New to all this -- advice? - Infertility Message Board

bxr35 · 03-12-2006, 07:00 AM

My husband and I have been trying to conceive for the past 8 months. There are two potential problems: 1. Although I bleed a lot, my period is generally short; and 2. My husband has a pretty low sperm count.

Are there any tips we should know to increase the likelihood of conception? We don't want to see a doctor yet -- we're waiting for the official label to come after a year, but in the meantime, what sorts of things could we be doing? We are keeping track of ovulation.

nancy30 · 03-12-2006, 02:34 PM

THere are a lot of vitamins that men can take to try to improve sperm counts, etc. I think Vit C, E, B, etc and many others. You can do some general searches on the web to get this information. Also, you should avoid caffeine, alcohol, drugs, etc. There is a great book called "Taking Charge of Your Fertility", which will tell you all kinds of good things to know. I highly recommend it.

I'm not sure how old you are, but I would go ahead and see a reproductive endocrinologist rather than waiting a whole year. Fertility treatments can take a long time, so if you think there is a problem, I would go in now. I wish I had gone in sooner.

I wish you the best of luck

km7503 · 03-13-2006, 05:08 AM

I would also go to see an RE ASAP. It may be stressful, but will get you on a good path right away. After finding out that he had low counts, motility, etc., my DH didn't want to jump right into anything either, but I think he was surprised to know that our chances of getting pg naturally was very low. And then, when I heard that, I was so happy that we went in when we did. (We were TTC for 7 mos when we were referred.) BTW, I also have irregular AFs.
I thought we had to wait a year also, but finding out about our options and insurance and getting the process started (I'm in my first IVF cycle), now was better for me than waiting until May (with disappointing months of BFNs) to just start taking tests. By May, I could find out I'm pg with this cycle!
Of course, everyone is different, and I'm not trying to pressure you to go to an RE but, I wanted to tell my story so that you could see where I was coming from. You could get pg naturally, it's impossible to know or to tell. Even in the most unlikely of cases, it happens. So, I wish you lots of luck. This is a great board, so we can help you through whatever you decide.

marriot · 03-13-2006, 09:03 PM

Hello. I'm in a similar situation so I hope I can pass on some of what I've learned. First of all, acupuncture might be able to change your period. It will change the length, quality and symptoms. Second of all, your husband should be taking: a multi-vitamin, vitamin e to help improve motility, selenium to help reduce free radicals (which dimish sperm quality), vitamin C to help improve morphology/motility, folic acid (I can't rememeber why he's supposed to take this one). I know it seems like a lot, but it really help. Also, your husband should cut out all soy (soy milk, tofu, etc.) and obviously excessive drugs, alcohol, and coffee.
Also, has your husband had an ultra sound and/or physical exam to check for a varicocele. My husband had no real symptoms but it turned out he had severe bilaterial varicoceles. He had surgery to correct them in January and we're really hopeful.