it can cause withdrawal symptoms such as feeling or being sick and problems sleeping.

Talk to your doctor if you want to stop taking prochlorperazine. They'll probably want to reduce your dose gradually to stop you having withdrawal symptoms.

If you forget to take it

For motion sickness, if you miss your dose take it as soon as you remember.

For anything else, skip the missed dose and take your next dose at the usual time.

Never take 2 doses at the same time.

If you take too much

Taking too much prochlorperazine can be dangerous.

you take more than the recommended dose of prochlorperazine

Go to 111 online or call 111. If you need advice for a child under the age of 5 years old, call 111.

If you need to go to A&E, do not drive. Ask someone to drive you or call 999 and ask for an ambulance.

Bring the prochlorperazine packet or leaflet inside it, any remaining medicine, and any other medicines you take.

Common side effects

Side effects of prochlorperazine are usually mild and go away by themselves. There are things you can do to help cope with them:

Do not drive, cycle or use tools or machinery. It's best not to drink alcohol, as it'll make you feel more tired.

This should wear off as your body gets used to the medicine. Talk to your doctor if it continues, as they may be able to suggest a different medicine.

Do not drive, cycle or use tools or machinery while this is happening. If it lasts for more than a day or 2, speak to your doctor.

Try chewing sugar-free gum or sucking sugar-free sweets.

Rest and drink plenty of fluids. You can take an everyday painkiller like paracetamol or ibuprofen.

Talk to your doctor if the headaches are severe or do not go away.

Try a menthol decongestant or talk to your pharmacist if this bothers you.

Speak to a doctor or pharmacist if the advice on how to cope does not help and a side effect is still bothering you or does not go away.

Serious side effects

Serious side effects are rare and happen in less than 1 in 10,000 people.

Call your doctor or call 111 straight away if:

you have muscle stiffness or shaking, or uncontrollable face or tongue movements
you have a sudden high temperature or an infection
you get sore breasts – this can happen in both men and women
the whites of your eyes turn yellow, or your skin turns yellow although this may be less obvious on black or brown skin – these can be signs of liver problems
you have a fast or irregular heartbeat (your heart feels like it's pounding)

Serious allergic reaction

In rare cases, it's possible to have a serious allergic reaction (anaphylaxis) to prochlorperazine.

Meds New IA (H4) - serious allergic reaction

These are not all the side effects of prochlorperazine. For a full list, see the leaflet inside your medicine packet.

Prochlorperazine and pregnancy

Prochlorperazine can be taken in pregnancy. There's no evidence that it will harm your baby.

There are a number of medicines available for treating pregnancy sickness. Talk to your doctor or pharmacist about which medicine would be best for you.

Prochlorperazine and breastfeeding

If your doctor, health visitor or midwife says your baby is healthy, you can usually take prochlorperazine if you're breastfeeding.

It's not known how much prochlorperazine passes into breast milk, but it's only likely to be a small amount. Your baby will not be able to absorb a lot into their body from the breast milk, and is unlikely to get side effects. However, it's better to only take it occasionally, or for a short time.

Talk to your health visitor, midwife, doctor or pharmacist as soon as possible if you have any concerns about your baby, including if they're:

unusually sleepy
behaving differently, for example being irritable
not feeding as well as usual or not waking to feed

Prochlorperazine and fertility

Prochlorperazine can increase levels of a hormone called prolactin. If levels of prolactin become too high this can cause periods to stop in women and erectile dysfunction (impotence) in men.

However, this is not usually an issue if you take prochlorperazine for a short time to treat sickness.

If you have any concerns about this, speak to your doctor.

Meds New IA (H2) - Pregnancy non-urgent care card

Cautions with other medicines

Some medicines and prochlorperazine do not work well together. This can increase the chance of having side effects.

Tell your pharmacist or doctor if you're taking any medicine that:

makes you sleepy or drowsy
gives you a dry mouth
can affect your heart

Taking prochlorperazine might make these side effects worse.

Taking it with other anti-sickness medicines

It's usually best to only take 1 type of medicine for feeling or being sick.

If prochlorperazine does not work for you, speak to your doctor and they may suggest a different medicine.

Mixing prochlorperazine with herbal remedies or supplements

Some herbal remedies can make your side effects worse.

There's not enough information to say that complementary medicines, herbal remedies and supplements are safe to take with prochlorperazine. They're not tested in the same way as pharmacy and prescription medicines. They're generally not tested for the effect they have on other medicines.

Meds New IA (H2) - Cautions with other medicines alert