Anyone else have Male factor infertility

[Yammas]

Hi im new to this site and just wanted to introduce myself. Me and my OH have been ntnp/ttc for almost 2 years now and have recently been diagnosed with male factor infertility, our fertility specialist hasnt been very helpful and has said that our only chance of conceiving is with IVF.

Just wondered if anyone else had this issue and any advice or stories to share

Thanks :)

[lilacvioletiris]

Yes, my DH and I are dealing with mail factor infertility. He had a sperm count of 25 individual sperm rather than 40 million. We are saving up money to do IVF with intracytoplasmic sperm injection.

It has been very hard for us. DH's first sperm assay was a zero count, we had him start some fertilaid vitamin supplements and 3 months later we had a count of 25 which gave us hope.  All summer long we were freezing samples until our reproductive endocrinologist said we had enough frozen to do an IVF. Since we spent all our savings on freezing this summer, we have had to wait to do the IVF cycle. Hopefully by next summer we will have enough to do it. We are older (I am 36 and DH is 41) so we want to have kids sooner rather than later.

What are the challenges you are facing?

[Yammas]

Well were young Im 21 and OH is 24 so being taken seriously is the biggest challenge people just assume that because of our age theres nothing wrong and we arent eligible for any help with funding for IVF until im at least 23 and the hospital wont offer any alternative treatments which annoyed me because Id heard good things about clomid for men and at least expected to be offered IUI. OH had 44 sperm in a 10 micro litre sample, they didnt really explain how many there should be or go into more detail, were due to go back in january but im not really looking forward to it so were trying to look into wasy to be more healthy in the next year and hope we fall pg by ourselves.

[lilacvioletiris]

You can be greatful you have some sperm to work with, even if it is a low number.  I am not sure the comparison between the units of measure you used and how my DH's were reported. I think that 44 sperm per 10 microliter is the better than my DH's numbers because 0.025 million/mm3 is lower than 4.4 million per microliter. Yes it is low but you have HOPE! Does your OH smoke cigarettes, drink alcohol, or where tight underwear? These are the first things to put an end to. My DH's counts went from zero to 25 in 7 weeks with vitamins and it can't hurt to try them but you need to be aware that it can take 3 months of taking vitamins before the sperm mature. TTC has got to be the worst waiting game in the world!  Your age means you have more time, but depending on what is happening with your OH sooner rather than later is better.  By the way, what does OH mean to you?

Has you OH had his FSH, LH, prolactin, and testosterone levels checked? That helped my DH and me decide about a plan of action that would involve IVF with ICSI because my DH's issue appears to be mostly hormonal - testosterone on the low end of normal, but he had a very high FSH (my DH had 34 - very elevated - supposed to be 5-15)  and LH that was little high (10.39) which pointed to primary testicular failure, but we had sperm!  We chose to freeze sperm this summer until we can save money for IVF with ICSI in case the sperm stop being produced. This is what our sperm analysis looked like:

Semen Analysis

volume - 3.5 ml
sperm count - 0.025 million/mm3 - that means there were only 25 of them from a note further down the report

They didn't do a morphology due to the very low sperm count.

Semen Motility percentages were based on 25 sperm

Forward progressive motility - 8%

Slow sluggish motility - 16 %

Non-progressive motility - 20%

Non-motile - 56% (Comment: decreased motility may be due to either non-viable or non-motile sperm)

Viscosity and liguefaction were normal

[Yammas]

Ive tried telling him that as long as he has swimmers we have a chance but his ego took a real knock when they told so he keeps bouncing from up beat and positive about it all to negative like it will never happen so I try to stay positive for both of us. He is a smoker  but hes been trying to quit since we met at one point he stopped for 6 months but caved due to stress so now hes gonna give it a go again come new year hes really determined this time to quit for good, were not really drinkers mainly because he has to drive as part of his work and thight undies went a long time ago I hated them anyway so ttc gave me a good excuse lol. OH means other half to me does it mean something else on here???

Hes just had blood test done but the results werent ready by the time we went for our last appointmment so were going back again in januarynot sure what they can do for us if they say our only hope is IVF as we dont have the funds available at the moment to pay for it and Id reather not have it anyway.

We didnt get our results like that they only told us how many were there and how many were moving thats it.

[lilacvioletiris]

Well the encouraging thing may be that if he quits smoking and starts taking vitamins for sperm health, in about 3 months, his sperm counts will probably rise and they will become more mobile.  Have him check out this webpage for other healthy lifestyle things to adopt and why they contribute so much to fertility http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/fertility/MC00023 I would those vitamin and lifestyle changes before jumping straight to IVF (which is very expensive).

My DH and I have been trying for about as long as you and your OH have been - it will be 2 years on April 2013. Do you keep track of your fertility signs like your basal body temperature and your cervical mucus to make sure you are having well timed intercourse? That coupled with better lifestyle and health choices could mean a pregnancy without IVF.

I had never seen OH used for anything here or elsewhere and as far as I know it doesn't have any other meaning that what you have put to it. Other Half makes sense.

[Yammas]

Yh Im hoping well have a smoke free new year and hes already started looking into vitamins the doctor recommended zita west what vitamins does your OH take???

Well be 2 years in january 2013 I decided not to temp because I knew Id either get stressed with it or forget so the results werent consistent the same with cervical mucus.so we just have sex every other day as my cycle length can vary by up to 4 days anyway. Were gonna try to gain weight and see if that helps as I have a low bmi and OH was told he was underweight for his height (although hes gained 2 stone since then hes got about another stone to go)

[lilacvioletiris]

My DH has been taking fertilaid for men, countboost for men, and motilityboost for men. I bought them online and they were shipped in a pretty plane container. I am not sure where you life but there may be a supplement with the same components available where you are.

As a lady, I have the opposite problem with weight, I weigh more than desired. Seems like both ends are not fertility friendly - either too much or too little.  I hope you can put on the weight required to get pregnant.

[MichellyAqua12]

We are dealing with male factor infertility and have been trying for two years too. My husband was put on Clomid for low testosterone and low everything else -- count, motility, and morphology. His testosterone has increased and now we're waiting for the follow-up sperm analysis to know whether IUI or IVF is our best option. He's also been on a vitamin regimen (FYI, Puritan's Pride makes something called Ultra Vita Man which has a lot of the same ingredients as FertilAid, but it's cheaper) so I hope we see a big improvement.

Has your OH been evaluated by a urologist? Even if they find a hormonal cause for the low count and he makes lifestyle changes, he should still get a full urologist work-up, including a physical exam -- especially with a count that low (counts are usually given in millions; did I read that right that he only had 44 sperm total?). There is something called a varicocele that can be fixed with surgery; I don't know much about it though, as that's not our situation. There can also be sperm blockages from inflammation (as in, he's making enough sperm but they're just not getting out) which can be treated with antibiotics, I think.

Make sure you get checked on your end too, and you really should chart to see if/when you're ovulating, especially if you're underweight. You can have regular cycles even though you don't ovulate, and obviously you can't get pregnant without ovulation. Charting is pretty easy, once you get the hang of it. To help me remember to take my temperature first thing in the morning, I go to sleep with my thermometer in my hand or right near it (I don't move much once I'm asleep). If that won't work for you, try putting the thermometer where you'll notice it right away (for example, the first thing I do every morning is look at the clock). After a while, it'll become automatic -- wake up, take temperature, record number. You can even use a phone app which will do most of the work for you.

[infertilemyrtle]

My husband and I both have issues preventing us from conceiving. My husband was diagnosed with azoospermia (meaning he had a sperm count of 0 in his semen analysis) We are currently waiting for our appt to see a Dr that deals with male infertility as well as female infertility but our options are looking somewhat slim. I have a blog if you are interested in following me. It's www.mrsinfertilemyrtlern.blogspot.com  I'd love to connect with other people who also have issues with their male partner's infertility which is why I started my blog in the first place. Does anyone else have a blog? I've found reading other people's infertility blogs to be helpful in dealing with this emotionally. Best wishes to you and your partner, infertility is such a daily struggle. I hope you find your answers.