Canagliflozin is an FDA approved SGLT2 inhibitor medication typically used for diabetes treatment (lowering blood glucose spikes) but it has also been proven effective in healthy life extension in the National Institute on Aging’s Intervention Testing Program (ITP) which tests different anti-aging compounds in three simultaneous double blind clinical trials on mice lifespan.
I started using canagliflozing about 4 months ago to test its effects on my blood sugar levels and this is my report.
Rapadmin, did you ever try the 100mg dose of canagliflozin instead of the 300mg? I wonder if that would have fixed the fatigue issue. Also, since SGLT2 inhibitors act (indirectly) as diuretics, the fatigue could be explained by mild dehydration and/or hypotension. Were you careful about maintaining adequate hydration?
I started on 100mg and used that for a week or two with no issues, then went up to 300mg, using a continuous glucose monitor to track results.
Yes - you do pee a lot with the SGLT2 inhibitors. But my diet is almost all liquid, fruit and veggies - so I have a hard time believing my issue was lack of water. I usually skip breakfast and just drink coffee, then have a large smoothie for lunch (almond milk, yogurt, mixed fruit and spinach, etc.), veggie stir fry for dinner, perhaps with salmon or other fish.
I wouldn’t say I was careful about maintaining hydration, but I don’t “think” that was it.
The extreme fatigue came around month 3 of using the medication.
I’ve since tried 10mg empagliflozin and its been fine - no issues.
I also pulse dose on the SGLT2 inhibitors now - 3 or 4 weeks on, and then a week or two off.
From what I’ve read, fatigue is a rare (under 1%) side effect of SGLT2 inhibitors.
Ok, so it’s possible you would have been just fine if you’d continued at the 100mg dose of canagliflozin. Apparently the “normal” dose is 100mg (or 10mg for Jardiance/empagliflozine), but for diabetics who need it, the dose can be increased to 300mg (or 25mg for Jardiance). Hopefully the lower dose is enough for life extension (and low side effect profile) in non-diabetics!
Interesting idea… it could have been dose dependent. Also - since I’m healthy with no medical issues, maybe I’ll try the low dose again in a pulsed fashion like I’m doing with empagliflozin.
Empagliflozin is more potent than canagliflozin and has the highest receptor specificity for SGLT2 of all the available SGLT2 inhibitors, so hopefully it’s the best one to be taking anyway.
I was on 100mg daily of canagliflozin and did fine (lost maybe 5 lbs, only side effect was increased urination). I changed to empagliflozin (12.5 mg as 1/2 of a 25mg tablet to save on cost) and seems about the same. Both meds also seem to lower my BP about 5 points (both systolic and diastolic) from typically 119/77 to 114/72, give or take. I don’t use a glucose monitor other than an occasional test strip, which does indeed show glucose in my urine.
I wish I could try this drug, but, as a type 1 diabetic, I’m not going to risk the ketoacidosis that occurs more frequently with canagliflozin and types 1 diabetes. The drug stabilizes blood sugars, which is just what a type 1 needs, but a life-threatening incident is in no way worth it.
Started K=Jardiance 6 weeks ago and just got new blood test results.
I started metformin in 2015 and my fasting BS was typically 90-95.
About 2.5 years ago I started rapamycin and my BS has been consistently 100-105 the past 2 years.
With Jardiance it is now 85-90
The downside seems to be a slight deterioration in creatinine and egfr.
Using Levine calculator switching lower glucose for higher creatinine gives exactly the same bio age results so it seems like a wash
i am taking Empagliflozin10 mg a day, blood test after three months showed lower FBS (80), lower triglyceride, lower uric acid, and lost ten pound weight too.
Think about it - plenty of traditional Inuits ate pretty much only meat with tons of creatine (2-5 g per day from estimates) derived from diet every day for several decades without acute kidney injury or chronic kidney disease.
I personally retested via cystatin C. No issues with kidney. Been taking creatine for almost 10 years now. I use creatine monohydrate from AlzChem only. If you get something else that is adulterated or nonstandard creatine derivatives then that’s a whole different issue.
