Preseed.com Blog

“Not again!”  When you are trying to conceive, sex can become anything but enjoyable. Fear of failure, fertility medications, performance anxiety�all help cause at least 1/3 of infertile couples to develop some level of sexual dysfunction often coupled with depression. Because conception requires intercourse, if sexual dysfunction arises, TTC couples “keep at it” even if positive feelings about their sexual relationship diminish. Studies can’t agree which is the chicken or the egg (depression because of lack of fulfilling intimacy or poor quality sex because of depression?), but one thing is sure, almost all infertile couples go through some mourning for the loss of a ‘normal’ sex life.

Well, who cares if you enjoy making love or not while trying-to-conceive? After all, you want a baby! Actually, the quality of intimacy you have during ‘that time of the month’, (when you are fertile of course!) can be critical. First of all, numerous studies have shown that the more stimulated or ‘turned on’ the man is the more motile sperm he can produce. Significant increases in sperm counts and sperm motility have been found following more foreplay and/or stimulation before ejaculation. In particular, for men with low sperm counts, spending time getting your husband good and in the mood, should be a part of the plan.

Enjoyable intercourse isn’t just good for sperm counts. Overall marital discord is lower in couples that enjoy satisfying sexual relations even when the woman is ovulating. The investigators in this study found that couples who are able to stay in sync in the bedroom while working on procreation, were better able to function as a team in dealing with the larger issues and stresses of infertility.

One common TTC complication is vaginal dryness in the female partner, with 75% of TTC couples reporting an increased incidence during timed intercourse. Fear of failure and fertility medications can make many women lack natural lubrication. Unfortunately, three decades of research have shown that most vaginal lubricants cause rapid losses in sperm motility and viability, equivalent to contraceptive gels. This is true even if they don’t contain a spermicide and even if they are water based. There is tremendous misinformation on this topic. However, Pre~Seed has been recently introduced for couples who need relief from vaginal dryness while trying to conceive. Being able to have intercourse throughout your fertile time, without pain, is an important part of TTC and is important for your well being as a couple.

Once dryness isn’t an issue, use your fertile time to experiment with new things to up the romance and sizzle while making love. Although overstated, it often isn’t implemented during TTC because everyone’s stress levels can preclude being more imaginative. Most importantly, when you are making a baby take time at least once a month to recall why you fell in love, and to put some of that same energy you used to put into planning a special rendezvous into enjoying each other, even if you happen to be ovulating! Don’t blame each other when things get sideways, but be creative and communicative to find new ways to enjoy your intimate friendship.

Happy Baby-making!

Dr. E

Arabinogalactan (AG) is a large plant sugar from the larch or tamarack tree with unique properties in supporting cell function. In fact, the whole journey to start INGfertility and develop Pre~Seed started around my discoveries that AG supported sperm function in the laboratory. This was one of those crazy discoveries that was meant to be! Specifically, in 1994 I was studying how sperm survive in the Fallopian Tube after ejaculation into the female. This survival of sperm in the woman involves binding or attachment of the sperm to the cells lining the tube through a sugar interaction. This binding protects sperm and keeps them happy as they wait for the egg to fertilize. I was trying to find a natural sugar substance that sperm could bind to in the lab in order to mimic this attachment in the Fallopian tube. A colleague (who would become my partner) suggested a unique tree sugar, arabinogalactan, because her father had studied it for many years. It had been shown to have special abilities to protect cells, including being the active fraction of the herb echinacea (to enhance immune systems).

So I merrily coated AG on the bottom of Petri dishes hoping to have sperm stick to the sugar, and create a little “Fallopian tube” in the laboratory. Surprisingly, or not!, the sugar was very water soluble and as soon as I added the sperm in solution the AG dissolved… but what I observed over the following several days was amazing!!! The human sperm that I had placed into the Petri dish lived and lived and lived….They were happy and swimming well, far past the usual times for human sperm to survive in the laboratory. Needless to say I was shocked! I called a patent attorney that week and since have developed over 8 patents on the use of AG to optimize cell function, including that of sperm in several different assisted reproduction products. Sperm are very susceptible to oxygen free radical damage or oxidative stress that can occur in the laboratory or in the vagina from a hostile environment . This can interfere with their swimming and can actually damage their DNA (genetic material). Antioxidant support for sperm is critical to protect from this damage. In fact, infertile men have HALF of the antioxidants in their semen of normal fertile men. So although we still don’t understand exactly what all AG does to help sperm maintain their normal function, we can assume that the antioxidant support it provides is probably important.

Happy Baby-Making!
Dr. E

I was just forwarded a report on Pre~Seed from the independent Fondation Faber, in Lausanne, Switzerland. A foundation with a mission to study ways to treat infertility. In this study, Pre~Seed alone provided optimal conditions for sperm function, in contrast to other products tested. The foundation then suggested that physicians recommend Pre~Seed to their trying to conceive couples suffering from vaginal dryness.

This report also pointed out the damage to sperm caused by ultrasound gels that could occur during assisted reproduction procedures. Pre Lubricant (a companion product to Pre~Seed) can be used to facilitate insertion of diagnostics probes, such as during transvaginal procedures.

We are very excited about this new independent study!

Dr. E