Re: Something is rotten in the state of pfsmark…
u/drwillpowers
r/DrWillPowers2026-10-08T04:14:27Z
Dr Will Powers’ own statements and theorizing
Summary (paraphrased)
In the "PFS-mark" dispute thread, Powers describes a patient who had a lasting negative reaction to a single course of progesterone at roughly triple normal daily production — something he says never happened in five years of using pregnenolone/progesterone as his mainstay for Melcangi-type low-allopregnanolone cases. He presented the case and genomic findings to experts worldwide and none had an explanation. He frames it as a genuine mystery and an honest limit of his current model, while noting a potential future option he cannot discuss publicly.
Key points (paraphrased)
- Adverse event: lasting negative reaction to a single progesterone course (~3× normal daily production).
- Unprecedented in five years of preg/progesterone use for low-allopregnanolone cases.
- Worldwide expert consultation on the case and genome came up empty.
- Explicit theory-limit admission; a possible future option exists but is undisclosed.
- Post-export fresh: posted ~10 hours before the 2026-10-08 curation.
Why it’s in the corpus
A documented adverse event plus an explicit theory-limit admission — rare in his public writing and valuable for the corpus's safety thread. Post-export fresh, it also shows the model under active stress-testing.
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] ("PFS-mark"), who objected that Powers' public characterization of his case — a rectal progesterone/pregnenolone/DHEA crash with height and shoe-size changes — was incomplete, omitting his fuller symptom list (muscle loss, brain fog, anhedonia, gut problems, tachycardia, hard flaccid, worsened ED, chronic fatigue, burning skin, hair loss; off-the-scale cortisol DUTCH) and his years as a special-education teacher now on disability — while maintaining he had been fair about Powers publicly. Powers' OP had framed the week as subreddit drama over attacks on his theories.
(Comment text and parent context recovered from the r.genit.al mirror on 2026-10-09; this comment post-dates John's 2026-10-07 export.)
Some fields on this page come from the release’s Markdown edition, which carries text the JSON edition omits.
Related records
- Powers · Reddit post
Has anyone here taken finasteride or dutasteride and gotten post finasteride syndrome (PFS) from them? I have a theory as to why this seems to happen in transgender women more than cis men
u/drwillpowers · r/asktransgender
Powers proposed that PFS stems from deficient allopregnanolone, a neurosteroid produced downstream of 5-alpha-reductase via the AKR1C enzyme family. He hypothesized that only people carrying decreased-function variants in AKR1C genes develop the syndrome when…
DWP-0012020PFSCore corpus - Video
Healthcare of the Transgender Patient (Powers Method)
William J. Powers, D.O. · Chen Merami · 2:03:27 (7407s)
background pharmacology: 5ARI neurosteroid depletion, rectal progesterone protocol, androgen blockade
YT-3g52vlv5YWo2024PFSCore corpus - Video
Rethinking Reductase: The Case for Progesterone and DHT Balance in Men
unidentified presenter (Wellness By Design Project; not confirmed as Powers) · The Wellness By Design Project · 11:32 (692s)
5α/5β reductase biochemistry; allopregnanolone depletion in PFS; progesterone modulation
YT-17MNS2Z6kV02026-02-16PFSCore corpus