Dealing with azoospermia?

[deafgal01]

Frustrated. My period is all weird so naturally i want to be convinced by blood test but drs office says it is af and not implantation bleed that I be having. Just because my urine tests don't say bfp yet after 14 dpo.

 

[Mikihob]

I'm sorry to hear that deafgal. That sounds so frustrating! If you don't have usual periods, they can't assume it's a period and you aren't pregnant. They should do a blood test to be sure. What happens if you are and it isn't caught? Can you tell them you want a blood test no matter what?

 

[deafgal01]

They say it is messed up from the hormones and procedures this cycle. But I have y doubts- the lowest dose? C'mon I don't buy it.

 

[bubumaci]

Nicole - the procedure, where they cut DH's testicle to retrieve sperm "directly from the source" is called TESE (or mTESE). If they are uncertain as to whether or not they will be able to find anything, it is recommendable to have the surgery done before you start stimming and freeze the sperm (otherwise, it can happen, that you have undergone everything for egg retrieval and then there is nothing there ...). You are more on the safe side that way and DH would still have to provide a fresh sample on the day of egg retrieval - if you are lucky, they can use the fresh sample to fertilise and don't have to use the frozen sperm.

Since it sounds like DH has so few sperm, I think it is highly unlikely that the clinic would use only IVF. That is usually the procedure when IUI hasn't worked / there is more an issue with the female donor, than the male - because the sperm are plenty and strong enough to fertilise the egg themselves, once there is one there for them. When it is a case of serious male infertility,i.e. too few sperm & poor motility, it is most likely that the clinic will have to do ICSI, by injecting one sperm into one egg (doing this per retrieved egg, so you can end up with several embies) - and then that is kept in the IVF medium to develop until transfer.

DG ... fingers still crossed for you xx

 

[sharon99]

Uggh, Deafgal, it sounds like you are stuck in an awful limbo. How are you holding up? Fingers crossed for you.

Nicole, it sounds like everyone had great IVF/ICSI advice for you. I agree on the money part being SO STRESSFUL. I never *thought* I cared about money or material things... but it is stressful to see our money pouring out of our bank account. I DO care about having a roof over my head & being able to pay the bills!

 

[NikkiR143]

Thanks for all the info ladies! Makes a lot more sense now. So since he has so few sperm in his semen, we'll be doing surgical sperm extraction, ICSI, and IVF. So we're prob looking at 15,000 minimum. I emailed member services today to see if IVF is covered by some miracle, but I know it isn't. The joys of living in California. My hubby had his ultrasound yesterday, so I guess that will tell us a little more about his undescended testicle and anything wrong in there. I also purchased Wellman's Conception vitamins yesterday online (from the UK). Only $16 on Amazon. I've read online about some amazing stories online about them, so I figured it couldn't hurt to try. Miracles do happen, right? For now, I guess we just need to start thinking about saving, saving, saving. Good luck to you all!

 

[gem10]

Hello ladies,

Haven't posted in a bit, but I have been reading all of the threads. Deafgal, I have been thinking of you the past two weeks. I'm so sorry you're having a tough go, praying that things take a turn for the best.

I'm watching this new show on MTV, and thinking of all of you. Not sure if anyone has seen it. But if you are using donor sperm, it really gives you an idea of what your kids may be feeling in 18 years. While we are still hoping our next mTESE/ICSI cycle will be successful, there's always a chance we may still have to use DS. This show has kind of helped me feel better about it. A lot of the kids feel like they don't want to meet the donor because they feel that their dad is their dad and there's no need. I don't know, I thought it was kind of cool. If you get a chance, check it out.

Thanksgiving here was pretty tough. Had our first cycle worked this would have been the time I would be able to tell people. And of course, at least three people made announcements on Facebook. Facebook is probably the worst thing when you are TTC. Most posts were about baby number two, which makes it worse.

Then I hung out with my newly preggo friend the other day. She was complaining how bloated she felt because of all of the hormones. I told her I understood bc when I was on the meds for the implantation I was super bloated. I was on three different forms of hormones multiple times a day mind you. Her response was, well wait until you start producing it naturally. Am I crazy, or does that just seem insensitive? I would LOVE to be bloated. I would LOVE to be nauseaus. I would LOVE to be tired. I WISH I could produce it naturally. Like, here I am making an effort to hang out and listen, but it's comments like these that just make it so hard for me. And of course if I start pulling away, everyone will be like, oh its because you're pregnant. She's jealous. No, I'm trying to be a good friend, but I am sick of these stupid comments. If one more person tells me to relax and that's when it will happen I may lose my mind!!! Are they serious? I'm not doing this naturally folks, that theory is kind of out the window for us.

Anyway, so sorry for the rant. I just feel like I'm surrounded by people I can't talk to. I found a quote online that said, "Loneliness does not come from not having anyone around you, but from being unable to communicate the things that seem important to you." That pretty much sums up how I feel, minus you ladies. My saving grace.

Keeping you all in my thoughts and prayers, especially as we enter the holiday season, probably the toughest time. Take care all.

 

[NikkiR143]

Hello ladies,

Haven't posted in a bit, but I have been reading all of the threads. Deafgal, I have been thinking of you the past two weeks. I'm so sorry you're having a tough go, praying that things take a turn for the best.

I'm watching this new show on MTV, and thinking of all of you. Not sure if anyone has seen it. But if you are using donor sperm, it really gives you an idea of what your kids may be feeling in 18 years. While we are still hoping our next mTESE/ICSI cycle will be successful, there's always a chance we may still have to use DS. This show has kind of helped me feel better about it. A lot of the kids feel like they don't want to meet the donor because they feel that their dad is their dad and there's no need. I don't know, I thought it was kind of cool. If you get a chance, check it out.

Thanksgiving here was pretty tough. Had our first cycle worked this would have been the time I would be able to tell people. And of course, at least three people made announcements on Facebook. Facebook is probably the worst thing when you are TTC. Most posts were about baby number two, which makes it worse.

Then I hung out with my newly preggo friend the other day. She was complaining how bloated she felt because of all of the hormones. I told her I understood bc when I was on the meds for the implantation I was super bloated. I was on three different forms of hormones multiple times a day mind you. Her response was, well wait until you start producing it naturally. Am I crazy, or does that just seem insensitive? I would LOVE to be bloated. I would LOVE to be nauseaus. I would LOVE to be tired. I WISH I could produce it naturally. Like, here I am making an effort to hang out and listen, but it's comments like these that just make it so hard for me. And of course if I start pulling away, everyone will be like, oh its because you're pregnant. She's jealous. No, I'm trying to be a good friend, but I am sick of these stupid comments. If one more person tells me to relax and that's when it will happen I may lose my mind!!! Are they serious? I'm not doing this naturally folks, that theory is kind of out the window for us.

Anyway, so sorry for the rant. I just feel like I'm surrounded by people I can't talk to. I found a quote online that said, "Loneliness does not come from not having anyone around you, but from being unable to communicate the things that seem important to you." That pretty much sums up how I feel, minus you ladies. My saving grace.

Keeping you all in my thoughts and prayers, especially as we enter the holiday season, probably the toughest time. Take care all.

Hi Gem,

You took the words out of my mouth! I completely understand what you're going through. People are very, very naive when it comes to fertility issues, because it comes so easy to so many people (many undeserving people might I add). Facebook is the worst! I told a few of my best friends my situation, and since then it seems like all of their posts are about how much they love their children and how grateful they are for their families. And while I adore these posts as well, and I love all of my friend's children and families, I can't help but think their posts are because they're feeling "extra" grateful for their children, because of what I'm going through. It hurts. The thread is definitely a life saver; I'm glad I found it! Please rant whenever you want- we're all here for you! I know a baby will happen for all of us, all in due time

 

[bubumaci]

Gem .... the thing is - people, who do not go through what we go through - have no idea. They can't even begin to imagine!

My Father, who really is behind us in all of this and would probably love nothing more than for it to finally work for us, sent me a text message after I told him that ER was successful, but that DH was down because of his ... his text "It is a shame, but it is destiny! Dh has to try and be philosophical about it and so of course do you. Let us hope that there is some good news around the corner. It is just a question of remaining positive. Still more love to you both." ... of course I promptly saw red and wrote back "Well, I wish it were just a question of remaining positive. Unfortunately, positive doesn't improve the quality of his sperm, nor the quality of the embryo. And it is easy for someone without fertility issues to say that. It is an unbelievable burden to bear. He feels broken. And has to see me suffer through everything. Doesn't mean I have stopped hoping. I will know more tomorrow." ...

We spoke after this and he apologised for his use of words and understood what I meant. He definitely didn't mean to be insensitive. But as I say ... unless you are affected by this - you just don't know and words said meant in good faith can be unbelievably hurtful (and I know the last thing Daddy would want to do is to hurt my feelings!). The same goes for your friend ... perhaps she meant it in a nice way, that you can look forward to when you are producing the hormones naturally ... but because we are so sensitive to the whole topic, something meant nicely hurt you. I am so with you! I would love to be able to feel it ... and would *try* to take it all with pride - because the desire to have our own miracle is just so strong...

We just have to try and remember, that those who don't know : DON'T KNOW ... and they never will. And they are lucky that they never will!

Sending you huge hugs xxx

 

[NikkiR143]

Latest news-

DH's urologist wrote us today regarding his ultrasound. Both testes there (one undescended, one normal), no masses. But he may have a hernia (which causes his left scrotum to swell when he's standing). It doesn't cause him any pain though, so the doc suggested he have surgery for this after we take care of the fertility issues.

I'm just curious- has anyone read anything about a hernia impairing fertility? My DH's scrotum swells really big (left side- because this is the descended testicle) when he's standing, but is normal when he's lying down. He testicle seems normal size- not small at all. I don't get what's impairing his fertility then. I guess his good testicle just isn't producing enough.

 

[tulip11]

update

Today we have our first appointment with dr to discuss further situation she asked me and my hubby some standard questions then she came to the results of his recent SA after three months clomid treatment so still no sperm was found. she said that my hubby FSH level is high somewhere 13 and there is probability of no sperm production but at same time she said that his testicles size is normal which indicates something good but still we cant say anything confirmed. she said that he will be having another ultra sound where they will look at tubes etc if there is something found so they will regard it as obstructive azoospermia. My hubby had his one ultra sound which general indicate testicles size etc and on the basis of that urologist said its NOA . but today dr said no we cant confirm it just on basis of that ultra sound we will do another internal ultrasound which will show us everything so after that we will say either its obstructive or not. then she also sent me for some blood work she said if in case we find something so we will call you as well for further procedure.

Now I am confused what I read on internet that in case of NOA testicles size is small but my hubby testicles size is normal and thats what dr said that its good thing that size is normal.

Is there anyone whose hubby has normal size testicles and high FSH 13. any hope today we are completely lost.

 

[NikkiR143]

update

Today we have our first appointment with dr to discuss further situation she asked me and my hubby some standard questions then she came to the results of his recent SA after three months clomid treatment so still no sperm was found. she said that my hubby FSH level is high somewhere 13 and there is probability of no sperm production but at same time she said that his testicles size is normal which indicates something good but still we cant say anything confirmed. she said that he will be having another ultra sound where they will look at tubes etc if there is something found so they will regard it as obstructive azoospermia. My hubby had his one ultra sound which general indicate testicles size etc and on the basis of that urologist said its NOA . but today dr said no we cant confirm it just on basis of that ultra sound we will do another internal ultrasound which will show us everything so after that we will say either its obstructive or not. then she also sent me for some blood work she said if in case we find something so we will call you as well for further procedure.

Now I am confused what I read on internet that in case of NOA testicles size is small but my hubby testicles size is normal and thats what dr said that its good thing that size is normal.

Is there anyone whose hubby has normal size testicles and high FSH 13. any hope today we are completely lost.

Yes, my husband's testicle is normal size and he has high FSH- but all other homornes and genetics are normal. His urologist told him that the high FSH tells him that it's not obstructive azoospermia. My husband also had a regular ultrasound, which just showed the doctor that both testicles are there (one undescended) and that he has a hernia, but other than that he's still saying IVF with ICSI and surgical sperm extraction is our only option. I'm still not convinced though. I'm in denial. I wish it was obstructive azoospermia, and it was something we could fix with a simple surgery. It's been hard having to wrap my mind around IVF. I wish natural pregnancy was still an option for us. Maybe an internal ultrasound is something I should ask for?

 

[Olive333]

Hi ladies,

I had my DIUI on Saturday and now it's just the waiting game. I don't feel like it took, but lets hope it did.

I sometimes wish we would've tried harder to have a baby from my husband and do the extraction from my husband and risk it, but I just don't know if I could handle losing all that money if nothing was found. I don't want to do IVF with DS since I can just do IUI's. Such difficult decisions that we have to make.

 

[Rainbow123]

Good luck Olive X

 

[bubumaci]

FXd for you Olive!

 

[BrandyRelax]

I just wanted to reinforce that my hubby had normal testicles and other than elevated LH and FSH all was normal. Basically high FSH is that your body sees something wrong an is trying to fix it.

As hope, when we did the first mTESE they found a few and that was used for IVF, unfortunately, it didn't stick, so we are going down the dIUI route because we have done all we can do to have a baby that is genetically ours.

Hopefully your journey is more successful.

update

Today we have our first appointment with dr to discuss further situation she asked me and my hubby some standard questions then she came to the results of his recent SA after three months clomid treatment so still no sperm was found. she said that my hubby FSH level is high somewhere 13 and there is probability of no sperm production but at same time she said that his testicles size is normal which indicates something good but still we cant say anything confirmed. she said that he will be having another ultra sound where they will look at tubes etc if there is something found so they will regard it as obstructive azoospermia. My hubby had his one ultra sound which general indicate testicles size etc and on the basis of that urologist said its NOA . but today dr said no we cant confirm it just on basis of that ultra sound we will do another internal ultrasound which will show us everything so after that we will say either its obstructive or not. then she also sent me for some blood work she said if in case we find something so we will call you as well for further procedure.

Now I am confused what I read on internet that in case of NOA testicles size is small but my hubby testicles size is normal and thats what dr said that its good thing that size is normal.

Is there anyone whose hubby has normal size testicles and high FSH 13. any hope today we are completely lost.

 

[tulip11]

update

Today we have our first appointment with dr to discuss further situation she asked me and my hubby some standard questions then she came to the results of his recent SA after three months clomid treatment so still no sperm was found. she said that my hubby FSH level is high somewhere 13 and there is probability of no sperm production but at same time she said that his testicles size is normal which indicates something good but still we cant say anything confirmed. she said that he will be having another ultra sound where they will look at tubes etc if there is something found so they will regard it as obstructive azoospermia. My hubby had his one ultra sound which general indicate testicles size etc and on the basis of that urologist said its NOA . but today dr said no we cant confirm it just on basis of that ultra sound we will do another internal ultrasound which will show us everything so after that we will say either its obstructive or not. then she also sent me for some blood work she said if in case we find something so we will call you as well for further procedure.

Now I am confused what I read on internet that in case of NOA testicles size is small but my hubby testicles size is normal and thats what dr said that its good thing that size is normal.

Is there anyone whose hubby has normal size testicles and high FSH 13. any hope today we are completely lost.

Yes, my husband's testicle is normal size and he has high FSH- but all other homornes and genetics are normal. His urologist told him that the high FSH tells him that it's not obstructive azoospermia. My husband also had a regular ultrasound, which just showed the doctor that both testicles are there (one undescended) and that he has a hernia, but other than that he's still saying IVF with ICSI and surgical sperm extraction is our only option. I'm still not convinced though. I'm in denial. I wish it was obstructive azoospermia, and it was something we could fix with a simple surgery. It's been hard having to wrap my mind around IVF. I wish natural pregnancy was still an option for us. Maybe an internal ultrasound is something I should ask for?

Yes you should go for internal ultra sound as our dr said that the first one was just general one and checked few things now the second ultra sound will check tubes etc so then we will know whether its NOA or Obs azoo. best of luck

 

[tulip11]

My hubby FSH is 13.2 is it too high ?actually yesterday I was searching on google and i came across different posts where people stated that their FSH were 45, 70 and still they found sperms . and even I read it somewhere that FSH 13 is somewhat normal and this really made me so confused.

 

[sharon99]

Gem, thank you for sharing that MTV show. I'd never heard of it (those young whippersnappers and their MTV!)- but it was really interesting. I only watched episode 3 (the only one online). It gave me some hope, too, but made me a little sad as well. Especially when the kids said they would get made fun of in school, with kids calling them a "science experiment". I guess I just have to remember that kids will make fun of other kids for ANYthing. That's one of the biggest hangups for me- will the kids feel bad about themselves, or feel like something's missing from their lives? I hate the idea of setting them up for pain before they're even conceived. But then again, life is painful, so I'd be setting them up for pain no matter what...??? Welcome to the back-and-forth that runs through my head all day! Oh yeah, and that was totally insensitive of your friend. Even if she didn't mean it to be.

Olive, good luck!! What are YOU doing to distract yourself in the two week wait? I love hearing other people's diversionary tactics!

 

[tulip11]

I found very positive reviews about sperm hope on google. does this really work out any one ?