SA improvement - WOW! Some advice...

[DH Lawrence]

Finally - good news on two fronts.

My wife got a CD3 scan and the cysts are gone so her ovaries are back in action. She'll start comid for our next IUI in a couple of days.

And great news from the urologist. I just did an SA as a follow-up to varicocele surgery 10 months ago. The total count was 240 million! Needless to say, I had to tell everybody: wife, friends, family, the UPS man. A year ago before the surgery, the vitamins, the exercise, the no caffeine and alcohol, etc. the total was about 15 million. For our last IUI it was only 60 million before the wash. The motility stayed the same (40%) and morphology improved from 3% to 8%. Hopefully, the improvement is permanent.

The doctor is a little baffled since it's unusual for there to be such a jump up this long after the surgery. He agreed it might be the two things I did differently (without his advice):

1) The standard routine is to abstain 3 to 5 days before an SA. I waited 7. They warn that after 5 days, the number might go up but the motility will drop off. This wasn't the case for me, at least at 7 days.

2) About 4 months ago, I started very strong antioxidants: Pycnogenol, Fertility Blend (from GNC), and Lycopene in addition to the Vitamins C, E, Selenium, and Zinc I had been taking since the surgery. Four months of taking pills all day long is a drag, but I think they're finally kicking in.

Anyway...just wanted to share the good news and advice since there seem to be a lot of people on the board now with male factor problems. I really recommend experimenting with a longer period of abstinence. (I'm sure your husbands will be thrilled to hear that.)

Good luck to everyone.

[RiTay]

Great news DH Lawrence. Good luck with this cycle!

[BC-Sweedie]

Excellent job!!! WOOHOO!!!

I'm LOL at you telling everyone who will listen!! LOL!! I would too.

Go Lawrence, go!

[jcc]

Wow - great numbers !!! We are unexplained as DH's numbers have been fine all along (in fact he bragged about them, too). But - I just wanted to comment that he was still trying to improve his numbers each cycle. The only thing he did was take lycopene and every time he was tested or measured for an IUI, the numbers increases. So - perhaps that's part of it. Great news and good luck with this cycle!

[hmontgomry]

That is great that you are so involved and know what you are talking about!! My dh just called me during our first iui and said "the package has been delivered-codeword package"LMAO-he has no idea what he is even doing!!!

[playitagainsam]

Whoa, buddy!!! I'm as impressed as they come Glad the cysts are gone, good luck next cycle (I'll keep lurking 'til I see you on the pregnancy boards)

Jessica

[DawnL]

Originally posted by DH Lawrence
I really recommend experimenting with a longer period of abstinence. (I'm sure your husbands will be thrilled to hear that.)

Good luck to everyone.

LOL! I will share this info with him right away Seriously, though, I'm thrilled that the vitamins seem to be helping a great deal. I will share that with my dh as well. We tried vitamins before, and he really didn't like them. We took them individually, and he said some of them were terrible, especially, I think, the Selenium?
Anyway, if you don't mind sharing, how many pills are you taking, and are the easy to take (ie - they don't taste gross or leave a bad aftertaste?)
Thanks so much for sharing your good news. There aren't many places where people will honestly cheer you on for having a great count. So glad you're here!!

[DH Lawrence]

Thanks all.

Dawn -

Yes, right now I'm popping pills like Elvis - 10 a day since some have to be taken twice.

Yes, the Selenium is bitter and the aftertaste from 'Fertility Blend' is kind of like eating a handful of lawn clippings. But fair is fair, if my wife has to take Clomid and go through all these procedures because of my fertility problem, then I'll eat the lawn clippings.

More than anything else, I miss beer and hate the other lifestyle changes like jogging, broccoli, boxer shorts, etc. When (and if) we ever have a baby, I intend to put on some tight underwear, go into a hot sauna, and have a beer and a cigar.