Rapamycin is Fantastic and Worth Trying

[Tarmander]

My family and I are one week shy of 5 months on rapa and continue to do well. The two biggest potential negatives I’ve read about are increased lipids and glucose but mine have actually improved. My total cholesterol has actually come down quite a bit from 295 before rapamycin to 221 on 5/31/23 but I’ve also been back on NDT which usually does the trick. My LDL is not nearly as impressive but has gone from 143 to 135 since February. At least rapamycin is not raising my lipids as it can sometimes do in transplant patients taking it daily.


Effects of sirolimus on plasma lipids, lipoprotein levels, and fatty acid metabolism in renal transplant patients - PubMed



Another concern people have is higher blood glucose. My fasting glucose has gone from 106 at the end of last year to 89 in February and now 80 which is also a good sign in my opinion.

I was concerned it might have a negative impact on my liver but my borderline liver enzymes have improved as well by 5-6 points for both ALT and AST.

I haven’t noticed any major physical changes. I’m about 3 pounds heavier than when I started rapa in January but according to my smart scale it’s both muscle and fat at this time. I’m bmi 20 so I’m not a bit concerned. I’d like to regain the fitness I lost during the lockdowns and fall out from lots of long work hours/stress. I’m not doing bad at all though considering. I do subjectively feel better than I have in quite a long time.
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My husband is doing well. Unfortunately I haven’t had a chance to talk to him at length recently because he’s in the middle of an internship but he’s hanging in there and still thinks rapamycin has enabled him to tolerate the demands he’s been under.

Eddie our dog is running and even jumping up on the couch again.

That is fantastic. Have you taken anything in the past which compares to these improvements?

 

[Blossom]

@Tarmander, no. Not even close. I’ve taken helpful things but nothing in the same league. :)

 

[EvanHinkle]

@Blossom do you mind if I ask what your current dosing schedule is? Did you go for more frequency at a lower dose or are you doing a weekly/biweekly?

 

[Blossom]

@EvanHinkle, I’ve been trying to decide between 2mg twice per week or 1mg every other day. All I know so far is that I prefer to dose more than one time per week. This week I did 2mg twice and it went well. I think I’ll try the 1mg every other day next week again to compare before I settle on which one to stick with long term. I’ve read some people say it took them many months to figure out their optimal dosing schedule. :)

 

[EvanHinkle]

@EvanHinkle, I’ve been trying to decide between 2mg twice per week or 1mg every other day. All I know so far is that I prefer to dose more than one time per week. This week I did 2mg twice and it went well. I think I’ll try the 1mg every other day next week again to compare before I settle on which one to stick with long term. I’ve read some people say it took them many months to figure out their optimal dosing schedule. :)

Thanks again! Really appreciate your input.

 

[Blossom]

@EvanHinkle, no problem! I appreciate yours as well.

 

[Blossom]

This one is interesting and might explain my experience of lower inflammation.

Autophagy Enhancers Regulate Cholesterol-Induced Cytokine Secretion and Cytotoxicity in Macrophages - PubMed

Autophagy enhancers inhibit inflammatory cytokine secretion and reduce cytotoxicity under metabolic disturbances, such as hypercholesterolaemia. Modulation of autophagy may be a novel approach to control the inflammatory response observed in metabolic diseases.

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[Blaine]

Hi everyone, I've been holding off on giving an updates recently, as I've been adjusting my dosage and wanted to let things stabilize a bit, but I do have a few observations I thought I'd share. I've read through everyone else's posts with great interest and am glad to hear others are getting beneficial results.

To recap my rapa history, I began taking it in January for about 3 months, eventually working up to 4mg with grapefruit juice every other week. I then paused for about a month because I had an injury that didn't seem to be healing. Once my knee had recovered, I resumed dosing, this time eschewing the grapefruit juice, and working my way up slowly from 1mg/wk to 4mg/wk.

In retrospect, taking a break and then restarting was a good idea, because it allowed to to see that I had either been taking too high a dose, or had ramped up too quickly, which seems to put me in an ungrounded, agitated state. It seems like I'm more sensitive to rapa than most, so I think I'm just going to stay at my current 4mg/wk for the time being.

Anyway, I'll note the new effects I've observed:

I acquired some cuts and abrasions a few weeks ago, and I felt like they took a long time to heal, furthering my suspicions that rapa is inhibiting injury recovery. This is rather unfortunate, as I'm physically active and often accumulate minor physical traumas. Nevertheless, even this significant drawback pales in comparison to the following benefits I'm receiving from rapa:

My facial hair has become noticeably thicker and denser. I believe this is because a number of finer, underdeveloped hairs have thickened and darkened, making my stubble appear more dense overall. This change seemed to happen quite suddenly, so I'm thinking that the follicles began developing when I started dosing, and some months later the effect became visually obvious.

In a previous post, I mentioned that one of my hips, which has had limited range of motion for some time, had become much less inflamed after starting rapa. A few weeks ago I randomly developed a rather sever ache in that joint which persisted for 2-3 days. The ache then disappeared, and my hip has felt very smooth and well lubricated ever since. I also use to experience some discomfort in one of my elbows when doing tricep-heavy movements at the gym, but this issue seems to have disappeared as well. Obviously I'm not certain the improved joint health can be attributed to rapa, but I can't think of any other changes I've implemented that could explain such an effect. I was recently perusing an older thread titled "Nothing boring about boron," in which several people mentioned that joint issues could be caused by fungal infections, which is rather intriguing.

I notice that my body composition gradually improves while taking rapa, with fat loss from my lower abdomen being particularly apparent. I believe the rapa may somehow be lowering my cortisol levels, as I've also noticed that my facial skin seems thicker and less sensitive. I also no longer experience any skin irritation from applying camphosal to my armpits as deodorant, and it occurred to me that even my less-inflamed gums could have resulted from lower cortisol.

My voice has become stronger and clearer over the past few months. I do vocal exercises for my speaking voice several times a week, so I've been able to track these improvements fairly reliably. I also sometimes get the urge to sing now, which I previously never did.

Finally, by far the most signifiant benefit I've experienced from rapa is a pronounced improvement in mental stamina, focus, and general cognitive functioning. I previously needed to take frequent breaks when doing any sort of prolonged cognitive tasks, yet as of late my ability to preform intellectual work for hours on end has become faintly ridiculous. I've recently started on a new project which requires some research and other mild cognitive work, and I'm evidently able to focus on this from the time I wake up to the time I go to sleep if I wish, without incurring any real fatigue. It's not as though I've developed tunnel vision or anything, as I'm still enjoying physical activities, etc., but I have to occasionally remind myself to take breaks from my work, as I feel as though my brain is being pushed too hard at times. My memory is also much improved, and I'm often surprised at how easily relevant information comes to me.

I've also become less interested in forms of wasteful distractions, such as scrolling through Twitter or YouTube, and have recently found myself doing things like watching math lectures for simple entertainment. I rarely procrastinate now, and my home has become very orderly, as I simply tidy up or repair anything that's out of order without putting it off. These mental changes sort of crept up on me gradually, but in retrospect they represent a significant leap from where I stood at the beginning of the year.

I’ve also noticed that this improved mental functioning has been accompanied by some psychological/personality changes, but I’ll save that topic for a future post, as I’m still gathering my thoughts about this.

 

[Vinny]

Hi everyone, I've been holding off on giving an updates recently, as I've been adjusting my dosage and wanted to let things stabilize a bit, but I do have a few observations I thought I'd share. I've read through everyone else's posts with great interest and am glad to hear others are getting beneficial results.

To recap my rapa history, I began taking it in January for about 3 months, eventually working up to 4mg with grapefruit juice every other week. I then paused for about a month because I had an injury that didn't seem to be healing. Once my knee had recovered, I resumed dosing, this time eschewing the grapefruit juice, and working my way up slowly from 1mg/wk to 4mg/wk.

In retrospect, taking a break and then restarting was a good idea, because it allowed to to see that I had either been taking too high a dose, or had ramped up too quickly, which seems to put me in an ungrounded, agitated state. It seems like I'm more sensitive to rapa than most, so I think I'm just going to stay at my current 4mg/wk for the time being.

Anyway, I'll note the new effects I've observed:

I acquired some cuts and abrasions a few weeks ago, and I felt like they took a long time to heal, furthering my suspicions that rapa is inhibiting injury recovery. This is rather unfortunate, as I'm physically active and often accumulate minor physical traumas. Nevertheless, even this significant drawback pales in comparison to the following benefits I'm receiving from rapa:

My facial hair has become noticeably thicker and denser. I believe this is because a number of finer, underdeveloped hairs have thickened and darkened, making my stubble appear more dense overall. This change seemed to happen quite suddenly, so I'm thinking that the follicles began developing when I started dosing, and some months later the effect became visually obvious.

In a previous post, I mentioned that one of my hips, which has had limited range of motion for some time, had become much less inflamed after starting rapa. A few weeks ago I randomly developed a rather sever ache in that joint which persisted for 2-3 days. The ache then disappeared, and my hip has felt very smooth and well lubricated ever since. I also use to experience some discomfort in one of my elbows when doing tricep-heavy movements at the gym, but this issue seems to have disappeared as well. Obviously I'm not certain the improved joint health can be attributed to rapa, but I can't think of any other changes I've implemented that could explain such an effect. I was recently perusing an older thread titled "Nothing boring about boron," in which several people mentioned that joint issues could be caused by fungal infections, which is rather intriguing.

I notice that my body composition gradually improves while taking rapa, with fat loss from my lower abdomen being particularly apparent. I believe the rapa may somehow be lowering my cortisol levels, as I've also noticed that my facial skin seems thicker and less sensitive. I also no longer experience any skin irritation from applying camphosal to my armpits as deodorant, and it occurred to me that even my less-inflamed gums could have resulted from lower cortisol.

My voice has become stronger and clearer over the past few months. I do vocal exercises for my speaking voice several times a week, so I've been able to track these improvements fairly reliably. I also sometimes get the urge to sing now, which I previously never did.

Finally, by far the most signifiant benefit I've experienced from rapa is a pronounced improvement in mental stamina, focus, and general cognitive functioning. I previously needed to take frequent breaks when doing any sort of prolonged cognitive tasks, yet as of late my ability to preform intellectual work for hours on end has become faintly ridiculous. I've recently started on a new project which requires some research and other mild cognitive work, and I'm evidently able to focus on this from the time I wake up to the time I go to sleep if I wish, without incurring any real fatigue. It's not as though I've developed tunnel vision or anything, as I'm still enjoying physical activities, etc., but I have to occasionally remind myself to take breaks from my work, as I feel as though my brain is being pushed too hard at times. My memory is also much improved, and I'm often surprised at how easily relevant information comes to me.

I've also become less interested in forms of wasteful distractions, such as scrolling through Twitter or YouTube, and have recently found myself doing things like watching math lectures for simple entertainment. I rarely procrastinate now, and my home has become very orderly, as I simply tidy up or repair anything that's out of order without putting it off. These mental changes sort of crept up on me gradually, but in retrospect they represent a significant leap from where I stood at the beginning of the year.

I’ve also noticed that this improved mental functioning has been accompanied by some psychological/personality changes, but I’ll save that topic for a future post, as I’m still gathering my thoughts about this.

Thank you very much

 

[Blossom]

Thanks @Blaine. It sounds like an overall positive experience and the update is much appreciated! I’m still trying to fine tune my dosing schedule.

 

[EvanHinkle]

In the spirit of updates… I’m taking a week off and then returning to 4mg once weekly. I wasn’t able to discern any effect from every other day dosing of 1mg, (totaling 4mg/week).

Seems like the once weekly dose garnered much more benefit for me, (benefit that I could objectively feel/see) than the steady 1mg. I’m bummed because I was hoping every other day would give a constant feeling of the Rapa, but it was more like I was taking nothing at all.

 

[Blossom]

In the spirit of updates… I’m taking a week off and then returning to 4mg once weekly. I wasn’t able to discern any effect from every other day dosing of 1mg, (totaling 4mg/week).

Seems like the once weekly dose garnered much more benefit for me, (benefit that I could objectively feel/see) than the steady 1mg. I’m bummed because I was hoping every other day would give a constant feeling of the Rapa, but it was more like I was taking nothing at all.

Good to know, thanks for the update. I did 1mg M-W-F of last week and it seemed fine but not really any major difference. I’m going to take 2mg tomorrow and Friday this week.
The only new change since my last update is I’ve noticed my toenails that were getting thicker in the last 5 years are getting back to how they were before-just normal. I’ve had more energy to get a regular exercise routine going again which feels nice. I was pretty fit in 2019 but after covid I lost some of the progress I’d made. I truly believe having a good amount of muscle is important to aging well. My plan is to do blood work again in September to keep tabs on how everything is going.

 

[peatra]

I will update also. I have been on for 3 months at this point, at 4 mg weekly, with a two week break at the end. I don't plan to go up further because at my body weight this seems appropriate. I have definitely felt better but as described in Tarmander's post above, it isn't consistent. Some weeks it's like nothing, others are great. Since I'm using it for CFS, and my goal is functional improvement to the point of being able to work, this is a bit of an issue - but I will take any improvement I can get. It's also really easy to start taking subtle improvement for granted and compare unfavorably to the first few "wow" days. My CFS specialist is using it in her patients apparently so discussed with her.

 

[Tarmander]

Awesome write up @Blaine

Sounds like your mental boosts are ever greater then what I experienced.

@peatra "taking subtle improvement for granted" is a very good way of explaining it. Some of my friends who I have given it to, but aren't health nuts, have told me they notice a little from rapa, but not much. Meanwhile they have lost 10 pounds, started exercising, and have a light in their eyes that hasn't been there for years. I have pointed this out to them, and they give me a strange look. Like "yeah, I have always had the energy for all this stuff. I just decided to do it now."

 

[Blaine]

Thank you very much

Sure thing.

Thanks @Blaine. It sounds like an overall positive experience and the update is much appreciated! I’m still trying to fine tune my dosing schedule.

Sure thing, I'm glad you're doing well too; I think you posted some phenotypic age results which were really impressive. I'm curious to see how your strategy of spreading out the dose goes, because I generally respond better to supplements taken gradually over time rather than all at once.

In the spirit of updates… I’m taking a week off and then returning to 4mg once weekly. I wasn’t able to discern any effect from every other day dosing of 1mg, (totaling 4mg/week).

Seems like the once weekly dose garnered much more benefit for me, (benefit that I could objectively feel/see) than the steady 1mg. I’m bummed because I was hoping every other day would give a constant feeling of the Rapa, but it was more like I was taking nothing at all.

Interesting, my latest dose (4mg, taken a few days ago) was the first one where I actually felt good afterwards. It was admittedly a pretty great feeling of mild euphoria and positivity which lingered for about 48 hours. It reminded me a lot of the effect I would get from taking ~1g of aspirin a day prior to starting rapamycin, though once I started rapa aspirin seemed to have no effect whatsoever. The weird thing is, when I took 4mg of rapa a few weeks ago I felt pretty "out of it" and generally not great for some days afterwards, but when I subsequently dropped down to 3mg I didn't feel anything at all.

I will update also. I have been on for 3 months at this point, at 4 mg weekly, with a two week break at the end. I don't plan to go up further because at my body weight this seems appropriate. I have definitely felt better but as described in Tarmander's post above, it isn't consistent. Some weeks it's like nothing, others are great. Since I'm using it for CFS, and my goal is functional improvement to the point of being able to work, this is a bit of an issue - but I will take any improvement I can get. It's also really easy to start taking subtle improvement for granted and compare unfavorably to the first few "wow" days. My CFS specialist is using it in her patients apparently so discussed with her.

I used to suffer from debilitating fatigue before finding Peat, so I really empathize and hope your symptoms improve. For me, the main benefits of rapa occurred quite gradually and I generally didn't notice the energetic/mental benefits until I realized I was getting a huge amount of productive work done each day. I also find that the "energy" from rapa is different from any other substance or dietary change I've tried, in that I don't feel particularly physically energetic, yet I have no issue simply dealing with any task or situation that arises without the urge to put it off until later.

Sounds like your mental boosts are ever greater then what I experienced.

Yeah I'm pretty astounded by the mental improvements, which have honestly been a godsend, as I'm at a point in my life where I really need to focus despite some stressful events. I'm really grateful that you made a podcast about rapa, and very glad that I randomly decided to listen to it during a long drive. I remember hearing about rapamycin on a longevity podcast some years ago and thinking "there's no way I would ever take that," hah.

 

[Highserotonin90]

@Blossom I know maybe it doesn't matter here but niacinamide appears to be a mitochondrial "fission" promoter

 

[Blossom]

@Blossom I know maybe it doesn't matter here but niacinamide appears to be a mitochondrial "fission" promoter

It actually all matters so thank you. I’ve definitely benefited from niacinamide through out the years. It’s one of the top five Peat inspired supplements that I felt a noticeable difference after taking.

 

[Blossom]

I promised a 6 month update so here it is: I haven’t redone any blood work since 5/31/23 which was good and I shared that previously. The main thing I was interested in was my body composition changes and to my complete surprise there are actually none. I’m not sure if that’s good, bad or neutral tbh. Here’s two screenshots from 1 week before starting rapa and this morning. They are identical and even I’m shocked by this!

I’m still planning to stay on it for now and keep up with my current exercise regimen. I think a lot of people start losing muscle and bone at my age without some resistance exercise. I mainly walk/hike in my weighted vest, started lifting weights in early June and I try to get in a few sprinting sessions as I’m able. So there’s nothing miraculous to report from me at this time-just holding steady. I feel like I look pretty much the same as well. I’ve thought about it and for me it’s sort of like taking Pascal’s wager for anti aging.

 

[Blaine]

Wow, your numbers really are identical @Blossom. That seems like not a bad thing though. Are you still dosing several times per week? I'm currently taking 6mg once per week to good effect, but might try some different schedules just to see if I feel any different.

 

[Blossom]

@Blaine, I was doing 1mg M-W-F for a while but I took a 10 day break recently and just dosed 4mg at once and will wait a week to take it again. I guess I’ll see if I notice anything before deciding whether to go back to the more frequent but lower dose. If I can find 0.5mg pills on my next order I might try 1 week on and one week off like one of the longevity researchers at the Buck Institute who is mid fifties like me takes his rapa. I guess we can say with virtual certainty that for my situation in 6 months it hasn’t impacted my body composition whatsoever. At least I’ve maintained the moderate amount of muscle I have despite inhibiting mTOR. I’d still like to build more if possible so that might be where the breaks are important. I’m glad to hear you are doing well on 6mg.