Hi there. 42 yr old male with no health issues began taking rapamycin a couple weeks ago. Began with dose of 3mg, with plan to increase to 6mg once/week. After first dose, noticed some vision improvement after a couple days and not much else, perhaps slight reduction in joint pain. Then took second dose of 3mg after 1 week. I then began to measure glucose levels. Fasting morning glucose is in actual/pre-diabetic range at around 115-130. Previously it would be 85-95. I then just got acarbose yesterday and took it with dinner (50mg) but my morning fasting glucose was 127. I have been exercising daily as normal and eating my normal diet but rapamycin seems to have given me severely elevated glucose levels. I noticed that Bryan Johnson is on Rapamycin but also is on 200mg acarbose twice daily, is also on metformin, eats only 2k/day, and exercise a lot.
I do think my glucose response on Rapamycin is abnormal but its very concerning to have these elevated levels for so long. Right now, its 135 pm and ive fasted all day since 8pm last night and my blood glucose is 115 when it would be in 80s or 90s pre-Rapamycin. I definitely will have to take other drug(s) if I want to keep taking Rapamycin. Have others experienced this? Thanks
FWIW: Definitely raised my glucose levels and I have had to add various supplements plus the occasional Acarbose to keep mine in check. I try to avoid peaks and keep my A1C levels in the normal range.
Yes, Ive read the animal literature and it seems a rise in glucose is a predictable response to Rapamycin which nevertheless extends life. The high fasting glucose levels (115 and above) are annoying to me as I feel lethargic at a higher glucose level (i think my brain optimally functions in the 90s). That said, I think rapamycin has been excellent for exercise and exercise recovery even in only 2 weeks. I may lower the dose of rapamycin and or get on metformin or berberine. I have little fat but I think I have genetics prone to diabetes (low fat threshold to insulin resistance with south asian genetics).
Just thought Id share and see what others have done regarding the high glucose. I have no idea if rapamycin has raised lipids as I havent tested but as of 1 month ago my Apo b was 61, will test that shortly…
I use 1 g Metformin on Rapamycin dosing day and 500 mg the following day. This brings my glucose back to normal low levels. I also use Acarbose 100 mg at every meal (3X daily).
Just a suggestion here: you might ask your doctor to get your insulin level checked.
Your blood glucose level is not only determined by your food intake and exercise level. Insulin plays a big part.
That is a good suggestion. Is there any evidence that rapamycin while raising glucose also somewhat suppresses insulin output (which results in high lingering glucose levels? Pre-rapamycin both my fast and post eating blood glucose levels and fasting insulin levels were pretty optimal.
I take Rapamycin less frequently than most people (not as frequently as every 2 weeks). I wore a CGM for two times when I took Rapamycin and posted the charts in this topic:
It is clear that Rapamycin puts glucose up. However, my HbA1c has come back down in the periods when I am not taking Rapamyin.
Although I have some Dexcom G7 sessions available I have more recently taken Rapamycin without running a CGM (still not as frequently as every 14 days). I do weekly blood tests and they are generally OK. My last HbA1c was 26.5 mmol/mol which is about 4.6%
It’s a good question but one I don’t think has been addressed in research. I looked for any published work that described the effect of rapamycin on insulin but drew a blank.
For now, Ive decided to end my brief rapamycin experiment. Yesterday I ate a small amount of beef with berberine (nothing else) the entire day, today Ive eaten nothing all day and its 12pm noon and my blood sugar is 105. Under this eating schedule, I normally be in 80s or 90s and I measure quite regularly both at home with finger pricks and at the lab with bi-monthly blood testing which includes fasting blood glucose.
The positives: definite and noticeable increase in visual acuity. Definite increase in exercise capacity and recovery ability. Less joint pain.
The negatives: very high fasting blood sugar that remains high very many hours. Up to 50mg acarbose with meals did not seem to sufficiently mitigate this, also tried up to 400mg of berberine.
I dont think this is “normal insulin resistance” as one obtains when one is overweight, undermuscled, old - actually diabetic so I dont think its that unhealthy in that way. I assume this will go away once rapamycin leave my blood. However, I feel generally more tired and foggy headed when my glucose levels are like 110 or higher so will stop at this point. Perhaps will retry once I obtain metformin sr. I will be using acarbose with carb meals as I did not seem to have any side effects with this which I was expecting (no gas or gi issues). I think Rapamycin is an absolutely amazing drug but I would like to figure out the glucose issue more before committing to long term consistent use.
Is Dr, Mikhail Blagosklonny silent on this subject?
Pancreatic beta cells (β-cells) are endocrine cells that synthesize, store, and release insulin.
“Clinical evidence of rapamycin β-cell toxicity”
“Together, these studies provide evidence that rapamycin has significant detrimental effects on β-cell function and survival and peripheral insulin resistance”
Ergo: rapamycin reduces insulin levels.
Of course, the article is about kidney transplant patients who have diabetes and are on doses of 10mg/day. Nevertheless, it is something to watch.
“These mechanisms include reductions in β-cell size, mass, proliferation and insulin secretion alongside increases in apoptosis, autophagy, and peripheral insulin resistance”
Yes, I had read that article and thanks for quoting the relevant part. That phrase “b-cell toxicity” sounds scary as a non-professional as I think I’ve read how pancreatic beta cells can be sometimes be regenerated in diabetes with sufficient visceral fat loss and reversal of insulin resistance but if the diabetes is present for too long, regeneration isn’t always possible. I wonder how any of this relates to relatively healthy life extensionists with no preexising diabetes taking 6mg once per week. As I said, for me, my blood sugar was thrown way off in a way that affected my energy and mood so I’ll stop at this point. There’s no doubt in mind that rapamycin does extend life and will retry with the addition of regular metformin and perhaps even lower and more infrequent doses.
I have been self experimenting on myself with various rapamycin dosage regimens and I started with high doses, up to 20mg with grapefruit juice bi-weekly. At the time, Dr. Blagosklonny was advocating higher doses with increasing age with manageable side effects. I have been titrating down ever since. I am currently taking 5mg/weekly with EVOO. Since I have started taking rapamycin my blood markers have not been as good as they were before I started rapamycin. My epigenetic age on the Levine spreadsheet became worse right away.
I have some blood tests scheduled at the end of this month and if there is no significant improvement over my last tests I will be reducing my intake of rapamycin to 1mg/daily for a week and then one week off.
I am thinking that rapamycin may not be the panacea for aging that we have been led to believe. Or, maybe, the doses I have been taking are just too high for me.
Mike Lustgarten has a simple philosophy, does a variable positively or negatively impact ‘big picture biomarkers?’. This is the second thread today where we have objective data that Rapamycin is pushing markers in the wrong direction. I’ll ask again, does anyone have longitudinal data showing rapamycin having a positive effect on any biomarker? For example, monthly data for A1c before, during and after rapamycin treatment?
I think quite a few people have positive data on MCV. My view is that Rapamycin causes an improvement in mitochondrial quality. However, I think it causes a short term increase in glucose levels. The big question (to which I have no answer) is how long the increase in glucose lasts. This will depend upon how much is in the blood for how long (dosage, bioavailability, half life etc).
As far as I am personally concerned my HbA1c and glucose returned to a good level once the rapamycin dropped out of my system.
I can give extracts of any biomarker I measure on an almost weekly basis from May 2022 if you want.
I have a broader protocol objective and I am happy that my cellular health is improving.
