My husband's rheumy said that most of the meds for RA taken by men have not been studied for how they may affect conception.

For this reason, my hubby and I feel really leery of him being on meds while we hope to concieve.

He took plaquenil for about 5 months and noticed no effect one way or another. To be honest, I'm frightened by the side effects of all the others - my understanding is that plaquenil was one of the more "safer" meds.

Anyone know about tetracycline in men who concieve? Or about other RA meds in men?

TIA!!!

I too would like to know if plaquenil has any effects on conception for men.

For me, Im 31 and have been on plaquenil for 2 months with good results and my wife and I are not planning on having any children right now, but if for some reason we had an "surprise" and the possibility of conception was there, could the fetus or the child be at risk???

Thanks

If he has to take one of the new stronger drugs (Enbrel, Humira, Remicade, Orencia, Rituxan) you could freeze sperm and bank it. Just in case. That's what Lance Armstrong did before he started chemo for his cancer.

Methotrexate shouldn't permanently effect male fertility but birth defects are possible so he'd have to be off MTX for 3-4 months before trying to get pregnant.

Sulfasalazine has definitely been shown to reduce male fertility - so stay away from that one.

Keep in mind that chronic high inflammation in the body can cause infertility too, so it is important to get the RA under control and the inflammation down. It can also cause heart disease, people with uncontrolled RA are at a much higher risk.

The PI sheet for tetracycline says it's contraindicated in women because it can have a negative effect on the baby but has no impact on fertility. They tested in male and female mice, 25x the human dose, and it didn't stop the music.;)

The risk of Plaq on a fetus is low but they don't recommend women remain on Plaq while pregnant or while breast feeding. Studies on male/female fertility are slim to none. There seems to be more discussion about Plaq in the Lupus community than in RA circles.