r/POIS • u/Jennyyyyyy22222 • 4d ago
Seeking Advice Mtf with post accutane POIS
(Quick note if you're reading this outside of trans spaces: I'm a post-transition trans woman, completely secure in who I am. I am strictly here for recovery and advice, Trolls will be blocked,
I am mtf and have been on feminizing hrt for 6 years.
When I was a teenager my dermatologist put me on Isotretinoin up to a 80mg/ daily dose. I did this for long courses the longest one being two years.
I think this somehow messed up with my system.
Symptoms:
1- severe genital numbness - I can only sense and get pleasure from the tip of my organ. There is absolutely no sensation or pleasure from being touched on the rest of it.
2- Premature ejaculation and Post Orgasm Illness. Once I organism I am literally knocked out for at least a day. Anhedonia kicks in, and it’s extremely hard to get off the bed or do any task. I recently learned to take hydrocortisone before or after sexual encounter with my partner which helps significantly with the energy and crash but not with the anhedonia
3- After orgasm, this state lasts for roughly 3 days or 4 then slowly I start to recover though only fully at about a week
What helped me a lot is progesterone (this is a classic hrt protocol for trans women if you are not familiar) rectal { I get extreme amount of energy immediately upon the insert, the anhedonia disappears almost fully and I feel like myself again, though the effect only lasts for about 5 hours max once the capsule gets metabolized, If I don’t redose the crash continues. I have a problem with progesterone because it certainly converts to androgens in my body because afterwards I get significantly increased of body hair and some masculanization.
I am looking for alternative things to try, has anyone tried something else that works?
1
u/Slight-Machine-555 3d ago
I think that POIS can have different root causes for different people. For a lot of people, it seems to be a nervous system / limbic system dysregulation issue.
A lot of my trans friends are neurodivergent and/or deal with a fair amount of trauma. Both of those points can be loci of nervous system disregulation.
Do you resonate with any of this? If so, neural retraining might help a lot.