How to improve sperm morpholgy?

[wtg4miracle]

Need advice here. Dh morphology is severe. Only 4%.

After DH failed the Fertell Test he went and got SA done.

Heres the highlights:

volume 2.5ml
concentration- 130 million (20-900/ml)
motility- 77% (40-100%)
normal morphology - 4% (10-100%)

After these results we were referred to an RE. I am worried that we will have to do IVF.

Anyone had to deal with bad morph but counts and motility are good? Is there any hope for us? What can we do to improve his situation?

http://www.mothering.com/discussions...d.php?t=984514


I had to ask again as dh is driving me crazy to find out the ways to improve his morphology from being 4% to at least normal range? (he thinks all of you are great on here) The RE visit did not give us to much info on it. It was basic like limit smoking and drinking. He wanted more info on it.

Is there any "magic pill", herbs, vitamins, alternative medicine that we can try. One of the posters mentioned pycnogenol. He is taking this at 200mg per day. Any ideas, suggestions, anthing under the moon will be great for my sanity. I thought I was the one who should cause him misery.

Sorry for posting again, he is non-stop about this....

[cincynana]

Here are a couple more websites that might give you some more info:

http://www.reproendo.com/pycnog_pub.pdf
http://www.revolutionhealth.com/blog...rm-morpho-2096
http://www.fertilinet.com/male.htm
http://www.acupuncturespace.com/acup...morphology.htm

I think anything your dh can take that is an anti-oxidant can really help. My dh is taking 200mg of pycnogenol and taking Ultra VitaMan from Vitamin World. Its a multi vitamin and has a lot of different anti-oxidants in it. He will have his f/u SA on Wednesday, so we'll see if the embolization and the vitamin cocktail has worked. Good luck to you both!

[wtg4miracle]

Thanks so much. Great info on those websites!! DH is very grateful. I think he will be adding more supplements to his arsenal.

[cincynana]

You're welcome. There isn't a lot of info on morph, so I know how frustrating it can be. Good luck with the vitamins and supplements!

[IncompetentHousewife]

I'm curious if they were using the WHO scale or Krueger's Strict Scale for the morphology.

My husband's is 0% normal on Krueger's. We have two daughters. One was miraculously conceived by ICSI+ZIFT and the other is a result of donor insemination.

Our first step was to have my husband checked for a varicocele. I wonder if you've done that. They check visually and by hand and confirm with ultrasound.

I wish my husband did have a varicocele because they are repairable, but he does not, according to two urologists.

My husband took ProXseed, but we don't really think it did any good.

[amshel007]

Question for cincynana

Cincynana -

I wondered how DH's S/A went after being on the "vitamin cocktail". I am curious to hear if things improved if you are still around on these boards. I am looking for anything to improve my DH's morph numbers - although I am pretty sure he thinks I am trying to kill him with everything I think he should be trying.

Thanks for all the info.

A

[wtg4miracle]

amshel007--I was the original poster that was really worried about my dh SA morphs. He eventually got his second SA done at the RE office and was told his morphs are 15%. Not great but its better than the 4% we were told on the first SA. So we are boderline now.

Once we found out about the poor morph I immediately drugged him up with pyncogenol 50mg four times a day, GNC mega mens mv, added extra selenium, zinc, arginine, and l-carnitine. I am not sure if these helped it or its just a matter of a bad day when he was testing his first SA. SA fluctuate alot so you will need at least 2 SA to determine how bad the morphs are. Also having a fever can decrease morphs also. Smoking and excessive drinking can cause issues to.

[amshel007]

Thanks Wtg -

He has had numerous tests and they said it was do to verococeal (SP?), which he had repaired, but numbers still low. We have to do ICSI, but are trying to increase our odds and improve things for in between cycles as welll. Thanks again for letting me know the change in your DH's numbers - it gives mine some hope that I haven't just jumped off the deep end.

Thanks - A

[wtg4miracle]

How long ago was his surgery. I read that it takes at least 72 days for sperm to regenerate or see any changes. I could be wrong. What numbers are you playing with now. I know this is hard for you. I have been through alot with dh SAs.

[amshel007]

His surgery was actually about 2 years ago. Numbers didn't really change afterwards. We did a de cycle and the numbers were not good - so they ended up doing ICSI. Count was down around 25mm, and morphology at 4%. He loves hot water so we have argued back and forth if that has anything to do with it - and I have gotten him to swear off baths until we do another de cycle - which will be in March we hope (taking into account the 74 - 90 days for sperm to cycle through and hopefully eliminate any issues.
I am 42 with a high fsh - so looking for natural ways to try and bring that down as well - never know maybe we will get lucky and get pregnant on our own if I could figure out how to bring it down naturally. We are in Atlanta and I don't know of very many accu / tcm / holistic sites there are that may be able to help. That is my current quest at the moment.

Thanks for your insite and thoughts are always welcome.

A

[BellyBean]

Wtg, I am glad you added the link to your last thread about this. My DH has poor morphology too...although I don't know what scale it has been measured (WHO or Kruger strict). Between his last 2 SA's his morphology improved 8%, but all we did was add a multi-vitamin with a lot of zinc and selenium (per his urologist). I am not sure if it was just timing or if the vitamins helped, but he has his 3rd SA on Monday (which I know is strict), so we will have more information then!

[wtg4miracle]

BellyBean--i didn't know you were dealing with bad morphs. It will be interesting to see what his SA will be this time knowing that its the strict criteria. Cincynana gave an excellent link about how sometimes morphs are given by endrinologists left and right.

amshel007- I heard wheatgrass helps with fsh. Maybe DHEA, but there are some risks taking it. Sorry about dh SA. It looks you are doing your best you can with what you have. Gl with your cycle in March.

[Kristin0105]

Originally Posted by amshel007

His surgery was actually about 2 years ago. Numbers didn't really change afterwards. We did a de cycle and the numbers were not good - so they ended up doing ICSI. Count was down around 25mm, and morphology at 4%. He loves hot water so we have argued back and forth if that has anything to do with it - and I have gotten him to swear off baths until we do another de cycle - which will be in March we hope (taking into account the 74 - 90 days for sperm to cycle through and hopefully eliminate any issues.
I am 42 with a high fsh - so looking for natural ways to try and bring that down as well - never know maybe we will get lucky and get pregnant on our own if I could figure out how to bring it down naturally. We are in Atlanta and I don't know of very many accu / tcm / holistic sites there are that may be able to help. That is my current quest at the moment.

Thanks for your insite and thoughts are always welcome.

A

amshel Don't know how high your FSH is but mine was 12. something in May. I immediately started acupuncture, Chinese herbs, DHEA (actually had started this a little before the test), pycnogenol, wheat grass, CoenzQ10, spirulina, L-argenine, and maybe somethign else I can't remember right now. But on October 8 my FSH was down to 7.1. So somethign worked for me. I had to ditch the DHEA though because my level was way too high. Don't take DHEA if you have breast cancer, adrenal problems , or PCOS, and get your levels checked every 3 months to make sure it's not too high if you do decide to try it. You should come visit us in the 40+ trying to conceive group. There are lots of us AMA's TTC over there.

as for DH pycnogenol, coenzQ10, L-Carnitine, Acetyl carnitine, and Vitamin C are supposed to improve sperm quality, motility etc. also acupuncture! Can't say enough good about the acupuncture.

Best of luck to you.

[cincynana]

amshel007~
Here are my dh's numbers.

This is his last SA before embolization and supplements:
volume: 0.8 ml
count: 9 mill/ml
motility: 30%
0% morph 100% head defects (Kruger)

This SA is from 11/08. The embolization was in 07/08 (and that's when he started the supplements, too)
volume: 0.8 ml
count: 32 mill/ml
motility: 40%
4% morph 96% head defects (Kruger)

I'm hoping to do an other SA soon to see if the numbers have improved any more. I've read that it can take 6-12 months after embolization or surgery to see the final results, so hopefully things will continue to improve. Best wishes for you and your dh!

[nummies]

cincynana- Sorry if I missed this somewhere, but what is embolization??

[cincynana]

Originally Posted by nummies

cincynana- Sorry if I missed this somewhere, but what is embolization??

An embolization is when the dr blocks off the varicocele with small coils. My dh had that done instead of the variococele surgery. The success of the embolization isn't always as high as the surgery, but it's pretty close. Also, the surgery usually requires a week or more of bed rest for most men, while the the embolization is performed while awake and you can go back to normal non-stressful activities the next day (dh wasn't allowed to move heavy objects or run for a week). Our urologist suggested the embolization and told us that we could always have the surgery done later if we wanted to. HTH!

[BellyBean]

WTG, just got DH's results back and they are WAY up. He improved 19% from his original testing last September and an additional 11% from October (we did that one too soon after the first). Something to note is that our RE did say that morphology is one of the most difficult readings to give because it can't be done by a computer (like blood tests). Since it is still up to the individual techs to decide it leaves a lot of room for subjectivity. We are VERY pleased to say the least, but still on our way to IVF.

On a crazy side note, DH is going in for the Hamster egg test next week to see if we need to do ICSI. Has any one else's DH done that? Sounds so funny to me :

[wtg4miracle]

That is great news Belly Bean. 19% increase is wonderful. My dh morphs are hovering around 15 % on a very good day. I wish we can bump them up.