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Anyone else's DH take medication for anxiety/depression?

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We are just starting to try for baby #2 and my DH takes Lexapro for anxiety. I've recently come across research showing that this class of drugs can cause damage to sperm, and damaged sperm is associated with male infertility and poor pregnancy outcomes.

DH is OK with going off his meds while we TTC, but I wonder if we should TTA until it's totally out of his system. His doctor says that the research is very preliminary and she seems to think it's fine to TTC while taking these meds.

I'd love to hear from anyone else who is in a similar situation. Here is a link to a story summarizing the research, if you're interested:

https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/704701

 

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Re: Anyone else's DH take medication for anxiety/depression?

  • Jessiac_3Jessiac_3

    Has he had a SA?  It might be beneficial to see what his numbers are like now.  Otherwise, keep in mind that even if he went off them today, you'd have to wait 3 months before you'd see his count recover.

    HTH!

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    imageJessiac_3:

    Has he had a SA?  It might be beneficial to see what his numbers are like now.  Otherwise, keep in mind that even if he went off them today, you'd have to wait 3 months before you'd see his count recover.

    HTH!

    The research shows damage to sperm, which is different from sperm count and would not show up on a traditional SA. Luckily, it seems like everything seems to go back to normal within a month of going off the drugs.

    We have a couple of semi-stressful family events coming up, and he wants to wait until after those to go off meds , which I totally understand.  So the question is really do we TTC now or wait 3 months? Not a life-or death situation but I am super excited and a little anxious since it took us 9 months to conceive our son and I will be 35 in Jan. Thanks for your reply though!

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  • mrs529mrs529
    If I am understanding correctly, I would TTC now. It doesn't seem like the medication can cause harm to an unborn child, just potentially affect your chances of conceiving. (Side note- Can a medication taken by the male effect an unborn child?) If you really want to start, give it a shot for a few months while he really wants to be on it and if it works, great, and if not then you can start looking at options/medical opinion. GL!
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  • siba1119siba1119
    DH is on Fluvoxamine and Klonopan (sp?) for Anxiety and OCD.  He spoke to his doctor before we started TTC and he said that because the doses weren't near the 'maximum' allowed dosage that it shouldn't hurt his sperm at all.  I think it just depends on the type of anti-depressent and how much he is taking. HTH!
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  • cantalopes24cantalopes24 member
    MH is on Lithium, Lamictal (Lamotrigene) and Xanax as needed. We are not holding off on TTC. I believe what the Lexapro does is cause brittle sperm, where they can't fertilize the egg (I am not 100% sure on this). I know I have read up on this before and whatever it is, is not something that you should wait to TTC. Have you read anything on Google Scholar?
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  • MillerTime13MillerTime13 member
    Mine was on Lexapro for anxiety and I think he has switched to something different at a higher dosage now (terrible that I don't know specifics!). Honestly the only thought I had given to it was the fact that he is always stressed and has been stressing about TTC as far as sex is concerned, so I see the meds as a good thing! However if we have problems going forward, might be worth looking into. (And I'm not going to click the link for fear of adding one more thing to my "stuff to worry about" list Indifferent)
    "For a long time there were only your footprints & laughter in our dreams & even from such small things, we knew we could not wait to love you forever." ~storypeople.com   

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  • zoe_catzoe_cat
    Hi!  DH is on Celexa, and I have read many similar studies about SSRIs affecting sperm DNA fragmentation.  I've had two recent early miscarriages, and I started to worry that damage to the sperm might be causing them (obviously I have no way of knowing if this is really the case or not).  DH decided to go off the antidepressants, and has been tapering down over the last few weeks.  We're not going to wait to TTC however.  I haven't had a chance to talk to my doctor about this, but next time I see him I want to bring it up.
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