Newbie here, just wanted to share my impressions so far. Having been aware of rapamycin for quite some time I finally pulled the trigger a couple months ago. I’m 49. Using GetHealthspan seemed to be the easiest, most straight-forward option available to me. It seems clear, given the low cost of the Dr Reddy’s brand they prescribe, that the larger portion of the expense is probably more related to the lab tests which come with the program. I suppose I would be happier to be taking Rapamune through Pfizer, but I’m not expert enough to make a truly informed judgement on the relative merits, though it doesn’t take but 5 seconds to find Dr Reddy’s has had issues with the FDA in the past. Not sure why all the prescribers doing this out there don’t use Pfizer, can only speculate the cost is higher.
But GetHealthspan has been a good experience so far, they are very communicative. I get my first lab test tomorrow.
To date, I’ve been taking 5mg once a week for 6 weeks now. I can’t say I noticed anything in the beginning (I’ve had no negative side effects whatsoever). Also, I’m not taking any other longevity supplements, just your typical vitamins and creatine (I’m vegetarian). I do work out religiously, but I never weigh myself, don’t like to, though I probably should have in this case for scientific purposes.
A few days ago, though, I had to buy new pants because I went down one size. I had been losing weight before, but I want to say this has accelerated in the last few weeks and also that my appetite has decreased. If this can be attributed to the rapamycin, I can’t say, but it feels that way. I suppose at my age, this might be the only effect I notice, though of course there would likely be other things going on at the cellular level that are helpful and are maybe too subtle to become noticeable.
So, I’m curious, does anything I’ve said here sound familiar to other newbies?
There is evidence that rapamycin helps reduce visceral fat (the recent PEARL rapamycin study had loss of visceral fat as the primary endpoint), but in humans the studies suggest there is not a meaningful amount of weight loss in total from rapamycin.
I’m 5 weeks in, also from Gethealthspan with 5mg. Although I did 1mg, 3mg, 5mg, and then 6mg the last 2 Sundays. No side effects to report, except I definitely experience some euphoria or hyperactivity the day of/after the dose, almost hypomanic. I notice multiple others have reported similar findings. I had my first labs since starting last week, my total WBC went from 5.1 to 3.1 so I’ll definitely be keeping an eye on that.
Yes, I think I had unusual amounts of energy after the first couple times I took rapa, but it’s hard to know for sure what’s what, or if I’m conflating things.
I’ve been paying very close attention to my body. I’d say the biggest thing that’s happened since I started taking rapa is that on two occasions when I strained some soft tissue over exercising, the recovery took weeks, far, far longer than normal. But again I can’t say the rapa had anything to do with that or if it’s just a coincidence, but it does stand out. I’m not sure what the mechanistic action would be there.
I finished six months on the 5 mg per week protocol. I have not noticed any changes. I pointed that out to them, and they said I should try 6 mg per week for a while. I have been catching up on Wise Athletes episodes, enjoying the way host @Joseph_Lavelle steers the conversations, and thought the one with Daniel Tawfik (Healthspan founder) and Rick Cohen was very interesting. I got the sense that they had some novel ideas for leveraging individual patient biomarkers and what they’ve learned from their full panel to more precisely guide individuals on how they can adjust their protocols to optimize for their personal circumstances. The way they spoke on the podcast was appealing, but it didn’t match with my experience so far.
@Barnabas Thanks! In fact I am lining up a followup episode with Daniel and @RickCohenMD to get into more details about the Gethealthspan biomarker tracking and assessment service. I’ve seen a little bit of info on the website but I’m not sure if it has been launched fully yet.
If that question was directed toward me, I was not expecting to notice the impact of rapamycin for another 30-40 years. I was actually surprised they implied that I should be noticing something.
Yes, that’s sort of my expectation, but curious what they might have said about 6mg and what, if anything, you might notice in the near-term due to that.
They did not mention any specific effect to look out for. They mentioned something about liver inflammation. Although I am in the reference range, I think I might have exercise related elevation in AST and ALT that puts me above their optimal range. I’ll let you know if I notice anything.
If you are young, expect nothing but a placebo effect and possible adverse effects on your lipids and glucose levels.
Having taken large doses of 20+ mg and titrating down to 5 mg/week with GFJ, my subjective observations: When I first started I felt euphoria on the second day along with diarrhea. At 5mg/week, I feel nothing, no lift, no weakness, etc. BTW: 5mg with GFJ is the highest amount I can take without experiencing diarrhea.
I have had no mouth sores, pimples, etc.
I pay no attention to Peter Attia, I think he is prone to exaggeration and experiences the placebo effect from supplements.
IMOL: Old people like me will feel the effects much more than young people.
Since I have been taking rapamycin I have zero joint pain. Being 83 and pain-free is a blessing I attribute to rapamycin.
For young people, the appropriate adage is: “If it ain’t broke you can’t fix it”
Your reward for taking rapamycin is indeed 30 years onward from now.
That’s a useful perspective. I still do wonder though if it hasn’t had some effect on my weight and appetite, but as I say, if so, it’s subtle but that would be something.
Well, got my blood test back, so they say my biological age is 38 (I’m 49). I was just told by someone recently I look like I’m in my late 30s, so go figure, but that’s just genes, I think. I’m a long-time vegetarian and take B12 and iron every day, but still my iron and calcium levels were below optimal, and my Protein was also low at 6.2. I can see some obvious dietary changes I should make, I guess. More concerning, though, my WBC was 7.3 and Glucose 110. I’m not sure if any of these things could be influenced by taking rapamycin. Well, not asking for an analysis here, but just offer some information. I messaged gethealthspan to ask about how any of that could be related to taking the rapamycin.
I’m taking doxycycline for something and they said your WBC can go up from that, paradoxically. I guess the affect rapa would have, if any would be to make it go down, not up.
