i have just received a print out of hubbys pathology report for semen analysis. im not a doctor but its worse to look at then it is to be told. its and old one, march last year, we know we have to have ivf and icsi but i am willing to do anything, the same as the rest of you lovely ladies, to make this happen naturally.
i have just ordered the zita west vitamens for him, he is due to do another test this week, i want to be able to see how much of a differnce (if any) the zita west vits make. he has been taking a coctail of vits up until now.
i want to start accupuncture too, im geting a bit over the top at the moment, i can feel myself obsessing.
am i kidding myself or is there more we can do that will made a differnce to the facts???
:\(
xx

Hey lolsie, what were the results of his s/a? I've been doing a lot of research into it so may be able to help you out.

In case you don't know already, sperm takes around 3 months to mature, so if he takes vitamens this month he won't see any changes in his results until around January. It's a real bummer that there's not much of a quick fix for sperm probs, but every little thing you can do must help a bit.

I know how you feel, I've been the same. It is so hard not to obsess, but my consultant believes that my stressing may be just as important in us not conceiving as my hubbie's poor sperm results. The acupuncture may be good if it helps you to relax, but maybe not so good if you're ONLY doing it to get a BFP??? How about other relaxing things like massage, reflexology, yoga etc? Good luck lolsie xxx

Hi hun,

Im sorry I cant really offer any advice about the SA, I do know that sperm quality can improve after 3 months like TBD says. I did read that you were looking at accupuncture for you DH so this could maybe help, but I do think that something nice & relaxing for you is in order, we all know that it's hard not to stress especially when people tell you to relax when they havent a clue how heart wrenching all of this is but I do beleive that some sort of relaxation therapy as TBD says could help.

All the best hun xxxx

Sorry triple post!!

[Modified by: laujai on October 07, 2009 09:52 AM]

sorry triple post!!

[Modified by: laujai on October 07, 2009 09:52 AM]

Tbd sa results said:
semen volume 3.0mL
total sperm count 4.0 10^6/mL
sperm motility 15.0%
sperm forward progression - progressing poorly
sperm morphology 5%
total count of normal and motile sperm 0.03 10^6/mL

:\( hope you can shed some light as all the websites i have been on make this sound awful! i know it is bad otherwise they wouldnt have said ivf and icsi but im just not ready to accept it as our only option.

i was aware of the 3 month sperm cycle so hubby is planning on doing test this week then we can re test after the 3 months of the "vitamens" and see if made much of a difference.

i need the relaxation, wither it be massage or accupuncture im not sure yet. still weighing up the cost - neither is cheap on a regular basis. not sure if accupuncture is right for hubby either.

my obsession is a bit ott at the min, have been bulk buying books, vits and researching all sorts of different ways. have also re-started my temp graphs - had knocked them on the head before as i know my cycle is ok and im pretty spot on most of the time with b'ding. but this week just thought maybe i was getting it a bit out or someting so a few months of re-recording wounldn't hurt.

i feel like an addict thats had a relapse! :\? i had sort of got my head around not falling naturaly and that we would need the ivf but im not fully there yet. private ivf/icsi is out the window for now and cant have it on the nhs for another 18months at least, so one more big try might just work. i want to know we have done everything we can.

xxxx

for some reason my posts are not showing up properly!

ended up posting duplicate!

x

[Modified by: lolsieG on October 07, 2009 07:48 PM]

Hey Lolsie, obviously I'm no expert but have to admit those results don't seem too good. WHO says that the minimum levels for conception are:
Count should be more than 20 million (not sure but think your hubbie's are 4 million)
Motility should be more than 50%
Morphology should be more than 15% normal forms

So it looks like your hubbie's are lower than these gudilelines. From what I can gather the motility is the major one, espec with poor progression. This means the sperm that can swim don't swim very well so may not be able to reach an egg and fertilse it.

I know it's a big blow, as my hubbie has had some similar results (with the majority of his clumping together 'agglutination'). It is a lot to get your head around. Does you hubbie have any 'vices'? Main ones being alcohol, smoking, drugs? Also stress is really not good (but unavoidable when LTTTC in my opinion). He could try wearing loose boxers, no hot baths, keep laptops off the lap, mobile phones out of trouser pockets. Obviously you're already doing vitamins. Foods like brazil nuts, sweet potatoes, anything rich in vitamin C can help.

To be honest we have n't seen any improvements in hubbie's sperm yet, however he is still smoking. We are having to go down the ICSI route privately now. However, there have been a few on here who have managed to conceive naturally after being told they'd need ICSI (kayecee being the most recent one). None of these things will do any harm so worth a try and continue bd'ing! It may also be that the next results may not be quite so bad.

I think your stress is probably the most crucial thing to tackle (as was and is the case with me). I have started going to see a counsellor whcih has been helpful, although I would recommend seeing a fertility counsellor (your local fetility clinic may have one). I also think ANYTHING that will help you relax would be a good thing. Have you confided in any friends / family yet? I haven't but am considering doing this as I think it could be helpful to me.

It's such an awful thing to go through honey, I really do feel your pain. If you want to chat more or ask any more questions feel free. Most importantly NEVER give up hope honey, it WILL happen one day xxxx

[Modified by: tinybabydancer on October 08, 2009 09:50 AM]

thanks for your reply tbd, i know im not the only one but its nice to have support. no one my family or any of my friends have been through it, they are all willing to listen and give there support but they dont know. as im sure you have found.

vitamens have arrived, hubby is going to start taking them tomorrow.
also bought the Zita west, guide to getting pregnant book. it seems like a good approach to the mental state that goes with ltttc.

am trying to stop obssesing. we went away this weekend, just for a night but was nice, relaxing quality time together. what we needed really.

am trying to put the sa to the back of my mind, its hard but really trying to keep my pma.

xxxx

things are not going right on here at the moment, not sure if my computer or what buy my posts keep disaperaring! x