Avoid Pregabalin if planning to father a child

[On Fire]

• plan to father a child. Animal studies have shown that pregabalin, the active ingredient in
LYRICA, made male animals less fertile and caused sperm to change. Also, in animal
studies, birth defects were seen in the offspring (babies) of male animals treated with
pregabalin. It is not known if these problems can happen in people who take LYRICA.

http://www.fda.gov/downloads/Drugs/DrugSafety/UCM152825.pdf

My wife and I are trying for a baby, so I am glad I have found this out, and am stopping my Pregabalin. I think it is relatively rare for a drug to cause sperm to change? Usually the warning is on the mother for pregnancy/fertility (there is a separate warning on pregnancy)?

Just thought I would share this information, as my GP completely failed to warn me, despite me previously telling him that my wife and I were going to try for another baby.

[hanshan]

Although the warning you cite is correct, the effect was found in rats at concentrations much greater than would be found in humans (50 - 2500 mg per kilogram body weight, ie 4,000 to 200,000 mg per day for an 80 kg male). The full FDA drug information guide states that the no-effect dose occurs at concentrations three to eight times the maximum human dose (see below 13.1 Impairment of Fertility).

http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/label/2013/021446s029,022488s008lbl.pdf