Methyldopa: uses, dosing, side effects & brands
Methyldopa is a medicine sold in the U.S. under 2 brand and generic names. Below: what the FDA label says, every product that contains it, what the pills look like, and its recall record.
Key facts
- Available as
- Tablet
- Sold as
- 2 products — Aldomet and Methyldopa
- Prescription?
- Prescription only
- Generic available?
- Yes
- Half-life
- about 105 minutes (roughly 1.75 hours)
- What the pharmacy pays
- about $225 for a 30-count supply — not your price
Every methyldopa product we track (2)
Same active ingredient — different manufacturer, form, price and FDA recall record. That last one is what our independent score measures.
| # | Drug | Rating | Type | Form | Generic? | Pharmacy pays | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 72/100 | Prescription | Tablet | Generic | $225 | View → | |
| 2 | 72/100 | Prescription | Tablet | Generic | $225 | View → |
What methyldopa pills look like
Imprint codes, colour and shape from the FDA’s labelling data. Match the imprint on your pill — or search any imprint.
Combination products containing methyldopa
A combination is a different drug — different dosing, different warnings. It is listed here so you can find it, not so you can substitute it.
Methyldopa and breastfeeding
From LactMed, the US National Library of Medicine’s Drugs and Lactation Database — quoted, not rewritten.
Full LactMed record for methyldopa: levels in milk, effects in breastfed infants, and the drugs it would consider insteadBecause of the low levels of methyldopa in breastmilk, amounts ingested by the infant are small and would not be expected to cause any adverse effects in breastfed infants. No special precautions are required.
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, record revised November 15, 2024. LactMed states its information is not a substitute for professional judgement.
What people report to the FDA about methyldopa
The FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) collects reports from patients and clinicians. It holds 5,181 reports naming methyldopa, and the FDA flagged 93% of those reports as serious. The effects reported most often — leaving out reports about overdose, misuse or the condition being treated, which dominate the raw list for common medicines:
- foetal exposure during pregnancy1,394 reports
- premature baby972 reports
- maternal exposure during pregnancy867 reports
- exposure during pregnancy703 reports
- premature delivery608 reports
- low birth weight baby412 reports
- hypertension270 reports
- foetal growth restriction224 reports
Read these as a signal, not a rate. A report does not mean methyldopa caused the effect — anyone can file one, and many describe people taking several medicines for several conditions. Crucially there is no denominator: FAERS does not record how many people took the drug, so these counts cannot be turned into “X% of patients” — a bigger number often just means a more widely used or more talked-about drug. Duplicates exist, and publicity drives reporting. For what is actually established, read the FDA label.
Source: openFDA drug/event (FAERS), retrieved August 25, 2026.
How long methyldopa stays in your system
The elimination half-life of methyldopa is about 105 minutes (roughly 1.75 hours). The label reports a single plasma half-life of methyldopa (105 minutes) and does not separate a distribution phase from a terminal phase, so this figure is the plasma/elimination half-life as given. Important: methyldopa's antihypertensive effect is produced by an ACTIVE central metabolite (alpha-methylnorepinephrine), and its pharmacodynamic duration far outlasts the parent's short plasma half-life — blood pressure returns to pretreatment levels only within 24-48 hours after withdrawal. The label does NOT quantify the metabolite's half-life, so no number is given for it. Kidney impairment: renal clearance (about 130 mL/min in normal subjects) is diminished in renal insufficiency, which prolongs the half-life. The label does not state separate half-life figures for older adults or hepatic impairment.
Methyldopa tablet — DailyMed label (Clinical Pharmacology, Pharmacokinetics and Metabolism) ↗Half-life is how long the body takes to clear half a dose. It is not the same as how long a drug test can detect it, and it varies with age, kidney and liver function.
Related calculators
Frequently asked questions
How long does methyldopa stay in your system?
The elimination half-life of methyldopa is about 105 minutes (roughly 1.75 hours) — that is how long the body takes to clear half of a dose. The label reports a single plasma half-life of methyldopa (105 minutes) and does not separate a distribution phase from a terminal phase, so this figure is the plasma/elimination half-life as given. Important: methyldopa's antihypertensive effect is produced by an ACTIVE central metabolite (alpha-methylnorepinephrine), and its pharmacodynamic duration far outlasts the parent's short plasma half-life — blood pressure returns to pretreatment levels only within 24-48 hours after withdrawal. The label does NOT quantify the metabolite's half-life, so no number is given for it. Kidney impairment: renal clearance (about 130 mL/min in normal subjects) is diminished in renal insufficiency, which prolongs the half-life. The label does not state separate half-life figures for older adults or hepatic impairment. Half-life is not the same as how long a drug test can detect the drug, and it varies with age, kidney and liver function.
Can you take methyldopa with other medicines?
It depends on the medicine. We check it against the FDA labels rather than guessing: our interaction checker searches each drug's own label for the other and quotes what it says, naming the section it came from. Run methyldopa against whatever else you take — and remember that a label not naming a drug is not the same as that combination being safe.
What brand names is methyldopa sold under?
We track 2 methyldopa-containing products in the U.S.: Aldomet and Methyldopa. They are the same active ingredient; they differ in form, manufacturer, price and FDA recall record.
What forms does methyldopa come in?
Across the brands we track, methyldopa is currently marketed as tablet, per the FDA's National Drug Code Directory. Each form is dosed differently — follow the label for the exact product you were prescribed.
Is there a generic methyldopa?
Yes. Our catalog lists 1 generic methyldopa product alongside the brand versions. A generic has the same active ingredient and must meet the FDA's bioequivalence standard; it usually costs less. Ask your pharmacist which one your plan covers.
Cite this page
- APA
- pharmaranks. (2026, July 24). Methyldopa: uses, dosing, side effects & brands. https://pharmaranks.com/drugs/methyldopa
- MLA
- “Methyldopa: uses, dosing, side effects & brands.” pharmaranks, 24 July 2026, https://pharmaranks.com/drugs/methyldopa.
We summarise public FDA and NIH sources — for a clinical claim, cite the primary source we link to as well.
Sources: FDA openFDA drug label, National Drug Code Directory, and Enforcement (recall) database. This page reproduces public FDA data and is not medical advice. Dosing is set by your prescriber.
Read the full FDA label for methyldopa on DailyMed (NIH) ↗.