Spouses with low sperm count.

[goldfishy]

It is really frustrating and hard not to feel defeated. We are still ttc our first and the fact I haven't even had a whiff of a bfp makes me wonder if it will ever happen.

Re volume, I've read the actual motile sperm count is volume x sperm count x motility so for our second S.A., this would be 16m vs 1st S.A. of 4.7m. I suppose the improvement makes iui an option?

 

[291]

Hubbys count is 14 million, and motility 5% progressive 15% non-progressive, Immotility 85%
Volume 2.6ml
Appearance is normal
Viscosity is abnormal- increased


Analysis was 2h 20 min after collection (by the lab).

 

[Mikihob]

I have PCOS and my hubby's three SA's have all come back with zero sperm. He has two daughters already, why would he have zero now?? We are getting a fourth SA done mid May and if it's still zero, then fly to Seattle reproductive to have a biopsy or aspiration done. It's scary that he has to go through an operation and we are afraid that we will never be pregnant and have our children. My husband and I have agreed that we will use donor sperm if it's absolutely possible. We will fight until the death, so to speak, to be able to use his sperm.

It's so frustrating and some days all I want to do it stay in bed and not have to face the world. It hurts to see so many people pregnant or with newborns. Why is it so hard for some of us!!

 

[tryn4]

Oh man, I am so praying for both of you. Fx..thank you for making me realize I should be a little more patient. X

 

[ababytogether]

Hi everyone

Been TTC for 2 years after dh hada Vr

Can't remember is actual test but the important ones last April as we kind of have up were

36% motility
4% morph
6.3 million count

Not the greatest at all

Been referred for IUI

Dh is back on fertilaid and Wellman should he take both?

And I'm on pregnacare

 

[oceanbreeze]

Hi all!

Been trying to conceive a year next month and just got SA results back. I have been told that the morphology is the issue by one doc and the other says that since everything else is normal not to worry. If anyone has any input, please let me know what you think or if you have dealt with this before. Thanks!

Volume:3.0
Motility:77%
Total: 85 million
Morphology (strict): 1%

 

[melly2]

Hi all!

Been trying to conceive a year next month and just got SA results back. I have been told that the morphology is the issue by one doc and the other says that since everything else is normal not to worry. If anyone has any input, please let me know what you think or if you have dealt with this before. Thanks!

Volume:3.0
Motility:77%
Total: 85 million
Morphology (strict): 1%

Though the Morph is low, because of the high count, it's doable. Basically, it means you have 85,000 sperm that are healthy out of that 85 million. Get him on some FertilAid for men, and that should help substantially in a few months.

 

[WhiteOrchid24]

My husband and I have been TTC # 2 for 14 months. Last month he had his first SA done and we were told the count was good (but didn't get specific numbers), he had 44% motility but 0% normal morphology The Dr suggested lifestyle changes, namely exercising more and cutting out alcohol but he is already pretty healthy and we don't drink a lot (just at weekend and not huge quantities). He has had a tooth infection on and off for years so he finally went to the dentist after getting the SA results and is getting surgery for it tomorrow followed by a course of antibiotics. Our Dr (who is a GP not a FS) also suggested that if his body is fighting infections etc that could be the cause of the 100% abnormal sperm....OH is also convinced of this so is sure once his infection gets sorted we'll be fine.....

Has anyone ever heard of/ experienced anything similar? I've tried to do research on morphology but there doesn't seem to be much out there. Our next appt with our Dr is in 3 months and obviously if we still aren't pregnant (which is unlikely especially since any changes will take at least 72 days) he will go for his 2nd SA and then I guess we will go from there. Just looking for any advice/ suggestions anyone has or if they have managed to increase morphology. I know it only takes 1 so I'm trying to stay positive and enjoy the break from TTC this month!!!

(He currently takes multi-vitamins, Vitamin D and Omega 3's anyway but that's just for his general health and not related to the results of the SA)

 

[melly2]

My husband and I have been TTC # 2 for 14 months. Last month he had his first SA done and we were told the count was good (but didn't get specific numbers), he had 44% motility but 0% normal morphology The Dr suggested lifestyle changes, namely exercising more and cutting out alcohol but he is already pretty healthy and we don't drink a lot (just at weekend and not huge quantities). He has had a tooth infection on and off for years so he finally went to the dentist after getting the SA results and is getting surgery for it tomorrow followed by a course of antibiotics. Our Dr (who is a GP not a FS) also suggested that if his body is fighting infections etc that could be the cause of the 100% abnormal sperm....OH is also convinced of this so is sure once his infection gets sorted we'll be fine.....

Has anyone ever heard of/ experienced anything similar? I've tried to do research on morphology but there doesn't seem to be much out there. Our next appt with our Dr is in 3 months and obviously if we still aren't pregnant (which is unlikely especially since any changes will take at least 72 days) he will go for his 2nd SA and then I guess we will go from there. Just looking for any advice/ suggestions anyone has or if they have managed to increase morphology. I know it only takes 1 so I'm trying to stay positive and enjoy the break from TTC this month!!!

(He currently takes multi-vitamins, Vitamin D and Omega 3's anyway but that's just for his general health and not related to the results of the SA)

Hello,

I would highly recommend Ubiquol (a form of C0q10) for him; it has helped my husband. Also, you may want to try FertilAid for men. My husband has been taking this, and starting to see improvements just after two months. This is by no means hopeless, but will probably take a few months to get back on track, since it takes that long to get those spermies back to healthy.

 

[wellsk]

Hi there whiteorchid
I'm in a similar position to you, been TTC for 17 cycles and recently found out that my DH has 1% normal morphology, but good count and motility.We have been told that it's likely IVF/ICSI (and in some cases IUI, although this is disputed) are probably our only options.

I've heard good things about Zinc supplements and COQ-10 supplements to increase sperm quality and quantity.

Does your DH take any meds? My DH is epileptic and takes Sodium Valporate, and this known to cause fertility problems in men.

Good luck!

 

[WhiteOrchid24]

Hi there whiteorchid
I'm in a similar position to you, been TTC for 17 cycles and recently found out that my DH has 1% normal morphology, but good count and motility.We have been told that it's likely IVF/ICSI (and in some cases IUI, although this is disputed) are probably our only options.

I've heard good things about Zinc supplements and COQ-10 supplements to increase sperm quality and quantity.

Does your DH take any meds? My DH is epileptic and takes Sodium Valporate, and this known to cause fertility problems in men.

Good luck!

Hello and thank you for replying

That's good to know - I have read about Zinc and COQ-10 so might just buy him some of those. He's a little hesitant just now cause of all the multi-vitamins etc he takes but I think really he just wants to wait and see how he feels after having the surgery on his mouth...... Difficult as I don't want to pressure him into things and certainly don't want to stress him out. He isn't on any other meds... he is pretty healthy (other than the tooth infection) but I would say a bit run down just down and definitely gets stressed a lot which I know doesn't help.....

I think what's hard for me is knowing we have conceived naturally before so I don't know if we were just lucky then or if things have just got worse in the last 4 years but I'm hoping they can improve again.

Are you going down the IVF/ICSI route or are you hoping to try a bit longer?

 

[wellsk]

Is there anything that has changed in his life in the past four years that may have reduced his health maybe?
I definitely think the everything your doctor has recommended sounds like a good idea, hopefully it'll improve once he's had the dental work

At the moment we're hoping to get on an IVF trial which with been in contact with since March. We're just waiting to hear about about some SA results (which are back in a couple of days) to see if they are happy for us to be apart of it. Failing that, we'll be waiting until I'm 23 (the minimum age for IVF in our NHS PCT) to get on the waiting list (which to be fair is only 4 weeks long!) for IVF. So hopefully a BFP before the new year

Baby dust to you, I hope that once everything is sorted teeth and health wise you'll get your BFP

 

[LoveSunshine]

Hello, just wanted to add to this thread :wave: we've been trying for 4 cycles, OH has low SC from an op he had as a child. I've only just started him on zinc and I am on a B vitamin complex and fish oil to try and balance my hormones.

If it doesn't happen for us in the next few months we will be going down the IVF route.

Good luck everyone!

 

[baby25102011]

Has anyone ever been told "Oh it may take over a year, more than 6 months, possibly round 5 years to conceive" etc, etc?

I recently asked a consultant "could we get pregnant naturally with those numbers?" - he said yes but how long?

I never thought until now to ask him exactly how long he thought it would take, oh course everyone's different etc, etc so give or take a few months but I would love to be told to aim for 2 years etc

x x x

 

[wellsk]

Hi baby251, I haven't been told a time frame like that. But I have been told that it may take longer for us to conceive than others. I've had conflicting advice really, one doctor has told me that it's unlikely we'll conceive without IVF/ICSI/IUI. While another told me that with my DH's morphology 'some people can/some can't, but it will take longer'.

I don't think they can put such a time frame on it, as it will more than likely give false hope to those who won't conceive in that time

 

[WhiteOrchid24]

Hi Baby 251,
My Dr told me that unfortunately since we have no control over our bodies reproductive cycles there is no way of knowing how long it could take and that since baby # 1 took us 5 months # 2 could take 1 year (past that already), 2 years or even 5 years! What it really comes down to is how long you want to keep trying naturally yourself or when you want help to intervene and try and make things possible. Perhaps not the best advice but I guess he was just trying to take the pressure of and say unfortunately sometimes things take a lot longer than we want, but I keep in mind all the time that "good things come to those who wait!". However long you want to wait is a completely personal choice and of course depends on your circumstances Hope it happens for you soon

 

[Mikihob]

Hi Baby251.
I have heard that couples with no fertility issues range from 6-12 months before successfully conceiving. Yes, many couples do conceive earlier but the majority of pregnancies occur in this time frame. I haven't heard any actual time frames for those with fertility issues. I have heard speculation about 2 years or so but nothing else. I have never heard a doctor say that though, not to me anyway. I am sorry that you were given such news. It's scary to think that it would take five years. I know some women have waited that long and even longer...my heart goes out to those women. They are stronger than me.

Try FertilAid for men and women. They are supplements that have the vitamins necessary for healthy sperm. I have my DH on loads of vitamins and then saw a comment about those and looked them up. They have great reviews for men and women. I have read women comment that they helped with regulating their ovulation.

 

[Briss]

Got my DH's SA results - trully depressing from 12 mil we got down to 2.8 and now even worse to 1 million despite all the vitamins and supplements...

1. Analysis

volume: 2.3 ml

No of sperm per ml of semen 1.0 10*6/ml

% progressive motility: only occasional sperm seen in semen

% total motility: N/A

time from ejaculation to test: 25 min

Viscosity: semimucoid

Acidity: 8.4

Nucleated cells not sperm: 2.6

Esterase Test: <70

MAR: N/A

Abstinence: 3 days

Vitality: not tested

Comment: probable impaired fertility

Semen Diagnostic Ref Values: N/A

2. Separation test

Method: full separation test

Ejaculation to separation: 20 min

Supernatant volume: 1.0 ml

Supernatant cell count: no sperm seen in fst

Progressive motility: N/A

Total motility: N/A

Comments: ICSI

 

[goldfishy]

Wow this is a really detailed analysis. I take it this was done privately? Our nhs results were rubbish. Apparently my dh sperm might be a contributing factor

I'm so sorry about the results. It's very disheartening when you're popping pills and hoping they work, only to see the results getting weaker. On the plus side they have recommended icsi so will you try to get the referral to a clinic?

 

[Briss]

Goldfishy, it was actually with NHS but our FS asked for sperm separation test (which they usually do not do)