Auntyof11
17-09-2006, 19:32
Hi everyone
Have been on this site for a few weeks now but I haven’t talked about the specific problem that led us to IVF and we thought we would share it.
My husband has an unusual problem in that he can no longer ejaculate. The problem first surfaced in 2001. He was 26 at this time and had no history of ejaculatory problems before this time.
About June 2001, we began to notice the volume of ejaculate was beginning to decrease. By December no or very little semen was being ejaculated and has remained that way until present.
During intercourse, he still feels that he orgasms to some extent but it is dry with no emissions and less sensation. He describes it as still feeling the normal sensation of increased pleasure leading up to an orgasm, but can’t reach that point of no return and intense pleasure as the semen is ejaculated out of the body.
We have been seeing a local specialist but he has exhausted all avenues of investigation. He says that he knows that there is a biological reason that is causing this, but with our current technology we simply are not able to work out what it is. Following is a quick summary of the medical investigations and results undertaken to date.
A series of blood tests were undertaken and all hormonal and biochemical parameters were normal.
Tests were done to see if he was suffering from retrograde ejaculation (ejaculate going into bladder). A urologist performed a flexible cystoscopy (camera down the urethra – painful) which showed a normal penile and prostatic urethra as well as a healthy looking bladder. Pre and post intercourse urine samples were then tested for the presence of semen but found none and this ruled out retrograde ejaculation as a cause.
Then had a rectal ultrasound which revealed a normal prostrate and seminal vesicles. It did find a small ejaculatory duct cyst but the specialists concluded this was not the cause of the problem.
After this he had thin slice CT scans of the pelvis but these failed to reveal anything.
His specialist then sent him to a neurologist to see if there was any neurological reason that could explain the problem. The neurologist sent him for a series of MRI scans of the head, lumbar spine and pelvis. The MRI of the lumbar spine could find no neural impingement and the MRI of the pelvis showed normal appearing prostrate and seminal vesicles. No pelvic mass lesions or infiltrative lesion were identified. Following this the neurologist said he could not offer any explanation for the problem and there was nothing else he could do.
After the neurologist came up with nothing, our specialist basically told us that there were no further tests that could be undertaken at this time. We would just have to monitor things every 6 months or so and see if any new research came to light.
After this we found a paper on the web that trialed the use of a drug called yohimbine to treat this problem with some success. After initial excitement we learned that yohimbine was listed by the Therarapeutic Goods Administration as a banned substance and couldn’t be imported into Australia (classified as an aphrodisiac and for some reason banned).
It then took over the 18 months to finally get TGA approval to import yohimbine into Australia. He underwent an initial trial in October last year. Although it had some positive effects of increased sensation during intercourse it did not result in ejaculation. He is just about to go another trial now for a longer period and we hope that this will have some success.
Obviously we have had a very harrowing time, coming to terms and having to deal with this problem as well as going through the emotional rollercoaster of IVF. All of the doctors we have seen have said that they have either never seen or heard of a case like this before or if they have, only in 1 or 2 instances and not in someone so young. Would be interested to know if anyone out there has heard or experienced this problem before.
We went to Doctor last week. Starting HRT next cycle for FET. Excited :smiliedance:
Have been on this site for a few weeks now but I haven’t talked about the specific problem that led us to IVF and we thought we would share it.
My husband has an unusual problem in that he can no longer ejaculate. The problem first surfaced in 2001. He was 26 at this time and had no history of ejaculatory problems before this time.
About June 2001, we began to notice the volume of ejaculate was beginning to decrease. By December no or very little semen was being ejaculated and has remained that way until present.
During intercourse, he still feels that he orgasms to some extent but it is dry with no emissions and less sensation. He describes it as still feeling the normal sensation of increased pleasure leading up to an orgasm, but can’t reach that point of no return and intense pleasure as the semen is ejaculated out of the body.
We have been seeing a local specialist but he has exhausted all avenues of investigation. He says that he knows that there is a biological reason that is causing this, but with our current technology we simply are not able to work out what it is. Following is a quick summary of the medical investigations and results undertaken to date.
A series of blood tests were undertaken and all hormonal and biochemical parameters were normal.
Tests were done to see if he was suffering from retrograde ejaculation (ejaculate going into bladder). A urologist performed a flexible cystoscopy (camera down the urethra – painful) which showed a normal penile and prostatic urethra as well as a healthy looking bladder. Pre and post intercourse urine samples were then tested for the presence of semen but found none and this ruled out retrograde ejaculation as a cause.
Then had a rectal ultrasound which revealed a normal prostrate and seminal vesicles. It did find a small ejaculatory duct cyst but the specialists concluded this was not the cause of the problem.
After this he had thin slice CT scans of the pelvis but these failed to reveal anything.
His specialist then sent him to a neurologist to see if there was any neurological reason that could explain the problem. The neurologist sent him for a series of MRI scans of the head, lumbar spine and pelvis. The MRI of the lumbar spine could find no neural impingement and the MRI of the pelvis showed normal appearing prostrate and seminal vesicles. No pelvic mass lesions or infiltrative lesion were identified. Following this the neurologist said he could not offer any explanation for the problem and there was nothing else he could do.
After the neurologist came up with nothing, our specialist basically told us that there were no further tests that could be undertaken at this time. We would just have to monitor things every 6 months or so and see if any new research came to light.
After this we found a paper on the web that trialed the use of a drug called yohimbine to treat this problem with some success. After initial excitement we learned that yohimbine was listed by the Therarapeutic Goods Administration as a banned substance and couldn’t be imported into Australia (classified as an aphrodisiac and for some reason banned).
It then took over the 18 months to finally get TGA approval to import yohimbine into Australia. He underwent an initial trial in October last year. Although it had some positive effects of increased sensation during intercourse it did not result in ejaculation. He is just about to go another trial now for a longer period and we hope that this will have some success.
Obviously we have had a very harrowing time, coming to terms and having to deal with this problem as well as going through the emotional rollercoaster of IVF. All of the doctors we have seen have said that they have either never seen or heard of a case like this before or if they have, only in 1 or 2 instances and not in someone so young. Would be interested to know if anyone out there has heard or experienced this problem before.
We went to Doctor last week. Starting HRT next cycle for FET. Excited :smiliedance: