Male fertility, self Home-test!

[heathette]

Hi girlies,
(also posted in TTC but prob better off here for help..)

I bought one off ebay - the kit is 'babystart Fertilcount' and involves 2 tests. I won't go into details about the test, you can click on the link and have a little read if you like..

https://www.selftester.co.uk/index.ph...products_id=95

Anyway - has anyone used this? We tested last night, and hubby's first test was negative we have to wait 3 days before using the 2nd test, but regardless of whether the 2nd is negative or positive, the instructions say we should book a docs appointment...

Please, anyone that has used this let me know what your experience with it was... my head is all over the place, we've got ourselves convinced that we used the test wrong or it was a dud, but truthfully we did everything right..

thanks girlies x

 

[fluffystar]

Hi Heathette,

I had a quick look on the link at the test you have bought and it aims to simply tell you whether the sperm count is above 20 million or not which is the World Health Organisation suggested minimum count for TTC. It also measures it quite qualitatively by colouring the sperm and looking at colour intensity rather than quantitatively (i.e. counting).

Lots of things could affect this but if you are worried then you could always ask your gp to do a SA on your husband which will give you far more information such as motility, morphology etc as well as count.

I did look at these types of tests on the net a while ago but in the end decided to just go the gp. My OH is more relaxed now that he knows where he stands with his results.

It wont hurt to do the second test seeing as you have it but if the count is a bit on the low side, all is not lost as a good diet and vitamins can help improve things alot! Just remember that any diet or vitamin changes may take 3 months to take affect as sperm take around 90 days to form and mature.

Good luck,
Fluffy xx

 

[silarose28]

Hiya

We used that test. It was impossible to read the results as the test well was a completely different blue to the blue in the picture telling you whether you had passed or not. I have chatted to a few people oon here who said the results weren't accurate. I would go to the GP and get tested properly to be sure.

Just to let you know my dh's results went from 8 million to over 20 million in the space of a few months. I have been giving him spermamax tablets which seem to have done the trick x

 

[grneyednurse]

Took a test like this and my hubby's both were negative and he indeed does have a low sperm count. Def go to the doctor for an SA.

 

[babyloulou]

We did one of these - and then one of the other ones that show morphology and motility too. Both were negative. We only took them to reassure ourselves and never expected them to be negative! Once they were we still put off the doctors appointment as we were convinced they were a load of crap!! But.... the doctors appointment eventually showed OH had an alright sperm count (so the home test one that just tests sperm count is either dud or it picked up on other problems) but his morphology and motility were really low. Doctor said only hope was IVF. Don't lose hope though because in the 3 months that OH was waiting for his re-test he cut out alcohol, took vitamins increased exercise- and his results went up enough to try CLomid!!

The bottom line is you will not know for certain until you go to the Docs- but go soon and things can be sorted out xxx

 

[Mrs G]

Def agree with the other ladies, these tests can give false results, especially the ones which only test for count. Just cos there is sperm there does not mean it's healthy.

Personally I would also be wary of GP tests, unless your GP is a specialist. In our expereience they are not very good at inerpreting the results. We were told everything was fine by GP (he was only looking at count) and when we took to results to a fert specialist we had major morphology and motility issues.

If you can afford it I would recommend paying for a private test, ours was £100, at least you know what you're getting is accurate. And just cos you've had private tests, you can still have NHS treatment if you need it.

Good luck!

xx

 

[grneyednurse]

Yup these tests are expensive and better to just pay for an SA out of pocket as it cheaper usually!

Also these tests ONLY test for count and nothing else so don't expect anything else...just good to know if you want to know numbers only and keep trying without going to a doctor...yet. With that said I believe they are accurate if done right...it backed up what I knew was our problem: low counts.

 

[auntiebee]

Oh dear i really wanted every1 2 say they were a load of crap and cant b trusted........... dh and i did this test, although it wasnt exactly the same, it was a colour test and ranged from pink colours (which were positive) and blues (which were negative) i found it a little difficult to no where my colour was because it could of been at the bottom of the pos colours of start of neg colours. also it looked differnt in different lights. Also when we did the 2nd test it was a defo negative. I am sooooo worried but just praying that they r wrong. dh is goin this sunday 4 a proper semen analysis which is credited by the WHO so it will give exact details of count/motility etc. i am so worried that its gonna come back with bad results, would it mean our only option is ivf or even worse a donor?? we r in the process of getting me al tested but i hav a really bad feeling that my dh mite hav the problem because i was pregnant b4 wi a different partner 7 years ago. but i am hoping that its me that has s'thing wrong and it can be easily fixed, fingers crossed i guess. sorry 4 such long mess, guess im getting carried away. xxxx

 

[MummyIwanabe]

We did a similar test. First one came out bad, second one came out good. Got a test done through doc anyway and turns out sperm count isn't too bad, motility was average but morphology was really really low... So I was confused by my results by that test but I think its free to get a SA done on NHS so go ahead and do one, I never realised sperm was so complex. I'd never even heard of morphology before we realised this was our issue...

Good luck xxx

 

[PrincessC]

X

 

[Kitkat09]

We used something similar and it was hard for me to read it accurately. The control color is an opaque blue while the test color is somewhat see-thru so it's not an easy comparison to make. In one kind of lighting it looked positive, and in another it looked iffy. Your best bet is an doctor's office semen analysis where they can make an actual count and they also count little guys that are shaped wrong or immobile, etc. and give you a percentage of those. Good luck to you!