Aa
Hi Everyone!
Thanks for starting this group! I'm 44 and TTC #1 - still giving it a whirl!
Not doing anything fancy anymore - been through many IUIs and all that. Hubby's sperm was not up to snuff, but tried frozen sperm, friends' sperm. Never used meds. Last FSH was 6, but that was 4 years ago now.
Since then we've improved hubby's hormonal situation quite a bit, and will let nature take its course if it wants to. If it doesn't, I'll raise bunnies or something. :o)
Best wishes to all!
~Wendy
Not doing anything fancy anymore - been through many IUIs and all that. Hubby's sperm was not up to snuff, but tried frozen sperm, friends' sperm. Never used meds. Last FSH was 6, but that was 4 years ago now.
Since then we've improved hubby's hormonal situation quite a bit, and will let nature take its course if it wants to. If it doesn't, I'll raise bunnies or something. :o)
Best wishes to all!
~Wendy
Holy cow, Wendy! That's wonderful news for you guys. He overcame quite a challenge. I LOVE hearing success stories like that.My DB had some serious digestive health issues for years and started researching natural remedies and supplements like crazy. The change in him since is amazing. He's completely changed his eating habits and takes a fair number of supplements but hopes to cut them down somewhat over time. He's taking your DB's list (minus the maca) plus a variety of aminos, Ribogen, NAC and vitamins. He also cut out a ton of foods and added a bunch to his diet. All this but I have no idea about his sperm situation. I know he won't get it checked. I wish though...
I'm glad I met you too! It's always nice to touch base with someone in my age group who understands the process of trying. Not just the physical process but the mental process too. Most people I talk to about even allowing the possibility of getting pregnant again haven't been very positive. I get the typical scare stories. That's why I love these forums. The info and support has been fantastic. I've learned a ton from these ladies.
Take care, Wendy!
Suz
I'm glad I met you too! It's always nice to touch base with someone in my age group who understands the process of trying. Not just the physical process but the mental process too. Most people I talk to about even allowing the possibility of getting pregnant again haven't been very positive. I get the typical scare stories. That's why I love these forums. The info and support has been fantastic. I've learned a ton from these ladies.
Take care, Wendy!
Suz
Hi Suz!
As for my hubby's hormones, it's a long story, but I was aware when we married in 1988 that he might not father children. He had undergone chemo and radiation in his teens for lymphoma. Cured! But the treatment he had is known for causing sterility.
Once we were into our thirties, even before we were thiking about a family, he began to experience symptoms of low testosterone, and tests confirmed this. Testosterone shots fixed him up, but ironically, taking testosterone this way decreases fertility (sperm development depends on a concentrated local supply of testosterone in the testes, so if you take shots, that local production decreases and sperm production is shut down). Incidentally, the investigations revealed a sperm count below one million, even before he began the shots.
The shots made him feel so good that we didn't want to consider taking him off the testosterone to collect sperm for IVI or ICSI, although doctors said it would be perfectly safe. I underwent testing, results were good, and so we tried IUI with frozen donor sperm for a while, but nothing happened. I was always of two minds about this anyway, although I thought it was the best course at the time.
Now comes the interesting part. All this happened when we still lived in a crowded city. We both wanted to move the the countryside, so a few years ago we managed to save up enough for our own home up here in the north woods. Not long after we moved, my hubby began to "feel" that he didn't need the shots anymore. I knew there was no danger in experimenting, so I did a bunch of research on herbs and supplements to support the reproductive system and hormones in men, he started taking them, and he went off the shots. Well, I was expecting that, at least for a little while, I'd have a very droopy (grin) husband. But no! He was fine! And now it's two years later.
He finally got curious and went to his doc recently for hormone tests. His testosterone is now in the normal range. His doctor was amazed.
There's very little research on this, but there are some indications that chemical injuries to the testes can repair themselves over time - especially over decades. Perhaps this has happened. Perhaps it's the reduction of stress from living up here where it's quiet and clean. Perhaps it's the supplements. Perhaps it's everything!
Now, I realize that we have not had his sperm retested. I think there's little value in that at this stage. We know he has SOME sperm, and likely a lot more than he had back in the low-hormone days. As for me, I'm 44, so who knows if I can conceive? We'll just have to see. And what the heck - it's fun trying.
The plan I have in my back pocket is to adopt a child or children in my 50s, if I have none of my own. Lots of 5-to-10 year olds need permanent homes in our area.
As for the supplements my DH is using, they are: Maca, fish oil, l-arginine, l-carnitine, and DHEA. Google them and you'll see the research behind them. As you said, you've used maca. It is one of the least researched, actually, but the anecdotes about it sound so good, I thought it was worth throwing in.
Glad to hear from another 44-year-old who has children in mind.
Best wishes,
~Wendy
As for my hubby's hormones, it's a long story, but I was aware when we married in 1988 that he might not father children. He had undergone chemo and radiation in his teens for lymphoma. Cured! But the treatment he had is known for causing sterility.
Once we were into our thirties, even before we were thiking about a family, he began to experience symptoms of low testosterone, and tests confirmed this. Testosterone shots fixed him up, but ironically, taking testosterone this way decreases fertility (sperm development depends on a concentrated local supply of testosterone in the testes, so if you take shots, that local production decreases and sperm production is shut down). Incidentally, the investigations revealed a sperm count below one million, even before he began the shots.
The shots made him feel so good that we didn't want to consider taking him off the testosterone to collect sperm for IVI or ICSI, although doctors said it would be perfectly safe. I underwent testing, results were good, and so we tried IUI with frozen donor sperm for a while, but nothing happened. I was always of two minds about this anyway, although I thought it was the best course at the time.
Now comes the interesting part. All this happened when we still lived in a crowded city. We both wanted to move the the countryside, so a few years ago we managed to save up enough for our own home up here in the north woods. Not long after we moved, my hubby began to "feel" that he didn't need the shots anymore. I knew there was no danger in experimenting, so I did a bunch of research on herbs and supplements to support the reproductive system and hormones in men, he started taking them, and he went off the shots. Well, I was expecting that, at least for a little while, I'd have a very droopy (grin) husband. But no! He was fine! And now it's two years later.
He finally got curious and went to his doc recently for hormone tests. His testosterone is now in the normal range. His doctor was amazed.
There's very little research on this, but there are some indications that chemical injuries to the testes can repair themselves over time - especially over decades. Perhaps this has happened. Perhaps it's the reduction of stress from living up here where it's quiet and clean. Perhaps it's the supplements. Perhaps it's everything!
Now, I realize that we have not had his sperm retested. I think there's little value in that at this stage. We know he has SOME sperm, and likely a lot more than he had back in the low-hormone days. As for me, I'm 44, so who knows if I can conceive? We'll just have to see. And what the heck - it's fun trying.
The plan I have in my back pocket is to adopt a child or children in my 50s, if I have none of my own. Lots of 5-to-10 year olds need permanent homes in our area.
As for the supplements my DH is using, they are: Maca, fish oil, l-arginine, l-carnitine, and DHEA. Google them and you'll see the research behind them. As you said, you've used maca. It is one of the least researched, actually, but the anecdotes about it sound so good, I thought it was worth throwing in.
Glad to hear from another 44-year-old who has children in mind.
Best wishes,
~Wendy
We're 44 and going natural as well. We do take supplements though and watch our eating habits very closely. I take Maca to even out the hormones and that worked well for quite some time and then my hormones went nutty on me again so I took a break from it and went back on and things seem to be settling right down again. What's up with your hubbie's hormones? He might want to research Maca too and see if it's something that might help him. It's one of the very few things I'll take to regulate hormones because it doesn't have any known side effects at all and alot of the more popular supplements do.
Hey Wendy...
SSBD to you. I'm loving that "raise Bunnies" thing. (ha) ;o)
--Savanha
SSBD to you. I'm loving that "raise Bunnies" thing. (ha) ;o)
--Savanha
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