What next?

[CatMama7]

Hi. This is my first tentative post in Infertility so please be kind.

We have been TTC1 for almost 18 months. Came off implant in November 2016. Never even had a hint of a BFP. I have been referred for day 3 & 21 bloods but not yet been done due to unfortunate timing of AF & work conflicts. DH however had his SA done and the results were not good. Unfortunately he tuned out the nurse a little in the phone call but it sounds as if his sample had a low percentage of good swimmers. He couldn't remember if she said low sperm count or low motility.

We have an appointment to discuss together next week but right now I'm just looking for people's stories of similar issues if you don't mind sharing, and perhaps where you want from that point on.

Hi @CatMama7 , depending how sever your husbands sperm results are they will normally suggest lifestyle changes (healthy BMI, minimal alcohol, no smoking, reduce caffeine, take supplements) and repeat in 3 months time.

You really need to have your bloods done though - it takes two to tango so seeing the doctor when you only have half your results may not help a huge amount.

For example my husband had poor sperm and told to repeat in 3 months but my day 3 bloods prompted us to be referred urgently and start ICSI straight away as we "did not have time to waste".

In the kindest possible way if you can't fit in the blood tests around work you are going to reallly struggle with all the other fertility investigations and treatments - it's like having a second job sometimes!!!

I'd get your bloods as a priority - the other thing I found useful was reading the local CCG referral criteria - my GP said we couldn't be referred for two years but I basically emailed her guidelines showing we should be referred urgently and we were seen within 2 weeks with funding approved. It's worth being prepared!

Best of luck!

My other too tip is ask for a print out of all your results! Then if GP is stalling you can always go to a clinics open evening and chat things through with them

Thanks for the info. The delays for me are more snow days closing my surgery, bank holidays, it just seems as if AF always falls at the wrong time but I'm really hoping this month I will get it done. Dr suggested appointment after seeing SA results which worries me a little. She had said previously she would refer us after these tests if no luck getting a BFP. This was when we saw get earlier this year. I am 34 & DH is 37.

We could both benefit from lower BMIs, me more so, but he doesn't smoke or drink & is very active.

I should add that I live in a small village in one county, and work 20 miles away in another so this is part if the issue with timing around work. At the moment no one knows but if referred I would obviously discuss with my boss the need for time off for further tests.

My dh had low sperm count and motility and morphology we did 2 x rounds of IVF and got our ds and dd1 (after trying for 5 years au natural) with dd1 we both had acupuncture and were told during her ivf that Dh's count had quadrupled and motility increased! We didn't use any contraception after her birth as had been told we had less than 1% chAnce of conceiving naturally - and when dd was 6 months old I found out I was pregnant naturally! I'm sure it was the acupuncture he had that made the difference - docs won't say if it helps
Or not but I'm convinced!!

Welcome to the club!

You do need your blood tests done as you will not get a proper assessment without it. Some trusts are different on referral times - some want you trying for 2 years, here we only had to be trying for 1 before we get referred (although you get it earlier than that if you go past 35).

It depends on how low your DH's results are. They will give him advice on improving count (vitamins, loose underwear, cut alcohol etc), but if results are not great then they will recommend IVF with ICSI. How long it will take depends on your clinic and what their waiting times are.

We were recommended it as DH has low count and low morphology (there are very mobile though!).

We have not gone that path yet as I had to lose weight to get NHS funding (with my age though I have now decided to give up and pay privately as I am nearly 35), but I am gearing up for ICSI in the next few months.

We have been ttc for 4 1/2 long years now and not even a hint of a BFP in all that time. In a horrid way a hint of one would at least give hope, but it is a long hard journey and I wish you the best of luck x

Catmama7 if infertility is male factor then you will not need to have been ttc for 2 years, it's an instant referral to urologist etc. My dh has severe male factor, completely azoospermic. No sperm whatsoever in any of his samples that spanned over a year. He cut out alcohol and cigarettes and went on the male fertility diet and added in fertilaid and motility boost. There was no improvement. The urologist sent for an ultrasound and bloods. Everything came back completely normal. No hormones our of place, physically everything was where it was supposed to be.
He gave up the healthy crap and the fertilaid etc as he have up as it made no change in the year. We have just had TESE and they have found good sperm, lots of it with good motility and morphology. Enough to freeze for future rounds of ICSI

Thank you all for sharing your stories. When we decided to start TTC I had no idea it was all so complicated!! Our Dr seems good so I'm trying to have a positive outlook and it sounds as if we have options.

Sorry to be a novice but can someone breakdown the abbreviations mentioned I terms of trearment/options?

The three main ones you will hear are IVF, ICSI and TESE.

IVF is invitro fertilisation, where they extract eggs from you, put them in a dish with sperm from your DH and hope the sperm fertilise the eggs. One or two fertilised eggs/embryos are then implanted.

ICSI is intra cytoplasmic sperm injection. It is mostly used where there are issues with the sperm. It is the same as for IVF except rather than putting the sperm and eggs in a dish and hoping they fertilise a sperm is injected into the egg to start it off.

TESE is testicular sperm extraction. Usually the man produces his own sample for the treatment but if he can't or the sample contains no sperm (not just low sperm as of there is low sperm they do ICSI) then they can insert a needle into the testicle and withdraw a sample to use for the fertilisation.

Hth x