How Fertility Drugs for Men and Women Differ

Fertility Drugs for Men & Women – Difference

Some fertility drugs for men have essentially the same ingredients as fertility drugs for women. Fertility drugs help improve the chances of pregnancy in women and help to correct hormonal imbalances originating in the pituitary gland or in the hypothalamus in men. In men, these hormonal imbalances are linked to low sperm count or poor sperm quality and sluggishness in terms of sperm mobility towards the uterus.

Two of the most popular fertility drugs prescribed for women are clomiphene and hMG (human menopausal gonadotropin). When combined with hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin), these drugs are also used to successfully treat men with primary hypogonadotropic hypogonadism — a hormone deficiency in the pituitary gland or hypothalamus which, if left untreated, prevents the testicles from receiving the signal to make sperm.

Clomiphene can be taken daily as a pill. If a sperm deficiency is preventing proper fertilization, clomiphene can be used to prompt the pituitary gland to make a luteinizing hormone and follicle-stimulating hormone, which in turn tell the testicles to produce testosterone. This treatment most often results in a higher sperm count. Just as well, when HCG is injected between two and three times a week, at times in a cocktail with hMG, the testes are stimulated to produce testosterone and sperm directly, bypassing completely any involvement with the pituitary gland.

Fertility Drugs Help from Your Qualified Health Professional

As with all types of prescription medication, fertility drugs for men carry benefits and side effects, often ones that differ from those associated with fertility drugs for women. While fertility drugs help achieve the desired goal of starting a family, and since fertility drugs for men may contain the same ingredients as fertility drugs for women, proper precautions should always be taken to avoid misusing these prescription medications, overdosing, or mistaking a man’s prescription for a woman’s and vice versa.