Hello. I do not have any advice directly. I just wanted to write to show my support and to say that my husband and I are going through a similar situation. My husband was diagnosed with a moderate left varicocele ... but the urologist did not recommend surgery, he instead recommended a embolization (where they use a catheter to help with the blockage instead of surgery, apparently it is less invasive and just as good chance of improving his sperm count/motility/morphology.

I am in the process of setting up a consultation appointment to schedule the embolization procedure. In the meantime, my RE thinks my husbands numbers are "good enough" to try an IUI. So, I talked it over with the DH and we decided to do 2 rounds of Clomid + IUI while we wait to get my husband set up, has the procedure and then wait 3 months before we know it is helped!

The waiting is what is killing me too... so I start my first IUI this upcoming month!

Again, I don't have any advice about your question, but wanted to let you know I'm in the same boat and I'm here for additional support!

Thank you!!! I have done some research and see that the embolization is recommended so I will def ask about that as an option over surgery! My husbands counts have dropped to 1.5 million sperm and low motility and morphology.... I find out this Friday if the 4th IUI worked or not and that was our max for IUI.The next step is whether we fix my husband or go through IvF.

So does it take 3 months for the sperm numbers to increase or do they just say 3 months to see if it worked?

And best of luck to you in your first IUI! I hope that it works the first time and maybe the hubby won't have to go through with the procedure!

Thanks ... all the research that I did, plus my RE said that it takes 90 days for the male to produce a complete new "sperm production cycle" ... the results could improve within a month or two, but it'll be 90 full days until they are "ALL new" ... Reading several different articles, it seems that 90 days is most common (~3 Months) but new research shows that it's actually shorter 50-60 days.

But, either way it's seems that it takes between 2-3 months before knowing if the procedure helped (via SA). My RE recommended waiting 3 months AFTER this embolization BEFORE we would do another IUI+Clomid cycle. (That's primarily because our insurance doesn't cover an IUI, so that'll give us the "best chance")

I'd love to keep up with your journey ... I can't really talk to family or friends about this, because they don't understand, and they just can't relate! I wish you the best of luck, and hope that your IUI #$4 was successful!

Hi Just wanted to let you know my DH had left varicocele surgery and it was not real fun...no surgery is! But my DH had it on a thursday and was up for work on that monday! An it did help his numbers go up! He had 3% normal and told us there was no chance us getting pregnant on our own! But then about 4 months after surgery and taking vitamins his highest was 80 million after wash! and my doctor told me we could probably try on our own and get pregnant! His vitamins are called Conception RX his urologist recomended them or we would have been thinking it wasnt going to help! Good luck to you and your DH if you have any other questions please ask!

Tvenvid: definitely stay in touch and let me know how all your appts go. I'm always here if you need to talk as this is something that not many in our lives can relate to!

Mrsfrog31: did he have the surgery or the embolization?? After what I have researched it sounds like the embolization has more pros then it does cons. I feel bad that my husband may have to go through this but it may be the one last thing we can try before going into IVF! I'm glad to hear that he was able to go back to work quickly!

My husband had an embolization for his varicocele. We were TTC for 2 1/2 years, and his counts start fine and then were down in the 2-4 million range. We had to cancel 2 rounds of IUI due to low counts, and then had 2 unsuccessful IUIs. A month or two after his procedure, his counts were up around 50 million, and we got our BFP on IUI #3. He also was on Clomid to help bring up his testosterone levels. Anyway, if you are able to have the procedure covered by insurance, I would definitely recommend having the embolization over the surgery. It was simple, and the only ill effect effect he had was nausea from the anesthesia. He was up walking around normally the next day. I know there's no guarantee that it will bring up the counts, but it worked for us, and I think it's worth trying! Good luck. :)

My husband had bilateral varicocele surg. I am not sure if it really helped his numbers....between the surgery and medication he took...his numbers went up...however his numbers did not go up enough to remove us from the needing IVF category. We ended up doing IVF and are FINALLY expecting in March. The surg was very painful

Hi kcaldwell my DH had just the surgery. An yes he was up at ready to work only 4 days later but he loves to work and can't keep him in bed! We also found a good urologist and that helped me feel better about the surgery! Good luck with everything i sent you a friend request if you have anymore questions!

thank you all! Our 4th IUI failed so we are meeting with the urologist this thursday and I am definitely more interested in the embolization than the surgery but all this information makes me feel more comfortable and open for when we go to our appt!

Hey! I'm glad that you have your appointment this Thursday. Does your urologist make the recommendation of Embolization vs. Surgery, or will he refer you to someone else? My DH's urologist office doesn't offer either procedure ... he referred us to a Intervention Radiologist to discuss our options. I was finally just able to get his urologist office to send over all the information the Radiologist needed, and we set up our consultation for next Tuesday at 8:30 AM! Our urologist recommended the embolization ... so hopefully if all goes well, we will be able to get all of our questions asked and move on to the next step! Let us know how your apt on Thursday goes! I'd love to see what yours recommended! =)

His urologist recommended the embolization but he doesnt perform the procedures so we are meeting with a urologist at the same practice that actually performs both the embolization and the surgery so I guess it is really up to him but this will be the first time meeting him. I hope that we both get our answers this next week and move on to the next step in this crazy process! I really hope to be able to get this done by the end of the year!!!!!! i will let you know how it goes!