Hi have just joined the forum. Am a 35 year old male, have been with my girlfriend for 11 years, she is 30. We have spoken about children for a long time but never been in the position to try as have been saving for a house, we got to the point last year where we could start looking and it triggered a worry I've always had in the back of my head. When I was 18 I had a large lump above my left testicle, it was seen by a specialist who seemed to not be concerned and that was that, never heard what it was but has always been there and recently been worried about it affecting my fertility. So end of last year i went to doctors to find out what it was, had an ultrasound and said everything looks normal and again that was that, but because of my concern had a sperm analysis done. It was 11million, 44milllion total, with 63% excellent motility, second test was 6 million, motility was just above requirements but can't remember what. Dr said concentrate on the better one as we know that's at least my minimum possible, said it's not too bad and if I live the right lifestyle to help it he wasn't concerned. He really seemed to be quite laid back about it.
Managed to be positive and put it to back of my mind but now we have found a house and the thought of trying has started my fears up again. Do these numbers look to be good enough to stand a decent chance of conceiving naturally? Am so worried about the effect on my girlfriend if I can never give her children, she has always adored them and even though she says she wants to be with me no matter what happens I can't help feeling that will change. Do supplements like fertilaid help or are they a con?
I know it's a bit unusual in the sense I know of a problem in advance rather than after trying for a while.
Sorry for the long post. Thank you
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Jjb11
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Hi, welcome to the forum, my husbands samples were 4 million first and 10 million second time with not great motility .. When we were still under consultation, they told us that although on the low side that it was still plenty enough to potentially happen naturally! So i would try not to worry too much at this stage 😊xx
Thanks so much for your reply, my girlfriend has such a positive outlook on it, saying as long as there's some there then we're ok but I wonder if she realises how bad it could be. I am guilty of being a googler and there's so many conflicting views on this subject but only the negative ones seem to stick in my head 🙄 it doesn't help that I never get an explanation as to what the lump is but I suppose it doesn't really matter in the sense that it won't change my numbers.
hi, welcome! I'm no expert but I would say don't worry or at least try not to as that in itself can be a barrier to achieving conception in itself as stress won't help. My OH had low motility about 50%, however we did conceive naturally about 2 years ago which sadly ended in miscarriage at 6 weeks then never conceived again so we had IVF. His sample he gave for IVF was tip top so somehow the problem corrected itself. He took vit C and lots of water! Hope it all works out!
Thank you, as long as there's realistic hopes need to cling on to that, just feel so dreadful for my girlfriend. has any one had any experience with fertilaid, wellman or anything similar, wondering if it's a good idea to get on these as soon as we start trying?
My hubby takes Wellman and he's trying not to drink as much. Drinking apparently has a significant effect. In the book 'It Starts with the Egg' it has a sperm section and she recommends eating lots of fruit. I'd say don't worry about it before you need to. If you girlfriend is happy, then just go with the flow. I wouldn't switch my hubby for the world. If we end up as just the two of us, I'll still consider myself very fortunate. My priority has and always will be my marriage. I think about my marriage vows when I feel down about infertility and remember that I truly meant, in sickness and in health. All the best with trying and just enjoy being together. That's a gift in itself. x
Thank you will give the supplement a go. And your right we are about to be living together in our own house and I'm not actually putting enough thought into that as it's what we have wanted for a long time and I need to allow myself to enjoy it.
My partners first count was so low that the GP said IVF wouldn't be an option. He also has very poor motility and morphology, so all 3 things very poor.
His second sample was also very low, around 2 million I think? It was less the first time though!
In between the second sample results and waiting to see a fertility specialist I fell pregnant naturally, so it definitely can happen!! Unfortunately I did have a miscarriage at 7 weeks. We are currently going through IVF, having a frozen transfer in August (this will be our 3rd transfer).
On the 3rd sample which was around 8 or 9 months after the second it was 56 million! So loads better! My partner takes wellmans vitamins and also cut back on having hot baths which we believe helped to contribute improving his sperm count.
There's lots you can do to help improve your chances with diet (have lots of zinc e.g. seafood) and supplements, not wearing tight pants, cutting down mobile phone usage, cutting down/out alcohol and caffeine, not having got baths etc. I'm sure you'll be fine and if not there are other ways e.g. ICSI - a type of assisted reproduction. I think I read it take three months for sperm to develop so maybe give yourself a run up of preparing your body before officially trying to conceive. Wishing you the best of luck x
Have you seen a fertility specialist or just a GP or generalist? My recommendation would be to see a fertility specialist if you are worried. In my experience GPs know relatively little about these things (or at least ours did, even though he claimed to be a specialist on reproductive health...!). It may be there is something quite easy and structural that can be done to increase count. Or they may provide reassurance that in light of the motility etc you will be fine trying naturally. If you did have to go down the IVF route (we have, due to husband's low count) the good news is that as the consultants have repeatedly told us, low count is one of the easiest problems to treat. Especially if you are both otherwise fit and healthy. All may be completely fine for natural conception. But if it is not, you just have to work a bit harder to get there. And trust what your girlfriend is telling you - she wants to be with you no matter what!
Only seen a gp as he said it's not of great concern, concentrated on my better sample and said the overall count was within what it needed to be on that one so it's not too bad. He did give some advice about loose fitting clothes, not smoking etc but already do that anyway
My hubby's first results were around 5million in sperm count with low motility. That was 6 months ago. Since then he's taken high dosage Zinc (25mg) and Vitamin C (1000mg). He's cut down on alcohol (still drinks just not too much) exercises moderately, avoids tight underwear and hot baths, and we both have a healthy diet. One thing which has been great is getting a smoothie maker. Every morning we have a smoothie with berries, veg and maca powder. I think that's helped too.
His count has now gone up to 20million and motility is much better too.
There are various other vitamins that are supposed to be good including L-Argenine and Co-enzyme Q10 but from what I've read C and Zinc are the most important.
Wishing you the best of luck for your future family!
Oh and yes, it does take 3 months for sperm to develop, so 3 months for these things to take effect. I'd say have fun trying for a year or so and if nothing's happened go back to your gp. But it looks like you'll be fine! : )
Hi, my husband has a very low sperm count and morphology. We have been together for 12 years and unfortunately could not get pregnant naturally, we tried wellman suppliment and even considered using stork. We had icsi/ivf which was successful we now have a 7 week old girl. Everybody is different and it's worth trying naturally but It wouldn't harm to explore/ research fatility treatment as an option.
Thanks everyone for the encouraging words very much appreciated.
Is it right to look at the better of my 2 samples as a benchmark of whats possible and not worry too much about the lower 2nd result? I suppose it could also be higher than this sometimes aswell as lower
Welcome to the group. My partner like you had 2 tests done one was 6 million and low motility. He went away and improved a few things. He works in a hot country so he tried to keep cool. Eat fresh foods and took Vitamin c and zinc. When we went back for re test it was 17 million still just about ok but a huge improvement. I also think time the intercourse well as you don't want to waste it. Every other day is best and over ovulation days. I also used something called soft cups sorry tmi! I just felt if there wasn't many a huge amount of swimmers using those kept them where they should be and minimised wastage. End result twins on the way! I know how stressful it is and the pressure you probably feel but don't feel that way you can deffo get pregnant on your numbers it just sometimes takes a little longer. Good luck 😉
And out of the blue the seller of the house we are buying pulls out with just a couple of weeks until completion, and its going to be ages before we can start trying again. Really don't feel we have time on our side 😕
You still have loads of time! I felt that way when starting TTC too (that was a few years ago now - I'm now 35). However, even now at my age all the fertility doctors I've spoken to have considered me still relatively "young". Really depressing news about the house but don't let your respective ages worry you. And also - while it is ideal to get all your ducks in a row before you start trying it isn't absolutely essential if you don't want to wait. You will find time, room, money if it happens - people always do. Good luck!
Hi we eventually found another house and moved in together, it only took us 2 or 3 months conceive but unfortunately suffered a miscarriage after 8 weeks. It then took around 4 months to conceive the second time and we now have an amazing 14 month old daughter. Thank you for asking and I hope this gives hope to anyone in a similar position to what we were in, never give up.
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