[florie]

After my known fertility issue was treated with Clomid and no luck getting pregnant after several cycles, my husband is doing the semen analysis test next week. He is taking it in to the lab rather than doing it there since we are near the lab. He is very lighthearted about things so far (If only I could be more like him!). He has a vericocele so he is sort fo expecting so-so results at best and we'll go from there. Any idea how fast they give you the results and what the results should be ideally? Anyone else with words of wisdom about the test or vericocele's? Do they always affect the sperm negatively? My dr. mentioned IUI potentially as a next step but curious what others have had as next steps after this test depending on results. I should calm down and wait for the results, just curious

[SFBaygirl]

This is one thing I know a bit about. My DH has a 0 sperm count so we have been down that road many times. For a routine SA, the results come in quickly sometimes the same day or the next.

Varioceles can negatively impact sperm count because the extra vessels keep the temperature too high in the testicle.

For IUIs to be done, sperm needs to number in the millions with a decent percentage of good motility. If a smaller number of sperm is present usually IVf/ICSI is done.

Even though your DH is acting light hearted he probably is very nervous. I think it is imperative that even with a bad result don't act too upset or he will feel very bad. I tend to come to the forums on days I am feeling bad. Men are very sensitive to this issue. I make sure my DH knows that I am not with him for his sperm and that we will be fine no matter how a pregnancy comes to be.

It is very likely that your DH's count will be much better than mine as azoospermia is rare.

It is very hard to be calm waiting for results.

Good luck to you both!

[florie]

thank you so much for the information!! Much appreciated. I will report back on the results late next week. I am very interested to see. I am not sure if the size of the vericocele is important. His is pretty obvious vs. some that I hear are hard to see/feel. Are there some men with vericocele that don't have fertility problems, or is it a pretty sure factor? I have read online that there is no real sure fire study to prove it, yet it comes up over an over when I read about male infertility.

[SFBaygirl]

That is a good question, I am not sure if the size of the variocele makes a difference or not. It makes sense that it might.

I don't think all men with varioceles have as severe a drop in sperm count as those with azoo but I imagine that in many cases it will impact fertility.

Does your DH have a procdure planned to correct the variocele?

[florie]

No procedure planned yet, but based on the test results, I immagine they may recommend that counts are low/results not strong. Has your husband had it? Is it painful?

[arbuckle17]

Never had surgery but I can say anything generally involving the twins or jimmy tends to leave you unhappy and imobile for a few days. I found watching football in the easy chair and home cooked cookies helps out a lot.

just throwing that out there haha

[florie]

I hear you! My husband is more of a chips and dip guy but same concept

[HopefulinCO]

Just wanted to share that the brother of a good firned of mine tried for probably 2 years to conceive with his wife. They found a varicocele and he got it repaired and they have had 2 little girls since then with no other intervention. (Since it's not like I'm close to the brother I can't tell you if he had a SA and what the results were if he did. And I can't tell you how he felt after the repair. But I thought it might be nice to hear a positive experience )

PS, The phrase "twins or jimmy" made me crack up!

[florie]

Thanks for the story...interesting!! And congrats on your baby on the way!!!!!!!!!

[florie]

The lab said a 1 day turn around. After 3 days we called since the dr. didn't have the results yet and they said they emailed them even though dr. does not have a general email address - so who knows where they emailed them...

Anyway, my dr. is out until Thursday so a different dr. is reviewing and is supposed to call me back. Tick Tock tick tock....

[florie]

So he has 137 count but increased viscosity and 6% morphology. Sending us to a reproductive endocrinologist once I get my HSG, so we should know more from there.