Do Crohns meds have any effect on fertility?

[Kittenz999]

My fiance and I have been trying for our first child. He has Crohns and is currently taking pentasa, prednisone, flagyl aswell as ativan for anxiety.
In the past he has been on sulfasalizine (which i have heard may cause sterility) and entocort. Should i be worried that he will not be able to have children? I'm not sure exactly how high the chances are that sulfa will cause that or if any of his other meds would. He may be put on remicade or humira soon. Would that be an issue?
I also wanted to know if anyone happens to know what the chances are that Crohns would be passed from him to the child? I've read different percentages from different places ranging from 9% to 40%.

 

[Jmrogers4]

Welcome to the forum Kittenz999. My hubby has been on Pentasa and sulfasalizine before and during my pregnacies. He is now on Imuran but may be moving to remicade soon as well after over 10 years on Imuran. We have 2 children 14 and 12 now. Our oldest does have Crohn's but from what I understand odds are more likely to not have a child with Crohn's. They say genetics is just one component.
I will say we were prepared to handle the Crohn's in our son as hubby had been diagnosed for over a decade by that time and they can directly relate to each other and have an even stronger bond because of the Crohn's. Our younger son shows absolutely no signs.
Good luck!

 

[Kittenz999]

Thanks for your response!
I feel like i could definitely handle having a child with crohns and knowing what to expect from caring for my fiance would be very helpful. I can see how it would make the bond between the father and child closer and it would be great to know they have eachother as a support system actually knowing what it's like and what eachother are going through. I am concerned about the cost of medications and treatments. This disease is so expensive i know i'd feel very overwhelmed with all the meds.

 

[Jmrogers4]

Yes, unfortunately we always have to think about the costs for both of them. Anytime we have been job hunting we don't always just look at how much money we would make at a job but also what the insurance coverage is.
Right now we probably spend about $100/month in medication this would include the meds they take as well as Jack's supplemental nutrition, he drinks semi-elemental nutrition drinks to help him get the extra calories he needs.
But then even without Crohn's there is always a chance that any child could need medication that you would have to spend money on for example asthma or some such so although I know it's hard to say don't think about it. Chances are you would likely have a healthy child with no need for medication.

 

[DustyKat]

Hey Kittenz999,

I don't know if you have seen this but it has fab info contained within it including medications and their role in pregnancy not just from the female perspective but also the male:

http://www.drfalkpharma.de/uploads/tx_tocfpshoperw/S82e_12-1-09.pdf

As to the chances of passing Crohn's/IBD onto your children, the most common figure I have seen quoted is 10% if one parent has IBD.

Dusty. xxx

 

[Kittenz999]

I haven't seen that. Thank you.