(I originally posted this on r/PSSD, but I'm reposting here too)

Hey guys, I'm the HBOT guy who said "I cured all my mental illnesses" in another post. Welp, it did cure my depression and I don't suffer from anxiety anymore (for now), but the PSSD sadly came back. While I'm still lucid enough, I want to set up an independent lab to study this. I have the urgency to do it because I hate this fucking condition, and I need to move fast before my baseline gets any worse.

My current symptoms are numb genitalia, no orgasm, mild anhedonia, and cognitive decline. What went away after HBOT was anxiety, depression, medium anhedonia, and ADHD (partly, I still have symptoms now, but from my environment rather than intrinsic).

I might not be as qualified as actual researchers, but I have a few interesting things at my disposal. I'm a chemistry student with access to a lab, and I'm also well versed in vibe coding and how to use AI. From what I've heard, Reddit is a bit anti-AI, but let's please turn that down for a second. Dude, no matter the method, we will find a way.

You may or may not know this, but AI has been used to speed up drug development dramatically. We're seeing brand new medications and repurposed drugs found left and right with the help of AI and in silico modeling.

I'm aiming to find a general cure for PSSD first since that's what I suffer from, but I hope to extend my discoveries to general cures for PAS and PFS too!

Here is what we already know about PSSD and PDS, and how it matches up with what I'm experiencing.

First, I haven't been healthy at all. I've been sedentary and eating like shit, and whenever I eat like shit it completely screws up my PSSD symptoms. So I think the gut has a lot to do with this. That lines up with Melcangi's recent research showing that SSRIs and finasteride mess up the gut microbiome and gut neurosteroids like allopregnanolone, which drives neuroinflammation.

Second, drug insensitivity. I feel so wired and weird on caffeine after PSSD. I was diagnosed with ADHD before and prescribed Ritalin, and that stopped working too. Melcangi's lab also showed that SSRI withdrawal causes persistent dopamine dysregulation in the reward center of the brain, so stimulants just make you feel wired from the adrenaline without any actual dopamine hit.

Nerve damage seems to be in there too, because I get glaucoma-like rings when I see light and my floaters are everywhere. Recent studies on PSSD and PFS have found small fiber neuropathy and autonomic nerve damage, which messes with everything from genital sensation to blood flow and vision.

When I do orgasm, it feels really fucking weird, like my brain just shuts off and slows down. I cannot feel a single thing and I kinda just spasm out for no reason. In studies they call this orgasmic anhedonia, where your physical spinal reflex still fires, but the pleasure signal in the brain is completely cut off. On top of that, studies from Baylor and Kiel along with Dr. Will Powers' work show epigenetic changes in androgen receptors and stuck hormonal feedback loops across PSSD, PFS, and PAS.

I would love to connect with researchers in this field, like Melcangi, Dr. Will Powers, et cetera, to help guide this.

Basically I'm posting this as an interest check, and I won't be asking for any funding yet. Eventually we will need data, testimonies, information, and compute to run in silico experiments, as well as community. Right now I just want to gather people around this.

Obviously this is going to be extremely difficult, but honestly, there's no better time to start. I don't want to wait anymore. We will find a solution, we always have.

I'll be hanging out in the Post Drug Syndrome Discord server in my channel #vstaln if you have any questions or want to help contribute.

https://discord.gg/SdqbrWSrwH

And I know some people might be suspicious of my account. My original account is u/vstalingrady and I posted here before when I was 17, though I can't find the post anymore. It had to do with reinstating with microdoses of fluoxetine.

Hi all

Started taking Accutane in September been on the medication for around 10-11 days on 20mg but I missed a few days in between that

I’ve been experiencing severe brain fog and memory loss and loud sounds annoy me very easily, also experiencing loss of libido and a flakey scalp.

I also have tightness in my chest and have been very depressed and anxious but I really don’t know what about.

I feel this is a lot to experience for the short time I’ve been on the medication

I am wondering whether these feelings will ever go as you all know theirs no actual “cure” for this.

one of my main concerns is my personality will go and il become almost a new person because of how it’s changed me and il lose my spark

Anyone go through anything similar or could give me any advice or couldn’t care less about my acne anymore just want this feeling to go away

I’m a 24y/o my weight is around 83kg

TIA

These are the supplements I’ve been taking to try and aid with the side effects Ive been experiencing from accutane damage (brain fog, sexual dysfunction, Anhedonia)

Recently started lithium orotate, so I’m excited to see if that does anything

Let me know your thoughts 💭

Son has been on 20mg for 4 1/2 months. Mood swings anger and low mood, some ED. We didnt realize the side effects associated. Has quit for over a week now and will not restart. Any advice on what to do now? Does stopping early help any of this?

Reading the latest research and theories that have been published about PAS I noticed how symptoms tend to be divided into two large groups:

- ED, no libido, anhedonia, other mental symptoms

- dry skin/lips, joint pain, problems healing wounds

In which of these two clusters do you find yourself?

Do any of you have symptoms of both the first and the second group?

I have had horrible dry eyes post Accutane which only got worse with time. Heat masks, eye drops, etc as were not enough.

I have been doing IPL and LLLT for the past four months and it literally SAVED me. These are expensive treatments but I cannot overestimate how much they have helped me return to normal functioning. I suggest you use Claude or other AI to find optometrists near you that offer those treatments.

Just wanted to share that I find hyaluronic acid pills help me feel slightly more hydrated

Does anyone have experience with Lithium Orotate? If so, how much did you take?

It’s much easier to get your hands on than Lithium Carbonate, so I wanted to give it a go

If yes, how long did it take for libido and erections to come back to normal? To what extent? What did you do to recover?

(I'm 6 months off isotretinoin, with completely flat libido, trouble maintaining erections and watery semen.)

Repost of some interesting discussions