Low sperm count advice...

[KJLee]

Hello everyone, this is my first time posting - bit nervous!

Been trying for a baby now for 18 months or so. Just been through the initial fertility tests with our doctor. We both got our results back today, all of mine were normal but my husbands show that only 9% of his sperm is active.

I know that people can work miracles these days and I'm positive that we will have a baby together one day but I just want some advice on how to be there for my husband. I know he is going to be distraught with the results but I want to reassure him that everything will be ok. Any advice? xx

[Kloulou83]

Hi there

Welcome to the site. I only recently joined but finding it great to interact with people in a similar situation. 👍🏼

My husband has also had various results back on the movement of his sample. One test came back at 0% and not many have been over 15%!! GP said we would have no issue conceiving naturally but it was quite obvious that we would!

Guys do tend to deal with this situation a lot better than us, irrelevant of who has the fertility issue. My husband spent a lot of time doing research and is now taking supplements. I just encourage him to talk about how he feels as they do tend to bottle it up. I know he feels massively guilty for what I'm having to go through, but I always try to help that. I probably played down the way I felt over our first ICSI cycle to save him feeling bad. That is why sites like this are so great.

Hope everything works out for you.

Xx

[KJLee in reply to Kloulou83]

Thank you. You're right, this is a great site. It's nice to not feel alone and speak to people going through the same thing. Everyone around me seems to be getting pregnant right now.

Thanks for your advice. I'll try and play down my feelings as to not hurt his, although I do think I might have endometriosis so it could be that both of us are the problem!

I wish you all the best with your treatments Kloulou83, fingers crossed for you xx

[Kloulou83 in reply to KJLee]

I am in exactly the same boat. Everyone I know is now either pregnant or has a child (or more). It's so heartbreaking when you think that if things worked out you would have a child yourself by now, but I keep thinking that it will happen it will just take a bit longer than the norm. Try to stay positive.

I think you should both say how you feel and give each other time to discuss it. Don't feel like you can't be honest with him, just remember there is no blame in this.

Wishing you the best going forwards. Feel free to message if you ever want to chat. Xx

[KJLee in reply to Kloulou83]

You're right, it's no one's fault. I'm a big believer in things happening for a reason so once the time is right I'm sure it'll happen.

Thank you for the offer - will take you up on that soon I'm sure

All the best xx

[SeniorPhipps]

We're in the same position and are about to start our first round of ICSI.

Sperm count, motility and morphology all very low although he did manage to improve the numbers a few percent by cutting caffeine, alcohol & weight plus taking vitamins, eating walnuts and drinking pomegranate juice! It takes a few months to see the results though.

My DH feels incredibly guilty but I tell him that of the millions of sperm he has there are still thousands of good ones - they just need a little help. And to remember that (tongue in cheek) out of the two of us it is better that I am going through the physical/hormonal process because a woman is much more resilient 😉

Ultimately though I have given him lots of reassurance that I do not blame him, that we are on this rollercoaster together and as long as we are there for each other we will get through this - whatever happens.

Good luck on your journey xx

[KJLee in reply to SeniorPhipps]

Thank you for your message. Will try some of the tips you've mentioned in the meantime. All the best with your first ICSI round! Will keep things crossed for you xx

[Tigerlily01]

Hey,

My hubby has Low sperm count and he started taking the wellman vitamins the nurses said that by the time we came to do the ivf his sperm count had risen not sure if it was because of the vitamins but deffo worth a try. good Luck with everything xxx

[KJLee in reply to Tigerlily01]

Brill, thank you Tigerlily01 - will get some vitamins to see if that helps.

Good luck to you too xx

[Rose-la-Milli]

My hubbie also had similar issue. We had a scare where one test was 0% and luckily we re-tested and it improved to 7%. Hubbie cut out alcohol (didn't drink caffeine then anyway) and I made sure we had a tonne of fresh vegetables and fruit everyday plus lots of supplements that are recommended. After this it improved dramatically to 15%. We did ICSI and I am currently in Early Labour after around a year's (April 2015-16) worth of IVF transfers following 2 egg collections.

ICSI does the job as they will select, but I also believe it's best to try to improve the quality as much as possible to get the best chance with embies.

Wishing you all the best of luck!