Need advice

[Kirsty_S]

So we went for our follow up appointment yesterday. Good and bad news. Hubby's results from bloods and ultrasound totally fine. Sperm count on the low side which we already knew because of mumps he had a few years ago. However the sperm quality and quantity has improved a lot compared to the other 2 he did at the GP's surgery.

Consultant never ruled out the chance of us conceiving naturally but has recommended IVF ICSI. due to me already having a teenage son we don't get funding.

For the time being whilst we digest the news and also so our research and save the money I was hoping on some advice on what supplements or vitamins he could take to help with the sperm quality and quantity. We would give anything to conceive naturally and willing to try different things.

TIA

[Hopeful1982]

Hello

My hubby took the well man tablets that are available in Boots.

Good luck x

[Kirsty_S in reply to Hopeful1982]

Yeah he's took them before for a while but not around the time he was doing the sperm analysis. Think I might try them again x

[DianeArnold Partner Nurse Fertility Network UK in reply to Kirsty_S]

Hi Kirsty_S. You can always add extra zinc and selenium to a good quality multi-vitamin tablet for your husband to take. A diet high in selenium and zinc will help to produce good quality sperm as zinc is an important component in building sperm. Good sources of zinc include dairy products, nuts – especially Brazil nuts and seeds. Vitamins C and E are also known for their benefits as vitamin E is thought to help sperm to be more potent. Vitamin C is known for its protective qualities at preventing the DNA in sperm from becoming damaged. Vitamin E is found in avocados, sweet potatoes, sprouts and tomatoes. Good sources of vitamin C are kiwis, strawberries, oranges and broccoli. Regular intercourse is also recommended to encourage “manufacture” of new sperm. Hope this helps and good luck! Diane

[pm27]

Our consultant prescribed 5mg folic acid for both of us and said to take 200mg vitamin C and Vitamin E.

Supermarkets also do their own version of Wellman so might be worth checking their prices.

[blondietrying]

We were told in August that we have a less than 10% chance of conceiving naturally - we're in the middle of IVF now (egg collection on Wed). The fertility issue is with my husband, he was advised to take proxeed from August till we need his sample in a couple of weeks. It is very expensive but I think it's the only thing the NHS recommend so I would hope they're right. I'll be able to tell you on Wednesday if his sample has approved after 3 months of taking it. Wishing you all the luck in the world, try to stay positive x

[Kirsty_S in reply to blondietrying]

That would be great if you can let me know if it has improved.

The investigations were done on the Nhs. I honestly felt because they knew we would have to go private once the results were given they were reluctant to give advice other than IVF is the best option they didn't seem to want to comment on alternatives.

[blondietrying in reply to Kirsty_S]

Hi Kirsty, I hope you're ok. I said I'd let you know if the proxeed my husband took for 3 months made any difference to his sperm sample. I had EC yesterday, they got 24 eggs and today I was thrilled to find out that 23 were good enough & 11 have fertilised. Afterwards we were asking questions about my husbands sample and they said in 3 months they hadn't seen a significant improvement. Previous samples were 9 mil then 7 mil. Yesterday was 10 mil - in medical terms though they said that wasn't significant. I'm still pleased he did proxeed though, it certainly didn't hurt and it was the one thing he could do in the IVF process. Wishing you so much luck in your journey x

[Lynnr54]

My hubby also had sperm issues so I put him on what I called a "sperm improvement programme". We didn't get told the quality at final collection so I have know way of knowing if it helped but our first round of ICSI was successful. It was based on research I had done. And sperm takes 100 days to develop and mature so it will take a bit of time to work. So, no alcohol (or smoking if he smokes), wear boxers not tight pants, no sitting with laptop on knee (and nothing else that could increase temperature of testicles too much), mobile phone must not be carried in trouser pocket (this is the thing my hubby struggled with most - I was forever telling him off!) and a high protein diet. He also took wellman and you could tell that his semen thickened when taking it. If you do go down the ICSI route, I also recommend asking your hospital whether they are taking part in the HAB clinical trial. If you are selected for it (they don't tell you if you are or aren't) then some sort of liquid gets mixed with the sperm and is supposed to attract the sperm with the strongest DNA and helps them select which ones to inject. We don't know if we were selected (apparently they will tell us after the trial has finished and all conceived babies have been born) but we got good percentages all the way through (7/9 fertilised, 4 of which made it to blasto) so I like to think we were selected. Good luck with it all! x