Hi everyone-
We found out my DH had a low count in January. He had 2 SAs done. One came back at 5 mill the other came back 3 million.
My DH had varicocile repair done in March and he is on Clomid now.
He had low testosterone levels too-which hopefully the Clomid is fixing.

Anyone in the same boat?

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[b]DH 30-low sperm count 5 million ~Sobs~


Had SA on 1/22/2008-found out low sperm count.
2/8/2008-DH starts taking Fertility Blend and L-Carnatine to assist in low count
2/14/2008-SA analysis again-yep-count still sucked!
2/21/2008-appointment with urologist found varicocile
3/3/2008-Surgery for varicocile-Doctor found TWO varicociles and had the buggers removed.
DH on Clomid for the next 3 months
4/9/2008-DH's testosterone went from 303 to 827!!
June-DH's counts are to 23 million!!
IUI 7/9/08 count 9 mill post wash
7/19/08
BETA 7/22/08-50
BETA 7/24/08

Every night you cry yourself to sleep thinking why does this happen to me? Why does every moment have to be so hard??

That was us to a T! I can't remember what his orginal numbers were, but the count was low and his motility was around 20%. He had a bi-lateral varicocele surgery back in Sept. His count didn't improve, but his motility increased by 60%! We just did our first IUI in March and we got our . His prewash count was 5 million and his motility was 40% something. Post-wash numbers were 54% motility and his count went down to 3.5 million. I prove that it can happen and the IUI worked for us! GOOD LUCK!!! It took us 4 long years to get pregnant again.

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Thanks for the reply Bren!
I have been so darn frustrated with everything. I haven't been able to find many positive stories about varicocile surgery and pregnancy without assistance.
If you don't mind me asking-did you have any issues? When you had your IUI did you have to take anything?

Thanks

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[b]DH 30-low sperm count 5 million ~Sobs~


Had SA on 1/22/2008-found out low sperm count.
2/8/2008-DH starts taking Fertility Blend and L-Carnatine to assist in low count
2/14/2008-SA analysis again-yep-count still sucked!
2/21/2008-appointment with urologist found varicocile
3/3/2008-Surgery for varicocile-Doctor found TWO varicociles and had the buggers removed.
DH on Clomid for the next 3 months
4/9/2008-DH's testosterone went from 303 to 827!!
June-DH's counts are to 23 million!!
IUI 7/9/08 count 9 mill post wash
7/19/08
BETA 7/22/08-50
BETA 7/24/08

Every night you cry yourself to sleep thinking why does this happen to me? Why does every moment have to be so hard??

HI! Wishing you the best of luck!

Sheri (sweet pea) and her hubby had the same surgery and she is now happily pregnant! Hopefully this will be you also!

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married 9 years
Me 32 DH 49
TTC#1
Low Count, ASA's present
IVF 12-07 BFN

Welcome!! and GOOD LUCK!!
I'm another Male Factor survivor and graduate!! Unfortunately the varicocele repair didn't work for my husband.. He had SEVERE varicoceles though.. PLURAL.. they didn't even get all of them because they were afraid of snipping something they shouldn't.. but IVF did work for us!!

GOOD LUCK!! I know it can happen!! Several women are proof of it !!!

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I didn't have any problems at all. The only thing I took with my IUI is 50mg clomid from days 3-7. I wasn't monitored by my RE with u/s, or anything so I don't know how many follicles I had. At least one I would assume!

I'm not sure which route your doctor will want to take with you. At least in my case I did a post wash IUI with only 3.5 million swimmers and it worked. Keep in mind when you do an IUI and they "wash" the sperm, it will probably lower the count, but the wash will hopefully increase the motility. It helps get the little guys going.

Don't give up hope! I almost reached that point too, but I never gave up hope!

If you have any more questions, ask away!

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Hi ladies
Thanks so much for the responses-it is nice to know there are others out there. We are doing DH's hormone levels today and next week we will find out the results. Hopefully the Clomid is working on him.
This has been such a long tough road for us. I really wish there was more research out there on MF!

Oatie-SEVERE varicociles? Did he know he had them that bad? I know my DH didn't realize he had 1 much less 2 until the doc got in there.

We wont know until May about the count.

Thanks for all the well wishes. You guys made my morning!

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[b]DH 30-low sperm count 5 million ~Sobs~


Had SA on 1/22/2008-found out low sperm count.
2/8/2008-DH starts taking Fertility Blend and L-Carnatine to assist in low count
2/14/2008-SA analysis again-yep-count still sucked!
2/21/2008-appointment with urologist found varicocile
3/3/2008-Surgery for varicocile-Doctor found TWO varicociles and had the buggers removed.
DH on Clomid for the next 3 months
4/9/2008-DH's testosterone went from 303 to 827!!
June-DH's counts are to 23 million!!
IUI 7/9/08 count 9 mill post wash
7/19/08
BETA 7/22/08-50
BETA 7/24/08

Every night you cry yourself to sleep thinking why does this happen to me? Why does every moment have to be so hard??

Just wanted to say good luck! My DH didn't have varicociles, but we did have the low count. We ended up having to do IVF w/ICSI and now I am happily pregnant with a boy due in July! And I remember about Sheri's DH having the same surgery and I believe that they got pregnant on their own after that (correct me if I am wrong...)
Will be thinking of you!

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My husband took a home test which is extensive it took over 2 hours to finish. It came back negitive but it didn't say why all we know is there is a problem. We don't have insurance so until I get a job where we can get that we don't know what the full problem is. I have him on Korena Ginsing an E vit. Which I hear helps naturally.

Hi ladies-
We got the results back from DH's hormone test and all his levels went up way high!
The urologist said he was very happy with these results and now we are hoping the count goes up as well. We have to wait until June to find out about that.
In the meantime, he is going to stay on the Clomid. My LH surged on Saturday night so maybe we will have some luck naturally till then.

How is everyone else?

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[b]DH 30-low sperm count 5 million ~Sobs~


Had SA on 1/22/2008-found out low sperm count.
2/8/2008-DH starts taking Fertility Blend and L-Carnatine to assist in low count
2/14/2008-SA analysis again-yep-count still sucked!
2/21/2008-appointment with urologist found varicocile
3/3/2008-Surgery for varicocile-Doctor found TWO varicociles and had the buggers removed.
DH on Clomid for the next 3 months
4/9/2008-DH's testosterone went from 303 to 827!!
June-DH's counts are to 23 million!!
IUI 7/9/08 count 9 mill post wash
7/19/08
BETA 7/22/08-50
BETA 7/24/08

Every night you cry yourself to sleep thinking why does this happen to me? Why does every moment have to be so hard??

That's great news about your DH's numbers. My DH had surgery to repair a couple of large varicocles in June 2007 and we got pg on my Sep. 2007 cycle! Our baby boy is due in June! We hadn't even gone for a sperm analysis yet. I hope your sperm analysis comes back with a super high count. Maybe you won't even need that analysis done. Good luck to you!

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Sheri

hey there-
Nice to meet you, people kept telling me about you! Your story leaves hope for women like me. If you don't mind me asking, were there any other issues regarding your DH and his count? What was his count before the surgery? Did the doc put him on anything else? Did you have him on anything else, I have my DH on a lot of vitamins.
Sorry to be all up in your business!

Thanks

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[b]DH 30-low sperm count 5 million ~Sobs~


Had SA on 1/22/2008-found out low sperm count.
2/8/2008-DH starts taking Fertility Blend and L-Carnatine to assist in low count
2/14/2008-SA analysis again-yep-count still sucked!
2/21/2008-appointment with urologist found varicocile
3/3/2008-Surgery for varicocile-Doctor found TWO varicociles and had the buggers removed.
DH on Clomid for the next 3 months
4/9/2008-DH's testosterone went from 303 to 827!!
June-DH's counts are to 23 million!!
IUI 7/9/08 count 9 mill post wash
7/19/08
BETA 7/22/08-50
BETA 7/24/08

Every night you cry yourself to sleep thinking why does this happen to me? Why does every moment have to be so hard??

We actually didn't have a sperm analysis done before the surgery. We were going to until we found out our insurance only covers the cost of diagnosing infertility and not the treatment of it. DH's urologist said he would code it for medical purposes instead of infertility to make sure it was covered by insurance so DH and I were worried that if we got an analysis done before the surgery that it might tip off the insurance company that it really was for infertility. The urologist didn't have a problem with it because he knew by looking at DH's varicoceles that that was indeed what was causing the problems. He removed a couple of large ones on the left side, but left a small one DH had on the right side. The urologist didn't think the small one would cause any problems on it's own if he left it and he was right. Since we didn't have an analysis done (we were going to pay out of pocket for a post surgery sperm analysis), we don't know how fertile we are. We aren't sure if we just got lucky or if we are fertile myrtle now. We'll see when we try for #2.

I know some docs prescribe clomid for men with count problems, but my DH's urologist did not. I, however, had my DH on a multitude of vitamins which didn't seem to do diddly squat for him. Poor DH. Although, this was before surgery, so they may help your DH since he's on the clomid and has already had his surgery and you know there already is some improvement. Good luck to you both! I really hope you are blessed with a healthy pregnancy and baby soon!

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Sheri

Hello all. My DH has varicocele surgery scheduled for May 12th. We have been trying for 3 years. We found out about the varicocele in October. After reading stories of surgery not helping we did not want to go through with the surgery. We both want children really bad so we decided to give the surgery a try.

Hi TTC3 years-
Welcome to the club that nobody wants to be a member of-there is great support here if you need it.
My DH had his surgery in early March and we will have a SA in June. Thus far though his hormone levels have gotten a lot higher so we are keeping our fingers crossed.

Believe me I understand right where you are. May 2nd is the big day? I will keep you in my thoughts!

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[b]DH 30-low sperm count 5 million ~Sobs~


Had SA on 1/22/2008-found out low sperm count.
2/8/2008-DH starts taking Fertility Blend and L-Carnatine to assist in low count
2/14/2008-SA analysis again-yep-count still sucked!
2/21/2008-appointment with urologist found varicocile
3/3/2008-Surgery for varicocile-Doctor found TWO varicociles and had the buggers removed.
DH on Clomid for the next 3 months
4/9/2008-DH's testosterone went from 303 to 827!!
June-DH's counts are to 23 million!!
IUI 7/9/08 count 9 mill post wash
7/19/08
BETA 7/22/08-50
BETA 7/24/08

Every night you cry yourself to sleep thinking why does this happen to me? Why does every moment have to be so hard??

Thanks Brookelyn510 !

I am so nervous. I keep thinking after he gets the surgery done, they will find something wrong with me. Thanks for the welcome. It helps knowing I have someone to talk to that is going through the same things. Good luck and I will keep you in my prayers

No problem, I am here every step of the way with you and if you stay on the same road I am on, I'll even paint little white lines and put in stop signs for you.

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[b]DH 30-low sperm count 5 million ~Sobs~


Had SA on 1/22/2008-found out low sperm count.
2/8/2008-DH starts taking Fertility Blend and L-Carnatine to assist in low count
2/14/2008-SA analysis again-yep-count still sucked!
2/21/2008-appointment with urologist found varicocile
3/3/2008-Surgery for varicocile-Doctor found TWO varicociles and had the buggers removed.
DH on Clomid for the next 3 months
4/9/2008-DH's testosterone went from 303 to 827!!
June-DH's counts are to 23 million!!
IUI 7/9/08 count 9 mill post wash
7/19/08
BETA 7/22/08-50
BETA 7/24/08

Every night you cry yourself to sleep thinking why does this happen to me? Why does every moment have to be so hard??

Hi TTC3 Years,
I know this is a trying time. My DH & I want through the same surgery in Jan. He had both sides repaired. One large one on the left side and small ones on the right. We were very nervous about the surgery, and even the after effects. Just to share some good news with you my DH count want from 5 million to 16 million. I lost faith before & after the surgery, but now seeing the results of his SA, we are hoping this may work. I'm trying to regain some faith. It's just hard to cope with on any given day....

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TTC Since Aug.2006
Me-Seem fine
Husband-Left & Right varicocele
Jan. 08 Repair varicocele
Just waiting for SA

I could be reading in to what you said, but you used the term "regain some hope". Girl, I am right there with you. I think when we are handed MF we all need to regain some hope.

When we were told about DH's problem I felt like someone had kicked me in my head. I heard the nurse, but didn't really hear the nurse talk about extremelt low counts. I went back to work (like an idiot) and then I got mad as hell. After a brief stint with anger I went into trying to find all of the information I possibly could because I was going to fix this issue immediately so DH and I could go on with the rest of our lives. My little sister is pregnant (due in July-wasn't even trying nor is she married so this pregnancy to her is a complete pain in the tail) so that just compounded my issue.

I could go into all kinds of details but the bottom line is I went freaking psycho basically. Yelled, cried, became stubborn-was just fighting the world. That was my coping skill in the battle of fight or flight. I said horrible things. I kicked the crap out of my cabinets and it split right up the front in the middle of one of my "how the hell can this be happening to us" fits-and let me tell you-I am very house proud and destruction of property is not my forte'. All of these characteristics are so far from my personality yet they were very much me and very much MY actions at the time.

Looking back I see that there are several contributing factors in this situation to my behavior-ie-doctors not explaining fully what the problem was until we got to the urologist so our initial shock was not taken care of 2-waiting to get into the urologist-it took us basically a month so that month was a month of my destructive spree, 3-my family wanting to put a bandaid on it by telling me to relax, or just got to IVF, blah blah
and 4-the biggest one-this is a crisis. It is a HUGE deal. It is DEVESTATING. It almost destroyed me and I'm not easily pushed-but this took me straight to the edge. It tests your marriage, your mind, your heart, everything. I had a hard time putting this into prospective. I am very much a person that puts things in order and I thought-
crack heads have kids.
People that don't want kids get pregnant
People that don't take care of their kids get pregnant
one of my favorites-people that have been trying WITH me or AFTER me are pregnant or had their kids-I'm not pregnant
WHERE IN THE HECK DOES THIS MAKE SENSE? So I couldn't put it in order. So I got mad and pretty much went mad. And that is okay.
And it's okay that we all get mad. It's hard. It's a horrible experience that I wish I could take away from the world or at least assign it to people that don't need to be reproducing.

So I do hope you regain some hope. I hope you hang in there. I hope we all do as we all are going to make it.

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[b]DH 30-low sperm count 5 million ~Sobs~


Had SA on 1/22/2008-found out low sperm count.
2/8/2008-DH starts taking Fertility Blend and L-Carnatine to assist in low count
2/14/2008-SA analysis again-yep-count still sucked!
2/21/2008-appointment with urologist found varicocile
3/3/2008-Surgery for varicocile-Doctor found TWO varicociles and had the buggers removed.
DH on Clomid for the next 3 months
4/9/2008-DH's testosterone went from 303 to 827!!
June-DH's counts are to 23 million!!
IUI 7/9/08 count 9 mill post wash
7/19/08
BETA 7/22/08-50
BETA 7/24/08

Every night you cry yourself to sleep thinking why does this happen to me? Why does every moment have to be so hard??

My friend's husband had vericocele repair and then the next month they were preggo!

We are all here for each other!

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