Lupus Drugs and Reproduction

[liberec]

Hello,

I was just curious if anyone out there had considered reproduction as it relates to the various Lupus drugs. I'm on Cellcept and Plaquinil right now and am considering banking sperm as a precaution as my girlfriend and I really do want to have kids at some point. Does anyone have any experience in a similar situation?

Cheers.
Alan

[Lily]

Hi Alan,

Good question and one I hope you get some answers to from those who have been faced with this.

I'm not personally on Cellcept so cant comment on that, as far as Plaquenil goes it should not effect your fertility, nor harm the baby, more and more of our people are conceiving whilst on it with no reported problems it seems. But it does pay to ask the docs who have far more experience dealing with hundreds of patients on these drugs.

Here's what I found with a quick search on the fertility issue with Cellcept, your doctor would probably know more:

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE</div><div class='quotemain'>Mycophenolate mofetil had no effect on fertility of male rats at oral doses up to 20 mg/kg/day. This dose represents 0.1 times the recommended clinical dose in renal transplant patients and 0.07 times the recommended clinical dose in cardiac transplant patients when corrected for BSA. In a female fertility and reproduction study conducted in rats, oral doses of 4.5 mg/kg/day caused malformations (principally of the head and eyes) in the first generation offspring in the absence of maternal toxicity. This dose was 0.02 times the recommended clinical dose in renal transplant patients and 0.01 times the recommended clinical dose in cardiac transplant patients when corrected for BSA. No effects on fertility or reproductive parameters were evident in the dams or in the subsequent generation. [/b][/quote]

from : http://www.drugs.com/PDR/CellCept_Tablets.html

love
Lily

[Erskine]

had similar questions when i was on methaltrexate. on that med, not a good idea. called around after i got off of it, and they recommended i wait six months before having unprotected sex. my wife and i are in a similar position again as we consider cytoxin. banking is a great idea. you never know what meds you might have to take or how they'll effect you down the road, so safe is better. my wife and i have undergone fertility testing since i was diagnosed, and though everything comes up normal, we've had no luck.

lupus can also effect your libido--have your free-testosterone checked regularly. mine is constantly low.

erskine

[Clare.T]

The doctor prescribing the medicine should always address this issue if it applies but we should check out all meds for ourselves too. Even the best doctors can be forgetful or 'not think'

It sounds a jolly good idea to me style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif

Clare

[Bouchie11982]

could you freeze them? like they do with the females eggs??

[Clare.T]

I'm not sure that ova can be successfully frozen. Embryos, fertilised eggs, yes. That's the problem for threatened female fertility. I could be wrong.

Clare

[Oohmeknees]

The only drug I know with stated issues is Leflunomide;

In the UK its a cytotoxic that gives a two year warning period (after stopping). I dont think the issue is related to feritlity, but fetal development.

Its the only drug in my 'witches brew' my Rhuemy has ever sat me down and 'warned' me about. Its not that a problem will occur, its just the risk of a problem is obviously significantly greater.

Sit down with your GP and ask.

[Clare.T]

I heard on a BBC talk about assisted reproduction that ova can be frozen these days. They dry them first

Clare

[lushine40]

hi alan,

hope u get more info. i'm on cellcept. and def not recommended for a women to get pregnant while on it. can't remember how long afterwards now i'd have to wait. not much help for you.

mostly wishing u and your girlfriend luck



<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(liberec @ Mar 5 2006, 08:51 AM) Quoted post</div><div class='quotemain'>
Hello,

I was just curious if anyone out there had considered reproduction as it relates to the various Lupus drugs. I'm on Cellcept and Plaquinil right now and am considering banking sperm as a precaution as my girlfriend and I really do want to have kids at some point. Does anyone have any experience in a similar situation?

Cheers.
Alan
[/b][/quote]