Very upset about husband's SA results

[wishful think]

hi mrslgh, my husband was told he has a low sperm count and motility back in february. He quit smoking that very day and i put him on lots of vitamins - maca, fertilaid for men. i even have him eating brazil nuts cause i read somewhere that they can help!!! NO baths, steam rooms, only showers!! Loose underwear as dragonmummy said. Try to get him to exercise a bit if he doesnt already!! My husbands count was 2.7 million and 11% motility in February and in April the count was 7.3 million and 15% motility. Not much of an increase but at least there was an increase!!!! Best of luck to u both xxx

 

[mrslgh]

hi mrslgh, my husband was told he has a low sperm count and motility back in february. He quit smoking that very day and i put him on lots of vitamins - maca, fertilaid for men. i even have him eating brazil nuts cause i read somewhere that they can help!!! NO baths, steam rooms, only showers!! Loose underwear as dragonmummy said. Try to get him to exercise a bit if he doesnt already!! My husbands count was 2.7 million and 11% motility in February and in April the count was 7.3 million and 15% motility. Not much of an increase but at least there was an increase!!!! Best of luck to u both xxx

Thank you. I am so happy that i joined this forum it is really helping me.

I wish you lots of luck and

 

[Step Mummy]

Hi, I thought I would join in on this, we have just found out that DH has no sperm, so is booked in to have the surgical sperm removal which involves cutting him and fishing them out. We are just considering out options, as we do not qualify for NHS IVF. We have to pay this ourselves, which I understand to be around £5k a go. We have been told we will have to ICSI, that is if they find any sperm at all. Taking into account the chances of finding sperm, then the chances of getting pregnant through ICSI and in addition the cost and emotional rollercoaster and physical pain and discomfort we are wondering if we should go for it. The chance of finding sperm is about 60%, then you have the chance of getting pregnant which is 29% - It seems like we are facing such a long hard time. How do you decide to take the risk. I also feel that I am asking him to do something really horrible, I know we will face similar during child birth, but thats different, and what if he goes through all that and we don't get pregnant after paying out thousands?

 

[Leilani]

Hi Angela - we decided to take the risk - as we would always wonder "what if" if we didn't.

Good luck with whatever you decide

 

[cheerios]

Hey gals,
can I join you all? Just found out my hubby has low sperm count. We're still waiting for the full analysis of his sperm and blood test, which will only come back next Wednesday.... If I may ask, "How low is low????" I don't know if its a very personal question, but I figured if i don't ask here, where am I going to ask?

Does anybody know anybody who has conceived with OH on low sperm count? Thing is BOTH of us have issues now.. I have PCOS, insulin resistance and am currently on Metformin. Will want to try Clomid next cycle, but I don't know if it makes sense considering that my hubby just found out that he has low sperm count.... only 8 million.... I heard that you need at least 20 million to get pregnant???

 

[annie25]

i have just found out today that my dh has low sperm count too only 5 million per ml he has to do a repeat in 3 months then i dont know what will happen

xxx

 

[mrslgh]

good luck Annie. Don't lose hope!

 

[annie25]

thanks none of us girls should lose hope it will happen xxx

 

[Leilani]

Does anybody know anybody who has conceived with OH on low sperm count? Thing is BOTH of us have issues now.. I have PCOS, insulin resistance and am currently on Metformin. Will want to try Clomid next cycle, but I don't know if it makes sense considering that my hubby just found out that he has low sperm count.... only 8 million.... I heard that you need at least 20 million to get pregnant???

My hubby has a low count and low volume - 6mil per ml, and only about 1.5ml. Our FS said that it wasn't low enough to say we don't need to use contraception, but it's that low that we need to do IVF with ICSi - which is where they inject a single sperm into the egg, as opposed to letting the sperm find the egg themselves in the dish!

20 million is considered ideal, due to the number who don't make/get lost to the way to the egg, but as you know, it only takes 1!

 

[cheerios]

Hey Annie

Did the doctor prescribe anything for your hubby to take in the meantime???

This wait till Wednesday feels like eternity!

Leilani Do you know if 20million is the average? Cos I read somewhere that guys in western country have an average sperm count of 60million. Do you know the reason for your hubby's low sperm count? Oh, now i finally know the difference between ICSi and IVF.... hmm.....

The Others Are your hubbys taking anything to boost their sperm count and motility???

 

[lillyttc]

hi Everybody,
me and my husband, we are facing the same problem, we have been ttc for about 3 years now without any success, and I have started losing hope. my husbands sperm count is 14million/ml with a very low motility and only about 15% morphology. We have tried all that is advised to improve sperm count, but no improvement.

We have recently moved to a new place and will start consulting the doctor here soon. I have started losing all motivation towards life. The last few days especially have been very depressing. Is there anybody who has had a success story naturally or you have heard of any? please do share so that all of us can keep ourselves motivated.

lilly

 

[annie25]

My hubby has a low count and low volume - 6mil per ml, and only about 1.5ml. Our FS said that it wasn't low enough to say we don't need to use contraception, but it's that low that we need to do IVF with ICSi - which is where they inject a single sperm into the egg, as opposed to letting the sperm find the egg themselves in the dish!

20 million is considered ideal, due to the number who don't make/get lost to the way to the egg, but as you know, it only takes 1![/QUOTE]

i wonder if this is the same in the uk? as my dh is a 5 million per ml

no we have not been perscribed anything yet just have to wait 3 months for the test repeat

 

[Leilani]

I think it's 20 million per ml and 3-5ml is the ideal volume.

Of course you need to factor in motility and morphology, as there's no point have 100 million sperm if 95% of them swim backwards of have 2 heads!. My DH has 49% motility - so that's something to be grateful for. He is on Menevit - not prescribed just recommended by thre FS, which is an aussie male suplement. It contains; 100mg Vit C, 25mg Zinc, 400iu Vit E, 500ug Folic Acid, 6mg Lycopene, 33ug Garlic Oil and 29ug Selenium. We'll find out next week if they really have made a difference.

 

[cheerios]

lillyttc - Hey, I don't think 14 million is very low....have you thought of the option of IUI perhaps? I heard that it really helps with low sperm count. What have you tried so far?

Leilani - Thanks for sharing!!! Fx'd that your hubby's sperm count would have improved!!!! I sure hope so! Do you know what's the cause of his low sperm count?

 

[Leilani]

DH had an undescended testicle that was only descended when he had an op when he was 19, so that it the most likely cause. From reading on here, a lot of chaps have had the same thing. I was talking to a friend about it, and she said when her son was born (4 months ago), this is one of the things they are very good at checking; her son had an undescended testicle and they fixed it pretty much there and then - she said she would nevef have noticed herself. Hospitals have proabably been doing this for years now, but it's good to know they do it.

 

[lillyttc]

hi cheerios,
i dont think IUI would be an option for morphological issues (85% abnormal). but still i am waiting for the visit with a Gynecologist in august (we are consulting doctor after more than a year after moving to this new place).

i think the Gynecologist had prescribed Lcarnitine and some thing else which i dont remember,(when his SA was 10mil/ml). Whatever medicines they were, after taking them for 3 months, the SA had shown 3 mil/ml at that time (but after some months it was 14mil/ml without any medication just like the present SA), so i am not quite optimistic about medication for improvement.

i(we) have tried or implemented everything that is deemed good for improvement. we dont drink and smoke, the only think we were habituated is caffeine which we have quit sometime back. We have tried really hard all this time that BD has become a matter of duty and little fun now. I have started losing hope that i would ever even see BFP, i guess might not happen at least naturally.

lilly

 

[cheerios]

Lillyttc - Hey, I see. So I guess what you're saying is, there's no direct link to medication and improvement of sperm count? I know nothing about morphological issues...but it'd be great to see your Gynae in August! Perhaps even a Fertility Specialist perhaps? A FS might have more specialised knowledge for your hubby's issues?

Oh, please don't give up hope!!!! I believe in God and miracles too! I think its not easy to BD for the fun... I must admit that since I found out my hubby has sperm issues, I somehow had to struggle with still BDing, even though I know the chances of any pregnancy is like close to zero. But then again, as you said, TTC can rob the fun of BDing.

So I had to decide to enjoy BDing for itself! Sperm or not sperm, BFP or not, its such an amazing thing to share with the one you love....... At least we have someone to share our lives with! And that's something I know that I will always be grateful about.

 

[cheerios]

Leilani - Hey, I see.... I think I still know little about my hubby's issues. But does that mean that since your hubby has got the operation, the issue has been solved??? How old is your hubby now? - if I may ask? Does that mean from the age of 19 until now, sperm production should be normal again?

 

[Leilani]

No Cheerios the damage is done - as after 19 years of not being in the right place, it's hard to fix - which is why it should have been fixed much much earlier. Luckily it was only one which was undescended. They can't say for sure that's what caused it - but it's quite likely. Also as my GP says, he's making new sperm with old eqipment (he's 46)!

 

[lillyttc]

cheerios- thanks for the reply, feeling better slowly.

Leilani- i think one of the reasons why testicles don't descend is if the baby was born premature (development probably incomplete). Testicles have to be descended because the temperature for the sperms (around 32 ) has to lower than the normal body temperature (around 37) and so the low testicles keep them away and cool(all this i am sure u already might be knowing). So if this logic is correct then the surgery to descend the testicles should possibly help in rectifying the problem due to an undescended one.

The problem with my husband's sperm morphology to the extend that i understand is that they cannot penetrate the outer covering of my egg to fertilize them (majority of his sperms ). i am just desperately waiting for the visit to the gynae. Hope she gives me some new hope.

its good to know others experiences, feel a little better.