I had Covid - Omicron - Exposed Dec 24th, Symptoms Dec 27th - confirmed PCR, + on daily rapid test until January 6th. 3-4 days of symptoms, no meds. Started 6 weeks of Rapa (first cycle) late January - 4 mg up to 6 mg 1X a week.
Off of Rapa for a month and have been referred to Post-Covid Rehab due to Long Covid symptoms: Fatigue, brain fog, extreme fatigue post exercise + a few other symptoms.
I wonder if I started the Rapa too soon after Covid as my body was still battling the virus and the Rapa signaled my body not to fight the infection as aggressively as it might have otherwise.
I’m hoping for some healthy discussion on this - I doubt there is a solid answer one way or another, I’m more interested in conceptually if this is / isn’t possible and the rationale behind the thinking either way.
Hmmm… that is an interesting idea… as most cases of Rapa use was pre -covid infection and did a lot to mitigate the virus. Never heard of someone starting post covid. Thanks for posting. No answer. But, I don’t find my recovery from cuts or illness any longer than when I was pre-rapa. The modulating effect takes into account the need of how much protection without over-reacting.
I tested positive for Covid on December 12th and had moderate symptoms with two days in bed and a week with a ‘burnt rubber’ taste. I began Rapamycin on January 3rd ramping up 1mg/wk to to 8mg/wk. In March my family (wife and two daughters) had bad colds whilst I did not get ill.
The main change I’ve seen is body weight which has dropped from 78 to 74kg. It also appears to have eliminated a large mole.
The interesting thing is that results vary so much it seems from person to person. Congrats on the weight loss. Yet others say weight is sticking - no change - I do think you have to exercise and help it along.
I feel I have had excellent results across the board, but I was already losing weight and working to gain muscle and tone. So result seem faster and better. My epigenetic test indicates my DNA is that of a person 13 years younger.
Not rapa related and you may already know this, but some studies have shown improvement from long COVID with a vaccination booster shot (helps to clear lingering virus?).
Got my 2nd booster for that reason - in a Long Covid Rehab program that might include Paxlovid as a treatment.
On Andy Slavit’s recent podcast (In the Bubble) with the CEO of Pfizer - Albert Bourla believes 100MM Americans will suffer from Long Covid and it will be the biggest legacy of the pandemic 10 years down the road.
I’ve moved now into Long Covid - and I still would argue that Rapa too soon after Covid is not a good idea. The fact that Rapa does allow some infections to pop up could support the idea that rapa reduces the ability for our bodies to fight off this virus. No axe to grind here - just be careful.
I did start Paxlovid as an off-label treatment to see if it can improve the Long Covid issues I have. All I can say is you don’t want Long Covid. I feel my symptoms are a 7 on a 10 scale, with 10 being worst.
Brain Fog, Fatigue and post-exercise fatigue. I’m surviving, but after 4-5 hours of work, I’m exhausted. After a 1.5 mile walk, I need to sleep. I wake up tired.
You don’t want this. If anyone has inout on this - I’d love to know.
mTOR Regulation and Therapeutic Rejuvenation of Aging Hematopoietic Stem Cells
Highlights (this is a great fundamental mTOR/rapamycin/immune paper)
Age-related declines in hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) function may contribute to anemia, poor
response to vaccination, and tumorigenesis. Here, we show that mammalian target of rapamycin
(mTOR) activity is increased in HSCs from old mice compared to those from young mice. In the old mice, rapamycin increased the life span, restored the self renewal and hematopoiesis of HSC, and enabled effective vaccination against a lethal challenge with influenza virus. Together, our data implicate mTOR signaling in HSC aging and demonstrate the potential of mTOR inhibitors for
restoring hematopoiesis in the elderly.
We treated old mice (22 months old) with either vehicle or the mTOR inhibitor rapamycin at a dose of 4mg/kg, every other day for 6 weeks and monitored their life span. Inhibition of mTOR activity by rapamycin enhances the in vivo regenerative capacity of HSCs from old mice and this enhancement is cell-autonomous.
We noted enhanced production of B lymphocytes and decreased myelogenesis in rapamycin-treated old mice. Remarkably, rapamycin treatment doubled the percentage and the number of B220+ B cells in the bone marrow. Because rapamycin treatment enhanced the generation of B cells in old mice, we hypothesized that it might also improve their immune response
Together, our data show that the activity of the mTOR pathway is increased in HSCs from
aged mice and that increasing mTOR signaling is sufficient to cause premature aging of
HSCs in young mice
We also found that mTOR inhibition reinitiated B cell development and enabled aged mice to mount a robust antibody response capable of protecting them against lethal influenza infection. Because aging impairs B cell development, the elderly have more memory B cells relative to naïve B cells than do the young mice, and this imbalance contributes to impaired immune responses in
elderly individuals.
Our data suggest that rapamycin, or possibly other inhibitors of mTOR, can be used to rejuvenateHSC for better immune protection.
The shorter therapeutic duration may have resulted in a more significant increase in mouse life span than that achieved by the chronic treatment.
I started rapamycin Dec 17. Jan 4 I caught omicron. Had a very minor case, but skipped my rapa dose that week. February my wife died of cancer. January and February I didn’t measure my morning RHR, HRV, etc., due to focusing on her illness. I started measuring again in March, and my RHR was a full 15-20 bpm higher than what had been normal for years (normally mid 50s, now low 70s), and my HRV 15% lower.
I initially thought it was stress related to her death, which would fade over time. It hasn’t, which makes me think it’s not stress but rather a form of long covid that I wouldn’t have noticed if I didn’t measure. I’m still taking rapamycin, but no real improvement in RHR or HRV. Exercise, diet, etc. hasn’t changed.
Thank you for your kind words, but it wasn’t strength, it was medicine. Exercise, specifically BJJ, kept me sane and functioning through all the stress.