Low sperm count and motility

[Fingerscrossed34]

I was wondering if anyone had further tests following a diagnosis of low sperm count and motility? My husband had a genetic blood test and a hormonal blood test but that’s it. I keep seeing things about other people having other tests and I’m just wondering if that’s maybe just in the States or if people have been offered further tests in the UK too? Just feels like they didn’t bother to try and figure out why and I understand their reason being that they probably can’t fix it if they figured it out anyway but all still seems a bit mad to me.

[MediocreMind]

Hi,

I’m following this post as was considering asking much the same thing. We found out my husband has a very low count back in the summer, following two semen analysis they didn’t do anymore investigations and just said we would need ICSI. We’ve just had our first appointment at the clinic and they now want to do further tests and my husband is being referred to the andrology department. It’s frustrating that they didn’t start doing follow up tests straight away as our fertility clinic only seemed interested in my stage 4 endometriosis.

I hope somebody on here can give you some more information!

[Fingerscrossed34 in reply to MediocreMind]

I know how what you mean. I have lost count of the tests they have given me and they found nothing. We’ve known since July his numbers and since then all they did was his blood tests and one more extra check on me. 7 months later finally on the waiting list for ICSI. Just baffles me nobody has even physically checked him for anything and I’ve read about lots of people finding things to explain the issue and potentially fix it so why not go down that route before putting me through all these procedures. I’ll happily do them if that’s what we need to do to start a family but would like to think all the bases were covered before hand.

[Drives]

My husband and I are just about to start ICSI due to low number of sperm & motility. He didn't have any further tests apart from the bloods you mentioned. The sperm test was repeated 3 months later to see if there was any improvement. We were told there wasn't really anything else to test for and we would need ICSI to help us conceive and failing that a sperm donor (which is something I'm not keen on).

Not sure if this helps but thought I would share our experience x

[Fingerscrossed34 in reply to Drives]

Thanks for replying. It’s good to know that there are people in the same position too. I need to have a bit of faith in the clinic we’re with so if people reply telling me that’s their experience too then that is also good, helps me believe they’re doing the right things. Different processes in different countries make things more confusing! x

[Celloheggy]

Are you having treatment on NHS or privately? NHS do not treat male infertility. Their semen analysis isn’t even done to WHO parameters. We paid for all my husbands tests, the nhs just said everything is fine. We were exceptionally lucky to conceive our daughter on our first ICSI cycle. Number two is proving more difficult as the DNA fragmentation on his sperm is far worse than we ever knew.

I would recommend seeing a fertility nutritionist, can massively help improve quality.

Wishing you lots of luck x

[Fingerscrossed34 in reply to Celloheggy]

Yes we’re NHS but self funding our first cycle rather than wait another year. They’ve been less than helpful. I’ll definitely look into the nutritionist thanks! x

[Drives in reply to Fingerscrossed34]

We have done exactly the same. So fed up of waiting and were fortunate enough to be in a position to self fund instead of waiting for our 1 try on the NHS. We had another sperm test carried out so they had an up to date result but that's all, even privately.

[Fingerscrossed34 in reply to Drives]

Well yeah that’s partly why I wanted to know as apparently self funding through the NHS and paying for private treatment are two very different things. So trying to work out if actually seeing s private clinic would give us more information to go on. We’re very lucky in that we could have up to 3 goes on the NHS but didn’t want to wait yet another year to get started. x

[Drives in reply to Fingerscrossed34]

You are very fortunate having access to 3 cycles. However, I can understand the frustration of long waiting times. Private treatment is a lot faster (depending on how busy your clinic is), test results are back next day etc. but obviously you are paying a lot more... it's a tough decision to make x x

[Fingerscrossed34 in reply to Drives]

I know we live in Scotland so the rules are different can’t imagine the pressure of only having one NHS cycle. I spoke to a consultant today who was more helpful and we have decided to self fund the first round still at the NHS clinic. We’ve already been waiting 2 years and are lucky enough to be able to self fund a cycle. Private cycles are a lot more expensive from our investigations than self funding NHS treatment. Ultimately the most important thing is that it works and we can start a family. All sounds good with the NHS clinic so feeling relieved now! Seems like the Dr we initially saw is notorious for being very unfeeling and unhelpful. Thankfully no longer seeing her. x

[Drives in reply to Fingerscrossed34]

That's great news. So pleased you've spoken to someone who is a bit more compassionate and helped you feel more confident with the process. Good luck with your journey 🍀 x

[Strawberry17]

My husband has low sperm count and low...everything pretty much. We just had our first round of ICSI and because only 5 out of 10 mature eggs fertilised, our consultant said he thinks the sperm might have DNA fragmentation. So we're just waiting for something to arrive in the post and we're going to a company that specialises in this so they can test. It's £249 but at least we'll know, as if he does have it we've been advised not to attempt a second round of ICSI before spending three month trying to improve sperm quality, as high DNA fragmentation will cause low fertilisation rate and will increase chances of miscarriage. No idea if this is something that might affect your husband but thought I'd comment just in case! Best of luck to you xx

[Fingerscrossed34 in reply to Strawberry17]

That’s one of the things I’ve read about! But in America would you mind privately sending me the info about where to get the test from? I just think the more we know the more prepared we can be and I don’t want to have failed ICSI if there’s something we could have definitely done first to improve things. x

[Strawberry17 in reply to Fingerscrossed34]

Sure no probs, I'll drop you a private message now x

[Cinderella5]

My hubby had a very low sperm count & not great motility. He had karyotyping to check for genetic issues but nothing showed up....routine I would say. Along with hormone tests. Unfortunately we couldn't do anything to improve results, there is very little that you can do to improve sperm if you have the basics of healthy diet, no alcohol, no drugs, no warm baths, loose boxers...keeping cool downstairs etc. However with ICSI we never had a problem with fertilisation although still haven't achieved our dream baby!!xx

[Fingerscrossed34 in reply to Cinderella5]

Yeah I suppose that’s why they don’t do more tests generally there isn’t anything extra they can do to fix. I think he’s losing the will to live on this diet but quite honestly tough, if I have to do the treatment he can do a healthy diet! x