Hay fever Antihistamines and MF- are ... - Fertility Network UK

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Hay fever Antihistamines and MF- are there any negative side effects whilst preparing for IVF?

Hopewhite profile image
11 Replies

hi lovely warriors,

I hope you’re all well and keeping strong in your journey xx

I was wondering if anyone knows if antihistamines for hay fever have any negative side effects on sperm ? My DH has MF ( low count, morphology etc ) he has been on impryl whilst we prepare for next cycle soon, terrible hay fever has just kicked in today. Just trying to check if anyone knows if it’s safe to take the medicine (Treathay - 120 mg Fexofenadine Hydrochloride)?

We just don’t want to risk all the effort gone in the past months, but equally there’s a whole summer away !

Many thanks to all in advance, sending tons of good luck your way, I hope you’re very close to your dream come true xx

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Hopewhite
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11 Replies
Eloquentia profile image
Eloquentia

Best chat to your clinic. xx

Hopewhite profile image
Hopewhite in reply toEloquentia

Thank you Eloquentia, I hope you’re well. I’ll ring them tomorrow, I was hoping someone here would have advise as it’s an ‘emergency’ 😂 and Google says it does harm sperm !

Eloquentia profile image
Eloquentia in reply toHopewhite

Google thinks everything is harmful :( If I were you, I'd play it safe and take a more topical antihistamine, like Beconase nasal spray...Especially given that others have commented, most antihistamines are not recommended during pregnancy.

Hi,My husband has a low sperm count and also suffers with seasonal hayfever. It can be that bad he has to have eye drops, nasal spray and fexofenadine tablets prescribed by his GP. He has done for a couple of years. But on our fertility journey having a fertility nutritionist look at our lifestyle / medication and medical history she advised hayfever medication especially fexofenadine tablets can cause harm to sperm and stay in your system up to 3 months after you've stopped taking them.

We didn't know this but fexofenadine is labelled not safe for pregnant women. So if it's not safe for pregnant women, women or men shouldn't be taken it when ttc.

This was going to be difficult for my husband to give up the hayfever medication so he was advised to but manuka honey and have a teaspoon with his hot water lemon in the morning. Manuka honey is expensive but it was so worth it as it works! My husband has been doing this for 2 years now. We did buy manuka honey on amazon but you can now buy it in aldi. He also finds putting vapour rub up his nostrils to stop the pollen going up his nostrils helps.

I would definitely say to seek medical advice but I just wanted to share my experience with you.

Hopewhite profile image
Hopewhite in reply to

Thank you very much this is super helpful, I really appreciate it, the poor thing has been dripping from his nose all day yesterday! We do have Manuka Honey at home I’ll tell him to do this today xx

TTC0011 profile image
TTC0011

My husband was told to avoid them and given something more natural instead.

Hopewhite profile image
Hopewhite in reply toTTC0011

Thank you very much , what was he recommended? I think he’ll be willing to try all options !

TTC0011 profile image
TTC0011 in reply toHopewhite

Pollytox (not sure of spelling but that’s what it’s called).

Hopewhite profile image
Hopewhite in reply toTTC0011

Thank you very much for sharing! I’ll ask the clinic tomorrow, did it help your husband?

TTC0011 profile image
TTC0011 in reply toHopewhite

It did help - nowhere near as good as medicine from the GP but it was only for a short while whilst he gave his sample. We were told to avoid it before hand.

Hopewhite profile image
Hopewhite in reply toTTC0011

Thank you! I’ll have a look today at boots and Holland and barret

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