rachelle1975

Hey ladies

Well DH got his sperm results this morning and he can't stop apologising to me - i feel so sorry for him and it's not his fault.

His sperm is 1.5million and it should be between 20-99 million.

He has been taken propecia for his thinning hair for the past 2 years and the doc said he has to come off that as it can cause feotal abnormalities as well. There is nothing to say that the propecia lowers sperm count but the doctor said it could so we have to stop TTC for 3 months until it clears out of his system and he has been told to stop drinking entirely.

Has anyone else's OH had a really low sperm count? Just wondering what options we have?

They said he has to do another SA in a month to see if there has been improvement?

Any advice would be appreciated i've gone a bit wobbly

Mrs R

Aww hun. My hubby just had his SA this morning and he's very worried about his results (he thinks he didn't produce a big enough sample, bless)

I think I've heard that zinc is good for boosting the little swimmers, and probably a good multi-vit. Try googling it and see what you come up with.

DaisyDuke

I'm so sorry for u both, my DH has to get tested in about a week Maybe try wellman vit suppose to be good for swimmers my DH has been on it for nearly 3 months now

Just remember you only need 1.

rachelle1975

Thanks ladies - he's been taking multi vits for a few months now, baggy pants - you name it he's taken it! The doctor didn't discuss motility so i've suggested he ring him back to discuss that... his mum is an ex-specialist nurse so she's been going on about IUD and stuff..... i just wondered if anyone else had the same problems?
Feel a bit lost x

FJL

Hey sweety,

First of all i'm sorry to hear of the results. It is such a devestating blow because you do these tests thinking everything will be fine and nothing can prepare you for getting bad results.

Its completely normal for you DH to be feeling like shit. When we found out about DH's probs (slightly low count, very low motility and extremely poor morphology) we were both gutted and were told right then and there IVF was our ONLY option. It was one of the only times i've ever seen DH cry. I know my DH felt/feels like a failure and I think the only thing you can do is reassure your DH that this isn't true...tell him how much you love him and that you're in it together...that constant reassurance is the only thing you can really do.

Our main problem was motility and with more intenstive testing we also found out that his sperm was highly damaged. So as I said, for us IVF/ICSI is all we have.

With low count, my understanding is that IUI is a possiblity as they will seperate all the good sperm from the bad, but with a very low count i'm fairly sure that most Dr's would recommend IVF.

It would also be good as you said for your DH to get all of his results, ask about motility and morpholgy to give you an idea of how that side of things are.

Another important thing to remember is that the 2nd and 3rd tests will give a more accurate reading. How long did he abstain for? Our FS specialises in MF IF and he said abstainence should be 3 days...no more or no less as anything else is generally inaccurate. A recent cold/flu can also affect the reading. During your 3month TTC break other things he could do would be to change his diet if it is poor, replace with lots of fresh fruit and veg, organic foods, drink lots of water and keep up with the vits/mins.

If you have any other questions ask away. This journey is so hard

rachelle1975

Thanks so much for that FJL - although its not great news for us at least the results answer some questions we had you know??

Well re the abstaining - prob about 7 days in the end - he was really nervous about having the tests and quite stressed which wouldn't have helped either. I have a fertility diet book and it said that any longer than 3 days can affect the sperm as they just die off. I didn't realise this - it also recommends what you did, go organic! and there was a list of nuts and also some herbs you can take - horny goat week was recommended!! The doc gave him his results over the phone and didn't mention motility or morphology so don't know if that is a good thing or not - he'll call him back shortly so fingers crossed.

Have told hubby when he gets home we will pop to supermarket and get organic produce and also some Wellman tablets which are meant to be good for sperm etc.

Maybe it's his propecia tablets that have affected this??

Being told we have to stop TTC for 3 months was a bit of a blow though! x

pixielou

Hi Rachel,

soz to hear this, hope all goes well for you!

Lou
X

diva4180

just wanted to offer some to you both. xx

rachelle1975

Thanks for all your support guys.

DH has taken it quite hard but i've told him that it will be much higher in a month - i'm sure of it. He's stopped his propecia pills and we went and bough vit c, b12 and zinc and lots of organic fruit/veg and meat. Also got a britta water filter to see if that helps!

I'm kinda wondering that since we actually abstained for a week rather than the 3 days, maybe that made it worse? I dunno, might be clutching at straws but you have to have hope! x

Helen

We had male factor problems - low motility rather than count - and had ICSI(IVF).

Our FS pretty much dismissed out of hand the tests DH did at home (he did 2 and took them in to the hospital). He said that things like how long it takes from the sample being produced to it being analysed and its temperature on the journey can totally skew the results.

Unfortunately for us the test DH did in the ACU confirmed the first two, but there's always hope that another test for you and your DH will show better results especially with all the changes he is making to his diet.