Improving sperm quality - share your experience please. Cycling, sugar, alcohol, boxers, supplements, etc. Help!

[Tara123456]

In the past year, my partner's sperm has decreased ten times in quality. I'm worried about this. What can we do to improve it? He's very sceptical that any behavioural change will make a difference. Help!

In particular, do you have experience improving sperm quality through:

1. Stopping cycling? Partner cycles nearly every day.

2. Giving up sugar?

3. Giving up alcohol?

4. Wearing boxers?

5. Taking supplements? Which ones?

6. Something else?

How much did sperm improve and how long did it take?

Thanks you!!!

[Jade2323]

Hi, my partner was advised by our fertility clinic to take Proxeed Plus during our treatment. I think he had 2 sachets a day which you can mix with squash. He said it wasn’t unpleasant to drink.

[Tara123456 in reply to Jade2323]

Thanks! Did it work? How well?

[Jade2323 in reply to Tara123456]

Yes it helped as we got 7 fertilised eggs out of 11 and of those 3 to blastocyst. Unfortunately after transfer we weren’t successful but have 2 frozen so that’s what we are doing next.

[Tara123456 in reply to Jade2323]

Great! Fingers crossed for you

[MakingbabyN in reply to Jade2323]

My husband took proxeed for 4 months and there was a 20% improvement xxx

[Llizzie]

Hi. We saw an andrologist and a urologist. On their advice we did lots of lifestyle changes and we saw a vast improvement in motility (12% to 44%) and count (4m to 12m) just after those changes. Last year we cut out processed food, my husband wore Saxx underwear when exercising, and loose boxers when not, he cut down on cycling and hot baths, and we tried to limit alcohol as well as follow a Mediterranean diet 6 out of 7 days. His results jumped by December but morphology of 1% hadn’t shifted and he was found to have 53% DNA fragmentation at that point.

In January we went alcohol free and he had a couple of infections treated that were identified, and he started taking Proceive Plus alternated with Proxeed for 4 months before our cycle. We didn’t retest his morphology or DNA fragmentation again but miraculously we found one good sperm and I’m 17 weeks after our first round. I had been convinced we’d need donor sperm.

The changes were hard but it also helped me to know he was making sacrifices given the burden of IVF falls on women. While I didn’t think we had a bad diet before, it has taught me the value of fresh food, free of chemicals. Don’t do everything at once, or try to be 100% perfect, you’ll go mad - build the changes in over time. If you are looking at supplements give them a good go months before treatment.

I would also suggest seeing a good urologist to check there isn’t an underlying cause - in our case my husband has a very large varicoele but they were reluctant to do anything or do surgical sperm retrieval as he has a significant heart condition. Some people are able to try treating the cause.

I can’t say what worked or whether we just got lucky but I think he felt pleased to be able to move some of his numbers and it eased some of the shock for him. Hope that essay helps and best of luck! x

[Tara123456 in reply to Llizzie]

Thanks so much!

[Chiefy]

Yes, my partner was low in count, motility and morphology. For the 3 months before our cycle he no longer cycled, cut out the sauna and most importantly cut right back on alcohol ( we started our icsi round at beginning of Jan so it fell over Christmas, and he had a couple of drinks then). He took wellman multivitamins pre-conception too. Also trying to cut out as much stress as possible.

On the day, his count and morphology were both in the normal range, and his motility had improved but was still low.

We got 5 5 day blastocysts and I'm currently 37 weeks pregnant.

Best of luck x

[Tara123456 in reply to Chiefy]

Thank you!

[Hidden]

Hi my husband had borderline motility and morphology. We both made some lifestyle changes so we’re eating a more healthy and balanced Mediterranean diet and cut down on alcohol. As a result he lost a bit of weight. He carried on cycling just not everyday. Took pre conception multi vitamins from well man and he also did acupuncture. He also changed jobs as he was stressed and unhappy. Within 3 months his sperm had massively improved and when it came to IVF we didn’t need ICSI. I believe it was the acupuncture and change of job which had the most impact. I think giving up everything or being too strict might make things a bit miserable and stressful and have the opposite affect. But that’s just my thoughts! Best of luck xx

[Tara123456 in reply to Hidden]

Thank you!

[Koala365]

I was told by a consultant that if a dna fragmentation test comes back showing abnormalities they ask the man to take Impryl

[Tara123456 in reply to Koala365]

Thank you!

[XOXO13]

My husband had low sperm morphology (1%), and so he was advised to take proxeed twice daily, wear loose, cotton and breathable boxers, reduce his intense exercise (he boxes 5x a week) and reduce alcohol, keep his skin cool and take cool showers. He had his sperm retested about ten months later and his sperm morphology had increased to 3-4% which the doctors were really happy with. Xx

[Tara123456 in reply to XOXO13]

Thank you!

[ChloeDE]

My partner was also reluctant to make lifestyle changes too but it does help (even he will admit it now). Cutting out booze and taking cod liver oil and lycopene can help.

We didn't test for sperm fragmentation but our clinic used something called MACS to help select the best sperm. Might be worth asking about.

[Tara123456 in reply to ChloeDE]

Thank you! I'll ask!

[Krasi1]

- no alcohol - no or less caffeine

- supplements: Vitamin D, C, Zink, omega 3, l-carnitin, fish oil

- Jogging/ exercising 2-3 times a week

- antioxidant foods - berries, green tea …

- omega 3 foods - salmon

- reduce stress