Opinions about male fertility supplement page

[FlyingPig]

Hi,

My other half (37 years old) and I (30 years old) are trying to conceive. Long story short, years on the T-coil messed with her hormones and left her infertile. A standard British diet won't have helped either, even though she has been lean all her life and only in the last few years put on a bit of weight, but never very much. We went through 1 IVF cycle, with no success.

On my initiative we went primal a few months ago. I've been pretty strict and have nothing but praise, and I have seen good progress. My sperm count went from poor to "millions". She has been much less disciplined than I have, I think mainly because of her crazy work schedule (2 jobs, involving getting up in the morning at 4am, coming home at 9pm). She is on board with the principles but doesn't always act accordingly, also because for work reasons we do not live together at the moment so I can't cook for her and she only gets about 6 hours sleep a night, in my opinion the main stumbling block. I have suggested many times to eat liver and drink bone broths, hopefully one day we'll get there.

Anyway, in order to boost our chances to conceive naturally (I don't see any reason why we couldn't), she is going down the supplement route, which I suppose is better than the status quo. She convinced me to start taking one as well. I would appreciate some feedback on the contents. See below. It seems pretty OK to me, or do I risk overdosing anything? (my only other supplements are 5000IU vitamin D and vitamin K2).

[Goldie]

FP, if your sperm count is "millions" and you have good primal nutrition, I don't know that it's worth taking a supplement like that. You might want to look at this article: Walnuts Improve Semen Quality -- although it looked at men consuming a "western-style" diet. But walnuts are primal, so there's no harm in trying.

I'm more concerned about your other half. She needs to eat better and sleep better... and what are your joint plans when she does get pregnant? That sort of work schedule isn't good for her now; when she gets pregnant, working like that is even worse for her AND the baby. I wonder if it wouldn't be better for you two to wait to conceive until you can live together and she doesn't have to work such long hours. ??

[Sabine]

Ditto to Goldie.

The nine months of making the baby are as important as the lifetime afterward. The effort of eating right and getting sleep is as nothing to caring for a child. If she's not ready to make changes now to get pregnant, maybe she's not ready for a baby yet.

Hope this doesn't sound harsh. A human life is worth a lot of thought, that's all.

[FlyingPig]

Yes, I appreciate the comments and kind of agree. What I should have clarified is this is a temporary thing. She'll only do this schedule for another few months and then the plan is (after we get married next month) to move together again and to take it easier work wise. The thing is, I'm a (freelance) commercial pilot so I am tied to my base, and she needs her job in London for financial reasons. Once this wedding is over and we live together it should all quieten down and get easier as we plan to settle down, live primally (diet, exercise, play, stress levels, etc.). I am very aware this is all less than ideal but it's how life goes sometimes. She feels the clock is ticking, I guess, but we've been together for a great 8 years and will be married soon so we are trying to plan ahead.

[Iron Will]

To be honest the amounts of minerals and vitamins in the supplement along with the suggestion of taking only one pill a day with food really isn't going to do anything for you. I would all that a placebo and a gimic. If you want to increase your T-levels and sperm count there are a few things in there that are good but again, really not enough to do much for you. My suggestion is to use up the remaining product (it wont do you any harm) and just continue to eat primally. Make sure to get to the gym at least 3 times a week and focus on lower body compound movement.

I also suggest having more sex. If you can get 3 times a week in there minimum that also will increase T, your sperm count will increase and become more mobile plus you'll get the added bonus of the extra exercise.

I would agree with the other couple posters about getting your wife more rest with out a doubt. That being said here are a few things you can look in to that will help increase T and sperm count

Vitamin B Complex
Zinc
Maca
Magnesium
Omega 3's
Horny Goat weed
Royal Jelly

There's a few for you anyway. Good luck and have fun!!!

[Goldie]

I'd suggest that you just wait until her schedule is easier and you two are married and living together. Another few months won't make that big a difference in the "ticking clock"; her health will make a big difference in conceiving and supporting new life!

[cavebabymama]

I would like to echo the sentiments that, for her, it is best to wait to conceive until a time where she can give her body what it needs. The first trimester is brutal. Not all women get morning sickness, I was lucky in that way, but some get it so bad they end up losing massive weight. Add to that how insanely tired she would be even getting 10 hours of sleep a night, and typical food aversions. As a woman, I would really, really recommend she spend 6 months prior taking really good care of herself from a physical/sleep perspective as well as a nutritional standpoint. Pregnancy and nursing depletes vitamin/mineral stores in an ideal pregnancy, so take the task of building up those stores seriously. At the very least make sure she is taking a prenatal months before conceiving.

For you, I don't think you need that supplement. I have first hand experience from a male friend taking maca root. That is really all you need/want to be taking. Just add the powder to your smoothies or find a high quality supplement pill. Really good stuff for male hormones and sperm count.

[FlyingPig]

Thanks for all the replies. I doubt the supplements will be of any help and that I should just continue eating well and getting lean and strong. Iron Will, thanks, I'll read up on the Horny Goat Weed
As for her, we had a very good conversation where I basically echoed sentiments described above. Her point of view is that it will never be a perfect time and how you only have to look at current moms and dads, who are not always very well prepared at all (I have to add she is a nanny and knows a lot about babies and small children, and is genuinely very good with them). I expressed my concern about her health and tiredness and was really emphatic about it, after which she admitted she slept through her alarm the other day, which usually never happens.
Anyway, this is not the place to go into too much detail. The chances of her getting pregnant in the next few months are pretty slim anyway so in a lot of ways this is a bit academic. One good outcome of clearing the air is that she has become more open to getting her vitamin D levels tested as I have a strong suspicion she is severely deficient. She is of African/Brazilian descent (mixed race) and after spending her first 20 years in a hot and sunny country, she moved to the UK with its miserable weather and never supplemented. I recently discovered that fibroid tumours are linked to a lack of vitamin D, and she had one removed a few months ago (and now it turns out her half-sister has one as well). So hopefully we'll get to the bottom of this soon. She's also started eating some coconut oil and butter, as I think her diet is too low in good fats. She's been eating pretty well but still has sweet cravings (and never had a sweet tooth in her life as she grew up in southern Africa eating avocados), so my guess is she still has this fat is bad CW conception (no matter how many times I tried to explain) and is trying to do low fat Primal, which doesn't work. So, those are good changes (she loves the coconut oil, I told her to focus on her health and not to worry about her weight) but obviously the main problem is the sleep pattern, which should hopefully sort itself out soon. Let's just hope she doesn't snooze through our honeymoon next month