Advice needed, Dp sperm morphology really low

[1Wish]

Hi everybody,
Had my appointment with the specialist yesterday, who has confirmed I'm not ovulating, so I've been prescribed clomid

But as another blow i was not expecting dp sperm tests have come back dodgy. Count and movement are fine but his morphology is was only 1% on the first test and 2% on the secound. A normal count should be at least 15%.

The consultant said our chances of concieving are low but we should try with clomid for a year and then go for ivf.

I am absolutly gutted as i was sure it was just me who had problems. If anyone has any advice on how to improve morphology or their own stories it would be greatly appreciated.

The specialist just said 'keep your balls cool' basically, but im wondering if anyone's dp/dh has had supplements, diet or anything that helped them. thankyou

Thanks Littlefish... nice talking to you... hope you paint is nice!

Take care and good luck with everything. XX

Iwish, In relation to the clomid, they just did not think it was a good idea for me, especially since I ovulate aswell, my normal consultant felt it was unwarranted and could have an adverse effect when not needed. From the research I did I tended to agree with him, as I ovulate regularly each month.

Just wanted to clear that up as know you are on clomid and it is a fantastic drug when used correctly. Just was not right for my circumstances

i agree RahRah, a friend of a friend went to a different clinic with unexplained infertility, 4 years ttc, the solution- go have more sex said the consultant i mean ffs.

I might change clinics anyway if the clomid doesn't work. ( i thought i'd give it chance before moving to a different one because of fear of being put back to the begining)

Because I thought it would be best to go to my old doctors orginally because they would know all my problems I am stuck with a consultant in north lincolnshire (no ivf funding) yet 10 months ago i moved in with my partner (near Leeds) so if i change to this area i should be able to get ivf, but il have to wait to see a new consultant etc,
So think il just see how things go

can you not get yourself on the Leeds writing list as well?

For the pregnancy loss I have been referred to Birmingham as well as my normal hospital as I was not satisfied with the results and likely support in next pregnancy. (I have not gone get as emotionally I was a bit all over the place and was finding it hard to handle) but they have left me with an open ended appointment, for when I am ready. Maybe you could do a similar thing?

I think to be honest I will have to go private if I want treatment as we have conceived naturally before and this effectively puts you at the back of the queue again. In fact I am pretty much made to feel like I am wasting their time and last time told that from a fertility prospective there is nothing wrong with me and the UK is pretty hung up on conceiving quickly. However I have other consultants that have said things like 'I am throwing out serious indicators that there is an underlying issue'.... I know I am not the only one to struggle to get pregnant and I'm not the only one to loss a baby, but it is a double whammy and a massive part of your life and in my eyes there has to be some level of cause. In the next breath he then declared that they have done all their tests on me and nothing has come back, however there is no predict science in regards to the issues I am suffering from and may be something they don't have the science behind as yet?????? Totally fills me with confidence... can you see how bloody confusing this whole situation is... I think that is why I pull at straws, for example when I saw your thread it makes sense to me that my husbands issues could be the simple cause of why our fertility is effected and why we have difficulty getting pregnant. Hence why I am wondering if IUI or something like that would be useful?
This is so bloody confusing!

I then think we have a separate issue in pregnancy, where my blood produces clots in the placenta, causing bleeding and leading to premature birth.

I hate consultants!!!

I swear slagging off husbands and their inability to perform at crucial times is much more fun!

1wish

My DH had 2 tests last summer at a local hospital and was told count was very high (like it is in your case)and morphology and motility were rubbish in both and we would have to have ICSI. I had a few hormonal problems as well and some endometriosis.
He started to take lots of vitamins (pycogenol(sp?), zinc, vit C etc and we both tried to cut down on alcohol etc. and cut down on hot baths.
When we had a consultation at the IVF clinic (about 4 months later)they retested him and his results came up as normal. They said we should therefore go for IUI as it obviously wasn't happening. We were then meant to pay for genetic testing but put that off.
2 months later I conceived naturally (after giving up caffeine,having acupuncture and laser surgery on endometriosis). We were on holiday and as we thought we were going to start treatment I had given up on all the tests, timing everything etc.
I don't know what did it but we were told after the 1st couple of tests that there was a 10% chance over 10 years that it would happen naturally and I am now due in 9 weeks.
We were both a bit sceptic about the vitamins, baths etc but the sperm definately did improve dramatically.
I don't think you say how how old you are but if you are thinking about going private I really recommned doing the vitamins etc first before you go down the IVF route. I am 37 so was keen to just get on with it but so glad we didn't have to.

1Wish, just to say that my dp's result came as 9% on our first test. This was the result from the GP test. We then got referred to a conception unit and all the appointments took months and my dp had to do another test as they wouldn't accept a result from a different hospital (and, to add, I had to listen to a fair bit of moaning from him which drove me NUTS considering the tests I had to have!). Wouldn't you know it, the results were 'fine'. We never did have an exact breakdown but when I queried the morphology of the previous test they just looked at their piece of paper and said it had completely changed and was now above the 'worry' level. I have to say my dp did very little different. At the time of the first test he was changing jobs so maybe stress played a factor but he was happy to change jobs so not that sure. I did buy Zita West male vitamins (google and you'll find her) which does have everything I'd read you should take as a male supplement, eg zinc, selenium (sp?), etc. I think my dp took about 6 of the buggers though! Sometimes these things just change completely on their own. Actually, there was a Panorama programme on just couple of weeks ago that featured Zita West. They tested a football team and found quite a few had low sperm count/morphology problems. They did a very strict 3 month healthy eating/no drinking/taking supplements and some of the team improved by more than 50%. Funnily enough though, one guy had 'super sperm' then changed his lifestyle along with the others and his actually went down. Try googling Zita West as there is quite a lot of info on all this on her website. Maybe just time will change it all around for you too.
Very best of luck though.

Thankyou all so much for your advice, i'm feeling more positive now.
*RahRah apparently they don't recommmend iui for low sperm results as the sucess rate is very low. ( just what consultant said and i have read it in a few places)
I think it comes down to mathmatics though if dp/dh is only producing low numbers of quality sperm then i would reckon it'l take significantly longer to fall pregnant, but not completly impossible, if you see what i mean

jem1969 can i just ask specifically what your partner did, i.e which vitamins, how much etc. Did he change his diet or really cut out anything? thanks

He took pycogenol (think that's how you spell it) which I got in Holland and Barrett- it's quite expensive. And he also took zinc and soluble high dose Vit C. (Helps the absorbtion on Zinc apparently). I don't think he took as much pycogenol as it said on the bottle- I had to force feed it to him in the morning and evening (he wasn't very keen...)
He def cut down on hot baths too. He's not a huge drinker anyway but he did try to cut down a bit. He doesn't smoke but I that is def a factor.
I've just remembered I also bought some expensive multi- vit from US Ebay. (I must have read about it somewhere). I think it was called Fertil-Aid but I can check the bottle when I get home.
It was all quite expensive to be honest but I was on a bit of a mission at the time- I think I was doing it more to give the sperm as much help as poss before we started ICSI.
He HATED doing the tests by the way and says now he always knew there was nothing wrong(!).
I'll let you know if I think of anything else we did. Your DP has a good count which is a good sign. Good luck

Hi, I'm quite new to mumsnet, I have posted before a few months ago, but have been trying not focus on other things recently- easier said that done, as everyone on here knows! My partner and I have been ttc for over a year now- finally convinced him to go to GP and do some initial tests. My partner had undescended testicles as a child, and unfortunately did not have the op to correct them until the age of 11! (I could kill the bloody consultant that told his parents to 'wait'). GP has ordered a semen analysis, which dp is doing this Weds, and we are both absolutely terrified, as we have done some research and it looks as if his chance of having any sperm at all is very low. This was such a shock and a blow to both of us, as it had not ocurred to us that the undescended testicles could turn out to be such a massive problem. The doc mentioned ICSI, and it does look as if they can do quite a lot with a very tiny amount of sperm. I was wondering if anyone was in a similar situation, as we are both really struggling to come to terms with this, and I don't know how I am going to get through the next two weeks, as we have to wait for his semen analysis results to come back. Would really appreciate any words of support or positive stories from any of you lovely people...

Evergrounded - thanks for reopening this thread. I hadn't seen it before and it has been very useful to read how everyone's partners have dealt with their poor sperm results.

I can't offer any help with the effect undescended testicles have on sperm count, but we are heading down the ICSI path due to DH's poor results. His high point was a count of 9mill/ml, his low 0.5mill/ml (which was after 6 months of vitamins, reduced drinking and smoking )

The recent very poor results have hit him hard and, just to make things more difficult, affected his libido.

So no positive stories here, hope you get them from someone, but lots of support if you need it.

Rattling- reading your post has been a real source of comfort, just knowing that there is someone out there in a similar situation is comforting. Am sorry to hear about your DH's poor results - that must be really hard for both of you to deal with, especially as he has obviously been making a huge effort re vitamins and not drinking / smoking etc. In a way, I find the only way I can cope with all this is to feel that I am taking some positive action to do something about the situation, so I am very interested and encouraged to hear that you are going to try ICSI- as it looks as though this may be a route DP and I will have to take in the near future. I really hope this goes well for you both. I have read some extremely positive things about the procedure and it appears to have very high success rates. If you are ok talking about it and sharing your experience- I would be really interested to hear how it all goes. Thanks so much for your support and you have it from me also!