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Is there a 'cure' for low sperm count?

Last post 14/02/12 at 18:59 by impis, 18 replies
Post started by star100 on 04/02/12 at 22:43

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  • star100 avatar
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    Posted by: star100 04/02/2012 at 22:43
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    Hi Have just found out my husband has a low sperm count (very low, about 2 million). We have been trying for a baby for over a year now and undoubtedly this explains our lack of success. I know there a range of lifestyle factors which can affect sperm count and although he is not a t total exercise freak his count I think is too low to explain away by what is a fairly normal lifestyle. After hearing his low sperm count we went to a private fertility centre who told us that to have a baby we will need to have ivf with icsi. I was just wondering if any body has any experience of actually treating low sperm count itself rather than just going straight for fertility treatment? Or maybe there are no real treatments for low sperm counts. Any ideas gratefully appreciated
  • antoniou avatar
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    Posted by: antoniou 05/02/2012 at 09:11
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    As far as I'm aware there's no cure for low sperm count, but there are things your OH can do to take care of the swimmers he has. No tight underwater, no hot baths, don't sit with a laptop on his lap, if his job involves sitting for long periods (especially those that drive for s living) to get up and walk around at intervals. Also, zinc supplements are meant to be good for improving sperm quality. HTH.
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    Posted by: *Emmsie* 05/02/2012 at 10:19
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    Hello there, thought I'd share our experience. We decided to see the doc when we couldn't get pregnant after 6 months. We had concerns as my DH had undescended testicles as a child which were operated on but when we googled it said that it could reduce sperm counts dramatically.

    Our first SA came back as 2.2 million Sad and the GP was quite frank and said this was not something that he could just wear loose undies and solve. After doing our own reading about it, DH started taking the men's version of Pregnacare which had the high level of zinc etc and we had another SA which came back as 6 million. This was still considered extremely low so we were referred for ICSI immediately as the GP felt there was very little chance of conceiving naturally.

    Anything below 20 million is considered 'low' so we were still miles off and a good sperm count was something like 100 million. We did the maths and worked out that if 'normal' people had a 25% chance of getting pregnant in any one cycle (so in theory within 4 months) and we had a sperm count of 2% of 'normal' then it would take us something like 8 years to get pregnant if we went on those probabilities alone.

    When we started seeing the fertility clinic they ran another SA just to check there were going to be enough sperm to successfully collect on the day for ICSI and this one came back as 3 million (DH had continued to take the vitamins so it shows it wasn't really working to increase numbers, it was a fluke when it went up to 6 million).

    We had ICSI 8 months after the initial SA and happily I am now 22 weeks pregnant from our first go. Big Smile The ICSI process wasn't too bad - I found the emotional challenge a lot harder than the physical but it was well worth all the ups and downs to get our BFP.

    Hope this helps x
  • star100 avatar
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    Posted by: star100 05/02/2012 at 19:59
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    Thanks that's really helpful. Glad to hear you got pregnant
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    Posted by: *Emmsie* 05/02/2012 at 20:09
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    I hope you have as much luck as we did - I remember crying when we first heard about how low the sperm count was, it felt like our baby plans were completely scuppered, but it's definitely not the end of the road by any means. We were lucky enough to qualify for NHS funding - have you looked into what your PCT offer? x
  • star100 avatar
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    Posted by: star100 05/02/2012 at 20:33
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    When we heard we went for a private consultation at a fertility clinic who basically said you need to have ivf with icsi. I was upset as all seemed unfair etc etc but in many ways was relieved to have a reason for why we hadn't got pregnant. My husband however is keen to find out if there is anything that can be done medically to raise his sperm count. However from everything I have read there is not. We can afford ivf privately but of course would prefer to do it on the Nhs. The guy at the clinic suggested we paid for one round privately as we would be able to start that quickly and then IF we needed another round get that on Nhs. How long did you have to wait after referral?
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    Posted by: JenCC 05/02/2012 at 20:48
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    Hi Star,

     Just wanted to add our experience....OH was found to have low count, funny shapes and slow swimmers so we thought we would be scuppered too...and because he has kids from a previous marriage we wouldnt qualify for IVF on the NHS. All my fertility was normal. We did all of the things already suggested...vitamins, laptop, hot baths etc. We'd been trying for about 14/15 months and had accepted it was going to be a long time and to try and relax into again and we got pregnant...now happily 22 weeks. We do feel VERY lucky and (TMI warning) getting into it and enjoying sex again was a big influence we think, and certainly the deeper the penetration and gravity on your side (doggy style) we think definitely helped....plus we genuinely enjoyed it!

     Fingers crossed for you and keep ejoying it ;-) JenCC
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    Posted by: trixiebells 05/02/2012 at 21:23
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    Not had experience of this but I remember my cousin saying about a friend whose husband had a low count and he reduced his aspartame intake - its found in a lot of sugar free squashes diet fizzy drinks. It might be worth a try good luckxxxxxx
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    Posted by: star100 05/02/2012 at 21:25
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    Thanks. Jen, out of interest how low was your partners count ?
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    Posted by: purpleapple 06/02/2012 at 07:38
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    I'll share our experience. My husband has a very sperm count too less than 2 million. He gave up smoking (a huge cause of low sperm count), unfortuantely he couldn't change his job as a chef. So I had him on zinc and vitamin C tablets, which are supposed to help. I wish I could say that we magically manage to reproduce using these measures, but no. Needed help, I had IUI, with a ridiculously low sperm count from hubby (I blame a heavy heavy weekend in dublin exactly 3 months before), but it worked and it was free on the NHS (They were fantastic....I can't imagine how private could be any better). Actually a bit embarassing as I wasn't expecting it to work first time and had yet to start my new job. Turned up to the new job 3 months pregnant. Expecting any day now :)

    Good luck :)

    ps The figures for the sperm count have come back to me 1-2 million, so very very low, both initially and at the time of conception.
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