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Sperm Allergy

jackiebertramjackiebertram
in Infertility

Hello everyone,

I tried searching for my issue on all the boards here but found nothing and I'm not sure if this is the appropriate board to be posting on but I just need to find out if there are others out there like me and if the treatment options my doc just gave me are the only ones out there.

Yesterday I was officially diagnosed with a Seminal Protein Hypersensitivity.. of course just to my husband's sperm (how convenient!) This means that not only is it extremely painful right after sex (upon ejaculation, not if condoms are used), but my cervix swells up and each time we have sex, I am sensitizing myself more and more to my husband's seminal proteins. This means eventually if we keep having sex without a condom, I could eventually have an anaphylactic reaction and worst case scenario- could die within 90 seconds. Lovely. 

So now to my treatment options: condoms forever EXCEPT when we're ready to conceive, I will need to take zyrtec and prednisone for the week that I'm most fertile in my cycle. I'm not a huge fan of taking steroids so that will be very difficult to me, especially if it takes quite a few months to get pregnant. I also hate how condoms feel, it totally ruins the entire sexual experience for me. Another thing is that I've never had a normal cycle off birth control- they last anywhere from 14-45 days with lots of random spotting in between, so finding that fertile time will probably require a lot of charting and ovulation predictor tests!

Another thing is that he told me that steroids get harder on the body and can become more damaging the older you get, so it's best to start trying as young as possible. We weren't planning on trying for a year or two so does this mean I have to start now before we're ready?? Just a lot to think about..

 Sorry to ramble, I just really need to know if there are others out there with this same problem and if so, please let me know if this was the option given to you. Thanks everyone,

Jackie

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Re: Sperm Allergy

  • jackiebertramjackiebertram
    Another thing is that if the steroids don't work after whatever period of time, he mentioned that the only other option would be IVF. It was just a lot to handle all finding this out in one office visit when I never imagined I would have such struggles getting pregnant ever!
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  • njohnson1972njohnson1972 member

    Take a deep breath.  It is scary when you get the IF diagnosis.  You are more than welcome on this board, though I don't know of anyone with the same Dx.

    Before I would do the steroids and Zyrtec, I would find out if you are ovulating and use OPKs to find your fertile window.  Was the doctor not concerned about your irregular cycles?

    Did you doctor say what your odds of success would be with IVF?  I would think high since it isn't an egg or sperm issue.  Do you have IF insurance coverage?  If you do, then I wouldn't stress so much about it and just plan to do IVF down the road when you are ready.

    Good luck!

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  • jlcrane78jlcrane78 member
    That sounds so uncomfortable, and I am sorry but I can't recall seeing anyone here with that diagnosis either.  Out of curiosity, how do they test for that?  I hope that you are able to find some answers. 
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  • SunMoon&StarsSunMoon&Stars member
    I'm really sorry to hear about this. I have heard of this kind of allergy discussed at the hospital where I work, and of course it's very rare. I can't imagine how stressful it would be, especially for a TTC couple. Have you been to an allergist?
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  • jackiebertramjackiebertram

    Thanks everyone. I appreciate the support. It feels good to know that I have people I can relate to and communicate with but I still really want to find out if someone's out there with my same dx so I can see if they were successful with the steroids just so I won't have to go the IVF route if I don't absolutely have to. I have no idea of my IVF insurance coverage but isn't it like $10K?? I have no clue about this. This is a very new idea to me so I'm still a little shocked / in denial / unwilling to really look too far into IVF.

     To answer how this was diagnosed.. well the final test was a skin prick allergy test with my hubby's sperm on my forearm.. we were laughing doing it but not so much when I developed hives! Eek!

    I will keep everyone updated on this board if I find anything else but in the meantime, I'm going to continue to research my options! Thanks all :-)

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