Gastrointestional side effects can subside if you give it a few weeks or so.
In my n of 1, I did not find that to be true. Continued intestinal issues with acarbose if I eat carbs, especially fruit.
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"Also, I have had a great success switching from Metformin to Acarbose. Metformin made me gassy and gave me diarrhea. "
I find that mind-boggling. However, I think Acarbose has little of the gassy side effects for people on a low-carb diet. I havenāt had or known anyone who had gassy side-effects from metformin.
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Thatās funny because almost everyone I have met on it - typically for diabetes have similar problems - at least initially. With the bad reviews on metformin and inhibiting skeletal muscle mitochondrial respiration and protein synthesis in older adults (62 Ā± 1 years). From article in the link above.
So, I am kinda glad Metformin didnāt agree with me so I didnāt take it regularly (was on it for 3 months a year ago and off - then single dose once a month hardly worth the effort).
Really liking Acarboseā¦ letās see if after 6 months dosing it takes me back on my biological tests.
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You can always take both.
āHowever, there is growing evidence that these drugs may have effects beyond their action on glucose metabolism. For example, metformin use has been reported to reduce the risk for certain forms of cancer [12,13]. Metformin use has also been associated with cognitive improvement in patients with particular forms of dementia [14]. Acarbose use is associated with cardiovascular benefits in diabetic patients [15,16] and has been shown to be protective against atherosclerosis and myocardial infact in laboratory animal modelsā
One reason to consider taking metformin vs acarbose is because of its superior ant-cancer properties.
ā37 studies comprising 1,535,636 participants, were selected in terms of intervention and data of cancer incidence or mortality. Among metformin users compared with non-usersā
āIn our meta-analysis, a 78% and a 46% risk reduction were found for liver cancer and pancreatic cancer incidence respectively, followed by colorectal cancer (23%) and breast cancer (6%)ā
That is a large cohort.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/20010001.2019.1657756
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I think both Metformin and Acarbose are great drugs and either is synergistic with Rapamycin. However, I am not sure you should take both. I am not sure what would happen to your blood sugar levels and insulin resistance. Is anyone taking both Acarbkse and Metformin with Rapamycin? Any statistics?
N=1
I am non-diabetic but have borderline high fasting glucose levels. For most people, I think you would have to just reduce the dosages. I have experimented with acarbose 300 mg in divided doses along with 100 mg of metformin morning and night and it did not cause my blood glucose to drop below 81 mm/dL. I stopped acarbose because of severe gassiness but I think I might try to slowly ramp up over time to see if my system will ever adjust to it.
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Thatās the type of study I was looking for. So it appears that acarbose + metformin + rapamycin may work out optimally with the appropriate dosage of each. Now, if we can find out what that isā¦
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There are several individual studies that reported increased risk for impaired cognitive performance, dementia, Alzheimerās disease separately with metformin. Could be Vitamin B12 or could be something else.
You have to actually understand and read the studies or youāll miss a lot of glaring issues. The cancer reduction association in diabetics could be at least partially explained by comparing metformin vs on insulin/sulfonylureas/no therapy - all of these options are known to increase the risk of cancer and may not be applicable to healthy individuals.
But if the proposed mechanism is in fact true for healthy individuals - rapamycin+acarbose shares all of those same mechanisms/reduction of IR with far fewer possible drug-drug interactions and you donāt need to worry about Vitamin B12 status, exercise interferences etc. Not only that, it actually works in the ITP better and there are fewer uncertainties regarding dosing.
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I love live longer world. If Brad Stanfield could do what she does (ask intelligent questions and let the experts speak), I probably wouldnāt dog on him so much. Ideally, he would lose the pompous of affectations also ā¦
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I do take metformin and acarbose. But ageless RX is so stingy with the latter. They will only sell me 16 of 25 MG pills per month.
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Seriously? My GP called the pharmacy.
I am on Acarbose 3 pills 50 mg per day ā¦take a pill when you eatā¦ 90 count per month. Cost $10.
My body has no negative reactions to the 3 per day doseā¦ no gasā¦ no diarrheaā¦ stomach feels fine.
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I havenāt seen my GP since I started all of this madness. Iām looking forward to the visit. Heās the old-fashioned sort of doctor that will spend 45 min - 1 hour with me on my physical, even though he probably shouldnāt. I am going to ask him if he will prescribe any of the drugs I am currently taking. If I could get Metformin and Acarbose, that would be a win. I suspect I will have zero chance on rapamycin, but at least I have Dr. Green.
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Hello, just found this group, great resource of like-minded people!
Does anyone have experience / research with respect to taking metformin and berberine along with rapamycin and acarbose all together?
I am an active, healthy, non-diabetic 57 year looking to optimize heathspan and lifespan (no medical conditions).
AgelessRx provides all these medications to me but Iām wondering if thereās any research to guide us on the combination benefits of these medications?
Iām considering stopping metformin while keeping berberine, acarbose and rapamycin if the metformin benefit(s) arenāt clear.
Appreciate any feedbackā¦
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Welcome!
Metformin 500 mg pill (4 times a day) was hard on my gut system.
The 50 mg Acarbose with each meal past month and a halfā¦ short time in body works much better for me. Gut is great.
Rapamycin 2.5 years amazing.
Research on Acarbose and Rapamycin combo for life extension excellent.
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Acarbose may be the way to go based on the ITP data.
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Got it, I did check and confirm the ITP results.
Still wondering if thereās any synergistic benefit of taking metformin + acarbose + rapamycin combination therapies.
The TAME study is metformin alone I understand so we may not have research to guide us here.
Thank-you both.
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I do all three. I also check track my glucose fairly rigorously.
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Apologies if you have done this elsewhere but can you please outline your protocol or link to this?
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