This is probs a stupid question but can your partner have bad DNA fragmentation results if his density/total motility/progressive motility and normal forms are all okay?
Juts trying to rule things out on our quest for figuring out why we keep miscarrying and DNA fragmentation was maybe something we were going to look into but obviously it's costly so I didn't want to if other part of the sperm health was fine so it's likely that the DNA frag was okay?
If anyone has any experience having normal number for everything else to do with the sperm but not great DNA fragmentation numbers then do let me know...
Thanks in advance!
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ICSI will not help. They would be making a guess by choosing the best looking Sperm, but that Sperm may have fragmentation.
Below is a list I keep for clients:
Male Supplements for Improved Fertility
Check with your doctor before taking any supplements.
Supplementing vitamins and minerals and some herbs can have a positive impact on male fertility. The analysis of sperm is based on three characteristics: sperm numbers/density/semen volume, sperm morphology/the percentage of sperm that have the correct shape, and sperm motility/the percentage that are swimming properly. Normal ranges are as follows: Sperm total count per ejaculation 39-928 million/ejaculation, Concentration of sperm per ml 15-259 million, Morphology 4-48% normal sperm, and Motility 32-75% of sperm.
The below information was obtained by internet searches, so please do your own research also. Some information will be missing, such as dosages or percentage improvements, because as of this document I have not yet found these values. Please do your own research, and any info you find would be appreciated if you were to send it on to me with the reference that you found.
It takes 72 to 90 days for the production of sperm, so the supplements below, in general should be begun 90 days in advance of seeing their full effect. In general the improvements listed are based on a 90 day regimen. That being said, even a thirty day regimen will begin to improve sperm to some degree. So start taking as soon as possible!
Do not exceed the recommended amounts. Excess amounts can be toxic and injure your health or decrease the benefits they would otherwise bestow on Sperm quality.
The numerical values for improvements were gathered from good sources. Other sources may list different values.
I believe it’s fair to say that in the completely unregulated supplement market, you likely will get what you pay for. I suggest you don’t go for the cheapest option. Likewise “boutique” supplements can be vastly overpriced for what you’re getting. Reliable brand names include Gaia Herbs, Kirkland Signature, HUM, Nature Made, Thorne Research, NOW and Nordic Naturals.
As above, brand names are important. There are many supplement preparations for male fertility that contain many of the below listed supplements. Two brand names that have a good reputation are Fertilaid for men, and Malepreconception+.
To improve sperm numbers, these supplements are usually available on Amazon or from your favorite supplement store.
Vit. A for the formation of Sperm (spermatogenesis). Excess amounts can have the opposite effect and cause Sperm formation to stop. Do not exceed 1.5mg/day.
Vit. C 500-1000mg 2X/day has been demonstrated to increase motility by 92%, sperm count by 100%, and morphology by 55%. Vitamin C also functions to regenerate Vitamin E (see below).
Vit. E also called alpha tocopherol, 400-600mg/day improves sperm motility, and taken for three months showed significant improvements in fertilization rates.
Astaxanthin (Asta) improves the development Sperm by alleviating the oxidative stress caused by BPA (bosphenol A) exposure. BPA is found everywhere and is one of the “forever chemicals”. BPA is used in the manufacture of plastic and ends up in packaged foods, bottled water, the dust we breathe, etc. The concentration of BPA in the urine of men is clearly related to a decrease in Sperm parameters. One experimental protocol used 16mg of Asta in conjunction with 40mg Vitamin E. Stand alone supplements often have 10mg Asta.
Ubiquinol 200mg/day showed an increase in Sperm count and concentration 53%, motility 26%, and increased morphology.
Maca root increases libido and fertility, and has been shown to increase sperm count and motility. 1.5-3gm/day.
Ashwagandha 675mg/day extract was shown in one study to increase sperm count by 167%, semen volume by 53%, and motility by 57%.
L-Carnitine 1500 mg/day improves energy availability for sperm and thereby increases Sperm motility by 23%.
Fish oil/Omega-3 fatty acids capsules 250-500mg/day, which are made from the meat of fish, demonstrated an increase in general fertility health and an increase in Sperm motility. Do not confuse these with Fish liver oil capsules, which are made from the livers of fish, and are not recommended.
Pycnogenol 200mg/day demonstrated improved Sperm concentration, motility and morphology.
DHEA or “Andro” or testosterone supplementation is not recommended as these can shut down or hinder sperm production.
Vitamin D 3000IU/day. 40% of men have a vitamin D deficiency. Men with normal vitamin D levels had better Sperm motility than men who were vitamin D deficient.
Selenium 200 micrograms (ugm) per day increases Sperm motility.
Lycopene 4gm/day, which is abundant in tomatoes has been shown to increase Sperm count by 70%, motility by 54%, and morphology by 40%.
Zinc 30mg 2X/day has demonstrated an increase in Sperm formation and quality, as well as increases in Sperm count and motility.
Maca root 1.5-3gm/day has been shown to increase libido and general fertility, as well as improve Sperm count and motility.
Chinese Herbal Formula to increase Sperm parameters.
Wu Zi Yan Zang:
Wu Wei Zi
Che Qian Zi
Gou Qi Zi
Tu Si Zi
Fu Pen Zi
Below are some lifestyle choices that can improve sperm numbers:
Remain active and get a healthy amount of exercise. Obesity complicated male fertility.
No smoking tobacco or marijuana.
Reduce alcohol consumption.
Don’t take recreational drugs.
Avoid anabolic steroids and testosterone.
Avoid narcotic pain killers.
Avoid SSRI antidepressants such as Zoloft and Prozac.
Avoid sulfasalazine.
Avoid situations that accumulate heat around your testicles such as tight underwear, excessive driving, excessive exercise, and hot tubs and saunas and hot yoga.
As an example, a man who has a fever of 101 degrees F will lose 30% of his sperm cells per day.
Hey lovely, yes, as OurMiracleBabies says, men can have normal semen analysis results and still have high DNA fragmentation. I think last time I looked, it was something like 10-15% of men diagnosed with male factor issues had normal semen analyses but had DNA frag results outside the normal range. I would highly recommend having your partner do the test. Fixing my husband's high DNA frag is what finally allowed us to conceive naturally after 4.5 years of infertility (during which time we had 3 failed IVF cycles and 3 early miscarriages).
Regarding supplements, Proxeed Plus and Impryl are both good options and you could have your partner do one Impryl in the morning and one sachet Proxeed in the evening to cover all your bases. However, I would still do the test because if he does have high DNA frag and it's caused by a varicocele or infection or some other such thing, supplements alone won't improve his numbers and he'll need treatment for whatever's causing the frag. Good luck! I hope you get some answers soon xxx
Thanks lovely. There were so many times when it just felt like we were doomed to failure but eventually we had a breakthrough... it just took (a lot!) of perseverance.
I'm so sorry to see all you've experienced so far, you've really been through the wringer. It sounds like you're on the right track though with all the testing you're pursuing. I did a recurrent miscarriage panel even after we found out about my husband's DNA frag and though my results came back normal, it was very reassuring to know that there weren't other contributing factors that we didn't know about. Fwiw, when you do the testing for you I would also ask that they do a uterine biopsy to check for chronic endometritis. I don't know if it's standard miscarriage testing at most places but infections in the uterus have been shown to be a common reason for recurrent miscarriage. xx
Ah thanks for saying that, it's not been easy for us. So I've had a laparoscopy and my consultant got rid of a small bit of endo but I didn't have it anywhere else, he also took a biopsy to check for any infections, not sure if that included chronic endometritis or not (it was the NHS so am unsure!) xx
We didn't do DNA fragmentation testing but used MACS to help select the best quality sperm. We had treatment in Czech Republic and I think the cost was €500 (around the same price as testing). If we had tested and found out there was a DNA fragmentation issue, the solution would have been MACS and there was no harm in doing it.
We did do a fragmentation test but our clinic didn’t encourage us to as they said they already find the ‘best swimmers’ through their selection process and we use ICSI, so the treatment is already the same, if that makes sense. However, we just wanted to put our mind at ease. However, I hadn’t thought about infection, as someone mentioned above. Best of luck x
Hi,My husband had that and we had 3 failed IVF cycles with isci- no good quality of embryos at the end of each round. Embryos were developing well until day 3 and until day 5 were so bad. That indicated problems from sperm.
We moved to different clinic and used Zymot for our Isci treatment to choose the best sperm as they have to go through a membrane. We have our son from that cycle with very good quality embryo, plus we have 3 in the freezer from that cycle too.
I hope that give you some idea of what you could do in term of chosing the right treatments for you.
Good luck and I am so sorry what you have been through.
Hello. If the number of normal sperm cells is below 10 percent then the DNA fragmentation can be high. Then sperm needs to be treated to lower this number of fragmented DNA. My husband has this problem which took 3 months of treatment to fix it and I had NK cells motility high. These facts lead to miscarriage or infertility. I hope all the best!!
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