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Male Infertility
Tue, 05/08/2007 - 06:57Topic: Medication Issues
I stumbled upon this website in a desperate attempt to link my husbands medication to his fertility problems.
He is taking Tegretol Retard and we have just been told that he has a very low sperm count with only some movement but all the sperm are abnormally shaped. Has anyone had any experience of trying to conceive whilst taking this medication?
Thank you for your help.
Comments
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Male Infertility
Submitted by KEB1 on Fri, 2007-06-01 - 03:40
Hi James (and everyone else too)
I posted the same question on a UK forum and quite a few people responded with links to websites which shows that tegretol definitely has an effect. I also typed "Tegretol and fertility problems" in to Google and it came up with loads of stuff. I printed a lot of it out to show my husband and we are convinced that is the problem. We just have to try and convince his neuro.
Hope that helps
Kate x
http://www.epilepsyforum.org.uk/viewtopic.php?t=12179
Hi there. I was going to
Submitted by Anie on Tue, 2007-06-05 - 10:50
Hi there.
I was going to give you some weblinks but then i saw that keb1 has already done that.lol.In fact if you check her link you will see my post in there as well.
Just want to add this link.
Please have a look.
http://www.epilepsyfoundation.org/living/men/index.cfm
How AEDs cause hormonal changes:
Studies show that AEDs directly affect brain regions that mediate sexuality.
AEDs may cause sexual dysfunction by inducing secondary effects on reproductive hormones.
Some AEDs change the concentrations of sex steroid hormones.
Do all AEDs have the same effect on hormones?
No. Some, but not all, AEDs have been linked to adverse hormonal effects.
Research suggests that the AEDs phenytoin, carbamazepine and phenobarbital adversely affect hormone levels by reducing the level of free testosterone which, in turn, reduces sexual desire.
Some good news regarding AEDs and hormonal effects does exist: Studies show that the AED lamotrigine may not have a negative impact on sexual function. In fact, in one study, lamotrigine was shown to have a favorable effect on sexual disorders in MWE who had partial seizures and were taking other AEDs.
take care.
Smile :)
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Male Infertility
Submitted by jp4rk3r on Thu, 2007-05-31 - 16:50
Hi there - I've been reading all these comments with interest as my wife and I are in a similar situation. My epilepsy is the result of an AVM in my brain and I didn't suffer seizures until after our first baby was born. I am currently on Tegretol Retard 1400mg/day and I've been seizure free for about a year now. We've actually conceived twice (first one miscarried) both times in the first month of trying. We've been trying for another child for at least 18 months now with no success. A recent sperm count showed a very high abnormality rate (less than 3% normal shape) and motility wasn't great but within acceptable limits - all other measures normal. From this our GP concluded it was very unlikely we would ever be able to conceive. We took this information to a meeting with epilepsy specialist nurse who dismissed the notion of tegretol inducing male fertility problems. Armed with nothing other than our own evidence we felt there was little we could do to push things further. Having read the stories on this forum I think we certainly have more to back up our fears that it is the AEDs that are possibly causing the low sperm count. If anybody has some links to other cases or case studies about this then I would be most grateful to have them. thanks, James.