cAMP/concentration-gradient theory pointer for numbness and anhedonia
u/drwillpowers
r/DrWillPowers2026-04-10T23:18:11Z
Dr Will Powers’ own statements and theorizing
Summary (paraphrased)
Replying to a question — relayed via a friend — about how androgen-clearance problems could produce anhedonia, Powers points readers to his cyclic-AMP/concentration-gradient theory for numbness and anhedonia, and states he does not consider the conditions incurable: his main worry is long-standing cases with silenced androgenic signaling and penile tissue atrophy, drawing on transgender-care experience where prolonged hormone suppression sometimes cannot be fully reversed even with maintenance therapy. He holds that any patient capable of achieving a window should in theory be curable — the system demonstrably still works — and frames the syndromes as states of cellular extremis with frantic epigenetic adaptation, not fixed diseases: "not really conditions" but states the system gets stuck in.
Key points (paraphrased)
- cAMP/concentration-gradient theory pointer for numbness and anhedonia.
- Not considered incurable — except possibly long-standing atrophy from silenced androgenic signaling.
- Transgender-care analogy for the limits of reversibility after prolonged suppression.
- Window-capability as proof the system still works → curability in principle.
- Syndromes framed as states of cellular extremis with frantic epigenetic adaptation, not fixed diseases.
Why it’s in the corpus
The cAMP theory pointer for the sensory/hedonic symptoms and the one domain he flags as possibly irreversible (long-standing atrophy). The "states, not conditions" framing is central to his curability stance.
Context — the post Powers was replying toVerbatim third-party text, shown for context only — not Powers’ statement. Usernames removed.ShowHide
Powers' comment replies to [username removed], who relayed a friend's question asking how androgen-clearance issues could translate into anhedonia and inability to feel pleasure, in Powers' "abnormal urinary androgens" gallery thread.
_Note: the export entry merges several comments; the parent context above is anchored on the located "states, not conditions" comment. The cAMP-pointer and atrophy remarks come from comments whose exact parents were not recoverable from the mirror's truncated thread renders (see backfill log)._
(Parent context recovered from the r.genit.al mirror on 2026-10-09; Powers' comment text itself is from John's user-provided export.)
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