Hiya Emily, don't think we've 'spoken' on here before, but you may have seen on my other posts that I recently had IVF (and am now pg!) due to my hubbie's sperm problems, so hopefully I can help a bit.
First of all, I think it's really bad that you have received these resulots from someone who cannot really interpret them. I hope bthey send you a prompt appt, or else kick up a fuss!
The usual parameters that your cons will be interested in are the count, motility and morphology.
Obviously the count is brilliant at 41.
The motility is ok, but from what I know perhaps a bit borderline. This means that less than half are actually swimming. It looks like 30% are rapid though, but not sure what this 'should' be (which is prob why there's nothing in the reference line).
The morphology is on the low side, which means that only 8% are 'normal' looking (the rest may have things like 2 heads, 2 tails or unusually shaped). This seems a scarily low figure, but bear in mind that it's usual for about 80% of a man's sperm to be 'abnormal'.
The antisperm antibodies (ASA's) can be problematic, and it looks like 90% of your hubbies have this. It can mean that the man's body basically 'attacks' it's own sperm.
Obviuosly, I'm no expert and you should get these results interprted by a specialist, but hopefully that helps a little.
My husband had borderline motility, not great morphology and agglutination (clumping of the sperm). On 2 out of 3 of the tests he had a similar rate of ASA's as yours but when they took a closer more careful look they said it actually wasn't a problem at all.
I found this NICE guideline really helpful for the national guidleines on sperm (!) as parameters seem to vary locally (eg yours are different to the reference guide I was given by my clinic): http://guidance.nice.org.uk/CG11/Guidance/pdf/English
The next step should be to do another s/a as all men can get one-off bad results and then come back absolutely fine next time. We had 3 done so they could compare and sadly they all came back pretty much the same. In the end we were told ICSI (IVF) would be our best chance of conceiving. However we were also told it could happen naturally, and it has for plenty of people on here with sperm problems. There is also a lot you can do to try to improve soerm quality.
Try not to panic too much just yet hon, there is plenty that can be done (although I know it's a worrying time). If you want any more advice give me a shout and maybe have a look at my other topics as a while back I posted a lot about sperm (including a massive list of 'sperm tips')!! xx
Hiya Emily, I'm glad that was helpful in some way. I really wouldn't accept what your DH GP has said. Not meaning to worry you, but the results are not too different to some of my hubbies' and all along we were told we'd need IVF. A follow-up s/a should definitely be offered and it may turn out everything is fine. How long have you been TTC already? We got referred to fertility clinic after 9 months, although I told GP it had been a yr. That is long enough as most couples will have conceived in that time. Seeing as you have long cycles, it may just be a cmbination of male and female fators, as you ov less frequently there are less chances to TTC in the yr than someone with short cycles. Whichever one of you gets referred, both your history / results wiull be considered as a couple. So if I were you I'd push for a referral ASAP as you may have to wait a while for appts. I forgot to say before that the clear blue fertility monitor (CBFM) is great for tracking ov. Although v expensive can get them cheaper on amazon / ebay. Only thing to consider is they're not recommended for long cycles so may be worth getting advice from others with long cycles. I also used cheapy ov sticks from access diagnostics http://www.accessdiagnostics.co.uk/ I think you get a disount if you enter babyexpert in the code bit as well. They're worth a try although some people don't get positives on them I always did.
Lots of luck with it all hon and sorry to hear AF has arrived.
I am coming up to 13 weeks. It's been very up and down with lots of complications along the way but hopefully settling down now! Had loads of sickness and went off practically all foods and started eating like a small child (e.g., fishfingers and smiley faces and spagetti hoops every day!). xx
Replies
First of all, I think it's really bad that you have received these resulots from someone who cannot really interpret them. I hope bthey send you a prompt appt, or else kick up a fuss!
The usual parameters that your cons will be interested in are the count, motility and morphology.
Obviously the count is brilliant at 41.
The motility is ok, but from what I know perhaps a bit borderline. This means that less than half are actually swimming. It looks like 30% are rapid though, but not sure what this 'should' be (which is prob why there's nothing in the reference line).
The morphology is on the low side, which means that only 8% are 'normal' looking (the rest may have things like 2 heads, 2 tails or unusually shaped). This seems a scarily low figure, but bear in mind that it's usual for about 80% of a man's sperm to be 'abnormal'.
The antisperm antibodies (ASA's) can be problematic, and it looks like 90% of your hubbies have this. It can mean that the man's body basically 'attacks' it's own sperm.
Obviuosly, I'm no expert and you should get these results interprted by a specialist, but hopefully that helps a little.
My husband had borderline motility, not great morphology and agglutination (clumping of the sperm). On 2 out of 3 of the tests he had a similar rate of ASA's as yours but when they took a closer more careful look they said it actually wasn't a problem at all.
I found this NICE guideline really helpful for the national guidleines on sperm (!) as parameters seem to vary locally (eg yours are different to the reference guide I was given by my clinic):
http://guidance.nice.org.uk/CG11/Guidance/pdf/English
The next step should be to do another s/a as all men can get one-off bad results and then come back absolutely fine next time. We had 3 done so they could compare and sadly they all came back pretty much the same. In the end we were told ICSI (IVF) would be our best chance of conceiving. However we were also told it could happen naturally, and it has for plenty of people on here with sperm problems. There is also a lot you can do to try to improve soerm quality.
Try not to panic too much just yet hon, there is plenty that can be done (although I know it's a worrying time). If you want any more advice give me a shout and maybe have a look at my other topics as a while back I posted a lot about sperm (including a massive list of 'sperm tips')!! xx
How long have you been TTC already? We got referred to fertility clinic after 9 months, although I told GP it had been a yr. That is long enough as most couples will have conceived in that time.
Seeing as you have long cycles, it may just be a cmbination of male and female fators, as you ov less frequently there are less chances to TTC in the yr than someone with short cycles. Whichever one of you gets referred, both your history / results wiull be considered as a couple. So if I were you I'd push for a referral ASAP as you may have to wait a while for appts.
I forgot to say before that the clear blue fertility monitor (CBFM) is great for tracking ov. Although v expensive can get them cheaper on amazon / ebay. Only thing to consider is they're not recommended for long cycles so may be worth getting advice from others with long cycles. I also used cheapy ov sticks from access diagnostics
http://www.accessdiagnostics.co.uk/
I think you get a disount if you enter babyexpert in the code bit as well.
They're worth a try although some people don't get positives on them I always did.
Lots of luck with it all hon and sorry to hear AF has arrived.
I am coming up to 13 weeks. It's been very up and down with lots of complications along the way but hopefully settling down now! Had loads of sickness and went off practically all foods and started eating like a small child (e.g., fishfingers and smiley faces and spagetti hoops every day!).
xx