Sperm analysis please help!

[Dancingthroughthefire]

Dh sa has come back. I fetched the report today. We knew from consultant yesterday that the motility was only 8%. 82% no movement at all.

However the report also states morphology 1%.

The consultant did not tell us this and was no help as all. He basically didn't tell us what the results meant but just said as we already had one child then conception was possible. However we conceived ds over four years ago and my understanding is that sperm can change a lot! Dh is 39. Until January he was drinking heavily and smoking. He was also overweight. My understanding is that as sperm take three months to develop that we won't yet have seen the benefit of him stopping drinking and smoking and bringing his Bmi back down to below 25.

That said with results so poor I'm not sure much can be done. We can go privately for treatment if we have to. Just feel we have been very much left in the dark.

I had to travel to take the sa in and if took me about an hour and twenty mins which I know isn't ideal. It was also a very cold day which apparently isn't good for spermies. But the results seem so low that I'm not sure if I'm just clutching at straws. The sperm count was very good.

We are repeating the test next month. If it comes back the same then would we need ivf to conceive?

Hoping for any advice at all, we are both very upset.

Oh and count was 50.5 million per ml so 111.1million overall.

We had morphology of 1% too, everything else was fine. We were told that morphology isn't too much a problem and shouldn't have an effect on us concieving. Having said that its been over 2 years and we haven't managed to concieve yet, so don't know if that's the reason!!!

Having said that is it your dh first SA? My dh was much better than the second time round. He took pycnogenol vitamins we improved his morphology to 3% which is only slightly under the guidelines.

How long have been ttc for? We are due to start iui next month so I have my finger crossed for that. Hope this helps. Good luck!

That does help. I wasn't sure if we would be able to do iui with such low morphology. We've been ttc for 20 cycles. Starting to think ds must have been a miracle!
We will have to self fund whatever option we go for. The consultant told us the low motility wasn't causing our problems but didn't even mention the morphology. However dr google suggests that couples with better results than ours (couldn't be much worse) have been told they need iui or ivf to conceive. Consultant said as long as some are fast swimming that's all you need. But surely the more tickets you have the more likely you are to win the conception lottery!

It was dh's first sample and they are repeating the test. I will try and get it there more quickly. Hopefully the fact he has stopped drinking and smoking will show up in the next test.

My OH's morphology came back at 1%, he made a few lifestyle adjustments and it went up to 2%.

We are now in the hands of the fertility consultant. He said smoking and drinking is directly linked to morphology so he told my oh to cut out drinking completely to see if that helps.

If it doesn't it means it could be a genetic thing and we'll have to have IVF.

I also second happily's advice about the tablets - get him pycegenol from Holland and Barratt.

We've also been ttc for 20 months and both gp and consultant have said its due to the morphology.

Hi Dancing,

I have similar problems and a few weeks ago I started this thread which I hope might be of use to you. Lots of people came back with good tips and advice, plus success stories, so here you are:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/conception/a1689699-Sperm-chit-chat-Low-count-low-morphology-low-motility-anyone-had-success-after-these-diagnoses

Good luck.

I'm in the same boat too - partners sa came back totally okay except morphology of 2% both times. We've got our first fertility appointment on Tuesday, so I might have an idea of what the options are after that hopefully. Fingers crossed for your next test!

Hi

I agree with everything others have said. Dh's SA was bordeline for motility and morphology but it is possible to creep the numbers a bit higher.

I think weight, smoking and drinking will be affecting your DH's sperm directly. But it isn't always easy to make those changes straight away - but if he could look towards this I am sure the need for IUI or IVF will be less.

I agree with using pycnogenol and my other top tip is tomato juice / bolognaise sauce. Get him to drink and eat as much of this stuff as possible. Daily if possible. The lycopene has a really good effect on sperm quality.

I am sure things will turn around in a few months. Good luck.

Dancingwithfire, I just got back from the fertility clinic and they said as we'd managed a CP before that they were happy with morphology of 1% and above (if we hadn't ever conceived then they would want to see at least 2%). They recommended that partner takes vitamin C and said that zinc sometimes also helps but isn't as proven. They will still intervene and concentrate his sperm for IUI if we get to that point though. Hope that helps a bit with your situation.

Thanks book
How long have you been trying if you don't mind me asking? Did they seem to think to could still happen naturally then?
I think the motility for dh may have been affected by the delay in analysis and the cold weather. 80mins in the glove box probably didn't do it much good!
Not sure that would affect the morphology though. So I've sort of been thinking that even best case scenario where motility is better with a different sample the morphology will likely be low.
Dh is taking well man and zinc and I've ordered him fertility blend. Also bought him some pine extract at great expense this morning. He will be thrilled! But he's only been taking these a few weeks so won't have had an effect yet. Will you repeat the test? We will in the next couple of weeks.

We've been trying since December 2011 and we're both over 35, which I guess is why we got referred so quickly. They seem to think it could still happen without assistance but I need more tests done to confirm that. The doctor did mention IUI though, so it might end up at that eventually.Have you had tests as well? I've got to have more bloods, some ultrasounds and an HSP before they will say I'm all fine.

80 mins in the glove box probably didn't do his sample much good! Partner was told he had to get it to them within the hour if he didn't ahem produce a sample at the hospital (which he didn't want to do). He had to keep it in an inside pocket as well, to keep it warm. He's had the test done twice, second time the morphology was the same but the other results were worse (but not enough to worry about). I've just bought some vitamin c and zinc, although he's moaning about having to take those!