Metoclopramide Tablets 10mg – patient leaflet, side effects, dosage

1. What Metoclopramide Tablets are and what they are used for

Metoclopramide Tablets contain the active substance metoclopramide hydrochloride which belongs to a group of medicines called 'antiemetics'. It works on a part of your brain that prevents you from feeling sick (nausea) or being sick (vomiting).

Adult population

Metoclopramide Tablets are used in adults:

• To prevent delayed nausea and vomiting that may occur after chemotherapy • To prevent nausea and vomiting caused by radiotherapy
• To treat nausea and vomiting including nausea and vomiting that may occur with a migraine.

Metoclopramide can be taken with oral painkillers in case of migraine to help painkillers work more effectively.

Children and Adolescents (aged 1 – 18 years)

Metoclopramide Tablets are indicated in children (aged 1-18 years) if other treatment does not work or cannot be used to prevent delayed nausea and vomiting that may occur after chemotherapy.

2. What you need to know before you take Metoclopramide Tablets

Do not take Metoclopramide Tablets if you:

• Are allergic to metoclopramide or any of the other ingredients of this medicine (listed in section 6)
• Have bleeding, obstruction or a tear in your stomach or gut

• Have or may have a rare tumour of the adrenal gland, which sits near the kidney

  (phaeochromocytoma)

• Have ever had involuntary muscle spasms (tardive dyskinesia), when you have been treated with a medicine
• Have epilepsy
• Have Parkinson's disease

• Are taking levodopa (a medicine for Parkinson's disease) or dopaminergic agonists (see

  “Other medicines and Metoclopramide Tablets”)

• Have ever had an abnormal blood pigment level (methaemoglobinaemia) or NADH cytochrome-b5 deficiency.

Do not give Metoclopramide Tablets to a child less than 1 year of age (see 'Children and adolescents').

Warnings and precautions

Talk to your doctor, pharmacist or nurse before taking Metoclopramide Tablets if you:

• Have a history of abnormal heartbeats (QT interval prolongation) or any other heart problems • Have problems with the levels of salts in your blood such as potassium, sodium and magnesium
• Are using other medicines known to affect the way your heart beats
• Have any neurological (brain) problems
• Have liver or kidney problems. The dose may be reduced (see section 3) • Are pregnant
• Are taking any drugs known as serotonergic drugs, as taking these medicines with metoclopramide can cause side effects (such as restlessness, loss of co-ordination, fast heart beat and increased body temperature)
• Are suffering from porphyria (a rare inherited blood disease).

Your doctor may perform blood tests to check your blood pigment levels. In cases of abnormal levels (methaemoglobinaemia), the treatment should be immediately and permanently stopped.

You must wait at least 6 hours between each metoclopramide dose, even in case of vomiting and rejection of the dose, in order to avoid overdose.

Do not exceed 3-month treatment because of the risk of involuntary muscle spasms.

Children and adolescents

Uncontrollable movements (extrapyramidal disorders) may occur in children and young adults. This medicine must not be used in children below 1 year of age because of the increased risk of the uncontrollable movements (see 'Do not take Metoclopramide Tablets if you').

Other medicines and Metoclopramide Tablets

Tell your doctor or pharmacist if you are taking, have recently taken or might take any other medicines. This is because some medicines can affect the way Metoclopramide Tablets work or Metoclopramide Tablets can affect how other medicines work. These medicines include the following:

• Levodopa or other medicines used to treat Parkinson's disease (see 'Do not take

  Metoclopramide Tablets if you')

• Anticholinergics (medicines used to relieve stomach cramps or spasms) • Morphine derivatives (medicines used to treat severe pain)
• Sedative medicines
• Any medicines used to treat mental health problems
• Digoxin (medicine used to treat heart failure)
• Ciclosporin (medicine used to treat certain problems with the immune system) • Fluoxetine and paroxetine (medicine to treat depression)
• Mivacurium and suxamethonium (medicines used to relax muscles)
• Atovaquone (to treat pneumonia)
• Neuroleptic medicines (for mental illness or nausea and vomiting).

Metoclopramide Tablets with alcohol

Alcohol should not be consumed during treatment with metoclopramide because it increases the sedative effect of Metoclopramide Tablets.

Pregnancy and breast-feeding

Pregnancy:

If you are pregnant, think you may be pregnant or are planning to have a baby, ask your doctor or pharmacist for advice before taking this medicine. If necessary, Metoclopramide Tablets may be taken during pregnancy. Your doctor will decide whether or not you should be given this medicine.

Breast-feeding:

Metoclopramide Tablets are not recommended if you are breast-feeding because metoclopramide passes into breast milk and may affect your baby.

Driving and using machines

You may feel drowsy, dizzy or have uncontrollable twitching, jerking or writhing movements and unusual muscle tone causing distortion of the body after taking Metoclopramide Tablets. This may affect your vison and also interfere with your ability to drive and use machines.

Metoclopramide Tablets contain anhydrous lactose

If you have been told by your doctor that you have an intolerance to some sugars, contact your doctor before taking this medicinal product.

3. How to take Metoclopramide Tablets

Always take this medicine exactly as your doctor has told you. Check with your doctor or pharmacist if you are not sure.

Adult population

The recommended single dose is 10mg, repeated up to three times a day. The maximum recommended dose per day is 30mg or 0.5 mg/kg body weight.

The maximum recommended treatment duration is 5 days.

Use in children and adolescents

Metoclopramide Tablets must not be used in children aged less than 1 year (see section 2).

To prevent delayed nausea and vomiting that may occur after chemotherapy (children aged 1-18 years):

The recommended dose is 0.1 to 0.15 mg/kg body weight, repeated up to 3 times daily, taken by mouth (oral route).

The maximum dose in 24 hours is 0.5 mg/kg body weight.

Dosing table

Instructions for use

You should not take this medicine for more than 5 days to prevent delayed nausea and vomiting that may occur after chemotherapy.

Metoclopramide Tablets are not suitable for use in children weighing less than 61kg. Other pharmaceutical forms/strengths may be more appropriate for administration.

Method of administration

For oral use, to be swallowed with some water. You must wait at least 6 hours between each metoclopramide dose, even in case of vomiting and rejection of the dose, in order to avoid overdose.

Elderly

The dose may need to be reduced depending on kidney problems, liver problems and overall health. Other pharmaceutical forms/strengths may be more appropriate for administration.

Adults with kidney problems

Talk to your doctor if you have kidney problems. The dose should be reduced if you have moderate to severe kidney problems. Other pharmaceutical forms/strengths may be more appropriate for administration.

Adults with liver problems

Talk to your doctor if you have liver problems. The dose should be reduced if you have severe liver problems. Other pharmaceutical forms/strengths may be more appropriate for administration.

If you take more Metoclopramide Tablets than you should

Contact your doctor or pharmacist straight away. You may experience uncontrollable movements (extrapyramidal disorders), feel drowsy, have decreased levels of consciousness, become confused, have hallucinations and heart problems.

Your doctor may prescribe you a treatment for these signs if necessary.

If you forget to take Metoclopramide Tablets

Do not take a double dose to make up for a forgotten dose.

If you have any further questions on the use of this medicine, ask your doctor, pharmacist or nurse.

4. Possible side effects

Like all medicines, this medicine can cause side effects, although not everybody gets them.

Stop the treatment and talk to your doctor, pharmacist or nurse straight away if you experience one of the following signs while having this medicine:

• Uncontrollable movements (often involving head or neck) such as tics, shaking, twisting movements or muscle contracture (stiffness, rigidity). These may occur in children or young adults and particularly when high doses are used. These signs usually occur at the beginning of treatment and may even occur after one single administration. These movements will stop when treated appropriately
• High fever, high blood pressure, convulsions, sweating, production of saliva. These may be signs of a condition called neuroleptic malignant syndrome
• Itching or skin rashes, swelling of the face, lips or throat, difficulty in breathing. These may be signs of an allergic reaction, which may be severe (particularly with intravenous route) • Convulsions (fits) (especially in patients with epilepsy).

The other side effects are:

Very common (may affect more than 1 in 10 people)

• Feeling drowsy.

Common (may affect up to 1 in 10 people)

• Depression
• Symptoms similar to Parkinson's disease (rigidity, tremor)
• Feeling restless
• Blood pressure decrease (particularly with intravenous route)
• Diarrhoea
• Feeling weak.

Uncommon (may affect up to 1 in 100 people)

• Raised levels of a hormone called prolactin in the blood which may cause milk production in men and women who are not breast-feeding
• Irregular periods
• Hallucination
• Decreased level of consciousness
• Slow heartbeat (particularly with intravenous route)
• Allergy
• Visual disturbances and involuntary deviation of the eye ball.

Rare (may affect up to 1 in 1,000 people)

• Confusional state
• Spontaneous flow of milk from the breasts (galactorrhoea).

Not known (frequency cannot be estimated from the available data)

• Abnormal blood pigment levels which may change the colour of your skin • Abnormal development of breasts (gynaecomastia)
• Involuntary muscle spasms after prolonged use, particularly in elderly patients • Changes in heartbeat which may be shown on an ECG test
• Cardiac arrest (particularly with injection route)
• Shock (severe decrease of heart pressure) (particularly with injection route) • Fainting (particularly with intravenous route)
• Very high blood pressure

• Sudden increase in blood pressure in patients with tumour of the adrenal gland

  (phaeochromocytoma).

Reporting of side effects

If you get any side effects, talk to your doctor, pharmacist or nurse. This includes any possible side effects not listed in this leaflet. You can also report side effects directly via the Yellow Card Scheme at: www.mhra.gov.uk/yellowcard or search for MHRA Yellow Card in the Google Play or Apple App Store. By reporting side effects you can help provide more information on the safety of this medicine.

5. How to store Metoclopramide Tablets

Keep this medicine out of the sight and reach of children.

Do not use this medicine after the expiry date which is stated on the label. The expiry date refers to the last day of that month.

Store in a cool, dry place and protect from light.

Do not throw away any medicines via wastewater or household waste. Ask your pharmacist how to throw away medicines you no longer use. These measures will help protect the environment.

6. Contents of the pack and other information

What Metoclopramide Tablets contain

The active substance is metoclopramide hydrochloride. Each tablet contains 10mg metoclopramide hydrochloride.

The other ingredients are microcrystalline cellulose, anhydrous lactose, maize starch, sodium lauryl sulfate and magnesium stearate.

What Metoclopramide Tablets look like and contents of the pack

Metoclopramide Tablets 10mg are white, bi-convex tablets plain on one side, with a breakline on reverse.

Metoclopramide Tablets 10mg are available in packs of 500 tablets.

Marketing Authorisation Holder and Manufacturer

Ennogen IP Ltd

Unit G4, Riverside Industrial Estate,

Riverside Way, Dartford, DA1 5BS, UK

This leaflet was last revised in May 2026.

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