Low Sperm Count - what are our options?!

[Underpants]

Hello I am new to this site and haven't used anything like this before so please bear with me - I am just learning all the abbreviations etc!!

I am just wondering if anyone has any advice or stories similar to the situation I am in . . . .

My husband and I have been TTC for 15 months now, he has just had a SA which came back as 3ml, quite good motility but only 6% morphology. He is booked in for another one in a few months

I am also about to have various tests to check ovaries and ovulation etc. as my cycles are a bit all over the place.

My question is, should it turn out that both of us have issues, what are our chances of getting treatment on the NHS? I am 29 and he is 32 and neither of us have any other children. I have been reading about IUI and ICSI and IVF and it all just seems like an absolute minefield. What treatments do you have to pay for and roughly how much do they cost?

I know I should really wait until we have results back before worrying about this but I like to be prepared for what "could" be.

Sorry this is a long first post!!

Sal x

 

[rachelle1975]

Hey Sal,

Last year DH and i were in the same position as you guys.

Providing you have no kids and your BMI falls into the healthy range (most clinics say under 30) then you should qualify for a free cycle of IVF on the NHS - some do more than 1 cycle so it's worth googling your local PCT to find out.

When my DH had his first say he had 1 million sperm. He started taking Wellman tablets, Maca and 1000mg of vit c a day and since it takes 70-90 days for sperm to mature, it showed an improvement 3 months later when he did his re-test - in fact it went up to 8 million. Get your DH on the tablets, no baths, cut down on alcohol and follow the usual guidelines for improving sperm and you may find that things get better as count/motility/morphology can all be affected by diet/lifestyle and even a cold or antibiotics can affect the results.

If your DH makes the changes now then by the time his next SA is due, the results could be showing which would be wonderful for you guys. It is a long process - we were put on the IVF waiting list in Feb and in the next 12 months our cycle should come up hopefully But, he's having another SA in April so who knows.... i have known plenty of people to have a near 'normal' count by the time the IVF window came up so i live in hope! xxx Good luck

 

[Underpants]

Hi Rachelle thank you for your reply. Thats great that your DH count went up to 8 million - thats a real improvement and given us much hope. I've got my DH on the wellman tablets now so fingers crossed his next test shows an improvement too. Doctor also told him to wear loose fitting boxer shorts and eats lots of tomatoes - anything is worth a try I suppose!

Good luck to you too xx

 

[rachelle1975]

Our GP said onions?!?! isn't it odd the things they suggest! Maca is a herbal tablet which is meant to help too. One thing i have noticed is that because our shower broke and he had to take baths... i think this is why his motility has dropped. New shower to be fitted in the next couple of weeks so fingers crossed!!! x

 

[aSh_x0x]

i dont really no much about this, but i saw this post and thought id reply..

My dad had a really low sperm count and the only option for my parents to concieve me was through a sperm donor program...that may not be the way for you to go, but if nothing else works, theres always that option..
Even though my dads not my "biological dad" it dosnt make any difference to me...plus the sperm donor agencies match the sperm donor to the father i.e they match same height, weight, hair color, eye color, nationality etc etc..

Just an idea.
xx

 

[Underpants]

Hello

Just thought I would update people on this as we have had good news - my dh had his second SA 3 months later and has improved drastically. He has increased from 3 ml to 62 ml plus his normal forms have gone from 5% to 15% !!!

Just wanted to give some other people some hope that the first SA is clearly never completely accurate. Either that or Wellman tablets work miracles.

Sal xx

 

[peartree]

Wow - that really is good news! Does that mean you'll go back to ttc naturally now?

 

[Ilove]

Looks like the first SA was dodgy for some reason and a one off?
Congrats, thats fantastic news for you Have you had your tests yet? Whats the next step?

 

[rachelle1975]

Sal that is FANTASTIC NEWS!! Make sure he keeps up with the tablets, get the morphology up and i have a feeling you guys won't be needing any alternatives! coming your way

 

[Underpants]

Thank you guys! Am feeling much more positive which can never be a bad thing!!

I have had all my tests which came back fine except the ultrasound which shows PCOS, but the strange thing is that in the last three months my periods seem to have regulated completely - I have gone from 40-60 days cycles to 28-34 day cycles. This month I started using OPK and yesterday I got a smiley face! So am thinking can I really have PCOS?
I honestly never thought ttc would be such a mindfield but at same time it is quite interesting learning how it all works etc.

Thank you so much for all your positive thoughts

Ilove and Peartree have you both gone through all your tests now?

Rachelle - did your dh see any improvement in his next sa?

Wishing you all the best of luck . . . .

Sal
xxx

 

[rachelle1975]

Hey Sal

We had an improvement from 1 million to 8 million in January - he was due another SA this coming week but have postponed it for the week after as i'm ovulating! I know what you mean about thinking TTC wouldn't be this hard... who knew!!! Glad your cycles have shortened and those CB Digis are THE BEST...i might not get a smiley on my HPTs but i LOVE LOVE LOVE getting them on my OPKs!!

 

[aflight84]

Hey,
I just wanted to let you know what worked for my hubby as he was told he had a low count

he decided to go on a good diet, eat before 7pm, cut out caffine, went to the gym three times a week and tried a herbal supplement called maca. Now i don't know which one if not all of these things worked but he went from a count of 14 million to 125million in a month!

 

[peartree]

I had a CD21 blood and it came back normal (although, having seen some posts here on GPs brushing things off as 'normal' willy nilly, I'm tempted to ask for the results to check myself).

DH's SA came back as 'too low to count' the first time The doc asked him for another SA three or four weeks later and it was <1million. I'm thinking that the doc shouldn't have asked him to give another one so soon.

We have a FS appointment in August, so for the moment, it's just wait and see...

 

[Underpants]

Hi Peartree
I think 3 - 4 weeks is way too soon to retest - they usually advise 3 months! I would also request a copy of the results each time as you can then compare to previous tests etc. That is what we did as you never seem to get a straight answer from the doctor.
Best of luck, my fingers are crossed for you!!

 

[lynseyology]

I had a CD21 blood and it came back normal (although, having seen some posts here on GPs brushing things off as 'normal' willy nilly, I'm tempted to ask for the results to check myself).

DH's SA came back as 'too low to count' the first time The doc asked him for another SA three or four weeks later and it was <1million. I'm thinking that the doc shouldn't have asked him to give another one so soon.

We have a FS appointment in August, so for the moment, it's just wait and see...

Hi There
Just wanted to say that we are also having problems with sperm count etc but we have had a good result recently as my husbands count has increased although there are still issues with motility. My husbands diet was terrible but he has made a real effort to eat well and has started taking various vitamins so that has obviously helped. He has also stopped hot baths and is no longer wearing underwear. If you want to know what vitamins he is taking just let me know x

 

[Ilove]

he decided to go on a good diet, eat before 7pm, cut out caffine, went to the gym three times a week and tried a herbal supplement called maca. Now i don't know which one if not all of these things worked but he went from a count of 14 million to 125million in a month!

Please correct me if Im wrong, but from what I understood any changes a man makes to his diet or lifestyle wouldnt show up in sperm tests for 3 months? Therefore any difference in a month must be because the first test was wrong and not due to the changes? Am I just getting confused? (sorry I do struggle to get my head around a lot of these things)

14 mil to 125 seems like way too big a jump to be caused by any changes in in diet or anything to be honest, but maybe Im wrong

 

[rachelle1975]

Hey ILove... you are right.

It takes sperm 70-90 days to mature. So any changes that are made to a man's diet/lifestyle etc will be reflected approximately 3 months later.

Our consultant told us that 99% of men will give a 'one off' bad SA and the second will automatically improve - things such as a cold, not abstaining etc. can all cause a man to have low count but it won't be a 'true' low count.

For those men who do have issues in relation to their count/motility/morphology - sometimes it can take 6 months for the changes to be reflected after big lifestyle changes - it tends to be a work in progress!!

 

[Ilove]

Hey ILove... you are right.

It takes sperm 70-90 days to mature. So any changes that are made to a man's diet/lifestyle etc will be reflected approximately 3 months later.

Our consultant told us that 99% of men will give a 'one off' bad SA and the second will automatically improve - things such as a cold, not abstaining etc. can all cause a man to have low count but it won't be a 'true' low count.

For those men who do have issues in relation to their count/motility/morphology - sometimes it can take 6 months for the changes to be reflected after big lifestyle changes - it tends to be a work in progress!!

Thanks...I thought that was the case. It was a bit depressing seeing such a miraculous increase and our counts have got lower! Hopefully our next one in a few months will reflect the changes weve made with a bit of an increase, although we have motility and morph issues aswell so

125 mil though thats an amazing count! Congrats hun

 

[rachelle1975]

Hey ILove... you are right.

It takes sperm 70-90 days to mature. So any changes that are made to a man's diet/lifestyle etc will be reflected approximately 3 months later.

Our consultant told us that 99% of men will give a 'one off' bad SA and the second will automatically improve - things such as a cold, not abstaining etc. can all cause a man to have low count but it won't be a 'true' low count.

For those men who do have issues in relation to their count/motility/morphology - sometimes it can take 6 months for the changes to be reflected after big lifestyle changes - it tends to be a work in progress!!

Thanks...I thought that was the case. It was a bit depressing seeing such a miraculous increase and our counts have got lower! Hopefully our next one in a few months will reflect the changes weve made with a bit of an increase, although we have motility and morph issues aswell so

125 mil though thats an amazing count! Congrats hun

Must admit, was very happy to have had an 800% increase from DHs first SA but it only went up to 8 million. Motility and morphology isn't great but its not that bad. The clinic said to do another test whilst we are waiting on our start date for ICSI but then someone else said not to - DH said he has a pot and some paperwork so he's doing it! FX we both get good results xx