I will be started IVF in a few months (noting that it will take about three months for supplements to have an effect).
My husband has normal sperm but is slightly low on the morphology side (4% now and was slightly less in a previous test) and we are doing stardard IVF, not ICSI.
The Dr recommended Impryl and my husband has been working to cut down alcohol.
His diet isn’t great (e.g. cereal, pizza, pasta) and he is naturally very slim. My question is whether he should be doing or taking anything else?
I wonder if a general multi vit or Ubiquinol as I’m on would be beneficial too?
Many thanks for any advice
Written by
CarlottaD27
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My husband has been taking Impryl for the past few months (based on recommendations from these forums) and I noticed the manufacturer says you should not take CoQ10 or other antioxidants with it. I think it says the only supplements it's ok to add are vitamin D and omega 3. I read this in the leaflet that comes with it. Just found out that my clinic recommends Proxeed Plus, so we will now switch to that. I've heard some people combine the 2, but I think too many supplements might have a negative effect.
hello, thank you for getting back to me and I hadn’t seen about not taking Ubiquinol as well so I’m so glad you flagged that! I will stop trying to make my husband take every supplement under the skin. It’s odd how some clinics recommend Impryl and other Proxeed plus - wishing you lots of luck!
I’ve heard very good things about Impryl so my husband took it for a few months before our last treatment cycle , and we got a BFP. Obviously we can’t know if that’s what made a difference , but good to feel like you’re doing everything you can. As mentioned above the manufacturer says not to combine with ubiquinol etc.
Thank you for sharing and I’m sorry about the BFN - there are so many variables and it must be tough to not know exactly why things do and don’t work. I hadn’t read not to combine to so I’m so glad that has been the flagged here!
myself and my partner both took impryl and BFP here, didn’t take it with Q10 as they advised don’t take both together . He was also put on clomifene due to slightly lower end testosterone, so I don’t know if that’s been checked for your husband
I would highly recommend Profertil. It made a huge difference in our case. My husband also takes Maca, Selenium, Omega 3 Fish oil, Zinc and CoQ10. The IVF specialist couldn't believe the improvement in his results just after 3 months.
Hello! My husband also has low morphology and was on Impryl for the longest time and it made no difference to morphology but count and motility were very strong although he never had issues for those before.
We moved to Proxeed too, and on my last cycle the embryologist noted that his sperm was very very good but didn’t really give details. Nevertheless we had 2 chemicals after that but that was perhaps due to my clotting rather than his sperm.
For this next cycle, he’s added a bunch of other vitamins (omega, vit c, vit e, probiotics, ubiquonol, vit d etc) so we’re hoping that this keeps them strong, if not stronger. I’ve heard ubiquonol for men is meant to bring all the same benefits as they do for women.
It’s a real minefield and everything is trial and error and what works for some people doesn’t work for others. We had originally chosen Impyrl because it was recommended by a consultant and I do remember seeing so many good reviews x
Hello! Thank you very much for sharing that. My husband has just gone and ordered Impryl simply because (like for you) it was recommended by the Dr, so for him it seemed obvious to trust the Dr!
Good to know that Proxeed and all the other products mentioned here also exist and can be trialled. You’re right that what works for one person may have different results for another, so I suppose there isn’t a “perfect” solution for all.
My husband stopped drinking for 6 weeks before we had egg collection and started taking AG-1. It’s expensive but everything doubled for him (morphology, amount etc.) it has everything in it except vitamin D and iron. You can get it on a 3 month subscription xx
that’s an amazing improvement! I’m already nagging my husband to limit the alcohol so will see if he can get to cutting it out completely. I haven’t heard of AG-1 so will Google that now! X
it’s like this green powder you mix with water and drink it once a day. He found it so much easier because it was an all in one. It was recommended by our clinic and honestly, that and stopping drinking we swear made all the difference. My husband loves a drink so stopping for 6 weeks wasnt the easiest for him but it was definitely worth it as we got 13 blasts in the end xx
13 blasts is amazing! I’ll definitely look into it, and wonder if my husband can take it alongside Impryl which the dr recommends (definitely a Q for the Dr). I’ll have to share those great results with my husband to try and convince him it’s worth giving up drinking for a month or too! X
We went from "low and slow" sperm to within normal range on pregnacare and alcohol abstinence, no baths, no sauna and no cycling a couple of months before. I'm convinced it was the alcohol more than anything else. Ended up with 5 blastocysts out of 7 eggs collected, 1 was our now toddler.
My DH also has a low morphology (ranges between 1%-4% but last sperm collection he had 0.5% and our clinic gave it a name - azoospermia). He also has a slim physique,
He has been taking Omega 3 and 200mg CoQ10 in oil capsule.
Our nutritionist's additional advice:
- Stop going to sauna and taking a hot bath
- Use a bike saddle that doesn't heat up his scrotum, avoid a long cycling
- Multivitamin recommended was G&G Vitamins Fertility Men 90's
- Lycopene supplementation supports morphology, there is a study about this
Thank you for sharing this! I’ll certainly look into Lycopene as I don’t think that’s in anything he is taking. And omega 3 is an easy one to add as I’m on that!
CarlottaD27 Forgotten to mention the Mediterranean diet! I'd definitely change the food he eats as much as you can influence - we are eating a lot more dark leafy greens (as folate is important for sperm too), organ meat e.g. liver and fatty fish e.g. salmon, mackerel, trout, sardine and anchovies. Speaking of sea food, astaxanthin, an antioxidant naturally found in prawns and salmons, also is said to improve sperm parameters, though I'm taking it as supplements for egg quality.
One tip that was really easy to apply was tined sardine/mackerel and anchovies in jars, because that's a quickest way to add fish to your diet - open a tin and eat with breakfast, or add anchovies to your pasta, rice, stir fries as salt/natural MSG.
It takes approx 3 months to completely renew sperms, and supporting the turnover by more frequent ejaculation is something we've also started after our last egg&sperm collection
hey! My partners sperm count was low and issues with quality, he’s had 4 samples and the last one they said was “normal and good” which was a big difference! He stopped smoking in November which will have made a huge difference but he takes the following and I think have made a big difference. I go to an acupuncturist and fertility masseuse who have worked in fertility for years and confirmed this was a brilliant combo if he couldn’t get it all from diet (similar to your partner loves junk food):
Folic acid
Iron
Selenium
Omega 3 fish oil with dha
Coq10
Magnesium
Vitamin c and d (large dose)
I take pretty much the same with some extras and I think they’ve made a huge difference x
Thank you for sharing this and passing on the expert advice. I'll check that those supplements are in what my husband is currently taking as we may need to top up because my partner definitely won't be getting them from all the pizzas he eats! x
I would highly recommend watching the ‘save our sperm’ programme that was on Channel 4 the other week. U won’t believe the impact so many things has on sperm quality.
We were advised to reduce mercury, no processed food, no processed meat, no refined sugar and reduce caffeine and carbohydrates and increase antioxidants. Doing this did result in 100% fertilisation rate which we had never had so I’m convinced it made a difference. Wishing you lots of luck for your future xx
I heard about that programme so will have to watch it! I’m working on a diet like that (it’s tough!) but I’m worried it will be hard to convince my husband as the Dr told him diet changes weren’t as important as supplements.
That’s an amazing result - you must have been delighted! And it does go to show your efforts paid off x
for our lab the references range was >4% considered normal. A very large percentage of sperm are apparently abnormally shaped but the fact there are millions helps to compensate!
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