Getting Pregnant Naturally (30 page)

A number of common prescription and nonprescription drugs can inhibit fertility. Stop taking any medications that aren’t absolutely necessary. If you’re not sure of the possible impact of a drug you’re taking, consult your pharmacist or doctor.

A number of drugs can interfere with fertility, including certain antibiotics, anti-seizure drugs, anti-depressive drugs, anti-hypertensive drugs, cortisone and corticosteriods, and anti-ulcer drugs. Women who are trying to get pregnant should avoid antihistamines and decongestants since they may reduce the flow of fertile mucus. Women should also choose aspirin or acetaminophen instead of Ibuprofen, a drug that may disrupt ovulation and implantation of the fertilized egg in the uterus.

If you are taking any prescription medicines, discuss your fertility issues with your doctor. Some of these drugs may inhibit fertility—and some may be dangerous
to your baby once you do conceive. As an overall rule of thumb, avoid all medications when you’re trying to become pregnant, unless your doctor recommends otherwise.

Both men and women use anabolic steroids—and both men and women have their fertility damaged by the use of these dangerous drugs. Anabolic steroids are sometimes used by athletes for bodybuilding and stamina, but they often trigger changes in the pituitary gland that throw the body’s hormone balance dangerously out of whack.

Women should never use bodybuilding steroids under any circumstances. In women, they often cause irreversible hormonal imbalances and reproductive problems. Men shouldn’t use them, either. They can cause heart problems, depression, rage, and psychosis, in addition to shrunken testicles and sterility. In most cases, men can regain their fertility when they stop using the drugs; a man should abstain from steroid use for at least three months before trying to get his partner pregnant to give his body a chance to cleanse itself of potentially damaged sperm.

First researchers thought computers caused fertility problems, then they decided they didn’t, and now they once again suspect that computers contribute to a number of reproductive problems, including infertility, miscarriage, and birth defects.

A recent study of almost sixteen hundred women conducted by the Kaiser-Permanente Medical Group in northern California found that women who worked at a computer video display terminal for more than twenty hours per week had twice as many miscarriages in the first trimester of pregnancy as women who did not use computers. In addition, women who used a computer for just five hours a day were 40 percent more likely than nonusers to have babies born with a congenital birth defect. Another study conducted in Manchester, England, found that women who use computers were more likely to experience menstrual irregularities and a failure to ovulate, compared to women who did not use computers.

Men also need to take steps to reduce their exposure to radiation from computers, since radiation has been linked to lowered sperm count, chromosomal damage to the sperm, and testicle damage.

If you don’t have to fly, stay on the ground. Several studies have found that female flight attendants have higher rates of irregular ovulation, infertility, and miscarriage, compared to their grounded counterparts. In men, high levels of atmospheric radiation may cause decreased sperm count, increased sperm abnormalities, and an increase in immature sperm. Avoid as much air travel as possible, especially in the three to five months before you plan to try to get pregnant.

When trying to get pregnant, you should do everything possible to avoid exposure to as many environmental toxins as you can. Men should be particularly wary of coming in contact with antimony, arsenic, boron, cadmium, lithium, manganese, and mercury because these metals have been found to kill or deform sperm, cause impotence, cause premature or delayed ejaculation,
and decrease the ability to have an orgasm. In women, these metals can cause hormonal and menstrual irregularities, problems with embryo implantation, and miscarriage. In particular, cadmium has been implicated in difficulty with implantation, contributing to the fertility problems among women who smoke. (There are some 30 micrograms of cadmium in a single pack of cigarettes.)

Other common hazardous chemicals you should watch out for include dioxin, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), industrial solvents, formaldehyde, nitrous oxide, herbicides, insecticides, and other pesticides. A 1994 study in the British medical journal
The Lancet
reported that organic farmers had healthier sperm than those farmers who used pesticides and chemical fertilizers. If you’re a weekend gardener, avoid using pesticides.

Most fertility problems associated with environmental toxins can be reversed if job changes are made. For more information on occupational and environmental toxins that can cause infertility (as well as other health problems), contact the following organizations:

Prospective parents should take steps to minimize their exposure to X-rays and other types of ionizing radiation. X-ray technicians, dental assistants, doctors, workers in nuclear plants and food irradiation facilities, as well as others in radiation-related jobs should shield their genital areas with a lead apron when appropriate. And, of course, everyone should avoid unnecessary X-rays.

They’re everywhere: from the alarm clock that wakes you in the morning to the electric blanket you wrap up
in at night. All those electric appliances that make our lives easier also bombard us with electromagnetic energy or non-ionizing radiation.