I hope other guys reading this are able to get some value from my experiements. Today I'm pondering the heat effect. This has been disputed widely.
Switching to boxers is not enough to do the trick- if heat is the issue the family jewels are still quite warm in there. Your goal is to get them 2 degrees lower than body temp- and if temperature is the issue you have to go a bit further than not wearing speedo-tight-tighty whiteys; you need to go full on commando and sleep in the buff. This will let your body do the temp control work on its own.
Leading up to our IVF in Dec, I had gotten lax and started just wearing boxers and not sleeping in the buff; the counts resulting from this were horrid. All this time I had been taking vitamins and minimal boozing and exercising moderately. I drink OJ daily, eat more veggies than I have in my entire life- and still horrid counts. Dealing with some serious assholes at work probably didn't help.
After buying the microscope the counts were just as miserable, but now being in a position to monitor it, I've been checking almost daily. I've been going commando for 2 days and sleeping in the buff for 2 nights and the change in the number of swimmers has been pretty dramatic.
On the first scope check a week ago, I could only see a few "wigglers" (not swimmers) at 20X160 magnification. With this field of view there are easily several hundred swimmers. I haven't gotten cover slides yet, so there are a ton under the other layers of baby batter that I can't see.
On day 2 of this temperature change (commando and sleeping in the buff) across multiple fields of view I'm getting 20-30 "shakers" which would be low motile and about a half dozen swimmers.
This is hugely positive. This also lends credence to the theory that a lot of my issues are due to over heating the final stage of sperm formation- which is when the tails are grown. I had suspected that a 14 day change would have an impact- and this is aligned with that theory. We'll see what the next few days bring.
Although- considering "marital needs" I don't think it's a good idea to be doing these tests daily. Gals- know what you are getting into when you marry an engineer who grew up on a farm :-)
Other factors to consider here.
1- I took the clomid pill yesterday. Probably not soon enough to have this sort of effect
2- I've been on vacation for about a week. My day job is hella stressful and time away from work may also be helping. For at least two of these days I've been in my happy place (burn pile out by the orchard- oops didn't know there was a burn ban on till after the second day).
3- I've been working outdoors quite a bit during this week off, and I've been getting more exercise than normal and sitting less.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Monday, December 28, 2009
Microscope alert
That thing is totally paying for itself!
I was jazzed about getting the first batches under the scope, but disappointed the number of good swimmers were almost non-existent.
Making a guess from all the reading I'm doing, my swimmers are not growing well formed tails. Since it sounds like this what happens at the later stages, I am working on temp control. If I am understanding this correctly- the sperm grow over about a 64 day period. Each stage is 1/6 of that with the tails forming near the end. So about a week plus of good (body minus 2 degrees)/bad conditions (body temp or higher) in the tail making season of the 64 days can make or break the latest crop.
Anyway- on the scope this morning, the number of swimmers crossing the field of view increased compared with the last couple of days. Nothing to get too excited about, but perhaps a small reason for hope based on 20 hours of cooler crotch temp.
I was jazzed about getting the first batches under the scope, but disappointed the number of good swimmers were almost non-existent.
Making a guess from all the reading I'm doing, my swimmers are not growing well formed tails. Since it sounds like this what happens at the later stages, I am working on temp control. If I am understanding this correctly- the sperm grow over about a 64 day period. Each stage is 1/6 of that with the tails forming near the end. So about a week plus of good (body minus 2 degrees)/bad conditions (body temp or higher) in the tail making season of the 64 days can make or break the latest crop.
Anyway- on the scope this morning, the number of swimmers crossing the field of view increased compared with the last couple of days. Nothing to get too excited about, but perhaps a small reason for hope based on 20 hours of cooler crotch temp.
Clomid- I'm here to pump you up.
Ahhhh Steroids....Irony alert.
Once upon a time I was one hell of an athlete. I had full ride offers from EVERY college in the United States, (except Stanford, which as a rule would not offer a freshman a full ride even if they were coming direct from the Olympics). A Google search on my real name will prove it (20 years after the fact!!!) except I'd like to keep this anonymous. So just take my word for it.
This is relevant today because I never once took steroids or any other performance enhancing drugs, yet here I am still battling infertility. The only correlation I can fathom is that this once upon a time stallion is now a desk jockey with a 90 minute commute to and from work (when I don't get to work at home) and one has to wonder if my wimpy life style and plumping up to a normal weight has something to do with my motility issue.
Well my blood work came back today and FSH, LH, and Prolactin all are normal. My total testosterone level was off by a little (314, normal is 332-896) and so I'm getting a light dose of Clomid (50 milligrams/week). From what I've read this is a low dosage.
Anyway- we'll keep a look out to see if this helps get the motility above 25%.
Also today I switched back to sleeping in the buff and going commando. I was doing this religiously when I got an uptick on the motility this past fall. According to Wikipedia the tails are formed in the later stages of production or spermiogenesis. From what I understand this takes place in the outter region of the nads and could be where my core temperature is frying the swim team.
I don't really know if I'm cooking them with my core temp, but I do know it doesn't cost me any money to sleep naked.
Once upon a time I was one hell of an athlete. I had full ride offers from EVERY college in the United States, (except Stanford, which as a rule would not offer a freshman a full ride even if they were coming direct from the Olympics). A Google search on my real name will prove it (20 years after the fact!!!) except I'd like to keep this anonymous. So just take my word for it.
This is relevant today because I never once took steroids or any other performance enhancing drugs, yet here I am still battling infertility. The only correlation I can fathom is that this once upon a time stallion is now a desk jockey with a 90 minute commute to and from work (when I don't get to work at home) and one has to wonder if my wimpy life style and plumping up to a normal weight has something to do with my motility issue.
Well my blood work came back today and FSH, LH, and Prolactin all are normal. My total testosterone level was off by a little (314, normal is 332-896) and so I'm getting a light dose of Clomid (50 milligrams/week). From what I've read this is a low dosage.
Anyway- we'll keep a look out to see if this helps get the motility above 25%.
Also today I switched back to sleeping in the buff and going commando. I was doing this religiously when I got an uptick on the motility this past fall. According to Wikipedia the tails are formed in the later stages of production or spermiogenesis. From what I understand this takes place in the outter region of the nads and could be where my core temperature is frying the swim team.
I don't really know if I'm cooking them with my core temp, but I do know it doesn't cost me any money to sleep naked.
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Got a lazy swim team? Buy a microscope
With male factor fertility, you'll be paying a lot of money for sperm analytics.
During the IVF treatment when my sperm team died in the starting gate, the lab tech showed my my lousy swimmers under a microscope. It didn't look that much different than the ones we used in high school (back in the 80's).
Now me being from a farming background and an engineer- I'm the frugalist and most innovative son of a gun on the face of the planet (to my wife's joy and horror depending on the circumstances) - I figured I could go out and buy one and save a bunch of money and guess work on what the swim team was up to. If you check youtube, there are a couple of good videos of healthy swim teams at different magnifications.
While it would be completely creepy to do this w/out my condition, I have to say this was money well spent. I got a new AMSCOPE for about 200 bucks. Since each SA has been running me about ~100 bucks, this thing has paid for itself 3 times over.
During the IVF treatment when my sperm team died in the starting gate, the lab tech showed my my lousy swimmers under a microscope. It didn't look that much different than the ones we used in high school (back in the 80's).
Now me being from a farming background and an engineer- I'm the frugalist and most innovative son of a gun on the face of the planet (to my wife's joy and horror depending on the circumstances) - I figured I could go out and buy one and save a bunch of money and guess work on what the swim team was up to. If you check youtube, there are a couple of good videos of healthy swim teams at different magnifications.
While it would be completely creepy to do this w/out my condition, I have to say this was money well spent. I got a new AMSCOPE for about 200 bucks. Since each SA has been running me about ~100 bucks, this thing has paid for itself 3 times over.
What we've tried:
Boxers, vitamins and 1 round of IVF. I failed the hamster test (that was probably a waste of $500)
We were going to try IUI because in the most recent test, the motility was up to 25% which is ok for low end of IUI. As the drugs were still pretty spendy, we went directly to IVF in hopes of getting er done (and trying for twins).
We got 1 good egg. Unfortunately on the day of my duty, the swim team didn't bother to show up!!!! Ack!!!!! The lab did manage to get a couple of swimmers from my TWO specimens. The egg did fertilize but didn't mature.
There's $6000 dollars gone.
We were going to try IUI because in the most recent test, the motility was up to 25% which is ok for low end of IUI. As the drugs were still pretty spendy, we went directly to IVF in hopes of getting er done (and trying for twins).
We got 1 good egg. Unfortunately on the day of my duty, the swim team didn't bother to show up!!!! Ack!!!!! The lab did manage to get a couple of swimmers from my TWO specimens. The egg did fertilize but didn't mature.
There's $6000 dollars gone.
Hello World
About me and my infertility journey:
It's a total mystery as to why my swim team won't swim
The sperm numbers are at the low end of normal, but the motility seems to be ~15%.
The wife turned 40 this year- so we are getting pretty serious about getting this train in motion.
It's a total mystery as to why my swim team won't swim
- Born 1971
- No physical defects (no undecended nad, no torsion, no trauma, no mumps)
- No drugs or steroids
- Not fat
- Not a smoker
- Only a moderate drinker.
- Not a fat pig
The sperm numbers are at the low end of normal, but the motility seems to be ~15%.
The wife turned 40 this year- so we are getting pretty serious about getting this train in motion.
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