What side effects can this medication cause?
Pramipexole may cause side effects. Tell your doctor if any of these symptoms are severe or do not go away:
- nausea
- abnormal body movements and motions
- weakness
- dizziness
- drowsiness
- difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep
- difficulty remembering or thinking
- confusion
- abnormal thoughts or dreams
- heartburn
- constipation
- diarrhea
- loss of appetite
- weight loss
- dry mouth
- joint pain
- frequent urination or urgent need to urinate
- difficulty urinating or pain when urinating
- decreased sexual interest or ability
- swelling of the arms, hands, feet, ankles, or lower legs
Some side effects can be serious. If you experience any of the following symptoms, call your doctor immediately:
- hallucinations (seeing things or hearing voices that do not exist)
- changes in vision
- chest pain
- shortness of breath
- dark, red, or cola-colored urine
- muscle tenderness
- muscle stiffness or aching
- muscle weakness
Some people who took medications such as pramipexole to treat Parkinson's disease or restless legs syndrome developed gambling problems, an increased interest in sex, or overeating problems. There is not enough information to tell whether the people developed these problems because they took the medication or for other reasons. Call your doctor if you have difficulty controlling any of these behaviors. Tell your family members about these risks so that they can call the doctor even if you do not realize that your behavior has become a problem.
People who have Parkinson's disease may have a greater risk of developing melanoma (a type of skin cancer) than people who do not have Parkinson's disease. There is not enough information to tell whether medications used to treat Parkinson's disease such as pramipexole increase the risk of developing skin cancer. You should have regular skin examinations to check for melanoma while you are taking pramipexole even if you do not have Parkinson's disease. Talk to your doctor about the risk of taking pramipexole.
Pramipexole may cause other side effects. Call your doctor if you have any unusual problems while you are taking this medication.
If you experience a serious side effect, you or your doctor may send a report to the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) MedWatch Adverse Event Reporting program online at http://www.fda.gov/MedWatch/report.htm or by phone 1-800-332-1088.
