Azoospermia support, stories and timelines

[Ljp2022]

Hi All,
Hoping to get a chat going with some advice. My husband and I started TTC 9 months ago but had an inkling something was wrong. We had a private fertility assessment which showed he had no sperm in his semen (azoospermia). We are incredibly overwhelmed and shocked but are keen to explore further testing.

We have gone to our GP however he has explained the wait will likely be several months until we are seen in infertility clinic. We have therefore decided to go privately. My husband has had blood tests for genetic testing and hormones this week (not sure how long it will be until we get results?) and he has a urology appointment in a month’s time for a physical exam.

Id be so grateful if people can share their experiences of azoospermia, outcomes, success stories, other options explored, tests but also timelines if private? How long does it take for tests to come back? How long until he has his sperm retrieval test? What’s next and how long?

sorry for all the questions - so overwhelmed and no one seems to have any answers…thank you in advance.

@2022ttc the first few days are awful, I pretty much cried constantly for about 3 days. I took time off work. It does gradually get better so don't put pressure on yourself to feel a certain way. Do what's best for you. It's a grieving process. I found telling family, close friends and some work colleagues really helped and I spent many evenings consulting Dr Google about everything that can cause azoospermia. So much so when we saw Mr Ramsay he kept calling me "professor" 😂 the more informed I was, the more in control I felt. I've had to argue my way through with consultants to get to where we are now!
This group of lovely ladies has been a godsend too! I hope everyone doesn't mind me saying, we are all here to support you 😊💕

@2022ttc it is so hard isn’t it. I think the answer is that I didn’t cope. I had to tell my manager because I couldn’t hold it together at work and I took some time off. Telling family was helpful but so so hard. I think I was a shadow of my former self for a long time. Talking to people on this thread was one of the most useful things because I didn’t feel alone xx

@WhiskeyInTheJar33 @Ljp2022 you're right, this forum has given me somewhere to speak my feelings with no filter. Thank you so much. My husband is good as masking how he feels but I know how upset he is by looking at him. He's said a few things over the past few days like how he feels he is a "burden" and how he wouldn't hold anything against me if I chose to leave. I was so upset that he would even think that and he said it's just because every time he looks at me he feels a lot of sadness because I "don't deserve this". I keep reminding him that we are a team and in this together but I think he just sees this as his fault and feels bad...

@IslaO congratulations. I am so so happy for you. Fingers crossed for a sticky bean xxx

@2022ttc ah you poor love. Sorry you find yourself here, but it's definitely better being here than facing it alone ❤️. So I read the other day, an infertility diagnosis is similar in stress to a cancer diagnosis, so even the most resilient person would find things difficult. It's completely normal to feel devastated especially when it's so raw.
As the others have mentioned, I think all of us will have had equally difficult days. I have definitely have had my fair share of rushing to the loos at work and having a cry. My boss is a known tough act and I had to tell him because of my IVF appointments and he's been absolutely wonderful. We are both extremely private people so have only told one friend (no family) who had a lot of fertility treatment so has been super helpful with the IVF side (she stayed with us a lot through treatment and we looked after her). So having this group means the world to me.

My husband went through a stage of saying similar things and that he was sorry for not knowing before we got married. So again, it's normal I think.

Coping methods wise, I have spent so much time researching and learning about this whole process my GP thinks I know more than her now! It has helped a lot but different people need different things.
I have also started acupuncture, stopped my one tea a day (no caffeine, alcohol went before we started trying) removed all emulsifiers from our diet and cut out **high impact/endurance sports.
I don't know if any of these things help (I was already super healthy), but knowing I am giving us our best chance does give me peace of mind.
I hope this helps xxx

@TheFanciestPants sorry you also had to go through all this, it's really tough but it's so reassuring to hear others have been / are going through it too and the feelings are normal and valid. I keep going through highs and lows. Today was a good day where I felt stronger and better able to control my emotions but I appreciate every day is different. What makes things super tough is that my sister is due to give birth any minute now and I am helping her out this week. Really happy for her but part of me starts wondering every so often will that ever be us? I hope you are all well and have a lovely weekend x

@2022ttc all of that wondering and those intrusive thoughts are the worst. A close family member who went through a lot of fertility issues about 15 years ago when the same help just didn’t exist. She told me when we got our diagnosis that we have a staircase to climb but do not look at the top of the stairs, instead look at the next step you need to climb and when you do look up, the climb will seem less intimidating. So when I had thoughts about would it ever happen, I tried to push them aside and look at my next step which might have been blood tests or a urologist appointment. When we had to wait for genetic results and urologist appointments for my husband, I found going to a GP and getting a full MOT of bloods for myself very helpful. They came back pretty good but somethings were boarderline like my vitamin d so I stocked up on vitamins for myself and my husband and that felt like a bit of control for that period of time. Proceive Max plus CoQ10 could be good supplements to enhance his sperm quality if it is there and being made. We also made a deal to plan nice things like holidays too to completely switch off from the heaviness of everything for a week or so. When I look back on those holidays, I remember feeling happy but now I don’t really know how I managed it. I think I just needed the mental break so badly. I also hounded clinics when they have me appointments for months away, I would call every second day asking about cancellations.

a bit of a nothing post but just remember that initial diagnosis period and how awful it is ❤️

@IslaO will take all those tips on board thank you. I do think having some sort of control would help. Right now I feel like my mental health is skipping day by day and I'm so worried as 2 years ago I went through a 3 month phase of really bad anxiety and I'm worried that this diagnosis will trigger that again. I'm trying to keep myself preoccupied and hoping that as the days go by, I will start to feel more resilient to the shock waves of sadness.

Hi how are you? Recently joined this thread as we received husbands Azoospermia diagnosis last week. I've heard a lot about dr Sangster, can I ask did you see her privately or through the NHS? Which hospital? Thank you x

@2022ttc sorry you find yourself here. We received the azoospermia news 3 months ago now and it’s been difficult. We saw Dr Pippa privately, she charges £300 for the initial consultation. And around £600 for genetic tests - which you probably won’t need as you know the cause. We went to the appointment with my DHs blood test results (testosterone, FSH and LH). She mentioned that it is also possible to get referred to her via GP but her NHS waiting lists are around 6 months.

@TheFanciestPants I recall you also went to Pippa for genetic testing, just wondering if you had to book a follow up appointment for the genetic results, or if you got this emailed to you?

@Lily1994 yeah we had a follow up appointment to discuss next steps and results which was helpful.

So my update is when I went to the clinic last week I hadn't actually ovulated (3 weeks after my failed cycle 😱). My follicles were still fine and hadn't turned into cysts and still had good blood flow so they did seem a bit confused as I have one 18-20mm follicle in each ovary just hanging out. I am going back on Wednesday and if it still hasn't happened will have a trigger shot. On my last scan my follicle count was back up to 10 again so they suggested cracking on with the cycle as it looked like a good month. So as always, the rollercoaster continues 🙃

@2022ttc we saw Dr P privately at King Edward VII - her secretary Cecil is great at fitting you in asap. She was fantastic and we strongly recommend. Our waitlist for an NHS urologist would have been at least 9 months so it was a no brainer. It was an immediate IVF referral (took about 8 weeks for an appointment) so doing the tests with Dr P saved us time as we had already done the genetic one that takes ages.
It's completely normal to feel up and down. And I am sure most of us have wondered if it will happen (I do all the time). Sending you positive vibes xxx

@TheFanciestPants good luck on Wednesday! Don’t know much about IVF (yet) but will the trigger shot make you ovulate?

@Lily1994 yes! So if I haven't managed it already they will give me the injection and then I will have finally ovulated 4 weeks later (I normally ovulated on cd 11/12 but the Fyremadel seems to have worked too well!).
Then I can finally move on to my next cycle and start down regulation😁

@TheFanciestPants fingers crossed it works out.

We just got an email saying genetic results are in but haven’t actually been sent them so now super scared :(

@Lily1994 the same thing happened to us (I posted on here as was so scared) and it was fine! So I think sometimes they forget to actually email them, either way I would book in with Dr Pippa to see if she can advise.
Thanks so much for your kind wishes, I have my fingers crossed for you🤞🤞🤞

Well... I think this might be it!! I got too impatient to get through the TWW without testing and got this result today :D 6dp5dt

@Sleeter0893 congratulations!!!

@Sleeter0893 Congratulations. So happy to see another bfp on this thread. I hope that they keep on coming! Wishing you a happy, healthy journey ahead 💖 x

@Sleeter0893 congratulations ❤️❤️❤️

@Lily1994 @TheFanciestPants thank you! I wasn't sure whether to go for dr P or dr Ramsay but helps to know there's people who have gone to both xx

@Sleeter0893 a massive congratulations to you! It’s so nice to see good news on this thread and know what is possible for azoospermia-hit couples.

@TheFanciestPants best of luck with everything. Crossing my fingers for you!

@2022ttc Pippa said she was trained by Ramsay. I went to her because her waiting times for an appt was 2 weeks but Ramsay was 2 months

@Sleeter0893 this is fantastic news! Bet you still can’t believe it, congratulations 💕

@Sleeter0893 massive congrats!! Lovely to have another BFP on the group! Your sperm was mtese sperm wasn't it? It's gives me hope! Xx

@Ljp2022 this thread will be full up soon! Can you believe how many people this thread has helped? It was mainly you, me and Whiskey to start and now we have a real community! Please let me know if you want to start the next one or if bubba is born by then and you have your hands full I am happy to start the next one.
xxxx

@Creatingspace @Lily1994 @2022ttc @IslaO @Ljp2022 @lemons44
Thank you all so much for the congratulations ;) I remember finding this board very early this year and how helpful it's been to know I'm not alone.
@lemons44 yes, we did have mTESE. My husband was born with a congenital defect where one teste didn't fully develop, the vas deferrens never fully developed, and neither did his kidneys, so he was born with obstructive azoospermia that we found out together.
I had two uterine polyps removed in May and IVF/ICSI in June.
31 eggs
18 mature
8 fertilized
4 made to 5 day blastocyst
Had OHSS after my egg retrieval pretty badly so we stopped and did a frozen transfer Sept 19 after my hormones could go back to normal.

It all doesn't feel real yet, and I'm not telling my husband until we have a confirmation from the doctor... but was great seeing a "Yes" on a digital today!!!