Treatment for poor motility and poor morphology.

[Madeline_1986]

Dear All.

Is ICSI is the only treatment for poor motility and poor morphology? Is there any other treatments ?

Xxx

[AuroraXen]

Supplements can help Madeline. We use Proxeed Plus for men, for my husband's sperm (morphology is low, the other parameters are fine or above average). Seems to help! We went from 2% morphology to 3%. Still not at 'normal' (they like it to be 4% or above, I think - which blows my mind, to think of how many sperm are swimming around but the wrong shape!!) but probably could be, if he'd be a bit stricter with taking it 🙄😆

[Madeline_1986 in reply to AuroraXen]

Hi Hun thank you for your reply. We both using proxeed now. It's been only 2 weeks. My hubs sperm is 1%. Yes they want it 4% . How did it take to get better with your hub's results of using proxeed ? Xx

[Llizzie]

Hi there. I recommend seeing a urologist or an andrologist if you can. We were told to go straight to ICSI but under the care of a urologist we found out what was likely causing the issue and while we couldn’t fix it all, it mentally helped my husband and we had some infections treated which I think helped alongside diet and lifestyle advice. Most clinics treat male issues with female fertility treatment and I’m glad we spent an extra few months investigating xx

[Madeline_1986 in reply to Llizzie]

Hi Hun thank you so much for your advice. Much appreciated. We would never thought of seeing urologist. We started plan ivf already. Xx

[Llizzie in reply to Madeline_1986]

No problem! We moved my husband’s motility from 12% to 44% and his count from 3m to 15m by following the advice others have suggested - loose boxers, cut out processed food, very little alcohol, less cycling.

Morphology can be tougher to move - his was 1% and his DNA fragmentation was really high at 52%. Bur for four months before IVF we cut out alcohol completely, reduced caffeine to one a day, he took proxeed plus, proceive max and lycopene and I took proceive max for women. We also had two infections treated with antibiotics which were picked up by the urologist.

We still had a big drop off during ICSI - we only got one blastocyst from 14 eggs but it’s my little miracle as I’m 21 weeks pregnant. I’m really glad we took the time to make the changes before heading straight into IVF. It could have been luck but we will never know!

In my husbands case the urologist found varicoele and two large hernias in his groin. Because my husband has a complicated heart and circulatory issue, combined with my age, we weren’t able to operate but many people take that road instead. Or others do surgical sperm retrieval. It can mean chucking more money at a consultation and extra tests but it’s a small amount compared to an IVF cycle. Wish you the best of luck. xx

[Madeline_1986 in reply to Llizzie]

Hi Hun. Thank you for all the information. We are thinking of seeing urologist before ivf xx

[Riyam1 in reply to Llizzie]

Hi Llizzie We had this bad news yesterday, thanks you lifted up my hope as we have been trying for three years, may ask you please, was your hubby taking them all the supplements you mentioned in the same time , like proxeed plus, and proceive max and lycopene.

Thanks again x

[Llizzie in reply to Riyam1]

So sorry to hear that. When we got my husbands diagnosis it was devastating but after a while it felt good to have a reason we hadn’t succeeded. We did either proceive max or proxeed plus depending on what was available (lockdown made it a bit trickier) and he chucked lycopene on top which you can get cheaply. The main improvement in his numbers came before the supplements - we cut out processed food and went to loose boxers etc. But his DNA fragmentation was still high.

The supplements hopefully helped but I think a good diet and no alcohol was the best start. Not easy but once you get committed to it together, it gets easier. He stayed alcohol free from Jan 1 to our transfer on 7 June, I was proud of him. We also did extra tests with a urologist which picked up a couple of minor infections and we both took antibiotics. There is a lot you can investigate and numbers can improve. Don’t give up hope x

[Riyam1 in reply to Llizzie]

Thanks god bless you and your family x

[Hope823]

Hi Madeline, I just had my second ICSI cycle last week. First was very poor results, due to male factor. From 12 mature eggs 1 day 5 embryo and that one barely made it, was poor quality. My husband also took proxeed plus for 3 months (see photo attached) and this time we had much better results. His repeat semen analysis showed much better results.

It is very sad that women has to be injected and go through many procedures when there is no health issues with her. But unfortunately in our situation and IVF in general, it is the only way

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[Madeline_1986 in reply to Hope823]

Hi Hun thank you for your reply. We both started using proxeed now. It's been only 2 weeks. His morphology is 1% now xx

[XOXO13]

Hello,

I’ve done two cycles with ICSI, both successful for us in terms of reaching blastocysts. My husband had 1% sperm morphology and was advised to take proxeed twice a day, alongside supplements. He was also asked to reduce his intense exercise (he boxed 5 days a week), wear lose boxers and take cool showers - basically, avoid getting too hot. He also reduced his caffeine and alcohol intake significantly. After a year, he retested his sperm and morphology improved to 3/4% - so a huge improvement ☺️ Xxx

[Madeline_1986 in reply to XOXO13]

Hi Hun thank you for your reply. May I please ask what supplements is your husband using along with proxeed ? We both are using proxeed but been only 2 weeks. Xxx

[XOXO13 in reply to Madeline_1986]

He was also taken FertilitySmart for men xx

[Madeline_1986 in reply to XOXO13]

Was it recommended by your doctor? Xx

[XOXO13 in reply to Madeline_1986]

Proxeed was and a supplement but not that particular supplement - we just researched and found that was the best! X

[Tilly8135]

Hello there, my husbands morphology was 3% last time we tried icsi, this time we have been advised to try imsi where a more detailed microscope can identify the sperm 6000 more than icsi, I’m hoping this will help us when we have our next cycle x

[Madeline_1986 in reply to Tilly8135]

That's a very useful information. Thank you hun xx

[ChloeDE]

My partner has the same issues. We didn't do fragmentation testing but our clinic recommended we use MACS. It's a process to help pick out the best quality sperm. It might be worth looking into. Lifestyle changes - diet, booze and supplements can also make a difference.

[Madeline_1986 in reply to ChloeDE]

We will def consider that. Xx

[ChloeDE]

I should add, his morphology was 0% them improved to 0.5% and we have twins from that round.

[Madeline_1986 in reply to ChloeDE]

That's amazing. Bless xx