Anti-depressants making ttc-life harder!

[Velathria]

Well apparently I just found out that the anti-depressants my DF is taking is lowering his sperm motility and his morphology and all around making him infertile...

I just wanted to see if anyone on here has had any experience with it.
And also if they know how long after you stop taking it, the sperm will regenerate back to normal.

And does it matter how long it was taken?

Thanks

 

[Weebles]

I just posted about this a couple days ago although I do not currently know how it is effecting my dh's count and motility. From what I have researched on my own it has an effect on pretty much 100% of men who take ssri's but it does NOT make all men who take them infertile because it depends on their count and motility beforehand. It takes a matter of weeks for it to reverse completely.. Around 6 or so.. It's something I can't help but worry about too. Someone suggested to me that my DH have a semen analysis done and if we are not successful this month than that's what we will do. Do you know for sure it is causing him to go into the infertile range?

 

[arturia]

The sources I read suggested maybe 3 months to get motility back after stopping. However, getting off an SSRI (if that's the kind of anti-depressant he is taking) is an undertaking all on it's own. (speaking from experience.)

SSRIs are physically addictive. If you stop taking it, you will feel strange, almost fainty, and you may experience an electrical feeling running up your spine. You do it by gradually lowering your dose, under the direction of your physician. If he's been taking it for years or has a high dosage, it could take a year to wind down. It took me a month or two after only being on one for between 6 and 9 months.

As a side note, I also noticed that most of the studies on this topic I could find were poor quality, so unless your doctor provided this info after a sperm analysis, I would be cautious. And if you haven't had your partner do a sperm analysis, now's the time.

 

[LuLu15]

My dh was taking these medications as well. He had weird side effects so he got off of them. About a year later is when we started ttc and we did conceive my dd. I can't tell you if they effected his sperm because we weren't trying at the time but if they did, I know we were able to still have at least one kiddo! Good luck to you and your df

 

[Velathria]

Thanks guys. We haven't gotten a sperm analysis yet but I read it on his medication sheet and then I read up about it on the internet.. I just couldn't find anywhere how long it would take to get it out of his system. He has gotten off of them fully about a month ago. It was a bit rough at first but he has finally gotten over it and he is in a better mood then ever. We might get an analysis if the next two months are a no go again. I think I'm gonna ask my doctor though how long it would take. Thanks ladies

 

[Weebles]

It takes men 2-3 months for sperm to fully mature so three months is likely the longest it would take for a "full recovery". Men also produce new sperm daily and I remember reading that it would be about 6 weeks before improvements could be seen. How much they were effect also depends on the dose and length of time I imagine. If it's been a month already I think that's a good start.

 

[Velathria]

Ok thanks well I guess I will see the next two or so months. If nothing happens again then we are going to check us both out. Just to make sure. Be better to know if we are wasting our time or if we are just taking a bit longer. Thanks again for the reply