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My wife and I are planning to try for our second child towards the end of this year. I am on the cusp of getting Allopurinol prescribed. Should I wait until we do conceive to start the drug? Are there any known affects of conceiving while on this drug? Birth defects? Even infertility? Any help would be appreciated!
Mo
Allopurinol, Colchicine and other drugs Cause Male Infertility Unfortunately, there does appear to be an impact on fertility from allopurinol ( as discussed in an old topic):
“Medications that impair male fertility” indicates that both colchicine and allopurinol may impair fertility, but not libido or function.
Sigman M. “Medications that impair male fertility.” Sex Reprod Menopause 2007 May;5(2):11-16. GoutPal Enthusiast Members can download PDF at Allopurinol and Colchicine Impair Male Fertility.
I raised this question to my doctor and he informed me the infertility issues with Allopurinol are more for females, not males. Is this accurate? I want to make sure. Any insight would be helpful. Thanks.
Mo
I can't imagine that a man's taking allopurinol would have any effect on a child.
Yes, ANY drug a woman takes during the first weeks or even first hours of pregnancy should be of grave concern.
The literature shows birth defects when given in huge doses to pregnant mice but no effects on birth defects when given at 20 times normal human disage to rabbits and rats.
To clarify, Sigman analyzes 5 measurements of male infertility, including Decreased Libido, Erectile Dysfunction, and Fertilization Potential. For both allopurinol and colchicine, the only adverse event recorded was Fertilization Potential.
Also, the report specifically mentions colchicine:
Colchicine has been reported to induce oligospermia; however, this was demonstrated in a study of patients with Beh?et?s disease with long-term exposure. Short-term use in healthy males induced no effect on semen parameters and it is unclear if spermatogenic defects are due to the long-term use or underlying disease.
Finally, the citations for the colchicine facts are:
Sarica K, Suzer O, Gurler A, Baltaci S, Ozdiler E, Dincel C. Urological evaluation of Behcet patients and the effect of colchicine on fertility. Eur Urol. 1995;27:39?42.
Haimov-Kochman R, Ben-Chetrit E. The effect of colchicine treatment on sperm production and function: a review. Hum Reprod. 1998;13:360?362.
I haven’t checked if there is later relevant research. However, if you want me to do so, just ask in the new gout forum.
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