Intro

amcrd

Just wanted to give a brief introduction as I usually check in on the TTC after 35 board. One of the ladies on that board mentioned I might have some luck with responses with the following question on this board:

Ok...talked with RE office today (well, through email) regarding DH taking clomid in hopes to increase sperm count. RE "doesn't recommend clomid" which I've heard from multiple sources works, but "does however, recommend hcg injections (2-3/week)?

Anyone with any experience with this treatment plan?

Thanks...

Now that all that's said here is my story:

35 (36 in February) and DH is 41. Have been TTC since July 2009 and have had 2 IUIs. Problem appears to be low sperm count and motility as my labs, ovulation and HSG were all "normal". RE suggests we move forward to IVF, but I'm curious as to what might help boost sperm count, if anything. DH's count is inconsistent in volume, however, consistently low    First IUI we had 150,000 injected and second IUI only had 25,000 to use.

Hope someone has some experience with males and hcg injections...

Thanks in advance...

wewannababy

I don't have any experience with anything you mentioned above except IVF, but I wanted to welcome you to the board.  Hope you get the answers you are looking for with regards to increasing sperm counts! 

vanessagorc

Hi, welcome to the board.

We are MFI also, and my DH has counts a bit higher than urs.  But our RE would have never done IUI.  They need 10 million to consider IUI.

With our counts, the only realistic option we were given was IVF w ICSI.  Whatever u do to boost counts, takes a minimum of 3 months to even see if it works.  Given my age, our RE and Uro strongly encouraged moving to IVF quickly (im 34).  They didn't want to spend time on things that likely won't eliminate the need for IVF, while my fertility also begins to decline.

Good luck with your journey.

Mandy_Lou83

Welcome to the board! We don't have any experince w/ hcg injections but DH has been on clomid for a little over 6 months and has had some improvement. Not as much as we would have liked. We started IUI's w/ 2 million and for this last one we had a little over 7 million.

amcrd

Thanks for the welcomes and inputs!  Just to clarify, we did have a collected volume of > 2 million but after the washing and analysis for the IUI, had only 150,000 and 25,000 to use for IUI.

Maybe we'll give the hcg injections a shot!  (no pun intended, of course )

 

ej708

Welcome to the board.  We are MFI as well (low volume, count, motility and morphology).  The only reason my RE wanted to try IUIs first was because we are young (both 27).  We did 3, and then he strongly suggested we move on to IVF with ICSI.  My RE won't even do an IUI with a postwash count less than 5 million (we barely made that cutoff with 2 out of our 3 IUIs). 

Good luck with whatever you decide!

JnJ62406

Hello and welcome!  My husband has MFI as well.  When he had his first SA he only had about 3mil, his doctor put him on clomid for the next 6 months.  His 2nd SA his count jumped to 12mil and his 3rd was 35mil.  The first SA we had done at our RE I was expecting about the same as last time because he had been off of the clomid for a couple months or so.  But to my surprise his count is now around 124mil.  My RE has said they like to need at least 1mil post wash to do IUI but like to see 5mil to be really cost affective.  I hope the shots work really good for your husband!  I'd say give it a shot because I have heard that it works too.  Good luck!!

amcrd

JnJ62406:

  His 2nd SA his count jumped to 12mil and his 3rd was 35mil.  The first SA we had done at our RE I was expecting about the same as last time because he had been off of the clomid for a couple months or so.  But to my surprise his count is now around 124mil. 

Very encouraging!! Thanks for sharing the experience!