Low Sperm Count -- Just found out

[ourdomicile]

Hi there all. I was in the TTC forum for a while there, and then took some time off. I had a M/C last December at about 7 weeks. We've been TTC since then, and I've been doing acupuncture, TCM, monitoring my temps etc. Last month DH decided to go get his sperm tested. And yesterday he went to get the results which were "low". I don't really know how low, as he didn't get details from his Doc (frustrating!), but his Dr. did suggest that he get retested after waiting the five days from intercourse thing (we couldn't recall now how long it had been when he first had the test), so I'm thinking maybe it wasn't critically low?

Anyway, I guess I just feel like now I'm into a whole new plane of information. All this time I had been assuming it was my body, and while I do believe that keeping myself healthy and working on my own fertility is useful, now I feel like we have a whole new thing to deal with, and this is a land I know nothing about. So can anyone give me some info? I did some web searching and everything seems to come up IVF. Is there a middle ground? I'm sure it will depend on how "low" low is, but I'd love to get some info (and maybe hear success stories?) from the every wise folks here.

Everyone I've told this too has said "great news that it isn't you!" but I'm feeling like we've got this whole new big ugly problem to deal with, and I'm honestly feeling a lack of hope

[quantumleap]

Low counts suck. I'm sorry you guys are dealing with this.

On the other hand, if one of you is going to have problems, it's almost easier if it is the man, just because there are certain set things you can do, and they're either going to work, or they're not. It feels like there are an infinite number of possible problems with women, and an even bigger number of possible "fixes".

Basically, you guys could go the route of an urological work up for him where they will check hormones levels, look for varicoceles, and possibly do some genetic testing (ex: being a carrier of the CF gene can cause impaired fertility in men). Hormone levels and varicoceles are often treatable.
There are a few supplements that can help with sperm issues. There are even a few threads on here about this.
Depending on your numbers, washing your partner's sperm and doing an IUI could be a possiblilty for you guys.
Then, there's donor sperm and IVF.

I remember when we found out about dh's crappy sperm. All I remember is being totally panicked and blanking out everything except the thought that we were screwed. What does this mean and what can we do about it?!? Don't panic - you guys can deal with this!

Oh, and repeat the SA. Guys can have off days.
Hang in there.

Katia

[cincynana]

I agree with Katia...have the s/a repeated. Low sperm count could be caused by a lot of things. It could just be low. Or, your dh could have an infection (or had one in the last couple of months) it could be due to recent (or not recently enough) having sex. I've always been told to have a s/a done once a month for 3 months, since that it how long it takes for new sperm to develop. Then you'll get the whole picture.

There are things that can be done for low sperm count. Google sperm count and vitamins, and you'll get a lot of info. There are vitamins and supplements that can help. There are also meds that his dr could have your dh on. Is he seeing someone that works with male infertility? Not all urologist are a big help when it comes to male fertility, so seeing a specialist might cut down on some frustration. I see you're doing acupuncture and tcm. Maybe your dh could also start doing the same?

You also have the option of iui and ivf.

Its great that you've kept yourself so healthy. I always try to look at it like no matter where the problem lies, its both of our problem since we are both needed to make a baby! We have male and female fertility issues, so I know how frustrating it can be.

Good luck to you and I hope you get some answers soon!

[ourdomicile]

Thanks for your support and sober words. I'm trying really hard not to freak out until I have actual numbers, as I know it does no one any good, but man it's hard! Katia I totally relate to your "blacking out" reaction, that's exactly how I felt, though I think I'm kind of programmed to fear the worst. DH is totally an optimist so he's having the opposite reaction ("everything will be fine!").

We've already started him on Maca (as of yesterday) as I've been hearing great things about it, and we had been thinking of both taking it anyway. I'm holding off on it until I finish another cycle of TCM herbs. As for him doing acupuncture etc., yes that was all already a possibility that we had discussed and this kind of just tips things in that direction. Unfortunately both my Acupuncturist and Naturopath are on two weeks holidays right now, so we'll have to wait until they're back. Maybe we'll have new test results by then though.

If anyone else has advice/stories etc. please do keep it coming. Reading these was the first time I've felt real peace since I found out. so thanks!

[heidsz]

count

Hi, My husband had low motility and low sperm count and we got pregnant through IUI the first time, with only one follicle. So it is possible. My RE had him take 4 different vitamins to help the motility, don't know if it helped or not but it had worked.

[kristenok18]

Let us know how the re-test goes!

My dh has several male factor issues. He's got retrograde ejaculation, where the sperm go back up into the bladder (he takes plain old psuedophedrine for this), low motility and morphology, the ph and viscosity are not great. His sperm count is okay, but the volume is horrible, as in he usually can't provide enough of a sample to test adequately. I also have pcos, so I felt that we were never going to have another child. I took a different drug this past cycle, femara, and only produced one follicle. Our dr recommended IUI, which was a surprise. I didn't think they'd recommend that with only one good follicel. But they did, and we went ahead with the trigger and IUI, and it worked! We got our first bfp in over 3 years of trying.

One of my close friend's dh has numbers that are pretty abysmal (less than 2mil, I think). They opted to try IVF using his sperm, and were able to get pg on their second round.

As long as your dh has some swimmers in there, there's always hope!!

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