Burning Question Regarding MFI!

[sunshiney]

DH's SA results were so inconsistent I'm not sure what to think of them. The first had a concentration of 4.3 mil/mL, the second was 163 mil/mL. (!) No clear lifestyle factors to account for the difference, unfortunately. I required IVF with previous partner due to MFI (counts around 10-15 mil/mL) and I'm trying to wrap my head around what inconsistent results like this mean. Of course DH will get another SA to compare, but I'm freaking out a bit...how do I ever know what his counts are like when I O? I'm wondering if people with inconsistent SAs just hope for the best, or if they're advised to do IUI or IVF? If they end up needing IUI or IVF? Thank you for sharing your experience! xoxo

[moto]

sunshiney - that is a HUGE range! Honestly I'm inclined to think lab error. But if he truly varies that much, I'd probably want to do at least IUI if I were you (maybe with a back-up sample frozen, in case it's a bad day) because then you would KNOW you had enough sperm to work with that cycle.

Also, my RE claims you only need 10 mil/ml to max our your chances for IUI, so I'm surprised in the past they sent you to IVF for that. Even if you end up doing IVF, it's survivable, as you know. As least you don't have to worry about having enough sperm for IVF!

[happyin14]

I agree with moto. Huge range difference.

Obviously you can get different results by playing with how long in between and such. But that feels like a lot. Wait until next round to figure out which is right.

[bonzo]

My H's count was fine, but he has poor morphology and borderline motility. We went straight to IVF because of me though (DOR). So, my situation isn't exactly applicable. BUT, his samples have gotten better over two rounds of IVF, since our RE has him on male fertility vitamins. That may be worth looking into for your H.

Good luck with whatever route you choose!

[sunshiney]

moto It feels like a relief to hear your thoughts because I was thinking along the same lines (needing IUI to be confident), also we hadn't even considered a frozen sample for backup, what a good idea. I hadn't thought about lab error either, but tried to read up on it and it sounds like that is a common thing with SAs, like they wait too long to measure the sample or they pipette just once and potentially miss variation within the sample...I think after this we'll follow up with repeat SAs at the fertility clinic's andrology lab instead of DH's urologist so we know they're invested in getting accurate results to lead to successful treatment choices! As far as IVF in the past - with the ex, I started out with IUIs but after 5 canceled (due to overresponse) or failed cycles we moved to IVF. The ex also had 0% forward motile and like 1% morph.

happyin14 That's a good point, the first was a wait of 4 days and the second 5 days if I remember correctly. And when we're doing TI there aren't going to be waits that long! Yes, we're very curious about what the 3rd sample will show.

bonzo It's so encouraging to hear vitamins made a difference for YH's SA quality! I always read that there are good percentages of men who respond well to vitamins. DH made himself a little custom mix of nuts after I mentioned offhand that vitamin E and selenium can help (this was before we got back any results) and he's been eating them daily as something to do to help, it's so sweet! He also started taking a multi. I'm interested in what the RE may put him on, I know zinc can also help. What does YH take?

[bonzo]

sunshiney, MH is on 2000mg L Carnitine, 1000mg Acetyl L Carnitine, 200mg CoQ10, 200mcg Selenium, 400IU Vitamin E and 500mg Vitamin C, plus a standard daily multi vitamin.

[kensie5226]

***lurking****

MFI was our only issue and MH's SA were mostly consistent at about 20mill. His after wash counts were as low ad they would allow for IUI (5mill). I was able to get pregnant twice using medicated (to control timing) IUIs. It was extremely straight forward. We had no other issues. I got pregnant on the first try with DD and on the second try with DS (35 weeks currently). The MFI was likely caused by his epilepsy meds. I wouldn't have been surprised if we just tried for a long period of time if we wound up with a suprise baby in 5 years or something, but since treatment options are available, we went for it.

I'm happy to see you back and in a better situation. Best of luck moving forward. Holler if you have any questions.

[lemonliz]

These are 2 separate SA's, yes? I'd also want to know if they were done in the same lab.

The only thing that makes that much of a difference for MH's sample counts in terms of concentration is time from last last ejaculation to SA. Even a few days makes a huge difference (but motility and morph significantly decreased as counts and duration between ejaculations increased).

[sunshiney]

kensie5226 thank you so much for sharing, that is awesome how well IUI worked for you guys! After it was so useless for me last time around it's hard to remember that it really works in many situations.

lemonliz yes, two samples...I think there was a day difference but the low numbers were after 3.5 or 4 days so it makes me wonder how the counts are when we're BDing daily or EOD. Also the other specs got better with an extra day which I thought was strange. We've been trying to focus on the incredibly positive number until we get another result.

Three days past CD23 FF finally gave me cross hairs but the temps and other signs are so iffy we're still going to BD for a while before having DH abstain and retest. Really anxious to get some answers but we don't want to mess around with potentially throwing away this cycle of trying if it turns out I haven't actually Oed yet. But overall after some initial emotion both DH and I are feeling more patient and hopeful. Thank you, friends, for all the good advice!