Dealing with azoospermia?

[sharon99]

Baba, I am so sorry you're feeling so depressed. I think we've all been there, to varying degrees. One thing that helped me was going to see a therapist who specializes in infertility- is that a possibility for you? Maybe your clinic can refer you to an infertility support group, as these are often free. Another thing that helped me (I've mentioned this a few times!) is a podcast called Creating A Family- also free. They have a few episodes about dealing with the grief of infertility. One thing the "experts" on that show seemed to agree on is taking time to be selfish, and skipping the baby showers if you need to! I can see how skipping your SIL's could be difficult... but perhaps you could make it up to her with a special lunch, or special gift later, or? Best of luck to you as you go through this- the waiting is so, so hard.

Good luck, Gem! Thinking of you.

 

[MrsG30]

Hi Ladies,

just popping in too see how you all and remind you although i dont post much im still lurking.
Im sorry to see so many newbees but the lovely ladies on here can all help.
I haven't been posting as didn't really have anything to report or anything i thought could help.

For those of you that don't know me, i'm Danielle, i'm 32 and my hubby has azoo, we've never had a test with any spermies in, Dr is putting it down to an adult case of mumps.
After a years worth of testing and decision making we are now having ICSI with donor sperm, i will post a bit more as we go but i thought id come and let you know.

If anyone of you want ay advice/help, have any questions as you go through this horrific journey then please ask and i will help as much a i can.Im more than happy to share y journey so far.

I couldn't have got this far without you.

Lots of Love xxx

 

[Stinas]

BABA - Im sorry you are feeling this way, but your still new in all of this, so its easy to feel the way you are feeling. I agree with the other lades, pills won't make you feel better. I feel like a ton of docs are pushing this crap on people instead of them feeling out their real feelings, talking about their problems/issues etc. Azoo is a very hard thing to go through....you have to learn how to be tough for you DH...because he will blame all of this on himself, we mainly freak out because all our plans and dreams are disrupted. May is right around the corner, I am hoping for an easy fix for you! If not, hey, life is not over, you have a whole thread FULL of AMAZING ladies with tons of helpful information to help you through this sucky journey.
For most its a super long journey, so put on your big girl panties.....you can do this! No matter what, at the end of the tunnel there is something amazing and you will realize all the tears were worth it!

 

[deafgal01]

Baba-The ladies have all imparted some wise words here. I agree, the pills won't help. You will have good days and bad days. More bad days than good for a while but it does eventually get easier to look at straight in the eyes.

I have been dealing with azoospermia issue since new year's 2012... Hard to believe I have been wanting a baby for 3 years and still not close to that yet but I will eventually get there one way or another. You will too. If you do have access to good counselor, I recommend having that as an option, talking it out and stuff helps. I need to see mine sooner or later, been almost a year since I seen mine but she put things in perspective for me, like what I can realistically expect from the IUIs and the risks possible for miscarriages for IUI is about the same as a normal pregnancy conceived naturally. It does help to have someone who understands what you are going thru. Again you are not alone in this, we all have same diagnosis by different solutions how we get to where we are going based on different reasons for the diagnosis.

 

[Rainbow123]

Hi Baba!
I'm so sorry you have to go through this. I'm a year ahead of you, as we found out in January 2013 about my DH's azoospermia. We also had to wait until May before we could see our FS for the first time, it was a hellish wait and I really feel for you as I know just how awful I felt in the limbo you are going through. But it's right around the corner now and then hopefully you can get some wheels in motion!
Time is the most dreadful thing about this affliction, but you will find you get stronger as the days go on. How you are feeling is perfectly normal for this situation, as I think every last one of us on this thread has felt how you are describing. Thinking back to this time last year, my best advice would be to make time for you and DH. Make weekly fun times so that you can have something to look forward to during the week and just have a good old laugh together. Me and DH decided to create a vegetable garden and put HOURS of back breaking work into it. It was really therapeutic to be outside and very rewarding. I still use that as my personal therapy (going out there again after I finish writing this, as it happens!). We also had lots of Mexican nights (we LOVE chilli), where we feasted on tasty things and drank lots of tequila. Above all, we just tried our best, to at least one night a week, forget about how shitty this situation is and have a good old laugh. It really does do wonders and keeps your relationship strong. And please keep coming on here and talking to us about how you are feeling. When you have no one else to talk to, you always have US!
Sending LOTS of love and hugs to you.
XXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

[MBABY2014]

Hi everyone

So glad to hear from everyone and to hear the different directions options that there are out there for us Azoo ladies!!!

As for me- I've just been watching the time go by UNTILL I got my LH surge today which was a confirmed with my blood work. So I am tentatively schedule for my FET on Monday the 21st!! Yaya so excited! The Eskimos just need to thaw and I should be ready to go!!

Putting in 2 this time...fingers crossed! Beta will be May 1!

 

[Louiselondon3]

Hi! I would be really interested in speaking to you as we are in quite a similar situation!

I saw in your profile that your DH used tamoxifen? I was wondering if that improved his count as it didn't work in our case. My DH had an undescended testicle which was corrected age 6 and we have occasional motile sperm in our samples. We have had 1 failed ICSI and are on our 2nd now. What was your fertilization rate like? Ours was low (about 25%) so worried this might be something to do with the sperm! It's nice to see someone in a similar situation who went on to have a succeeding pregnancy though! sorry for all the Qs!

 

[Stinas]

MBABY - Yay!!! Good luck!!!!

Louiselondon3 - Sorry to find you here, but all the info you need is here! I believe BUBU's DH was on that.....im sure she will chime in soon!

 

[MBABY2014]

Stinas- your SOooo close! How are you feeling?

 

[Stinas]

MBABY - Doing good actually. Thanks for asking! C-seciton is next friday April 25. Im ready for them to come out....Past week or two have been very uncomfortable....mostly due to swelling...feet are unrecognizable! lol Overall, I have done pretty good considering what I have been reading in the twin forum. I worked until 36w....could have still been working if my feet didn't swell as fast.
I was talking to a few others on here and we were saying how crazy it is......I have been waiting for years to get pregnant, I finally do, and it FLEW by soooooo fast! I did enjoy it, but where in the world did the time go! Its just mind boggling.

 

[babadespls]

Thanks so much for your kind words ladies, it really does make me feel better! You are all awesome, That's great that your babies are on their way Stinas and Holding thumbs for you MBABY!

 

[NikkiR143]

Hi! I would be really interested in speaking to you as we are in quite a similar situation!

I saw in your profile that your DH used tamoxifen? I was wondering if that improved his count as it didn't work in our case. My DH had an undescended testicle which was corrected age 6 and we have occasional motile sperm in our samples. We have had 1 failed ICSI and are on our 2nd now. What was your fertilization rate like? Ours was low (about 25%) so worried this might be something to do with the sperm! It's nice to see someone in a similar situation who went on to have a succeeding pregnancy though! sorry for all the Qs!

Hi Louise,

Similar situation here! My DH had one undescended testicle as a child that wasn't corrected till he was older. His sample only had 5 sperm total- 3 twitching sperm, and 2 non-motile. He has made some lifestyle changes about 3 months ago so he'll be going in for another sample next month. We'll see if the count improved at all. Good luck with your 2nd round of IVF w/ ICSI! We may move forward with our first round in September.

- Nicole

 

[bubumaci]

Hi Louise,

Yes, Tamoxifen was the first thing the urologist wanted to try with DH, because he said it is non-obstructive, but cannot find any reason for it ... All other spermiogrammes showed either 0 or at most 250k sperm, with little to no motility and very poor morphology (all weird). Instead of doing TESE right away, two years ago he took Tamoxifen for 6 weeks. At the spermiogramme after that, they found 13 MIO sperm, with 8% motility... that was the sample they froze 6 straws of. For all our ICSI tries, they used fresh (found enough to fertilise) and our fertilisation rates were always very good - but no pregnancy! I am just going to list the egg retrievals and those fertilisation rates (since we did have a bunch of cryo-tries as well):

1st : 14 eggs retrieved, 12 mature, 11 fertilised
2nd: 11 eggs retrieved, 10 mature, 7 fertilised

Before this next try, Doctor suggested that DH take Tamoxifen again, so that if we have good results, we could try IMSI. Unfortunately, the drugs seemed to have no impact and his samples was as poor as always...

3rd: 23 eggs retrieved, 18 mature, 15 fertilised (did get 2 6th day blastocysts - everything else barely developed to at most Morula / many cells on 5th day).
4th: 12 eggs retrieved, 10 mature, 5 fertilised - 2 5th day blasts
5th: 13 eggs retrieved, 11 mature, 9 fertilised - 2 5th day blasts

All these always with fresh tries ... only the 3rd, 4th and 5th ICSIs had blasts - the ones before didn't. That was also the stage where we started having the fertilised eggs monitored in an embryoscope (where the environment is apparently even better for them).

Finally - we tried TESE ... and they found nothing that could be used. Since it was on the day of my egg retrieval, they used three straws of the frozen sperm, taken 2 years ago, where we had such great results :
6th: 15 eggs retrieved, 14 mature, 9 fertilised - 1 5th day hatching blastocyst + 1 morula ... and we got our !

I cannot say much about the Tamoxifen - one time, it worked wonders and I think that is why we are now expecting our miracle. The other time, it had no impact whatsoever.
We have no explanation for the lack of sperm and its quality, I don't know if it was just some freak try two years ago, that has given us our little miracle... but I think it is worth trying it out!

 

[SunUp]

Hello ladies! I haven't been on in a while, but I do like to pop in every so often and check in! Our little DIVF miracle is napping right now, and we are SO blessed. I am so thankful for the ladies on this thread that kept me positive and gave me hope during the hardest parts of LTTC. I try to pop in to continue that hope for others when I can. I will hopefully be starting another cycle by the end of this year (FET) but for now just wanted to send you all hugs and prayers - you are not alone in this diagnosis - keep the faith, blessings can happen, and I hope they do for all of you!

 

[MBABY2014]

Well ladies- I'm officially PUPO again!!

We transferred 2 of our little Eskimos and hoping they stick!

I'm
So happy I went with my natural cycle and I ended up having a 11.6 lining!!

The only hormones I am on are vaginal progesterone inserts- just did my 1st... Any tips would be appreciated!

Now onto the 2ww!!!

 

[MoBaby]

Mbaby natural fet is so much better! My lining was the best ever also on a natural fet. The progesterone is nasty so wear a pad even if you don't think you'll need it because it leaks. Truly nasty stuff! Fx for you!

 

[bubumaci]

Mbaby! fingers and toes will be crossed for you!! All sounds great so far I agree with Mo, have been wearing (and still am) a panty liner.... am really happy that you feel happy! xxx

 

[Rainbow123]

Eeek how exciting MBABY! Everything crossed for you XXXXX

 

[Stinas]

Mbaby soooo excited for you!!! Yay!! Good luck!

 

[MBABY2014]

Thanks everyoneeeeeee!!!
Kisses to all my AZZO ladies!!!