Could this be a problem?

angie33 · #1 (**permalink**) 05-20-2007, 08:52 AM

I'm lurking from the IUI board, had a quick question.

Our dx is hypothalamic amenorrhea. I need drugs to even ovulate basically. We're doing injectibles now. However, we've been at this IF stuff off and on for almost 5 yrs. Dh's s/a's are getting progressivly worse. He started out in the excellent category and had only 7 mil poor quality sperm at our IUI this month. I had 7 eggs and it didn't work.

Anyway, he's had this enlarged vein on the right side of his right testicle for a long time. It's getting bigger and more noticeable. Could this be a varicocele? I looked it up yesterday and the pics I saw look just like what he has. He's never been checked out for this, and never mentioned it to the RE.

Should we mention this? Is there any other treatment other than surgery? I think it's only a minor prob, b/c usually his s/a's are good to average, they just seem to be getting a little worse each time. Oh btw, I am 35 and the clock is ticking very loudly.

Sorry this is so long, but it just came to me that this could be a problem. I'm sure it's not the end of the world, but I just want to be informed. If we both had a prob, it would be silly to only treat me.

Thanks in advance!

Oatie32 · #2 (**permalink**) 05-20-2007, 03:56 PM

Hey Angie..

Yes that could be the problem!! Most likely is.. My DH had a varicocele as well.. several of them that weren't even noticeable to me but he went in and had day surgery to correct the problem. The surgery is very minor.. Little if any pain involved.. the only problem was that his S/A didn't improve. They may have missed some though... You should definately have it checked.. Does he have pain ?? sometimes that is a def. symptom. My husband didn't have any symptoms.. he was getting checked because his count was low and that's what they said was causing it.... Just didn't help! Here we are.. in the IVF world!! Getting ready to go through our first cycle..

sweetpea1215 · #3 (**permalink**) 05-22-2007, 04:43 AM

I would definitely mention it. A lot of times the sperm analysis's do slowly decline, in time, with a varicocele. That is why there seems to be a lot of secondary infertility with them. A lot of men with varicoceles have no problems conceiving their first child, but as the varicocele becomes larger and does more damage, they have problems conceiving their second. There is a type of repair called embolization (sp?), but I'm not exactly sure what it is. There is supposed to be less pain involved, but I don't think all urologists are using that method yet. It wouldn't hurt to check into it. Good luck to you!