23 replies to this topic

[Proud_IVF_Mommy]

Hello,

My husband was diognosed with poor morphology and motility but relitively high sperm count. He has recently lost a considerable amount of weight (65lbs) and we were wondering if it would improve his S/A. We are planning on doing a IVF cycle this coming July with ICSI. However, would it be worth it to get a new S/A done to see if his morphology and motility have improved since losing the weight? Allowing a regular IVF withour ICSI. Or does this not effect men's sperm as such. Thank you for any advice!

[Proud_IVF_Mommy]

ok, so I'm assuming that the RE doesn't actually reply to these threads. I have waited almost a week now and nothing....and all the other topics seem to be responded by other members not the RE. So I will just wait until my appt to discuss this I guess. Thanks to all reading....hopefully I will get some info at my appt in 2 weeks and I'll post it here for all interested

[Ope]

I think there is no RE right now on the board. If I were you I ask my clinic for a repeated SA, it could not hurt to know.
I our experience nothing change the morphology. My dh tried chinese herbs, acupuncture for a half year twice a week, all the recommended vitamins/minerals, loose underwear, no hot baths/tubs, no bicycling, regular exercise, healthy weight, all organic diet,no soda,no junk food.Nothing mattered as far as the morphology goes.
It improved the count and motility to a very good level (example 115M with 65% motile), but the morphology was not improved a bit, 98-99% of his sperm has abnormal head regardless of his lifestyle or whatever.. This doesn't mean that they are genetically bad, but maybe because of the head deformality they can not penetrate the eggs.
Since I never had too many eggs ( 6 mature and 4 mature) it never occurred to us to risk the cycle not doing ICSI. It just a peace of mind that we know that almost all of my eggs will be fertilized.

[Proud_IVF_Mommy]

ok, so ww had our appt this afternoon.....our RE told us weight loss can have a major impact on your sperm. He has ordered a new S/A to take a look at any changes. My DH had in total lost 70lbs now and the RE thinks we will have a MUCH better S/A this time around FX that might not have to do ICSI this time around....or best case scenario, maybe IUI instead of IVF....I'll keep you updated with any new info we come upon along the way

[Highest hopes]

Ope, which supplement did your husband try (curious to know which one doesn't work to improve morphology!).

Proud_IVF_Mommy, looking forward to finding out if the weight loss helps the morphology.

[cheers]

Proud IVF mommy please keep us posted! I would love to know whether there the weight loss affected your dh's morphology. Congrats to him for such an achievement!

[Proud_IVF_Mommy]

Hi All.....DH has his S/A this friday but were told it can take up to 6weeks to get the report back .....but as soon as we hear anything I'll post an update!!

[Proud_IVF_Mommy]

ok, to all who have been patiently waiting for our results.....

not good news unfortunately. We have both completely changed our lifestyles and DH has lost over 70lbs but his S/A was worse this time than it was for the first test. His count has always been fine and that didn't change this time but his motility was down another 8% and his total morphology is 75%.

I feel so bad for him. He's tried so hard and accomplished so much but didn't get what he was hoping for. We weren't expecting miracles, but thought there'd be at least slight improvement.

Wishing you all much success and happiness!

[Highest hopes]

Proud, thanks for the update & sorry to hear about the results. I hope he doesn't get discouraged.
Did they suggest anything he can do to improve - is it the motility that is the issue?

[Proud_IVF_Mommy]

thanks Highest. He's taken every supplement told about and totally changed his lifestyle. I think this is just how his body is built. His issue is the motility and morphology. Numbers are good but as he says "I have stupid and lazy sperm"

[Highest hopes]

Sorry to hear that, how frustrating

If I remember right, I thought I read that morphology over 50% is good, so if he has 75% isn't that alright? Sorry if I'm misunderstanding.

Do they think ICSI would bypass the problems?

[Proud_IVF_Mommy]

75% morphology means that 75% of his sperm are abnormal

[Cheddar]

But then he has 25% "normal," no? Is that strict Kruger or the basic test? My DH had 30% basic and 1.5% strict Kruger. Did you redo the Kruger? That test can give you way more information.

[cheers]

Sorry to hear that the lifestyle changes didn't affect the test. As hard as it was for him to hear that his S/A didn't improve, he should be very proud about improving his overall health. My dh has severe morphology problems and he's trying to live a healthier lifestyle but all the docs have told us that this likely won't affect anything - like you said, this is how he makes them! It sucks and was very hard to hear at first but we've come to accept it. However, he is continuing with his healthy living kick and I am so proud of him!

[Highest hopes]

From what I've read, 25% normal morphology is not too bad but maybe combined with the motility issue it's worse. Too bad Proud, but it sounds like there is still a chance of pregnancy?

My partner's last test had 0% normal, though we were told that the previous 4 tests/samples were fine. However I'm just realizing that the first 4 tests/samples were at a different clinic & perhaps they never did test morphology (whereas the most recent one did test morphology & found the problem) and perhaps that was a problem all along. However, we did do ICSI with our 2 IVF's which should have helped with that.

Has anyone heard of S/A testing for DNA fragmentation? I read about that somewhere (I think on a different thread on here) but not sure where this is offered.

[Proud_IVF_Mommy]

Cheers - congrats to your DH too....it's a great acheivment to live a healthier lifestyle!

Highest - we did the monash sperma analysis test. It tests for everything to do with the sperm. With his morphology and motility we were given a 2% chance of ever having a natural pregnancy. And with his new results that number is even lower now. 25% of normal shaped sperm is not the worst number you could get, but it does not give you great odds at having a natural or IUI pregnancy. We did IVF with ICSI to have our daughter but were hoping that with his weight loss and lifestyle change that we might not have to do the ICSI at the very least. But it looks as though that is just the path we were meant to follow, so that's what we are going to do. As far as the DNA fragmantation, i'm sorry but I don't have any info on that. Try the search bar at the top of the page and it should show you different posts related to it.

[Highest hopes]

Thanks for the info Proud. What is the monash sperm analysis?

[Proud_IVF_Mommy]

no problem at all the monash test is an indepth sperm analysis. It tests for count, motility, morphology, infection, clusters, fluid, antibodies, viscosity and I'm sure a few things I'm forgetting right now.

[Highest hopes]

Do you know if this was the standard test at your clinic or was this more of an advanced test?
We've had a number of tests done but they've never told us the name of it like that - is it a brand name? I Googled monash but it came up with a fertility clinic & university in Australia - maybe they invented it?

Thanks again

[Proud_IVF_Mommy]

our clinic always does this test since they are an IF specific clinic there would be no point in them doing the standart s/a that your GP would perscribe when you first start out. I'm not sure where the term monash comes from. It's just what our RE refers to their more indepth test as. It could be as you said that the Monash title comes from who created the test ..... sorry I don't have any more info on it.

[Highest hopes]

Thanks for the info Proud. I'll find out more from our clinic when we meet with them later this month.

[Proud_IVF_Mommy]

GOOD LUCK!!

[Highest hopes]

Thanks Proud. Good luck to you too on your next cycle, & same to you Cheers.
Cheddar, congrats on your embryos!!

A couple of questions for those of you with partners with morphology issues. Does anyone know:

• What causes morphology problems?
• Is it standard for a fertility clinic to test morphology prior to doing treatments such as IUI & IVF?

I'm not sure yet if our clinic had done it or not prior - we'll find out at our next appt.

Ope, read your sig & saw your recent developments on another thread. I truly hope all goes well at your upcoming ultrasound - wishing the best for you.

[Proud_IVF_Mommy]

I'm not sure what every clinic does as they will have their own procedures they follow. For us our clinic did the monash test after all my test came back 'normal'. They then moved onto his testing. Not sure but it seems as though most clinics will do the female testing first....but I could be wrong. I think that IF clinics will be testing for motility, morphology, and count when they do request a s/a