Semen Analysis Questions

[littlegirl87]

Hi Ladies,
DH just had a semen analysis done and has a nice healthy count, but the motility was a little off....says something alone the lines of 50% motility. Minimum forward progressive. Just wondering what that really means? I mean clearly its not that great, but is there anything we can do to help this along? or does anyone know what the normal range is?

We go back to the doctor on July 11th but just curious to see if anyone else has any stories they can share regarding this?!

Thank you!

 

[bellaxgee]

I know you definitely want forward progressives (so they can swim in a straight line to the egg!) the 50% im not too sure about

 

[littlegirl87]

of course the lab that we got the test done at didn't send the result to my Dr's office for some reason so I had to call and request it to be sent so that I can get some answers lol

UGH

 

[carrie_penny]

Depending on the type of test that they ran, 50% motility is fine. I am not sure about the minimum forward progress. There are a number of things that can make the sperm not move forward and with out knowing what they saw, I can't really help you on that one. Upside a lot of times from my understanding the semen can cause the sperm to stick together and that will slow down motility. That tends to be dietary and easily fixed.

 

[littlegirl87]

Thank you! At least i know we can help that! What about a ph of 9? Cut off was 8

 

[minuet]

We just had hubby's SA done, and 50% was the reference range on the test. Meaning that 50% is pretty good for motility!

 

[littlegirl87]

that is wonderful! I got a call from the doctor and they didn't seem to be worried about that, but said that they thought my DH might have a UTI which is causing an infection in the whole male area and so we are going to see a urologist and get that treated and then hopefully we will finally have a good shot at getting our BFP!!! it is crazy but I was reading up on this whole thing and I guess that a chronic UTI actually happens more frequently in men but they don't show symptoms like women because the infection isn't intense....however it has all sorts of CRAZY effects on the sperm so since DH's count is really great like 147 million or whatever and everything else is good I am hoping once we get this infection cleared up things will work out!!

FX

 

[rachy28]

If your dh isnt too fussy, vit c is brilliant for motility. You actually only need 32% forward progressive for a good chance of pregnancy. Slow progressive swimmers should make the total progressive approximately 50% to be within normal ranges.
Personally, I would ask for a copy of the results for your own inspection. Your gp may say they look good but they aren't fertility specialists. My dh's numbers are great considering he had a vasectomy reversal but he has severe antisperm antibodies which hinder the chance for pregnancy, my gp dismissed them as a cause of our sub fertility.

 

[minuet]

that is wonderful! I got a call from the doctor and they didn't seem to be worried about that, but said that they thought my DH might have a UTI which is causing an infection in the whole male area and so we are going to see a urologist and get that treated and then hopefully we will finally have a good shot at getting our BFP!!! it is crazy but I was reading up on this whole thing and I guess that a chronic UTI actually happens more frequently in men but they don't show symptoms like women because the infection isn't intense....however it has all sorts of CRAZY effects on the sperm so since DH's count is really great like 147 million or whatever and everything else is good I am hoping once we get this infection cleared up things will work out!!

FX

Wow that is exactly what our doctor said!! She said this chronic infection can affect the PH of the semen, and also cause the motility to be poor, and that clearing it up can really improve sperm quality.
He's on antibiotics for the next 20 days.
I'm sure you'll see an SA really improve once the infection gets cleaned up! We'll probably have him re-tested in a month or so to see if antibiotics helped at all.

 

[minuet]

If your dh isnt too fussy, vit c is brilliant for motility. You actually only need 32% forward progressive for a good chance of pregnancy. Slow progressive swimmers should make the total progressive approximately 50% to be within normal ranges.
Personally, I would ask for a copy of the results for your own inspection. Your gp may say they look good but they aren't fertility specialists. My dh's numbers are great considering he had a vasectomy reversal but he has severe antisperm antibodies which hinder the chance for pregnancy, my gp dismissed them as a cause of our sub fertility.

Hi, I'm really curious about the anti-sperm antibodies, how do you know he has them? Is it listed somewhere on a more detailed SA report?
Or based on the PH level?
With DH having had chemo and other junk, I'm concerned he could have things like that too without us knowing about it.

 

[littlegirl87]

I am so glad to hear that someone else is in the same situation! I am hoping that this is the issue that has been preventing us from getting pregnant and so once he is treated and it is cleared up then maybe we will finally get our BFP!!! I did read that they have to be on the antibiotics for quite some time so I am hopeful that they start him on some on July 15th when we go to the doctor and then maybe in august or September we will have our chance!

fx!!

Good luck to you as well! Let me know how it turns out for your DH!