Male factor

[Viletta]

Hi Ladies,

Got DH sperm 💦🔬 back and it doesn't look promising: very low count and none with good morphology. GP asked to retest to confirm.
On my end everything's okay. We are both 30. I'm guessing I'm now an ICSI candidate if lucky..
DH smokes a lot, drinks coffee and has 1-3 pints almost everyday. He will be trying to change these unhealthy habits, but I'm wondering if this makes much difference and how quickly. If you have any success stories on how changing lifestyle improves sperm quality or any other success stories with male factor involved, please share! Trying to stay positive! I'm happy to support and share some positive vibes with you in return!

Hi Viletta, my DH had low morphology of 2%, he then started taking high dosage of vitamin C ( 1,500 - 2,000 mg ) and his morphology increased to 5% in three months time. There is a very good research paper on male fertility, please check here

sites.google.com/site/miscarriageresearch/how-to-boost-fertility/how-to-increase-male-fertility

Hope it helps xxx

@Veinarde thank you! Great to know that vitamin C helped!

My DH test results varied wildly each time tested - for no clear reason.
It takes 3 months for sperm to change so you need to allow about 3 months for lifestyle factors to improve things.
We had icsi and now have a beautiful 6 month old - good luck if you end up down this route.

@DrSpin thank you for the info! Great to hear that icsi worked for you!

It sounds like your husband is doing all the terrible things that impact his sperms. I'm sure it can be much improved with improving his lifestyle + taking supplements. You should see fantastic improvements within 3-4 months if he

• ideally stops smoking and drinking (although any improvement will make a bit of difference)
• healthy diet with 8 of your 5 a day ( that's about 640g of veg and fruit a day)
• best supplemts would be either Proxeed or Profertil.

You don't mention the actual numbers but it might be an idea to check that there aren't other medical issues that cause the results to be so poor.

@JoJoSM2 thanks JoJo! GP didn't let us see the numbers, just said "surprisingly low count". Will stock on supplements and vitamins. His diet is not too bad in terms of veg but he won't eat any fruit. I feel like it should be his decision to improve the lifestyle.. not easy to give up these bad habits! Although was easy for me.. I think he has more of an addictive personality. Can't think of any condition that could cause this apart of lifestyle and perhaps genetics.. thanks for the tips on supplements!

If your DH has male factor infertility then it may not necessarily be life-style related, but it will be contributing. I would say that he needs to make a whole host of changes if he really wants to have a child. Otherwise you could be subjecting yourself to the ordeal of icsi (and the burden will be on you) when you might not need to. Injecting, taking drugs that increase your health risks, time off work, stalling your career, the emotional rollercoaster, endless invasive scans etc. It is hard, and it's much easier for him to quit smoking and cut down on drinking. He doesn't need to quit the booze completely, but he needs to have more alcohol free days and limit intake to a few units a week.

My DH quit booze for a couple of months (and now only drinks on one day a week on average) and took Wellman vitamins. He also stopped having baths or carrying his phone in his jeans pocket. His sperm count improved significantly, from below average to excellent.

He could just ask the GP for a copy of his results. There are many medical problems that could cause male factor infertility and that people wouldn't otherwise notice e.g. a varicocele. Try to make sure he gets referred to a urologists - it seems that sometimes mfi is a bit under-investigated in clinics.

@JoJoSM2 @ShottaSheriff thank for your support! This means a lot to me!

At the moment GP avoided giving us test results and asked to re-test to confirm. After that he'll refer DH to an infertility clinic for further diagnostics and treatments.

I'm such a control freak but this situation is out of my reach. I can ask DH to stop drinking/smoking, but can't make him.. he's taking wellmen vitamins and kind of talking of giving up booze but he relies too much on smoking.. Meanwhile I'm trying to cook healthy meals.. every little hopefully helps.. but gutted I don't have a full control over his habits :)

My husband had count of 0.1 million per ml and motility was 0%.
He cut out caffeine completely and alcohol got his bmi down to normal took fertilsan vitamins and started reflexology. It's now up to 0.4 million per ml and there are some moving. So improvement is enough to improve icsi chances. You may not get enough improvement for natural conception but improve chances of icsi.
I agree though it does need to be your husbands decision and I'd like mine he may he take time for it to sink in. Be patient and suppportivd. I remember the time so well and it's awful I'm sorry you are going through it. It's a long journey but there is hope still.
You wil not get NHS funding for ivf though unless he stops smoking

@MrsDarcy4092 thanks for sharing this! Great to hear it improved the count! Wow, this would be a great motivator for giving up smoking if otherwise NHS won't fund IVF! Will let DH know

Looks like DH libido just went down the drain.. we are both very stressed and it's not helping. Need to change my mind about the situation and set up for our long term road

It's such a hard time and both of you will react differently. I remember how difficult it was but it does get easier. There's a real period of grief that you both need to go through and it may help to stop "trying" during this time to take pressure off and allow you both to deal with your feelings and just have sex because you want to. It was actually the best thing for us to stop trying and such a relief. I'm not saying give up hope but just take the pressure off for a couple of months.
We also had some counselling which helped, started out thinking we would need months of it but once you start talking we only needed 4 sessions. I had some on my own about a year later too, never be afraid to get support.
Be kind to yourself during this time and take time off work if you need to x

@MrsDarcy4092 thank you for your kind support. We indeed react differently, I always need a detailed plan to follow and look forward to but DH seems to just want to take some time off. Glad you overcame the hard times

Sadly we can't do anything bar ICSI and the specialist confirmed there are no lifestyle changes that will affect DPs results in any meaningful way. He's depressed and devastated, and I can't help him. He's struggling to come to terms with this situation and isn't coping well.

Please ladies, support the mental health of your menfolk through this. Mine isn't talking about it and that's not helping either of us.

@VivienneWestwoodsKnickers I am so sorry to hear about your dh's results. Is there anything the doctors can do? I don't know what I would do in this situation, but I think reassuring him and have a plan for what's coming might help... some people here suggest counseling, this could be a good idea.. please feel free to talk to us here if this helps. All good thoughts for you

No, they're isn't a thing to be done. The results are catastrophic and permanent.

For your DP though, remember he needs support not pressure. It's a huge deal for him. His libido likely is down the drain -
Maybe because he feels bad.

*there

Otherwise you could be subjecting yourself to the ordeal of icsi (and the burden will be on you) when you might not need to. Injecting, taking drugs that increase your health risks, time off work, stalling your career, the emotional rollercoaster, endless invasive scans etc.

Although it's all subjective, I've had ICSI and while it's not a complete breeze, I didn't find it anywhere near as bad as I'd expected or as the above quote makes out. Just take each day at a time. The emotional rollercoaster is probably the worst part of it (apart from the cost!) - scans, injecting are much easier than you might think.

Obviously you should do everything you can to improve lifestyle - I just wanted to provide a bit of balance in case you do end up down the ICSI route.

@VivienneWestwoodsKnickers thanks for your support and reminding me that I shouldn't put pressure on DH. I am trying to chill out and not rush things up and support him as much as I can. Things are getting better between us. Are you considering donor sperm now?

@blackcherries thanks for letting me know icsi wasn't too bad for you:) was it successful? I'm quite prepared to go through anything and not scared of doctors and needles:)

Second round (frozen cycle) was successful! Good luck with the lifestyle changes. Easier said than done, I bet...

@blackcherries I'm glad it worked well for you:)