My Vasectomy Reversal

Last month, Rich started to take some vitamin supplements that are supposed to help when Trying to Conceive (TTC). Now that Rich’s semen analysis results are back (and not so great), I wanted to review supplements again and make some changes based on the test results. Since it takes three months for sperm to form, it will be a few months before we really see the benefits of any supplementation.

Why not just take FertilAid? Although FertilAid is readily available, I want to be sure that he is getting the right amount of each vitamin and mineral. The FertilAid website isn’t clear on the quantities of some supplements in their products. If he doesn’t take enough, then we may not get the results we want, while if he takes too much, we risk toxicity. FertilAid is expensive too, so if we can get the same effect with a multivitamin and some individual supplements, it may be more cost effective.

Rich has low sperm count and low motility, but does not have problems with agglutination or morphology. At least one website claims that vitamin E is as effective as fertility treatments and improves potency (motility and potency) of sperm. One study of vitamin E had men take 600 I.U.’s of vitamin E a day and found a significant increase in sperm potency.

Since vitamin E is fat soluble, it is stored in the body and can build up to toxic levels. You shouldn’t get more than 1,000 milligrams from both food and supplements. Rich’s current multivitamin includes 45 I.U.’s (one IU of vitamin E equals one milligram), while FertilAid has 150 I.U.’s. I don’t think I want to increase his intake of vitamin E to 600 I.U.’s a day, but I am thinking he should take at least 400 I.U.’s a day.

Another supplement that has a significant impact on mobility of sperm is selenium. His multivitamin already has 105 mcg, and over 200 mcg can lead to toxicity. However, his multivitamin uses the salt form (sodium selenite), which is supposed to be toxic at relatively low levels, instead of the safer amino acid form (selenomethionine or selenocysteine), which is used in FertilAid. I’m not going to suggest that he increase his Selenium beyond what he is currently taking, and the fact that his multivitamin uses the salt form makes me think he should switch to a different brand.

Finally, I looked into L-carnitine, which has been shown to increase sperm motility at doses of 3 grams/day. However, supplementing at this high a dose may cause gastrointestinal symptoms like nausea, gas, and cramps, as well as “fishy” body order. FertilAid contains some L-carnitine, but it is unclear exactly how much. We decided that Rich would take L-carnitine, starting with just 250 mg a day and increasing as tolerated.

At this time, Rich and I have decided that a general men’s multivitamin and a few other supplements (vitamin C, E and L-carnitine) is more cost effective than FertilAid, and gives us more control over the levels of individual supplements. We may change multivitamin brands though, since the one he is currently taking uses the salt form of Selenium. We’ll let you know what his semen analysis says in a few months, when the supplements have had a chance to do their thing!

Note from Rich: Though I haven’t asked him about supplements specifically, my vasectomy reversal surgeon says that there really isn’t anything I can do to increase sperm count, other than stay out of hot tubs. I’m willing to give this a try though.


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