SA QUESTION

[Imustbecrazy26]

My DP to day rang the docs for his SA results and was told he had to see the doctor does this mean its bad news or is this how it is done so they can explain the results in person???

Any advice would be greatful.

Don't worry about it- the tests look at so many different variables that I'd say a consultation is a good idea so that the doctor can explain them clearly.

Hope it is good news

Thanks Dexidoo i have told him not to worry about it as they look at different thing so it would be easier for a doctor to talk about it but he is panicking as my blood tests have come back knormal he has got it in to his head there has to be something wrong with himm. Even though there might be nothing wrong with either of us just bad timing.

Don't worry. We had to have an appointment and they were pretty much ok.

We are collecting our results on wed, the letter states results won't be given over the phone. Try not to worry I'm sure everything is fine x

Definitely standard not to give out results over the phone because there's a couple of different elements to the test so they explain in detail.

If at all possible both of you should attend this appt rather than he go on his own.

BTW one semen analysis test is not conclusive of there being possible male factor problems even if the result if lower than expected.

And even if it's not great, there's lots of things that can be treated/improved. My DH's first two SAs were not good and after investigations and treatment I'm now pregnant :)

And yes, what those guys said.
DH's first test was not good. Second one was off the chart.
All that he did was take a daily multivitamin.

Hi Faith How is it all going? I'm still here. I had an HSG which unblocked one tube and showed the other one to be completely blocked.
So hurrah, one unblocked tube!

Pipbin I'm up the duff! got the bfp Wednesday! Totally gobsmacked/excited/terrified I'll wake up. But 8 tests can't be wrong, right?!

Good to know your tube is unblocked now. One is all you need hey? Hope you get your bfp soon.

PS sorry for the thread hijack.

Yes sorry indeed for the hijack.
Congratulations for your up duffedness!

Thanks Everyone

DP doesnt want me to go with him says he needs to do it alone i really want to go so i can hear all the detail as i wont get it from him. I will talk to him some more. He just fears the worst but its good to know there are things that can be treated and improved.

Congratulations Have, how long had you been trying?

Ask him to get a print out of the results. Tell him that you need them to take to your doctor.

Like I said my DH's results were not good. Large quantity but they were not of good quality. After I was referred to the fertility clinic the consultant asked for him to do another test as it can change after 3 months. This time there were so many that were good quality that the consultant turned to his student and said 'you know how I said that this percentage never gets into double figures? Well for this guy it's 14%!'

So even if it's not good, don't worry. It can change.

"DP doesnt want me to go with him says he needs to do it alone"

Some men do wrongly think that a potentially poor semen analysis has a bearing on their overall virility (this is possibly why he wants to go alone). That is not the case at all and he needs to be told that.

The above is not one of DPs better ideas I would have to say, particularly if the semen analysis is not great so I think you should both attend. It gives him moral support and you can also ask questions. I would remind him that one poor semen analysis result is not fully indicative of there being male factor problems and such tests are more often than not repeated.

There is much about semen that is not fully understood.

TBH such tests are far better off being performed in a hospital setting as they are more likely than not to be repeated anyway. Also the GP is not going to be fully conversant with the results.

Regardless of this result both of you should be referred as a couple now to the hospital's subfertility unit if this has not already happened.

Pipbin how did your husband improve his results? Was it morphology that was low?

Thanks again every one. I put my foot down and old him i will be going aswell as i would like to be there for him and so i can ask questions.

Attila well we havent been referred yet i had some bloods done for hormone levels which came back fine so we are just waiting for DP results so once we get them i will be asking what happens next.

Pipbin lucky for me we have the same Doc so not too much trouble for us.

It's also helpful to have two pairs of ears because you'll both remember different things. Hope it goes ok.

Winkle From what I remember, we have lost the results if you can imagine such a thing, there were twice the required amount of them but only half the required percentage that were moving about enough. Also only about 4% were correctly formed.
This last time he had 50% strong swimmer with 14% correctly formed.
As for what he did, well nothing much. This was his third SA so I expect he wasn't as stressed as before. After the first results we looked into it and the only thing that we could think was that as a vegetarian he may have low zinc levels. So we got some one a day multivitamins and he took those when he remembered.

Hubby takes Wellman Conception which contains the recommended amount of zinc I think.

He's read that clearing his body from toxins may help. So we've got him some detox tea, he's cutting back the booze and cutting out the fags and we've gone organic with plenty of fresh food, fruit, veg, nuts (all organic).

The things we do for a baby hey!?

Oh to reply to the earlier question - 2 years 8 months. About 32 cycles give or take.

Oh, my DH doesn't drink often, maybe about 6 pints a month, doesn't smoke, hasn't eaten meat for 15 years but does drink a lot of coffee.

Have That long! I would have given up all hope! What point were you at with the doctors?

I came off the pill Christmas 2009, Went to GP new year 2010. Had basics bloods for me - did wonder about PCOS because my cycles were quite irregular at the time and I got rubbish progesterone results (obviously tricky to time right). DH had SA in the June, I had fanny cam and HSG in July. SA wasn't good so they repeated and did additional blood tests. His prolactin came up high - he had been ill with anxiety for a while and being treated for it.
He was referred to an endocrinologist in the August and seen the December. He had an MRI and it turned out he had a growth on his pituitary giving out the hormone prolactin which depletes testosterone and so poor sperm count. In women it cause annovulation. He started on medication in December, was probably normal ranges by March, confirmed in July. Irony is the Locum consultant said since it had been so long our best chance of conceiving would be ivf. I was a bit cod surely the fertility problem was reversed?! But I was too heavy to be referred. I started losing weight - lost half a stone, one month later - BFP! :)

So yes a long journey. Massive strain on our marriage to be honest but feel so positive about things now I am pregnant.

Congrats HaveaLittleFaith, you deserve your baby after all that :)

Pipbin - 6 pints a month! Mine does that in one night!

Thank you winkle!

My DH did cut down massively on the booze when his first SA came back. When the second came back as not much better he almost drank more in defiance! Now he has decided to cut down to be healthy (for the impending baby!)