Some bad news today

We just started seeing an RE after 2 failed IUIs with my OB/Gyn. The RE had my DH do a repeat SA because his leukocytes came back moderate the first time he did it back in February and he wanted to make sure they went down.

First SA:
Concentration: 55 million (normal = 20 million)
Motility: 46% (normal = 50%)

This SA:
Concentration: 4 million
Motility: 12%

What gives? Anyone ever see such a large difference? Quest did the first one and the RE did the second. We abstained about the same length of time for each one (3 days).

Also, anyone have success with such low numbers? The RE said we'll do another analysis, but I'm feeling pretty crushed right now.

Re: Some bad news today

im so sorry you are going through this!!


i remember someone a few weeks ago posted this blog . the first article about new standards is interesting. who knows what may be considered normal when more testing is done.

as for count, you know the old saying, it only takes ONE!

Message edited 7/13/2010 9:58:05 PM.

Re: Some bad news today

Try not to get too down - as someone whose DH has gone from ZERO sperm to a normal count - i can assure you that things can change.

A urologist is a great place to start. He can determine if there are any physcial problems causing the change in count. Clomid has been know to help build up sperm count so you might want to see if they suggest your DH take that. Also i reserached supplements and there is one that alot of urologist recommend called ProXeed - but its very so i give my DH a the following combo that it pretty much all the same ingredients. (Rainbow Lite Mens One, Acetyl-L-Carnitine 500mg, L-Carnitine 1000mg, and CoQ-10 30mg)

Good luck and let me know if you need any urologist recommendations - i have two that are great.

Message edited 7/14/2010 9:51:39 AM.

Re: Some bad news today

I haven't heard of anything so extreme, but I know that the numbers can vary quite a bit. My DH has a low count, but even in that range it varies between 3 million to 15 million, and that was only in 1 month.

Was your DH sick or taking any medication 3 months before this last analysis?

I know it's terribly disappointing (that's how I felt when his numbers went from 15 million to 3 million), but in your case given that his first analysis was so high, I'm sure that if you wait a month or so to repeat then the numbers are likely to improve.

Also wanted to add that we had a few SAs done by Quest when my DH was first diagnosed with Testicular Cancer and they all varied slightly, and were kind of different from the analysis done by a doctor's lab.

HTH!

Re: Some bad news today

Hey - my dh has extreme morph issues like less then 1%.
Try not to get too upset bc its hard on him too. Remember when you thought infertility was all bc of you & how lucky you felt that he was supportive for you.

Re: Some bad news today

Thanks for the feedback and support girls. I'm feeling much better about it. DH came home from work upset last night, so I gave him a little pep talk and I think it helped me. I'm thinking stress or something contributed to the low numbers this time. I would think it's easier to get a rare low result than it is to get a fluke high result.

BabyFever10 - Thanks for the info on the vitamins. We had looked into ProXeed, but it's way too expensive. We're going to try out the mixture you listed.

The doc didn't recommend seeing a Urologist just yet, but I'll take the recs just in case. Thanks!!

Re: Some bad news today

Sperm counts can vary drastically based on stress, sickness, etc.

Vitamin C improves count

Pycnogenol is good for morphology and there are a whole other hosts of vitamins that help.

If you want I can FM you a list of Vitamins that DH took that helped him.

Your DH should go for another SA and see those results. If those are low too than he should make an appt with a urologist. Good Luck!!