Question re: MFI and low T

brookelynpaisley

So we know that DH has MFI. His count is very low, morph is 0%, motility is about 30%. He suspects he also has low testosterone. Based on his sex drive and some other things, I suspect it as well, so we're discussing having BW done to confirm. My question is, if testosterone supplements are detrimental to counts, how are the two needs balanced? Would we have to sacrifice one or the other, and (possibly)therefore limit IF treatment options? I'm just curious to hear from other ladies whose husbands experience both and how it's treated.

As a little more info, DH isn't on my insurance currently (because his is free), and it doesn't cover IF testing or treatment. Mine, however, does, up to a lifetime max (we're still paying into the deductible, though). We're trying to weigh the costs of keeping him OOP or putting him on my plan and paying the premium. I just wonder how much treatment we could possibly foresee needing to possibly help us make our decision.

NMscubagirl

Hi BP! It's good to see you round these parts! ((hugs)) this stuff is so hard. My DH has low-T also and that along with some other hormone issues is what we think was causing his Azoo. You are right that T replacement therapy can hurt fertility even further. My understanding is that if testosterone is introduced into the body through supplements then the testicles will stop producing T themselves which basically shuts the factory down. 

What we are doing currently is a pretty interesting medicinal protocol. He is on Arimidex, which is actually a breast cancer drug. It keeps testosterone from turning into estrogen so the estrogen levels decrease and the testosterone increases. He is also on HCG injections to increase the testosterone production from the testicles.

It is pretty interesting that men have FSH and LH that tell their bodies to produce sperm, just like we have it to mature our eggs! Because we saw that DHs FSH and LH were both high along with the Low-T and higher estrodial, our Uro was really able to get a good picture of what was going on with him and treat appropriately. He also did a lot of genetic testing to rule out those causes, and also an ultrasound to rule out something like a tumor.

Although these treatments are not a long-term fix for increasing testosterone, it is working for our fertility needs right now. Once we are done with all of this, our Uro said that we would likely need DH to see an endocrinologist to start testosterone replacement therapy. 

I would really suggest making sure YH is seeing a Urologist that specializes in MFI so that he can get a clear picture of what is going on with YH. Our uro has been amazing through this process.  GL to you in your journey!

MyHusbandMyHero

Hey BP -- saw your post and thought Id share our story! DH has severe MFI and testicular failure with very low T.

I recommend finding a urologist that specializes in male infertility. Our treatments were a little different them NM. We started out with a zero count and our urologist put him on clomid. Normally a female drug, but in men its used to increase the testosterone in the testies. Regular testosterone replacements dont increase the testosterone in the testies, just in the brain. We went through several months of not seeing a result, and after an increase in dosage we saw a dramatic rise in our count (I cant remember exactly but its all in my siggy). Our uro also recommended several different herbal supplements - plain L-Carnitine, and astaxanthine, both said to possibly increase sperm count.

Before we saw a rise in our count our uro did a colonoscopy on DH and found a large calcium build up on his prostate which can cause infertility. She gave him an antibiotic to break up the calicium and 2 weeks after the meds were started and the dosage increase, we saw a spike in his count.

Infertility and MFI can feel very defeating but there are plenty of wonderful ladies on this board, TTTC, and PAIF that struggle with MFI. Good luck!

MsGMChick

Do you know any more of his hormone levels? The hormone cycle is suppose to work like this.. The pituitary makes LH and FSH which stimulates testosterone production, then the testosterone essentially turns into estrogen back at the brain, the brain sees how much "estrogen" is there and adjusts the LH and FSH dose to keep the levels right.. There's two main types of hypogonadism (or low t). Primary- where the issue is in the testies and t will be low because of failure there but FSH and LH will be high as the pituitary glad tries to compensate. The other type is secondary- where t is low but LH and FSH are low/normal. The issue there is with the pituitary gland not secreting enough hormones. 

 Theoretically Clomid, and other therapies like it, work better with secondary hypogonadism because it works by tricking the brain into thinking LH and FSH are low low and making the brain pump up hormone production. If the LH and FSH is already too high and it's a failure in the testies, it's not as likely to work because the brain is already ramped up and doing what the Clomid would be doing. 

Good luck! IF and MFI suck.