Does anyone here have a medical background, advice appreciated!!

[Tanya4beauty]

Hi guys,
Ok my husband has crohns disease and his condition has not been great since Christmas and he has been on and off steroids since then. This is obviously not helping with our chances of ttc as they can lower sperm count.
Anyway my reason for this thread is that the doctors now want to out him on a drug called azathioprine which they told us twice would not affect us ttc and would be better than him being on steroids. However he picked up the drug yesterday and we read the leaflet which tells us if you are a man ttc to not take it as it might affect the baby. This is the 2nd time we have read this. Like I say the docs told us it was fine and that this info related more to women but why does it say in black and white about men not taking it?!

I just wondered if anyone had any medical knowledge on this drug?

 

[kirstymichelle]

http://www.drugs.com/pro/azathioprine.html

As far as i've just looked at for you , it only has an affect on the foetus if taken by a woman , read down to the bottom of the link ,

But the other info regarding cancer's on this page i found interesting

Hope this helps x

 

[Tanya4beauty]

Thank you so much for that link. I have read it to my other half and we are even less sure about him taking it now. We were dead aginst it to start with because of the potential risks of cancer and he also had his spleen removed so is at increased risk of infections too which is another risk with this drug.
We really don't know what to do, I want him to be well above having a baby obviously but we are so scared of what this drug may do to him. The consultant basically frightened us into him taking it by telling him if he didn't and he had a bad flare up with his crohns that they couldn't control that they would remove the offending body part.be it his bowel or whatever. So the thought of having no bowel at 34 was a little scary.
If only you could have a crystal ball!
Sometimes I feel they just give you these drugs and fob you off without worrying about the potential dangers.
I did notice in the article it mentioned sperm production in the mice it was tested on had lowered And that there was a reduction in matings too.
If he goes on this drug he could be on it for up to 5 years, that would make me nearly 36. Not old for having a baby these days I know but your time as a women does start to run out.
Do you ever feel that everything is against you having a baby?!

 

[kirstymichelle]

Yes it shocked me the link did , Maybe you should book in wuth the doctor and ask for a frank discussion, it's a really difficult situation to be in with the threat of removal of the bowel , but then again i know a few young men with colostomy bags that live fine with it. But as you said if it can be avoided then thats the best option , but obviosly that risk of cancer is very alarming , and with removal of the spleen with it being an immunesupressant drug this carries an even greater risk to your OH . It is such a hard decission for you . Yes if only we could see into the future.

I wish your OH all the best and hope he gets well again , and both of you all the best in concieving your baby .

Yeah for some of us the odds get stacked against us in baby making x

 

[Tanya4beauty]

Thank you so much, that means a lot. Feeling very down about it all at the moment. Xx

 

[Drummers_wife]

Chrones is an awful disease and people do have parts of bowel removed and ppls weight plummet as nutrients are not being absorbed so to get your husband well would be your main priority because chrones can be fatal if not controlled well!! Due to the malnutrition x

Speak with the consultant again and see if what's alternates there are but like I said your main aim is for your hubby to strengthen x x

 

[Tanya4beauty]

Yes he is my main priority. The only reason I was asking was mainly because we asked the consultant about ttc whilst on this drug and he said it was fine but in the leaflet it says if you are a man or women not to ttc whilst on it as it may harm the baby ( I suppose they mean defects). We don't want to continue ttc if there is a risk of this.
My husband is always my number one priority and I wouldn't put him at risk to have a baby. If I am told tomorrow I can't ttc anymore yes I will be heartbroken but at least I will know and not keep trying and waiting.
He is very concerned about this drug due to the nasty side effects it can cause- cancer being the main concern. It also states 1 in 10 will suffer with lack of immunity to viruses and as he also has no spleen which has weakened his immunity anyway we are doubly concerned.
We are going to speak to the doctors again but I just thought I'd ask on here as there may have been someone with medical knowledge who could help.

 

[Joey2011]

I'm sorry you're having to deal with this as well as ttc, certainly puts things into perspective for me!

I truly hope you get all of the help you need for the health of your husband and your ttc journey.

Best of luck!

Xx