ANyone else out there with male infertility as the problem?

[Neffi211]

Just wondering if there are others with sperm morphology issues, and what kind of success rates they have had. I kept thinking that since it wasn't a problem with me, our chances would be better. Apparently I was wrong...my dr said it doesn't matter at all. anyway, this is my first day here...I'm very excited the learn as much as possible. We begin IVF in January. And anyone to be kind and explain what some of the abbrevations stand for???

[2ndtimer]

Hi Neffi,
We started out with just the diagnosis of male factor, but after 2 fresh IVF and 2 FET all not working, who knows? They've tested me for everything under the sun and so far I'm OK. Hopefully, this will not happen to you. It's true that "usually" if there is only the male problem to tackle then your odds should be pretty good for success. My advise would be to take things one day at a time when your IVF cycle starts, remember that they will be adjusting your meds and monitoring you closely so don't get too stressed about changes in your meds or worrying about follicles. Also, different protocals work for different people, so if you don't respond very well to one protocal then you try another -don't lose hope. Don't got too stressed out by random comments by the staff/nurses/MD's at your clinic. They don't realize how much we all hang on everything they say.
Acupuncture is definitely worth it! It sounds crazy if you've never considered it but it really helps with relaxation, stress management, & egg quality.
If at all possible try to find a shared risk program. It's more up front but it takes a lot of the worry out when you know you'll get your money back if it doesn't work.
You should check out the general forum for the the abbreviations -very helpful. I also think the explanations about the procedures on the left side of the web site are great.
I want to wish you the best of luck. You come to the right place for support. The women here are great.
2ndtimer

[Joyce (jjwinky)]

first sorry for any typos-it's late...

We have male infertility. My huband has sperm, but it is only available through aspiration. Three years ago we went through two unsuccessful IVF attempts, using both IVF and ICSI.
I truly believe it was the Dr. we had at the time.
Everything with me has been tested and is supposedly perfectly normal.
Here we are over three years later, we picked a different Dr, with a much better bedside manner (Which apparently made a BIG difference to us) b/c he said our circumstances were different b/c there were no female isues, and his postivity definitely made a difference. He told me I would get pregnant easily, and as soon as he transferred two fresh embryos into me, he avised me that I had an 80% chance of getting pregnant. The protools between the two Dr's were COMPLETELY different... to the point we were so surprised that there was such a huge difference in the protocol process, and regimen, even the medications and the actual transfer itself.
In hindsite, we would have never got pregnant with that other Dr. And we kind of knew it t the time... but we were so immersed in the process that we coudn't help ourselves but continue with what we began. Who can blame us??
We are a little over 6 weeks pregnant, and we are going in for our first sono on Thursday.
Please ask whatever quesion you have, as the one thing I hope to do, is to help share any information I can....

Best of luck to you in January...
But to answer your question... from what I was told from my new Dr...
there is a difference between male and female infertility, and as long as they can overcome the male infertility, the likelihood of the female getting pregnant is greater.
I know it's had to stay positive - but try your best.
You are headed toward a huge roller-coater ride of emotions, and I wish i could tell you it was easy...
it's not. Patience is of virtue..... and if you are anything like me... when it comes to babies and getting pregnant.. patience is one thing I did not possess.... but like most things in life... hindsite is 20/20.
Best wishes, and please let me know if you have any questions.
Joyce

10/26/07- egg retrieval and ICSI performed
24 eggs
23 mature
14 embryos
10/31/2007 - Two embryos (5 day blasts) tranferred
four frozen

[beachbaby]

Hi, We also went into IVF with iCSI thinking ours was only male factor, my DH (dear hubby) has antisperm antibodies affecting the tails, plus his motility was below average, due to having 2 problems we were told to start straight away with ICSI.
We did a fresh cycle in July 2006, got 20 eggs, 12 of which were good enough quality to use, we transferred 2 and froze 10, we got a BFN. we then did 2 Frozen cycles both which ended in Bio-chemicals, got very low betas and the embryo stops developing before there is a heartbeat detected. I was then tested for various problems which can stop the baby developing, clotting, auto immune, chromasones etc, i was found to have a clotting problem and with the addition of 75mg aspirin a day, i got pregnant with twins, its still early days but just had my first scan and saw both heartbeats.
Hope this helps, my advice would be to make sure you have had all the tests you can have as well, as if they had known about my problem i would have saved a lot of money and stress.
Good luck to you in the new year, and i hope to read good news soon.

[vicky77]

About the abbreviations that you were asking. Here's a link for the thread that is on the General Forum that discusses that. You will have a list of all the abbreviations there...

http://www.ivf-infertility.com/phpBB2/v ... &start=135

[nicaliw]

Hi there,

My husband has poor sperm count and quality. We just completed our first cycle of IVF with ICSI and are almost 5 weeks pregnant!
My RE checked out EVERYTHING possible on me to make sure there was nothing wrong with me and to maximise our chances. I had the tiniest little fibroid, smaller than your little finger nail in my uterus that barely intrudes on the uterine cavity. We removed that even though he said it wasn't essential but he recommended it to give us the best chances. Another thing he explained to us was that for ICSI the sperm don't have to be great swimmers, any living sperm cell can be used, even if its just vibtrating (not swimming). I've even read about men who have no sperm in their ejacualate having successful ICSI by taking spem directly from the teste. I hope this gives you some inspiration!

Good luck!!!!

[Neffi211]

I really apprieciate all of the responses. Although I don't have much to talk about since I'm not starting anything until Xmas time, I do have a sonohystogram friday that I am a little nervous about--anyone have any thoughts on them....what are they like? Are they painful? I'm suppose to take 600mg of Ibprofen before the appt? Any thoughts?

[Jane Doe]

Hi Neffi,
We have also the sperm morphology problem. We were told ICSI is our only hope but during our last IVF they did not think it was necessary to perform ICSI. I believe this is because of all the things we have been doing to improve the sperm morphology. We have gone organic and have stopped using chemicals around the house (perfumes, candles, cleaners, etc). We clean using natural products. Also we have started eating more fruits and veggies to get better nutrition. My DH also takes a multivitamin tablet to supplement his diet. We have not had alcohol for a long time. Thankfully DH does not smoke so that was not an issue. But I guess these small things must have improved his sperm morphology to the point that ICSI was not needed.

Last IVF failed because of egg related issues. We are hoping this one will give us a miracle.

All the best.

[nicaliw]

hi Neffi,

I had a similar procedure to the sonohystogram (a hysterosalpingogram). Out of all the tests I went through I'd say it was the most uncomfortable but I think it was OK until they decided to force the dye through at higher pressure to clear some mucus from one of my tubes. The pain wasn't sharp though, just very crampy. As soon as it was over the pain went away. It'll be worth it in the end though. It sounds like you have a good RE who is checking everything out before getting started. Im sure you'll do great.

Nikki

[shantala]

hi neffi

we have male factor infertility only too. my dh's sperm count and motility is lower than low. my dh has about 1% of an average man's sperm and only about 3% of that 1% works so we also had to use ICSI.

and as you can see, we were lucky enough to get that BFP on our 2nd attempt.

i got dh taking some men's sperm enhancement tablets from the zita west website. and the clinic actually commented on how much his sperm had improved. so thats definitely worth a go.

best of luck!!

xx

[Neffi211]

I really appreciate all the responses. I'm really excited to get started. I have the sonohistogram tomorrow. so I'll let everyone know how it goes. All of your stories are very inspiring. We are going through all these tests to qualify for a shared risk program. 6 cycles of IVF w/ a guarantee. That way I won't be too upset if it doesn't work the first time. Although--it will be upsetting every time I guess. Anyway....we'll see how it goes tomorrow