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6-mercaptopurine/aziathoprine and trying to conceive

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 6/12/2008 5:47 PM (GMT 0)
Hi, My husband was diagnosed with pan-colitis in Jan 08, although he had been suffering from a flare-up since end Nov 08.

He has been treated with prednisolone and Asacol to no effect and the illness has meant he is now deemed infertile. Hopefully his fertility should return when his health improves. His consultant has now recommended aziathoprine but we are both concerned at the effect this could have on his fertility/our chances of having a healthy baby (having read of research showing it causes problems). We really don't know what to do for the best as we've been trying to conceive for 2 years and are in our late thirties but we also appreciate that he needs to regain his health, Has anyone successfully conceived whilst the male partner was on aziathoprine?    

Thanks

Posted 6/12/2008 9:29 PM (GMT 0)
I recently started on Aziathoprine and my wife and I are trying. I have one healthy daughter but that was before I was diagnosed. She was able to get pregnant while I was on prednisone but unfortunately she lost it. We just recently were cleared to start trying again so hopefully I'll be able to now. I'll try to post if she does get pregnant. I read some other posts where men were on it and able to get their wives pregnant.
Posted 6/12/2008 9:35 PM (GMT 0)
Nickety, sorry to ask but I am confused. Were you told that your husband's infertility was a result of the UC or the Prednisolone and asacol? (or one of the three)
Posted 7/13/2008 7:23 PM (GMT 0)
Hi, thanks for the replies.

My husband seems to have become infertile due to the severity of his illness and the effect that this has had on his general health. He's lost over 4 stone and has become so severely anaemic that he has had to have an emergency blood transfusion.

We have only been able to find one study suggesting that the effects of aziathoprine maybe detrimental to a foetus but that has caused us (& our gynae/ob) concern as we have already lost one child 7 years ago and don't want to go through that again. We have now been trying to conceive, unsuccessfullly, for 2 years so have now been referred for IVF. We are freezing some sperm this week, prior to him starting on the aziathoprine but we cannt afford to have recurrent IVf if this one attempt on the NHS doesn't work. Therefore we'll go back to trying naturally with the hope that the aziathoprine won't have a detrimental effect. Any 'happy ending' stories would be much appreciated as we feel in a very dark place at the moment.

Cheers. 

Posted 7/14/2008 3:09 AM (GMT 0)
Yes I was on azathioprine for over a year when my wife conceived. We have a beautiful 6 mo. old angel. She is healthy and doing fine. It took my wife and me one try too!
Posted 7/14/2008 3:48 AM (GMT 0)
My wife and I are starting to try. I'm on 200 mg azathioprine. My doc said to go ahead, that there wasn't enough research out there on the male side to really show for sure that there are any more increased risks. My wife's gyno. didn't have much concern, but ordered a semen analysis. My morphology was a bit low, but who knows what the cause of that is. Anyway, we are going ahead with it and hopefully all goes well. I hope your husband gets well.
Posted 7/14/2008 2:03 PM (GMT 0)
Hi, i am on the other side (female on 6mp). We had to go the fertility route due to early losses, chemical pregnancies, and poor egg quality (none related to meds, as i was not dx at that time).

Through all our research (over the 3yrs of ttc), i had heard that there was chances of low sperm counts for men on 6mp, but had not heard about actual birth defects. I can say that i took mine through the ttc and development stages and my 1yr old daughter is perfect.

My only recommendations would be

collect sperm/freeze before he begins (which u mentioned u were already done)
possiblly meet with a perinatologist (high risk pregnancy doctor), who can disucss how the med might affect your pg.

GL
Posted 7/14/2008 9:01 PM (GMT 0)
Does anyone know what the actual percent chances are of azathioprine causing birth defects? For a male taking 100mg a day?
Posted 7/15/2008 12:01 AM (GMT 0)
IF you can't find the stats online, a perinatologist would be able to tell you that information. Maybe one would tell u over the phone rather than making you come in for a consult....

GL
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