Sperm count and motility

[oneday86]

Hi everyone, i just found DH's semen results and realised how bad his numbers really are! Iv obviously seen them before but now that IVF has sunk in and i understand a bit more i can not understand how a 25 year old has such bad sperm quality?? Just wanted to share numbers to get some feedback on similar situations-
Sperm count- 800,000 (read it should be between 20-250 MILLION!)
Motility- 0%
Abnormal forms- > 70% (should be 0-70, which is border line of being normal)
Two test were done and came back the same!!

When our local GP gave us our results back in december 09 she asked two questions, Did DH have mumps as a child which was a no and did his balls drop as a child, My DH's mum is a nurse so we checked and she said there were no problems as a child. Does anyone know what else may cause these major semen problems at such a young age?? We have already been doing IVF/ICSI since feb this year but im just interested to find some more answers. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

[milly's mummy]

Hi oneday

sorry to hear about your results, we also have had poor sperm quality since we started fertility treatment in 2006 (DH was around 24/25 then). His levels were not as low though and I can't remember what his motility was. Our number usually ranges around 3.5 million but has been as low as 600 000 and as high as 8 mill (only once though and after washing). Our samples have been recommended for icsi several times but we still managed to have 3 pg through iui's and I through icsi/ivf (ectopic).

I found that menevit helped him significantly with motility but not quantity. I also found that our lowest quantity was when DH had a bad cold, so for us health seems to effect his sample. When I asked about why our sample was low I was told it was nothing to do with anything, just his genetic predisposition. I have read before on the puregon info sheet that it has been used before to help increase sperm production but I have never heard of FS prescribing it before. Has anyone else heard of inj to help sperm before???

FX for your cycle!

[butterfly_warrior]

Has your DH been checked for a varicocele? It's like a varicose vein in the scrotum. My DH has one and has very similar semen analysis results - the triple defect as they like to call it. The woman I saw for acupuncture said the triple defect thing is fairly common with varicoceles. It can be treated (DH's hasn't been) and some men return to a level of fertility where natural conception is then possible. With the overwhelming fertility problems on my side, we elected to leave DH's varicocele as is when the non-surgical embolisation failed. We have a 19 month old son conceived with the help of ICSI.

BW

[jaskie]

Does anyone know what else may cause these major semen problems at such a young age??

About the same time that my DH and I discovered we were not able to conceive naturally I watched a documentary on TV called 'Men In Danger'. I was shocked by what I saw. We have over 85,000 chemicals in the modern world and most of them have never been tested with regards to their effects on human health. Since watching this film I have done my own extensive research on chemicals and their effect on the developing foetus, babies and children.

In the last 20 or so years a number of researchers have discovered the following:

Mens fertility is declining at a rate of about 1% per year in Europe and America. In france where thay have exact records on sperm count for tha last 20 years they found a drop by 40%

The effects on fertility start in the womb. researches have discovered that endocrine disrupting chemicals (BPA is the most famous of these) can effect the developing foetus at extremely low levels (parts per billion), at levels considered 'safe' by most governments. We now know that it is not the amount of the dose but the timing and duration of exposure that can do the most damage.

These chemicals pervade our everyday life. They are so common and are found in so many different products they are almost impossible to avoid. Among them are PCB's, DDT and pesticides. The plastics in baby bottles (heard of BPA?), the ingredients in cosmetics, the wrapping used for food could all be contributing to endocrine problems.

[milly's mummy]

oh dear, my DH does all the chemical spraying at his work with pesticides, even though he does use masks and things, I can't help but wonder how its effected his count!

[oneday86]

Thanks ladies you have all been very helpfull! I guess it prob is something he was just born with although refering to Jaskie's comment my acupuncture lady wants us to do a 6 week detox if this cycle dosn't work, she said this will clean the system out to get rid of anything causing infertility problems. It makes me wonder maybe there is something causing these problems in male infertility??

[Persephone1]

My DH had the trifector sperm issues like your's and we wondered about mumps, etc. The FS said it was likely to be "genetic" but we were never given any other explanation.

Um...there is a possibility that my DH's drug use during his teens and early 20's may have affected his sperm quality and count. But no one ever talked to us about that, we just thought it might have had something to do with it. I guess we'll never know.

FWIW, my DH's brother also has fertility difficulties, but different to my DH. We had to use ICSI, my BIL and his wife didn't use ICSI. They conceived through IVF, but they've also since conceived naturally.

Good luck with the journey hun

[oneday86]

Thanks persephone1! yeah we also worry about my DH's brother, he is only 21 though and not wanting kids for some years to come but i think we will reccomend him get tested when the times right so he dosn't have to go through as much as we did. It just shocks me to think a young male can have such bad semen when there is no reason behind it. My DH tried pot once so we cant put it down to that so i guess i just have to let my head rest thinking it is genetic. DH's uncle (his mothers brother) is infertile so my local GP said he may have heredited it but his uncles issues were unknown as they were trying 40 years ago when there wasnt any technology or IVF so once they had tried for years the DR just said they coulnt concieve natrually so they adopted. But im unsure if he would have ended up with this problem from his mothers side and his dad had no issues at all. Anyways sorry for my blabber lol. Thanks again ladies x

[CrazyCat]

My husband, extremely low count, he's 24. was a heavy, heavy drinker since late teens and also experimented with drugs.

[oneday86]

Well we have hit another brick wall! I went to see my fertility DR today about ahving test done on me, im having Karotype, lupus ( inhibitor, protein, c&s, At3,apcr)
factor V leiden, gliadin & anti-mysial antibodies, TSH, LH, FSH, testosterone, SHBG, insulin, Hba1c, BSL, full blood count, ACA and homocysteine! Hubby is having another sperm test for DNA frgmentation and he had 3 blood tests today aswell. Basically what my Dr said was he dosn't think im the problem he thinks its because DH's sperm is such bad quality thats effecting us to still not be pg. For the first time today i actually really thought it might not ever happen for us and believed it all these tests are costing us $638 and non of it is claimable on medicare!!! I feel like we are on this dead end road, i always believed that one will only be put through so much crap in life and then the good will come but we are still here 2 yrs down the track with no certainty! I think life is really cruel sometimes.