Low Sperm Count and directionless sperm

[YellowCrayon]

Hi all,

We've been TTC for 20 months now. I had my blood tests a few months ago and all appears to be normal my end. We got my partners results today and he has a low sperm count and his sperm are not swimming in the right direction (sorry, I don't know the technical term!)

The doctor assures us that this is reversible and that if he gives up smoking - which he is doing as of this week - he should be fine in three months. Does anyone have any experience with this and is there anything else we should be doing? He doesn't really drink, take hot baths or wear underpants - tight or otherwise! (TMI?!)

And advice would be great! I'm headed for my 35th birthday this month and he's 32 so we're a little bit behind the game already and I'm getting worried!

Thanks all!

 

[MIKAoKendra]

Hey Yellow,

We just got our results back yesterday and were in the exact same boat! I'm devastated!! I'm really scared and I dont know how to handdle this news! I never thought in a million years that this would be the case and now I'm dealing with it!...I'm sorry I can't offer any advice right now, but I thought it might be comforting to know that your not alone!

I'm 30 and DH is 29 so were also moving up that ladder...I'm dying for a baby and now I dont even know if i'll have one!... My husband is also a smoker and he just quit today! I really hope that this is something that can be fixed easily...but from my extensive research...it looks like the ladies that have experienced this have all gone through IVF and IVF is not an option for us!

Good luck to you!

 

[YellowCrayon]

Hiya,

I don't know how your doctor delivered the news, but ours was really hopeful and made it sound like it wouldn't be a problem, so I'm not upset in any way. If they'd have said he had no sperm, that would have been different, but she made it all sound like it was quite easy to deal with. Try not to worry too much. Did your doctor offer to re-test in three months once your husband has quit smoking? That's what ours is doing, so I refuse to worry until then! You'll be OK - there's a long road ahead of us, but we'll all get there, I'm sure of it!

 

[MIKAoKendra]

Well basically, she said that he has enough sperm being produced, just not the best quality and 0% in motility!!! That's what kills me the most i think. Is the whole 0% motility!!! Basically she saying that he has sperm but they are all dead!

She did recommend that we re-test in 3 months but I'm just not sure what differnce there will be

I know I shouldn't be so negative, but i can't help it! I'm really just fed up with the whole baby making process! It's just so sad... Maybe it's just a bad day! Hopefully I'll feel better tomorrow! Thanks for the support!

GL to you!

 

[karensue0523]

hubby and i tried for 2 1/2 years to get pregnant. finally got pregnant and had a flipping miscarriage day after xmas 2010. wtf???? still trying and NOTHING! To find out hubby has low sperm count. Instead of his count/motility being in billions or even millions for that matter is was just plane oh 400 and 15 % motility...Will i ever get pg again. =o(

 

[twilliamssbt]

The term for sperm with no sense of direction is progressive motility.

I have to say though, I have spent years analysiing sperm samples in a laboratory and its very subjective at best. If they are swimming in circles or not swimming anywhere at all, then yes its a huge problem.

The problem is that you are supposed to find a section of slide under microscope that is a representative section of most of the slide, hence no bits where there are only a few, and no bits where there are loads. (sounding technical??, I think not) You then have to randomly watch 10 sperm over and over again and average out the amount out of 10 that are moving in one direction and quite quickly. On top of this, you also do 3 random counts on similar representative sections.

You then do a lot of fancy maths and come up with a number that affects the lives of the people concerned. We had to watch lots of videos etc and do QC samples to make sure we were all on the same page, however, semen analysis whilst a guide, cannot be taken as an exact amount, its approximate. Unless very low, it honestly is not going to be exact. Its a guide.

Add in the sample collection errors, time taken to get to lab, the reliance on the sample being incubated as soon as it arrives and processed within the recommended time frame and you got yourself some variables in there.

Best advice I can give anyone, is to get at least 3 samples tested, just to make sure, especially if the motility is low. The longer the sample is out of the body and not in an incubator, the less motile the sperm becomes and very very quickly. Hence, I believe, this is why there is a large amount of people getting a BFP just as their fertility referral comes through.

Unless you have a good reason for a low sperm count, don't just give up, keep trying. For instance, my partner has a low count, was 0 sperm in 2006 (I saw the slides from that sample and the spun concentrate sample, and nothing). Spun concentrate is only performed on those samples that have a severely reduced count. He now has a low count with reduced progressive motility (he did not get me the figures -doh) He has a reason for this, a pituitary tumour decreased his LH and FSH to 0.

 

[DaisyB]

HELLOOO, a few months ago my DH got his SA results back and called our GP to get an understanding of what they meant, our GP told him they were very low and basically didn’t give us much hope of being able to conceive naturally, our follow up FS appointment wasn't for another 2 months, so i spent so much time looking on the internet to find what else we could be doing to improve them. We went to our FS appointment 2 months later expecting to hear it confirmed, but the FS told us his count was normal and nothing to worry about, he didn't understand why the GP had told him it was so low!! Grrrrrrr

However, In the time period between GP and FS I found a group on this LTTTC section called Spouses with Low sperm count and the ladies on there was amazingly helpful informative and supportive about different type of vitamins etc. there is also a link in the thread for another forum where you can post your specific SA results and someone called '' Rich '' will tell in great detail what it all means and the best vitamins to get to help whatever the affected area is, count motility, morphology etc within 24 hours usually.

I would copy and paste the link on here but I’m on my phone and not very good with the techhy stuff!
I will try and got to PC later to do in case it will help?

My DH is on Vitamin C 1000mg tablet per day, Zinc, Vitamin D, Selenium, and Wellman conception.

Good luck to you all xxxxx

 

[MariaF]

twilliamssbt - WOW! So you actually examine the samples!!! Im so jealous! I was thinking of buying a microscope from Argos and see if I can see any swimmers

So you only examine a really small sample? I thought the entire sample goes through some fancy machine which basically examines EVERY individual swimmer - No?!

Can you may be explain a little more about morphology? We've been told that WHO released new "strict" morphology ranges and anything above 4% is normal. My DH's first result came back as 8% normal and second SA was 17% (that's with count over 120 mil with 60% motility).
But what do they look for when they look at morphology? And what does it mean?

With regards to sperm quality - simple life changes can make a huge difference. My DH's morphology improved just after 2 months, of a better diet and men's supplements. Quitting smoking, starting to take supplements and eating more fruit/veg will definitely improve things! But your FS is right - it will take a while as sperm take about 3 months to create

 

[twilliamssbt]

twilliamssbt - WOW! So you actually examine the samples!!! Im so jealous! I was thinking of buying a microscope from Argos and see if I can see any swimmers

So you only examine a really small sample? I thought the entire sample goes through some fancy machine which basically examines EVERY individual swimmer - No?!

Can you may be explain a little more about morphology? We've been told that WHO released new "strict" morphology ranges and anything above 4% is normal. My DH's first result came back as 8% normal and second SA was 17% (that's with count over 120 mil with 60% motility).
But what do they look for when they look at morphology? And what does it mean?

With regards to sperm quality - simple life changes can make a huge difference. My DH's morphology improved just after 2 months, of a better diet and men's supplements. Quitting smoking, starting to take supplements and eating more fruit/veg will definitely improve things! But your FS is right - it will take a while as sperm take about 3 months to create

Nope, the whole sample is not examined, its not possible to. Ejaculate varies between 1.5ml and sometimes as much as 7 or 8ml. Any more than that and we get suspicious that its more than one ejaculate. As far as I am aware (I had to retire last year after an accident at work) there is no machine to analyse semen samples. If a spun concentrate is made, then the sample is centrifuged and still only a small amount (think 10 microlitres) is placed onto a slide and examined after staining. A machine would just not be cost effective for a maximum of 15 samples a day in a very large laboratory.

Morphology is the look of the look of the sperm and whether it looks "Normal" I forgot to explain this part aswell, stricter guidelines were being brought in and some changes to methodology were being made for examining normal forms in a semen sample when I had my accident. Up to that point, you looked at 10 in an area and counted the amount that were not normal. By not normal, 2 heads, 2 tails, tail coming from the side of the head not the back, also the acrosome (the part at the front that is used to gain entrance to the egg) being the right proportion the rest of the head.

WHO guidelines for normal amounts are interpreted by the requesting doctor, although we had to be aware of them, we as biomedical scientists although we know how to interpret the results, are actually not allowed to. All we could do was to produce the result from the methodology gold standards also set by various organisations.

Your OH sounds like he has a normal sample, 120 million is quite good and the normal forms are way above the minimum. Motility of 60% is actually a very good number, very few samples get motility above 60%.

 

[MariaF]

Thanks so much!

Our result only said 60% motile - it just said "progressive", it didn't say if they were moving forward or moving like mad on one spot

I was actually really pleased with his count and motility. He was premature and was born with undescended testicle which was operated on when he was 4 or 5. So there was a high chance of him having problems!
I think his volume was around 2ml

 

[twilliamssbt]

Thanks so much!

Our result only said 60% motile - it just said "progressive", it didn't say if they were moving forward or moving like mad on one spot

I was actually really pleased with his count and motility. He was premature and was born with undescended testicle which was operated on when he was 4 or 5. So there was a high chance of him having problems!
I think his volume was around 2ml

Progressive is the moving forward sperm, if they were moving like mad on one spot or going round in circles, then they will be considered non progressively motile.

Good Luck x

 

[Saz100]

Twilliamssbt - sorry to but in on this thread but just wondered if you could give me some advice. My partner was told he had a high count but with very low morphology - I don't know what the figure was. He has recently ordered some volume pills which au=y they can help increase the quality of the sperm. Have you heard of this? He has also just started taking folic acid. is there anything else he can do to improve the quality of the sperm. I have had 2 m/c's in the last 18 months and we think it may be attributed to the quality of his sperm? Any help would be greatly appreciated

 

[twilliamssbt]

Generally the well man vitamins, combined with a healthy diet, no smoking, no drinking and avoiding hot tubs, hot baths and lap tops on lap all help with sperm as long as there is no underlying cause.

For instance, my fiances low count is due to low LH and low FSH due to a pituitary tumour. Therefore giving him the hormones needed would increase his count.

If he is already doing these, get in touch with a doctor and ask if there is anything else.

 

[30Poppy]

Hi twilliamssbt

I realise that this thread is quite old now (!) but it looks like your husband is (or was) in a similar position to mine and just wanted to ask you some questions if that's ok?

My husband has been diagnosed with low testosterone and is currently waiting to see a consultant regarding a MRI scan as a pituitary tumour is suspected (as he has very low FSH and LH levels (as well as very low sperm count - 2 cycles tested) and his GP said that according to the MRI results (though we have yet to hear from the hospital!) there was a swelling on one side of the pituitary gland but we don't yet know what this means.

My husband has been prescribed testosterone replacement gel and has been taking for 1 month but I've read that this treatment can decrease sperm counts even further (even though the doctors say it shouldn't) and just wondered what drugs or treatment your husband was given? I've read about hcg drugs to increase sperm count - have you heard of that?

We've been TTC for 2 years now (more if you think I stopped taking the pill when we got married 5 years ago) but properly trying for past 2 years. Our GP has just agreed to refer us (after almost 8 months of tests and pushing!) so I'm hoping we can get more answers soon.

It's all very confusing and stressful and my husband is finding it very difficult to cope so whilst we really want to start a family, getting him sorted and back to normal is most important at the moment - but also, I'm conscious that time is starting to run out for us in terms of having children so I want to try and get the two issues sorted together - perhaps being over optimistic and biting off more than we can chew at present!

Any info or advice you could would be really great.