Testing your blood levels of rapamycin (sirolimus) can be done now for a relatively low cost ($59 to $95 per test) and can be done for a number of different reasons:
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It can be useful as a cheap way to validate that the medication you are taking is in fact rapamycin (sirolimus). Some people do this just to make sure they are not getting counterfeit drugs (though I think the risk of that is low, as if a group is going to counterfeit a drug they will go for higher priced, non-generic medications).
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It can be helpful to see what the actual level of sirolimus / rapamycin is in your blood to better understand the level at which your body is being exposed to the rapamycin (e.g. tMax, or Peak rapamycin levels), or how low your rapamycin levels are going (the trough levels) before the next dose. Researchers are suggesting that you want a low trough level between dosing, so as to lower the risk of side effects from inhibiting MTORC2 (which happens from longer time periods of higher dosing of rapamycin).
Here are the details on how to get a relatively inexpensive blood sirolimus test done. There are two options:
Marek Health ($59) Here: Sirolimus (Rapamycin/Rapamune), Whole Blood (LC/MS-MS) | Marek Health
Life Extension: ($95) See details below
Below is the exact email they (LifeExtension) sent me when I asked if they could provide the lower cost sirolimus blood test - I recommend you call or email their blood lab customer service (see email below) with a copy of their email (or describe the details of the test you want and make reference to the to me attached and Labcorp test number (716712) and also reference my case # included in the email they sent me. Labcorp only offered the blood sirolimus test directly for $400, so I pushed for a lower cost as rapamycin users may want to test occasionally.
Also, here is the link to the Labcorp blood test:
Call Life Extension Blood Testing services / customer suppport and refer to this email/test number for the sirolimus blood test (see below)
And that response is to the following email I had sent to them:
To: BloodLabcustomerservice@lifeextension.com
Hi LifeExtension,
There are many people (including Bill Falloon) using rapamycin (sirolimus) and we need an inexpensive blood test for determining the levels of sirolimus at the peak (after one hour of taking the drug) and trough (after 7 days). Can your company please work to get a low cost blood test to do this. Its available by the labcorp and others - but its very expensive. Can you please negotiate a lower cost and offer it through your blood test services.
See this page - about rapamycin on your website:
Autophagy As You Age - Life Extension
This is the test that you need to offer, at much lower cost:
716712: Sirolimus, Whole Blood | Labcorp
Please confirm that you have received this email.
Sincerely,
Trough Blood Sirolimus Level Test
Generally people try to check their “Trough Sirolimus” levels, the last day prior to the next weekly dose of rapamycin, to make sure they are getting their trough blood levels low enough so that mTORC2 is not being inhibited (mTORC2 inhibition is, current science suggests, linked to higher levels of immune suppression, and other side effects).
Peak Blood Sirolimus Level Test (tMax)
People also test the highest level (tMax) of sirolimus in their blood - the “Peak” blood sirolimus levels. The peak blood level of sirolimus is actually quite hard to identify precisely, because it it varies by person, and is such a sharp spike - as can be seen below. Typically peak blood sirolimus levels are around 45 minutes to 1 hour to 2 hours after dosing, but then drops very rapidly.
Frequently at the Labcorp offices that provide the blood test, user experiences are that you can sometimes wait 30 minutes to an hour after your arrival at the office, before getting the blood test, and so the test may or may not reflect the actual peak level.
Note: the above data is from this study: Pharmacokenetics and Safety of a Single Dose of Rapamycin (sirolimus) in Healthy Males
You can read up on how people are using this blood test by reading this thread on Blood testing while taking rapamycin.
Here below is a sample of the result you get emailed after the test is completed (Thanks David for sharing):
