As you all know last night I posted a thread (AF showed up last night) that DH and I had an over the counter sperm test for him. The test if supposed to be 87% accurate it’s supposed to be as good as the sperm count test that they do at the Dr. office’s. Well DH took the test today and it was a so we now know that it’s not me it’s DH . The test came with 2 test so he is supposed to take the other test in 3 to 7 days and see what that test say’s. I told him that we would try and save up the money and go to the Dr. and see what that test say’s. I’m so depressed right now it’s not even funny. Now I know that we may never have a baby of our own. He keeps saying now not to give up that there is still stuff that we can do but I also keep telling him that we just don’t have the money to do all those things. Well I just thought I would fill everybody in on what the test said so now we all know and I don’t have to worry anymore that it’s me. I told him that I’m just going to give up I’m tired of trying I’m just going to give up now and forget about it. So maybe when I do that I’ll finally get PG.

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Hi Shannon, sorry this got long!

I would really encourage you to not get too disappointed before you take the second phase of the test, and before you get quantitative (number, actual counts) results from a lab and talk them over with a doctor. There's a lot of things that can affect sperm count, since it takes about 100 days for sperm to form start-to-finish. For example, did he have a fever in the last 100 days? Spermies don't like high temps (that's why testes hang down like they do), so a fever could lower his count temporariliy.

I would really encourage you to get a sperm analysis from your doc, and see what the numbers are. Then the doc can talk to you about different things you could do to help the numbers like not drinking, smoking, good nutrition, vitamins, changing style of undies and such. They will probably want to test the count again after a while to see if these things helped. Do you have insurance? You could check if they cover it as a diagnostic test. If not, shop around. Where I live, we have a lab that doesn't accept insurance payments, only cash from patients (you can get reimbursed from your insurance for the tests). As a result, they're a lot cheaper than other labs. And see if you could make payments if you want to test ASAP.

All hope is not lost. Sperm counts can vary over time. And I would encourage you to to deal with these issues that come up as problems you have as a couple, instead of his problems or your problems. He sounds like he's willing to work on TTC with help, which is great. I told my DH that I thought we should get a SA before we start and he won't do it until we try for a while and don't have any luck. Things are always worse when is here, too.

Hang in there, we're hangin' with you! Take care.

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Hi Shannon,


Well I think Lisa summed it up beautifully. I don't know what else to add, other than try to keep a positive attitude, and remember that we are here for you.

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Very much, Lisa pretty much sumed it up. ALso does you hubby wear boxers or briefs. If briefs then just switching to boxers can make a dramatic change in sperm count.

If you are low income you can get state insurance. You'd have a deductible to pay but once it's paid then you will be covered. You should qualify.

Good Luck.

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