FertilAid Success Stories?

Safyre · 11-07-2007, 04:42 PM

** I Didn't know where else to post this, sorry if this isn't the right are***

Just wondering if anyone has any FertilAid success stories, whether it helped you, or your man.

My hubs just did an SA and it came back a lil low for count and mobility, and just wondering if anyone has used FertilAid or Zinc or L-Carnitine, or anything that helped to improve the sperm and got you pregnant?

I know that the next step the doc wants for us is IUI if this SA doesn't come back any better, but we're trying to avoid that. Any advise would be wonderful!

Edit: I just read this Products containing L-carnitine cannot be marketed as "natural health products" in Canada, since L-carnitine is not considered a natural ingredient. L-carnitine products and supplements are not allowed to be imported into Canada - which means that we cannot get FertilAid here in Canada? i'm confused!!

RunnerDuck · 11-08-2007, 03:00 PM

We used Fertility Blend for Men ... I am not sure how similar the two are but I would guess they are close. I was never a big believer in these marketed-for-fertility supplements because I know what a vulnerable market we are but the doctor who ran one of the IVF seminars I went to actually reccomends FB so I thought what the heck.

My husband's first SA came back with borderline low morphology... his total count was like 72 million which is good but the normal sperm was only like 13% which is low. We had one successful pregnancy and one miscarriage on our own so I really wasn't too worried about him, though I'd have liked better numbers. So I didn't have him take anything for the first year of our trying with meds... his first post-wash SA for IUI was 56 million and the second was 66 million so really, he seemed fine. But I was making lots of eggs and not getting pregnant. Then his counts fell into the 20s and 30s... I did get pregnant once with a chemical preg and once with an early miscarriage. Really I think our problem was egg quality but after my 3rd miscarriage we decided to throw everything at the next cycle that we could - this included me using a different injection and taking baby aspirin and prednisone, and I got him on the FB for a few months. Oh, we also both did a round of antibiotics when the cycle started in case some infection was to blame for my repeated losses.

His post wash count my final cycle was in the 40s - which was better than it had been the last few cycles, but not the best it's ever been. I did get pregnant - with triplets - but really I think it was my egg quality that we fixed, through using a different med. But who knows?

There's a chance the vitamins helped DH. I really don't know. I can't say they didn't. And that IVF doc we saw did reccomend them for whatever that means. I definately think anyone having male issues should give them a try.

The biggest drawback is expense - they are cheaper on the web though than in stores that sell them - and size - all the men who were in the fertility support group I went to b!tched about those big pills. My DH was no exception. Well boo hoo, if I am going to have shots every day and bloodwork every few days you can endure some stupid pills.

Chula · 11-08-2007, 03:22 PM

Ok so there is a vitamin that a man can take if his sperm count is very low?

Safyre · 11-11-2007, 05:49 PM

Thank you Runnerduck for your reply...
I'm pretty sure that they are going to refer us to go for an IUI and that scares me a lil bit. We havn't even tried Clmoid yet ..and when hubs asked the doc what to do to help us he said 'sperm wash' which I know is a part of IUI. hubs numbers are not very low at all...he said they were just below normal. i forget the numbers now.. i sorta freaked out when he mentioned the sperm wash and forgot everything else that was said in the appt ...
We'll see what happens when they get the SA back this time. I hope that this worry is all for not and everything turns out fine this time

RunnerDuck · 11-12-2007, 12:48 AM

You know when IUI was first broached with me i was totally opposed to it. I can't really say WHY... but it was like having one more vestige of "normal" ripped away from me. It's like it's bad enough you can't ovulate like a normal person and have sex now and then because you WANT to and have a surprise pregnancy out of the deal. YOU don't even ovulate so you have to take something to make that happen. And then, hey, guess what, you don't even get the falling into bed and having sex with your husband part, you have to lay on a table and have someone else put the sperm in. It was just so... upsetting. This was before we knew DH had a low-ish count and before we even knew clomid wouldn't be enough for me - I don't ovulate on clomid. The doctor thought for sure clomid would be enough and IUI would just improve the chances, not be required.

As time passed I came to see IUI as pretty awesome... no pressure to perform, millions more sperm making it past the cervix, timing can't get any better. It was like, wow, we're already doing this pretty medically, why not go all the way?

Of course if you don't want to you don't have to - hopefully the next SA will be good - but I just wanted to say I was freaked by the idea at first and later came to think it was the best thing ever. I think it can take time to come to grips with the loss of control for some people.