Table Causes of Hyperprolactinemia Cause Example Physiologic Early infancy (up to 3 months) Food ingestion Hypoglycemia Nipple stimulation in women Pregnancy Postpartum period Sexual intercourse in some women Sleep Stress Hypothalamic disorders Head trauma Hypothalamic tumors Idiopathic galactorrhea (presumed abnormality in dopamine secretion) Nontumerous hypothalamic infiltration: Sarcoidosis, tuberculosis, Langerhans cell histiocytosis Postencephalitis Pituitary disorders Empty sella syndrome Prolactin-secreting pituitary tumors Surgical pituitary stalk section and other stalk lesions Tumors causing pituitary stalk compression Other endocrine disorders Acromegaly Cushing disease Primary hypothyroidism Disorders of other systems Chronic kidney disease Ectopic production of prolactin: Bronchogenic carcinoma (not squamous cell; mostly small cell undifferentiated) Hypernephroma Liver disease Chest wall lesions Herpes zoster Surgical scars Trauma Tumors Pharmacologic Antihypertensive medications: Alpha - methyldopa, atenolol, clonidine, labetalol, reserpine, verapamil H2-antagonists Oral contraceptives and estrogens Opioids Psychoactive medications, eg, benzamides (metoclopramide, sulpiride), butyrphenones (haloperidol), phenothiazines, tricyclic and some other antidepressants Thyrotropin-releasing hormone Data from Rebar RW: Practical evaluation of hormonal status.