Exactly. I’m not thrilled with an HBA1C of 5.8%. It fluctuates between 5.4% and 5.8% and I’m not sure why it went up that high this time. I hadn’t really been watching my diet around the latest test as I was on vacation and eating out all the time. Now that I’m back to “normal”, I have started taking Empagliflozin and dropping weight. I’ll test again in 6 months and hopefully, I have better numbers then.
There’s always something to improve.
High blood sugar does damage to mitochondrial DNA.
A high baseline CRP indicates a high SASP. A high peak CRP indicates infection.
All these things are interconnected, but have separate direct effects.
In retrospect, it may have been the Rapamycin induced hives that raised my hsCRP. Hives are inherently inflammatory.
It was nice that even with all things considered, my Levine age was still 10 years younger than my chronological age.
That sounds likely. 20char
I don’t think HbA1c is accurate enough to be used for assessing glucose control for people with decent (good but not optimal) glucose control (in the 5’s). Too many variables in bodily function (eg RBC lifespan) and testing analytics. It’s worth watching your own trend but not comparing to others unless you are >6%, is what I’ve been told.
Here’s a site that gives info on significance of variation in blood test results
Perhaps, but 5.8% is already so high that I would find out by using a CGM to see if the blood sugar is sometimes too high.
https://www.metabolismjournal.com/article/S0026-0495(23)00244-5/fulltext
@tj_long Good paper, thanks. I agree that clues to potential problems should be followed up.
There is clearly a problem with high glucose in that this drives additional mtDNA damage. Hence having a glucose system that keeps it below about 8mmol/L (144 mg/dL) sounds good.
It seems my body is adapting to Rapamycin. My current ritual along with benefits and side effects are as follows.
On Saturday morning, I eat 2 grapefruits. I wait 1-3 hours and take 4 mg of Rapamycin in an EVOO shot along with morning supplements, longevity coffee and breakfast. I don’t feel much of anything.
Sunday afternoon I get hit with fatigue. I just want to sleep for 2-3 hours. If it’s the first week, there are also a few itchy spots on my arm and torso. If it’s week 2, several itchy hives appear. This is probably due to some residual Rapamycin from week 1 still being in my system.
Monday, I have morning diarrhea. However, afterwards, I feel refreshed and revitalized albeit itchy. Unfortunately this feeling usually ends before Tuesday.
Tuesday - Friday the itchiness gradually clears up over a few days and the cycle repeats.
I take every 3rd week off. It seems I need a week off in order to not constantly have hives. The higher the dose, the larger size and quantity of hives. At 6 mg + GFJ, I had over 50 itchy hives on my torso. 4 mg + GFJ seems to be my limit if I don’t want to itch.
I seem to be more resilient to apthous ulcers. Things which would normally cause them before (like biting my lip whole chewing) don’t seem to cause them anymore. Not sure if this is Rapamycin related or some other supplements I take like collagen.
My life feels a lot better now that I biohack.
I think there is a threshold point at which rapamycin has its various effects. For example below a particular threshold the creation of neutrophils and lymphocytes continues normally. Similarly below a threshold (which is quite possibly a different threshold) hepatic insulin resistance goes away.
There may be some consistency in these thresholds between people and they may vary it is hard to say.
I wonder if you switched to 4mg with GFJ and EVOO every fortnight if the itchy hives of the second week would disappear.
You may then just get a first week response.
I found PEMF really improved my digestion system although it initially caused diarrhea.
Yes. I do believe that if I took Rapamycin at my current dose every 2 weeks, I would avoid the hives.
My only concern is that the dosing may be spaced too far apart? Or it could be just fine. Here’s where an RCT could really help!
I am following @John_Hemming lead on longer dosing intervals. This is because I believe mTOR is important for many functions and needs to be active most of the time. I focus on periodically turning DOWN mTOR (rapa 1x/14 days, fasting 1x/week, low protein/ no resistance training EOD, various other things to cycle up/down).
Does anyone have any information that would say turning mTOR down most of the time while turning it UP periodically is better? This would seem to be a CR or low protein/ low resistance training mode (which I am highly reluctant to do).
It’s been a while, so I wanted to update my protocol for Rapamycin, Metformin and Acarbose. This is what I have been doing in 2025. I only take a break before a vaccine or if I am sick. I also take daily Jardiance (Empagliflozin 12.5 mg).
Of course, I take a lot of other meds/supps for lipids and health, but regarding these 4 prescription meds, that’s it.
Have you tried plugging your numbers into the Levine Phenotypic age calculator to see what that tells you about the effect of your protocol variations on the difference between chronologic and phenoage ?
In 2024, my bloodwork provider plugged my numbers into the Levine Phenotypic age calculator and got 39 years old.
In 2025, my bloodwork provider plugged in my updated numbers and got 38 years old.
My chronological age increased one year and my biological age decreased one year.
From my health provider - getHealthspan.com
I’d say I’m doing something right.
could you list your complete stack?
And it didn’t change from last year - the same 11 years difference.
My whole stack? I’ll give it a go.
Medications:
Rapamycin 3 mg + GFJ + EVOO weekly (unless sick or injured)
Metformin XR 500 mg at night
Empagliflozin 12.5 mg in the morning
Dutasteride 0.5 mg at night
Galantamine 4 mg at night
Brillo EZ 1 tab at night
Atorvastatin 5 mg at night
Telmisartan 20-40 mg in the morning (discontinued due to low BP)
Coffee 1 (2 cups)
Creatine Monohydrate 5 g
Glycine 5 g
Collagen Peptides 11 g
TMG 1 g
Coffee 2 (2 cups)
Magnesium Citrate (210 mg)
Taurine 6g
Whey protein 25 g (going to switch to plant-based)
Night Decaf sugar-free Tea (chamomile or berry)
2 g citrulline
5 g glycine
EVOO shot in the morning
Crushed black pepper
Turmeric powder
1 g of NMN
Hyaluronic acid (500 mg)
Supplements Morning
5000-10000 IUs Vitamin D3
NAC 2 g
Vitamin B12 2000 mcg methylcobalamin
Horbaach Prostate Support
Zinc 50 mg Mon Wed Fri
CoQ10 100 mg
Super B Complex Mon and Thurs
Lithium Orotate 5 mg
Lutein and Zeaxanthin 20 mg 4 mg
Supplements Night
Ultra Omega 3 fish oil (NOW) 500 mg 2X daily
Vitamin C 1 g
Astaxanthin 24 mg
NAC 2 g
Lithium Orotate 5 mg
MK-7 Vitamin K2 100 mcg
Glucosamine Chondroitin 1.8 g
Turmeric 800 mg
Magtein (Magnesium Threonate) 50 mg
Spermidine 500 mg
Centrum Silver Mon Wed Fri
Boron 5 mg
DHEA 25 mg (added after blood work)
Dihydro Berberine 100 mg
Thank you for compiling all of that. It really is quite a list.
