Dealing with azoospermia?

[Deb111]

Sorry hun, from what we've been told, that wont be the cause of the azoospermia. It may be a cause of them not being great swimmers etc, but not of no sperm at all. He should have a repeat test done though and also ask them to check for fructose.

Good luck xx

 

[april4jdg]

It is so hard finding info on azoospermia... Seems like all the IF books are geared towards women, and MFI is not spoken of much...

Our RE told us to go to the urologist, and then after that make another in office visit with her so we could talk about the steps to take next...I think we will be going the IVF/ICSI route...

We tried 11 months- and against the advice of my ob/gyn, we went to an RE...My ob/gyn said to try 2 years...then seek help... I am so glad I did, because all along it was MFI...

I just hope if we have to do TESA, that we find some swimmers...

I have an HSG tomorrow at 1:45- but every test I have had has come back normal, at this point it is strictly MFI....

I just hope they find some swimmers
DH and I have already decided against donor sperm
the next step would be adoption

Seems like we have been in the dark for the past 11 months, and the last 2 weeks has been LIFE ALTERING
I hope y'all do not mind me posting here-I know I am not a regular poster- yet... It is nice to talk to people that actually know about azoospermia...

 

[april4jdg]

I notice most of you all are from England...Is the baby and bump website based out of England? It has been a dream of mine to visit England one day!!! I constantly watch bbc/america shows, have always wanted to go- maybe one day!!!

I am a a cosmetology instructor, and when I worked in the salon before becoming an educator, most of my clients were from the UK... Everything about the UK interests me, the people, the accents, the culture, the food, the landscape...Maybe I will get to go one day!!!

 

[hulahoops04]

Hi everyone,
My husband was diagnosed with azoospermia in July and this has since been confirmed with a further SA. We have an appointment with a Urologist specialising in infertility tomorrow. We decided to have the initial consultation privately as our NHS appointment came for January, however we won't be able to go private for any further treatment. Does anyone happen to know how much SSA is privately? We have our first appointment at the infertility clinic on 1st Oct.

I have no idea what the best way is to cope with this. My husband is clinging onto the hope that they will find some sperm there, but I have a strong feeling this will not be the case. I am also a midwife, so my life at the moment is extremely tough, delivering babies and being asked if I have any children on a daily basis! I just hope the whole process doesn't take too long!

Nice to hear we are not the only ones out there xxx

 

[Deb111]

Hi Hula and welcome

I'm sorry you are going through this and it must be SO hard doing the job you do

I know that although we are going through the NHS, it doesn't cover the SSR op and we have to pay £900, but others have gone privately and will be able to give you a better idea of the private cost.

We too, don't feel there is much hope of finding sperm, but we feel we have to try

I hope you're journey isn't too long and that the urologist appt tomorrow is helpful. Ask him about doing a test for fructose (apparently fructose in the SA suggests there isn't a blockage). Also ask about them taking a urine sample straight after the sperm sample as apparently there can be a valve problem where the sperm are released into the bladder instead. Our FS doesn't do either of these tests, but no harm in asking.

Good luck and keep us posted xx

 

[Deb111]

Check out amazon if you haven't already - I haven't read any of the books, but there seem quite a few on male infertility and alot of them give you the option to see the contents page to see if they mention azoospermia xx

 

[Deb111]

It is so hard finding info on azoospermia... Seems like all the IF books are geared towards women, and MFI is not spoken of much...

Our RE told us to go to the urologist, and then after that make another in office visit with her so we could talk about the steps to take next...I think we will be going the IVF/ICSI route...

We tried 11 months- and against the advice of my ob/gyn, we went to an RE...My ob/gyn said to try 2 years...then seek help... I am so glad I did, because all along it was MFI...

I just hope if we have to do TESA, that we find some swimmers...

I have an HSG tomorrow at 1:45- but every test I have had has come back normal, at this point it is strictly MFI....

I just hope they find some swimmers
DH and I have already decided against donor sperm
the next step would be adoption

Seems like we have been in the dark for the past 11 months, and the last 2 weeks has been LIFE ALTERING
I hope y'all do not mind me posting here-I know I am not a regular poster- yet... It is nice to talk to people that actually know about azoospermia...

You're very welcome here april. I'm surprised they're doing an HSG at this stage. I haven't had one as it's irrelevant if you're going to be having IVF / ICSI. Wishing you the best of luck for tomorrow.

We were in the dark for 18 months. I always felt something wasn't right but everyone told me to relax and stop stressing about it. Well I'm glad I didn't listen and finally managed to get hubby to come to the Dr's with me.

It really is so hard to deal with. It seems so unfair

We're waiting for hubby's SSR op in October. they would have done it in August but we wanted to put him on whatever supplements we could and give it the standard 3 months for them to affect any new sperm. We know it wont change anything if there are none there, but if they do find any, we want them to be as good as they possibly can xx

 

[april4jdg]

All my tests are fine- but they say that the HSG is standard- I guess just another way for them to make more $$$.

My doc prescribed the clomid and HCG, at our first visit, but when azoospermia showed up on the SA in the results from our initial tests, she said to stop, because all my levels are fine except his FSH was 17.5 and she said it was slightly elevated, and that the next step was a urologist and then talked about the different types of azoospermia...and then ivf/ icsi through TESA...

DH says he is willing to do whatever it takes...

 

[loobylou_01]

Welcome Hula!

Sorry that you have to join us in this thread, working as you do must make this even more difficult to deal with, i know i have found it very hard (i'm a nurse) but it does get better.

We found out about the azoospermia last December, we have been very lucky and had our first ivf cycle in august with ssr combined into the cycle. unfortunately although they found sperm it was all abnormal and they didn't give us any hope of it being successful therefore we continued the cycle with donor sperm and am delighted to say that i am pregnant! about 6 and a bit weeks, got a scan next week so hoping everthing is okay.

Flakey is the best to ask about the cost of ssr, we've been lucky and ours was covered on the nhs, but i think that they paid privately. Again with our treatment we have been lucky, our clinic doesn't have a nhs list you can just start as soon as the funding is sorted. So we were massively lucky, we first saw them at the end of march and i started the injections the middle of july, our biggest wait was for a donor sperm match.

Anyway i've gone a bit, but lots of luck with the appointment tomorrow, keep us posted please xxx

 

[april4jdg]

the hardest thing is that my sister is 10 weeks pregnant with twins, however that was achieved through the same ART clinic...as was her now 3 year old daughter, so I hope we have a little luck...

But DH's appointment is on the 27th, and I am driving myself crazy...it can't get here soon enough...

 

[Flake-y]

Does anyone happen to know how much SSA is privately?

Nice to hear we are not the only ones out there xxx

Hi hula, sorry to head about DH's diagnosis, we have all been there & know exactly how hard it is.

To give you an idea of cost, we went private for the urologist appt; we were referred in march, and at the beginning of may I phoned the urologist's secretary to find out how long his appt would be, and was told it would be july/august at the earliest! And that was just for the initial consultation. So we decided to go private from there; we were going to anyway, cause the IVF/ICSI waiting lists in scotland are 2 years.

Anyway, within a week we had an appointment with the urologist, who thought it was likely to be a blockage, cause everything looked normal, testicle size, FSH levels etc.

DH had the SSR 2 months later, after I had an ovarian reserve & compulsory blood tests. It cost £2500, very expensive I know, but luckily our parents have massively helped out with the cost. I think it was so dear cause DH had a general anaesthetic.

Unfortunately, there was no sperm, but we're going with the donor option, & I'm having IUI this weekend. We were upset at first, but we're just excited now to be parents, the donor thing doesn't bother us at all anymore, we've completely got used to the idea.

Anyway, sorry for the novel, lots of luck for ur urologist appointment, and hope if you do decide to go private, it doesn't cost too much!

 

[Dancergirl]

Feeling pretty discouraged tonight as it seems like many of my friends around me are pregnant.

We have told a few close friends and a few immediate family members about our using DS for our IUIs, but for the most part everyone (not knowing my husband has no sperm)tells me to relax and it will happen. Because hey, it happened for them.

Any advice on what you all do when it feels like you have hit rock bottom and your longing for children takes up all your thoughts.

Really hoping next IUI works for us, but hate to get my hopes up just to have them crushed down like the last two times.

Also, others trying IUI with DS..... what do your Dr's have you doing throughout the cycle? I have been put on clomid, have multiple ultrasounds, do home ovuation kits, then go in the day after my positive test for the insemination. I am interested in what else we should/could be doing? My dr. said we would try IUI with clomid pill two more times before we start clomid injections.

 

[april4jdg]

I have my HSG at 1:45 pm today... I hope it is over quick!

 

[Deb111]

Any advice on what you all do when it feels like you have hit rock bottom and your longing for children takes up all your thoughts.

I wish I had the answer for you - I feel like I'm pretty much at rock bottom at the moment and just don't seem to be able to drag myself out of it. I'm angry at the world and on the verge of tears all the time. I really don't know how I dragged myself out of bed for work today. I know that's of no help to you, but just wanted to let you know that you're not alone. Why don't you set yourself up a journal and then at least you can come on here and vent when things get bad. Sometimes it just helps to get it all written down.

Hope you start to feel better soon xx

 

[Deb111]

I have my HSG at 1:45 pm today... I hope it is over quick!

How did it go April? Hope you're feeling ok xx

 

[april4jdg]

Oh-it is 11:00 am here in the USA-I am in the CST timezone and I live in Alabama-so It won't be for another few hours...thanks for asking-I will let you know how it is though...soon!

 

[Dancergirl]

It is nice to know I am not alone. Often I feel alone because people don't really talk about using a donor when discussing getting pregnant. I have a journal, but quit writing in it because it seemed to be all negative, but maybe I will try that again. Thank you Deb. Best of luck with the SSR you are awaiting.

 

[hulahoops04]

Well we saw the urologist today who was really good. He said he thinks we have a very high chance of retrieving sperm as there appears to be a blockage. Fingers crossed, but he said we have a good case to get the SSR covered on the NHS. So finally we have some good news!

Its so difficult because I don't want to be too pleased as we obviously have a long way to go yet, with actually retrieving the sperm and IVF. But its a start and one step closer to our own

 

[Deb111]

That's positive news hun

On what did they base that information? I only ask as most people seem to have had more 'tests' done than my hubby Did he have a scan?

Have they given you a time scale for the SSR?

Really pleased you're feeling more positive xx

 

[Flake-y]

Also, others trying IUI with DS..... what do your Dr's have you doing throughout the cycle? I have been put on clomid, have multiple ultrasounds, do home ovuation kits, then go in the day after my positive test for the insemination. I am interested in what else we should/could be doing? My dr. said we would try IUI with clomid pill two more times before we start clomid injections.

Hello, we're doing IUI with DS too, I was on letrozole (femara) for 5 days, then 3 days without, had an ultrasound scan on Monday & I've to go back Thursday when they will hopefully give me the trigger then the IUI on Fri or Sat.

From what I've read, every clinic seems to do it differently, think it also depends if there are any female issues; I've got no probs apart from mild pcos; they originally wanted to do a natural cycle but cause my cycles are so long & I never know when I'm going toovulate, they chose to give me the letrozole.

We'll do the IUI 3 times before we go on to IVF. Hopefully it won't get that far but I know the odds for IUI aren't brilliant, my dr said 25% for me.

Lots of luck for your next IUI cycle!