Hi i have been taking oral tetracycline for rosacea for 4 years. i have read that this may affect male fertility. is this likely to be permament.? thanks

Not entirely known: Originally detected in spiders, now in human sperm in test tubes, tetracycline is shown to reduce sperm motility. In the human model removal from the tcn reversed the inhibitory effect. It does not appear to be likely that any effects in people are going to be permanent. It is interesting that trying to cure chlamydial infection in order to preserve fertility, may have some opposite effect.

No.: Typically, medication induced male infertility is reversible after 3-6 months.