Normal SA but Not high counts- supplements question

babydreams13 · May 2013

Hi. So DH had a normal SA. No issues. We had 3 IUIs which all were BFN. DH and I are both 31. DH's counts for IUI were 16 mill, 11 mill, and 14 mill. My RE said these counts were fine bc he likes to see the counts over 10 mill. These numbers are in the normal range but I wonder if they could be higher. I see many people post that their DHs count was above 20 mill or higher for IUIs. What do you think about his numbers? I have seen people get preg on IUI with lower numbers but IDK. Should he take some type of a supplement to increase the volume or is he fine? If so what supplements do you know of and have had success with? He takes a multi-vitamin and fish oil everyday. He doesn't smoke, doesn't go in hot tubs, and only drinks on the weekends. Any advice is appreciated. Thanks.

sinnedambition · May 2013

I'm new here, but for what it's worth, my doctor said they like to see them around 25 mil for a "good" IUI. Now, my doctor is also a little strange, but that's what we were told. =/

So, maybe ask your doctor or get another doctor's opinion?

babydreams13 · May 2013

sinnedambition:

I'm new here, but for what it's worth, my doctor said they like to see them around 25 mil for a "good" IUI. Now, my doctor is also a little strange, but that's what we were told. =/

So, maybe ask your doctor or get another doctor's opinion?

Thanks. Wow. 25 million is a lot and I don't think we will get in that range. Its odd bc my RE said his counts are fine but the only reason I questioned them is because I'm on the board and see people post what their DHs count was for IUI. I'll bring it up to my RE on Tuesday. Right before every IUI he tells me the count and says its good. When we had the 16mill he said that was very good. Who knows...it just takes one right? ha

babydreams13 · May 2013

IntuitiveBlue:
Sounds like our counts. We were told that they're borderline. Still okay, and definitely not bad enough to be dx with MFI, but anything under 20 mil is low.
I'm sure the MFI ladies can recommend supplements. MH just takes his multi-vitamin.
Good luck.

Thanks. Did your RE suggest anything your DH should do? I wish they said he had MFI bc them telling him everything is normal he will prob think I'm crazy asking him to take supplements. I have seen people get preg with way less so hopefully his over 10 million will do.

babydreams13 · May 2013

Rumbera28:
How long is DH abstaining before your IUIs? Make sure you're BDing regularly until a couple days before, it's very important that he is releasing often. There's a lot that a healthy guy can do to increase his count. Regular exercise cardio makes a big difference. Diet not just supplements is important, but try adding a zinc supplement. Long periods of sitting ie television watching, etc smushes and heats up his swimmers which is awful if you need a lot of good ones! It also reduces circulation so it's a double whammy. After testing in the normal range in January, my husband made a few changes and his pre and post wash numbers are now always ideal. Side benefit: is also a healthier guy because of it. Good Luck! P.s. mobile bumping, sorry for punctuation problems.

Thanks. For the 3 IUIS we abstained 3 days each time. I felt like that was a good amount of time for them not to be dead and also for his count to go up. Do you think we should be abstaining more or less? As for releasing often that could be part of the problem. With be on Progesterone Suppositories we rarely BD in the 2ww bc its gross and DH isn't the do it yourself type. So for this cycle we BD on Saturday, then AF came today so the next few days are out. Should we try to BD a lot leading up to IUI? Usually we'll BD like the week before IUI then 3 days before IUI. I'm trying to get DH to eat better and work out more. We been taking walks with the dog every night. He is not overweight. He has an office job so definitely sits a lot and then sits and watches TV at night. What did your husband do to improve his numbers? I'll look into Zinc. I looked up the GNC mens fertility blend and then theres some other mens blend on Amazon. Wondering if those are worth it. Thanks for your help.

monimu13 · May 2013

Our actual counts have been OK, but motility has been low and morph is low. DH takes CoQ10 100mg daily, a regular multivitamin, and the Fertility Blend for Men (they carry this at GNC, but much cheaper on amazon). I'm pretty sure my RE recommends these things, no matter which part of the SA is abnormal. Hope that helps!

babydreams13 · May 2013

monimu13:
Our actual counts have been OK, but motility has been low and morph is low. DH takes CoQ10 100mg daily, a regular multivitamin, and the Fertility Blend for Men (they carry this at GNC, but much cheaper on amazon). I'm pretty sure my RE recommends these things, no matter which part of the SA is abnormal. Hope that helps!

Thanks for the info. I was looking into the GNC Fertility Blend on Amazon and on Ebay. I found it for $25 which is better than the $40 price. Just wondering if its really worth it. My RE thinks the counts he had was fine but I think they are low based on what people post about their DHs counts. I also looked into Coq10 but its expensive. Where do you get yours from? Has your DH seen any improvement using all those things? Also doesn't it take 3 months for all this to work? We will be doing 3 more IUIs then on to IVF. By the time the 3 months comes around we will prob be on IVF. Thanks for helping!

katib77 · May 2013

babydreams13:
monimu13:
Our actual counts have been OK, but motility has been low and morph is low. DH takes CoQ10 100mg daily, a regular multivitamin, and the Fertility Blend for Men (they carry this at GNC, but much cheaper on amazon). I'm pretty sure my RE recommends these things, no matter which part of the SA is abnormal. Hope that helps!
Thanks for the info. I was looking into the GNC Fertility Blend on Amazon and on Ebay. I found it for $25 which is better than the $40 price. Just wondering if its really worth it. My RE thinks the counts he had was fine but I think they are low based on what people post about their DHs counts. I also looked into Coq10 but its expensive. Where do you get yours from? Has your DH seen any improvement using all those things? Also doesn't it take 3 months for all this to work? We will be doing 3 more IUIs then on to IVF. By the time the 3 months comes around we will prob be on IVF. Thanks for helping!

It is worth if for MFI, which is sounds like you guys don't have. And as you said, it does take three months for the sperm *born* using the vitamins to expel in ejaculation. So it won't help for IUIs between now and Late August.

MFI, or low count is considered below 20mil/ml in PRE WASH. What you are talking about is post wash for IUI where they want over 10mil/ml, but most of the time only half a milliliter is put back in you so if you look closely at the paperwork you might have 16mil put back in you in half a mil, so really mil/ml it's 32mil/ml. AND even if it's not 16mil/ml post wash is still great.

Stop looking for issues where you don't have any. Real MFI is a heartbreaking issue. You don't have it. I've had IUIs where my H had 13mil/ml BEFORE it was washed. THAT is something to be worried about. Not "He's been told he has fine sperm post wash, but it's not as super terrific awesome as others." I know not being PG after a few IUIs is hard, and being unexplained make you want to be able to fix something - but like you said, it won't do anything until after the IUIs are over so I say don't waste your money now.

BUT for any actual MFIers who happen to read this, yes. My H has been taking Fertility Blend for Men for three years on and off. And Coq-10 for the past year. When he's on them, his counts and motility improve. And when he's off them, three months later his numbers nose dive. Everyone responds differently so I don't want to say it's *the* answer as obviously we're still not PG but it has helped us. And personally, I buy my FB4M on a website called iHerb dot com for the lowest price and get CoQ10 at Target generic brand.

vpine · May 2013

DH has had 60 mill in SA, 40 mill in both IUIs (pre wash) and he takes fertilaid for men, we bought it online at Amazon. We don't know if his numbers would have been lower because I had read reviews on Fertilaid months prior to his SA and he started taking them and hasn't stopped since, he took them because he's a smoker and we assumed that might affect his count/morphology. I would try these for 3 months and redo SA to see if you see increase in numbers since that is your concern. My Dr likes to see above 20 mill.

babydreams13 · May 2013

katib77:
babydreams13:
monimu13:
Our actual counts have been OK, but motility has been low and morph is low. DH takes CoQ10 100mg daily, a regular multivitamin, and the Fertility Blend for Men (they carry this at GNC, but much cheaper on amazon). I'm pretty sure my RE recommends these things, no matter which part of the SA is abnormal. Hope that helps!
Thanks for the info. I was looking into the GNC Fertility Blend on Amazon and on Ebay. I found it for $25 which is better than the $40 price. Just wondering if its really worth it. My RE thinks the counts he had was fine but I think they are low based on what people post about their DHs counts. I also looked into Coq10 but its expensive. Where do you get yours from? Has your DH seen any improvement using all those things? Also doesn't it take 3 months for all this to work? We will be doing 3 more IUIs then on to IVF. By the time the 3 months comes around we will prob be on IVF. Thanks for helping!
It is worth if for MFI, which is sounds like you guys don't have. And as you said, it does take three months for the sperm *born* using the vitamins to expel in ejaculation. So it won't help for IUIs between now and Late August.
MFI, or low count is considered below 20mil/ml in PRE WASH. What you are talking about is post wash for IUI where they want over 10mil/ml, but most of the time only half a milliliter is put back in you so if you look closely at the paperwork you might have 16mil put back in you in half a mil, so really mil/ml it's 32mil/ml. AND even if it's not 16mil/ml post wash is still great.
Stop looking for issues where you don't have any. Real MFI is a heartbreaking issue. You don't have it. I've had IUIs where my H had 13mil/ml BEFORE it was washed. THAT is something to be worried about. Not "He's been told he has fine sperm post wash, but it's not as super terrific awesome as others." I know not being PG after a few IUIs is hard, and being unexplained make you want to be able to fix something - but like you said, it won't do anything until after the IUIs are over so I say don't waste your money now.
BUT for any actual MFIers who happen to read this, yes. My H has been taking Fertility Blend for Men for three years on and off. And Coq-10 for the past year. When he's on them, his counts and motility improve. And when he's off them, three months later his numbers nose dive. Everyone responds differently so I don't want to say it's *the* answer as obviously we're still not PG but it has helped us. And personally, I buy my FB4M on a website called iHerb dot com for the lowest price and get CoQ10 at Target generic brand.

Okay thanks. Yes, I'm talking post wash numbers. Not saying we have MFI- we don't-but that doesn't mean we can't have borderline numbers. Unexplained is annoying so YES I am trying to figure out what is wrong. I respond well to meds and have 3-4 follicles so I figured maybe DHs lower #s might be the issue. Seems like people think over 20 mill would be ideal based on responses which we haven't met yet. We might take a month or 2 off this summer (might go on some trips who knows) so if he was on something then maybe his numbers would be higher for the fall. So if a supplement helps we might go for it. Thats why I am researching all this. I'll talk to my RE about it on Tuesday and see what he suggests. THANKS

babydreams13 · May 2013

vpine:
DH has had 60 mill in SA, 40 mill in both IUIs (pre wash) and he takes fertilaid for men, we bought it online at Amazon. We don't know if his numbers would have been lower because I had read reviews on Fertilaid months prior to his SA and he started taking them and hasn't stopped since, he took them because he's a smoker and we assumed that might affect his count/morphology. I would try these for 3 months and redo SA to see if you see increase in numbers since that is your concern. My Dr likes to see above 20 mill.

Thanks for the info. Seems like a lot of people say 20 million....so maybe we are a little low. I'll talk to my RE on Tuesday and see what he thinks. This will be our 4th IUI and 1st one with injects so hopefully the change does the trick.

BabyDustWish · May 2013

We have been told that anything over 10M is good, in fact our doctor has said that when donor sperm is obtained the sample contains 10M.

On a side note, my husband started taking zinc and a fertility blend from our local health food store and we saw improvements over the course of 3 months.

Best of luck on your journey!

Normal SA but Not high counts- supplements question

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