NEWBIE INTRO

mharnicker

Hi everyone!
My name is Melissa and I am 30 years old and have been TTC for a year. My hubby has low sperm count of 20k when the average should be 40 mil. He has had 4 SA's and we have been told we have a next to nothing chance of conceiving a child naturally and adoption is last resort. We had our first consultation with an RE a month ago. Luckily, our insurance can cover 4 rounds of IUI and an additional 4 rounds of IVF. My hubby has started a new job so we have to put the RE on hold for 6 months as he is not allowed to take time off until then. It has been quite difficult dealing with this as our reality. I spend days crying on and off. Good days and bad days. I'm on Kindara too which is another app similar to this where I have done my BBT for the last 4 months. Hoping to gain a great support system here with other ladies going through what we're going through.

mrscsw

I'm sorry you are going though this. Most of the ladies on this board are going through IVF. The TTC board has mostly ladies going through IUIs. That's great your insurance covers several rounds. GL.

mharnicker

Thank you!! I just posted on there!! In the future I may come back to this board. I am so GRATEFUL it will cover several rounds.Thanks for your support! GL to you too!!

tptbabe

Welcome! That's great that you guys have such wonderful insurance coverage

Has your DH seen a urologist specializing in MFI? Since you have a few months before starting treatment, it's a good time to see if there's an underlying cause of the MFI which might be treatable? (Treatments take about 3 months to see results, so it's something productive to do in the meantime.)

mharnicker

Yes, the urologist recommended hubby to see an Andrologist (MFI). We had 3 SA's done with him. First time testosterone was too high then the estradiol was too high but testosterone was fine. That's how we found out hops in beer causes estradiol to be too high which causes low sperm. He is not drinking at all. He LOVES his beer but has given it up. We're pumping him up with Zinc and COQ-10. They checked out his "package" and everything is normal it's just the sperm count. The Andrologist gave us his exact count after my hubby begged for the number. He was in shock, devastated and heartbroken hearing his count and what the average should be.

tptbabe

(((HUGS))) It's really tough for guys to hear that kind of news. My DH lost his shit for quite awhile over it. (He still has his days, but he's better in general )

That's interesting about the hops, I never knew that! DH isn't a beer drinker (or much of a drinker at all actually), so I guess it's never something that crossed my mind? We're "unexplained MFI" as well, though DH was diagnosed with liver disease some time after the MFI diagnosis, so we suspect that might be the cause. Hopefully the zinc and CoQ10 help him!

mharnicker

My DH Tries to hold his composure for my sake but he has told me he feels like less of a man because he can't get me pregnant. I told him there is a board on this app for dads and dads to-be last night and he seemed interested in it. He didn't tell me but I think he's going to check it out. We read multile sites online stating hops in beer causes low estridol. Soy too and he doesn't drink soymilk but let me tell you when we went grocery shopping this past weekend we looked at ingredients on everything and there is so much soy in things. It's crazy and almost impossible to avoid. Sorry about your DH liver disease. Is it being treated currently? Maybe if it improves his count could go up?

tptbabe

No, unfortunately it's not being treated. Really the only thing that he can do for it is to donate blood. You'd think that's an easy solution, but he refuses. He went through 2 years of trying every MFI treatment available with poor results, so he didn't want to pursue anything further. The biggest issue is anti-sperm antibodies, which would still be there regardless of the other counts, so I don't feel like I should pressure him to do it for the sake of IF. (Doing it for the sake of his health is an entirely different story, but he's currently in denial and needs to come to that conclusion for himself.)

I know soy can affect estrogen production, which is why *I* try to stay away from it, but didn't really think about it WRT to MFI. It can affect your thyroid as well, so it's another good reason for me to stay away! I love beer myself, so I wonder if that affects estrogen in women too? I'm cutting out alcohol again soon for the lead-up to our next cycle, so it's kind of a moot point right now, but I'm curious!

mharnicker

Awww your poor DH. I would ask the doctor about hops in beer effecting female estrogen.