Semen Analysis-Need Advice

[bbdreams]

Hello everyone! I am just wondering if anyone has any advice. We just recently got dh's SA results back... they weren't terrible, but not great. I can't remember all the numbers, but his sperm count was normal at 94 million, but the morphology and motility were low. I don't remember the exact numbers, but I am going to try to call the doctor back and get the exact numbers tomorrow. Anyway, he said that dh isn't infertile, but subfertile. I was just wondering if anyone else has had results similar to this and got their bfp or does anyone have any advice about vitamins to take? Please help!

 

[BWilliams]

Sorry I dont really have the answers you need buy i didnt wanna read and run...but i will say this i know there is a vitamin your husband can take they sell it on pregnancytest.com its called fertil-aid for men i bought some for my hubby but he has not taken it yet and the reviews looked good...my doctor wants to test my husband but we havnt set a date...i hope whatever yall decide to do it works!!!

 

[Jaimie2Eyes]

Hey bbdreams!

My hubby had slightly low volume and motility and we used fertile-aid for a while. From what I've looked at zinc and L-argentine (sp?) are the really important supplements in it. You can get these from eating more protein as well.

We've started seeing a fertility specialist and he also said my hubby had to stop riding his bike. He rode about three miles a day to get to work.

We did a second SA after he took the vitamins and cut back on drinking and smoking. That one was better but only slightly. Haven't done a third yet to see if stopping the cycling has helped. We'll probably do IUI in November and we'll see then if things have improved.

FX'd for you hon ~ I know how hard it is to get your man to do an SA, only to be bummed out with the results. There are loads of women dealing with much lower numbers that still get pg. Hope you are doing alright.

 

[mushypea]

Hey - I didn't want to read and run either - although I can't be much help either at the moment. But I am pretty sure there are people on babyandbump with OH's who have problems with sperm morphology/motility who have gone on to get BFPs, maybe took a little more time, but still got there. If this is the only issue for you two - you have a great chance of getting your bundle of joy as there are options available to you.

My OH is having his SA on 9th September, so maybe we will be more clued up around that time!

Good luck and babydust xxx

 

[mushypea]

Oh - I have heard that vitamin B12 is very useful - my hubby uses it - although no luck yet!

 

[Bestla]

Hey. My BF was told 5 years ago he can't have kids without ICSI. Well we proved them wrong. We have a lovely 2 year old and trying for one more before my factory close. Maybe not giving you the answer you are looking for but just letting you know Dr's aren't always right! He blames the the Guinness

 

[FBbaby]

Hey bbdreams!

My hubby had slightly low volume and motility and we used fertile-aid for a while. From what I've looked at zinc and L-argentine (sp?) are the really important supplements in it. You can get these from eating more protein as well.

We've started seeing a fertility specialist and he also said my hubby had to stop riding his bike. He rode about three miles a day to get to work.

We did a second SA after he took the vitamins and cut back on drinking and smoking. That one was better but only slightly. Haven't done a third yet to see if stopping the cycling has helped. We'll probably do IUI in November and we'll see then if things have improved.

FX'd for you hon ~ I know how hard it is to get your man to do an SA, only to be bummed out with the results. There are loads of women dealing with much lower numbers that still get pg. Hope you are doing alright.

Jaimie, your situation is very similar to ours. Did your OH morphology results were ok because this was the main problem with us. In any case, first SA came back as lowish count, 18mil, motility fine, but morphology at 4%. The consultant said that reducing drinking would be the best change to make (OH doesn't smoke, eats very healthily already, exercises etc...). One thing we didn't tell the FS though is that OH does a lot of cycling, 3 times a week, 50 miles + each week, and that is not on the road but mountain biking. Right I put the results down to this, but I knew not to go there as it is my OH life and knew he wouldn't stop. He did start taking fertile-aid for men and reduced his drinking. His 2nd SA 3 months later came back much better at count of 29million/mil, same motility and morphology up to 6%. The thing is, counsidering semen takes 2 months to mature, the second test would have tested semen being produced at a time when he was doing a lot more cycling than the first one, so that reassured me a bit that cycling on its own might not be the cause of the lowish result. It is also interesting that in your case, it is motility that is an issue when in ours it is morphology. Since then, he has stopped taking the vits, not sure why but don't want to pester him about it, he does eat a very well balanced diet with plenty of fruits and veg, so not sure it was doing so much more. So really I am putting down the improvement to the reduction of alcohol consumption. We haven't tested a third time, but since his second, he has cut down even more on alcohol, now only having one or two beers twice a week, so hope it has improved even further and that we will manage a bfp. We did once, ironically first month ttc, but miscarried a month later, so we know it isn't impossible.

Good luck with your iui in November, hope your OH efforts will have paid off.

 

[Jaimie2Eyes]

Thanks for the success story Bestla!

Howdy FBbaby! I'm so sorry about your loss, but I'm glad you take it as encouragement that it is possible for you two to get pg. My OH's morphology was within the normal range, just the volume and motility were low on both SAs. My OH also rode a mountain bike, but on roads and not trails. I've read really mixed things about cycling and semen quality ~ I don't think they've done any definitive studies and it is mostly just anecdotal evidence for there being an issue. My FS said he wants my OH off the bike because he has heard from many other docs in town (cycling is huge where I live, Lance Armstrong and many other pros train here) that men that cycle have issues. It was hard for my OH as his independence and pride were linked to the cycling, but he has adjusted. It is really hard to ask them for all these changes, isn't it? I'm not sure there is enough evidence that the cycling interferes with semen quality so if it would be very hard for your OH to give it up I wouldn't ask him to do it. I just knew for my OH that it would be hard at first but hopefully only temporary.

FX'd for both of us : )

 

[Cheryl xx]

Thought i'd give you some hope. My OH only has one testical and his results came back low. I'm now 17 weeks pregnant!!! I didn't take any vits other than folic acid xx

 

[FBbaby]

Hope it will all pay off for you and OH Jaimie. Like you, when I first found out about OH SA, my first instinct was to get off the bike, but that would only have got his stress levels up and well, there is also some evidence that stress is bad for semen, so here we go! It is very interesting though that in the case of your OH, it is mainly affecting motility, whereas this wasn't even an issue with my OH. Both times the sample wasn't tested until just under an hour (did it at home) and yet motility was 60%. What is the concern is morphology, yet it is normal for your OH. I think the reason why they say cycling is bad is because of overheating, but why would this affect motility in some but morphology in others? As you say, even if some research has been done around this, the evidence is not strong enough to link it directly, and yeah, certainly not strong enough to get my OH off his pride and joy!!!

Cheryl, that's great news, congratulations. How low was his count?

 

[Tomo]

Hi All,

I'm not wholly convinced about the link between cycling and lower sperm results. My husband cycles, but only commuting to work and not every day. His first and second SA's came back with normal count, slightly lower motility and lower morph. I think it is more likely to be accumulative lifestyle factors, drinking (he's since cut down) stress, he also had an undescended testicle which was corrected when he was 11. We have a good diet, don't smoke, not overweight etc.

My best friend has just got pregnant for the second time (conceived 1st month of trying both times) Her husband is the biggest cycling fanatic. He even did his Phd on cycling! Clearly no problems there.

Good luck everyone!