It’s possible, but at the same time, lots of people get pneumonia. In fact, I’d guess that >99.99% of all pneumonia cases are in people who aren’t taking Rapamycin. My wife got a brutal pneumonia a few months ago, before she started taking Rapamycin. Started with a bit of a cough, and it lingered, raging fever, and eventually the shortness of breath, chest pain etc. The whole treatment course included 2 chest X-rays, 4 rounds of different antibiotics, some samples to figure out what bacteria and what drugs to use, and a chest CT to top it all off. After 6 weeks she still had some lingering pain from it.
For context, she is 30+ years younger than you, and not immunocompromised at all, so I think it can happen to anybody. I’d say that if you’re 74, got that sick, and pulled through, that’s awesome. Something like that could easily kill an older person, or a person with poorer baseline health.
It is also a good reminder that everyone should try to get vaccinated against pneumonia, especially the elderly. The new US guidelines recommend that everyone over 50 get the vaccine. There’s some nuance about the various vaccines available, as some new ones came on market in the last couple of years and more will be coming in the future, but get whichever one is available to you.
There’s some debate about for how long the vaccine remains effective. but getting it seems a nobrainer.
I got vaccinated last year before I started taking rapamycin. My thought was that just in case rapamycin lowers bacterial immunity, I’d better get covered.
So for people who plan on taking rapamycin, it makes sense to get all the vaccines you can, especially the respiratory, including against pneumonia.
Given how prevalent and dangerous pneumonia is among the elderly - I’m soon to be 67 - my preliminary plan is to keep reupping my vaccinations against pneumonia every five years, never mind what the official frequency recommendations are - I’m on rapamycin, so I’m not taking any chances. YMMV.
No way to know at this point if Rapa made you immunocompromised or caused your pneumonia. Also no great evidence for or against taking breaks.
In my opinion, your dose/frequency is too high. I doubt you ever go to zero Rapa level.
6 mg once a week is standard with little true evidence. With VOO you have no idea what your dose is. If your dose ends up at 10, with the long half life, you may never get to zero. Of course there’s no evidence that you need to get to zero.
I just think we are headed towards thinking it’s better to clear your system and 2 weeks might be better frequency?
Adding my two cents. While I highly doubt this was rapamycin induced immune suppression I would caution that taking 5mg WITH VOO means you have no clear idea what dose you are actually taking. Add in the variable of CYP4503A4/5 and you could have been on quite a high dose would could be immune suppressive. Moral of the story: know your dose and don’t try to cheat with VOO since you/we have no clear idea how high (or not) it raises the dose.
When I travelled in different circles (200 nursing homes) pneumonia was often referred to as “the old mans friend” as it kills a lot of bed ridden, compromised residents. It is not exclusive to the “elderly” or immune compromised.
Unless there is information that olive oil raises AUC of rapamycin more than other fats (like sardines, nuts) then I would assume taking rapamycin with 15g of fat from sardines should be similar to 15g of fat from VOO
Yes…I was under the strong impression from what I’ve read in this forum that VOO is a lot more reliable than GFJ in only increasing the effectiveness of a 5mg dose to about 8mg equivalent… And that it is a reliable small boost …unlike GFJ that can have a wide range of quite large boosts… It all leaves me somewhat confused now…
I also am still recovering from a bad cold and flu symptoms (e.g., fever of 102F) that began at the end of my 12 week rapamycin protocol. It’s been lingering now for a few weeks and I was beginning to wonder if rapa was maybe partially to blame. I’m currently cycling 12 weeks on followed by 12 weeks off and am about one month into my off cycle. I was also alternating 5 and 6 mg weekly dosage. The recovery has been painfully slow as I normally kick these things in a few days to a week at most.
I think you are right on there. You typically get about a 30% boost in bioavailability with a fatty meal, but I’m not sure how large the variance is with regard to different types of fat.
The other thing I’m wondering about is whether my new packs of Sirolimus (Biocon) actually have a stronger dose of Rapa in them… Maybe, but we’ll never know …
Soon I might have some comparisons. I have been on rapamycin from January 2025 to April 6mg once weekly using Eris Biocon manufactured in 2023/2024. My 49-50 hour serum sirolimus level was 5.6 ng/mL according to LabCorp. I always took my dose on an empty stomach after an overnight fast and no food for 2-3 hours after a dose.
I then have had a 7 week break from rapamycin (dental surgery). I have resumed with sirolimus, same dose and protocol 6mg once a week, but this time the Zydus brand manufactured 2024. I will run the same exact test after three weekly doses and see what levels I get. No changes to diet, exercise or supplements, except the addition of 180mg/day of bempedoic acid and a boost of the dose of empagliflozin from 10mg/day to 25mg/day.
This won’t tell me if the Biocon pill dosage has changed, but might tell me if the Zydus results in a different serum level. Imperfect, but might be informative. YMMV.
I’ve been back on Biocon Rapacan for 5 weeks at a reduced 4mg +VOO dose. Good news is that the reduced dose doesn’t give me diarorrhea (sp?} like 5mg+VOO used to. It wasn’t bad squits but came on 2 days after dosing and could cause a rush to the loo on a few occasions.
I’m going to take a 4 weeks break after 6 weeks and hope that’s long enough for my immune system to bounce back.
Anyone have sound suggestions on break time length ?
I take 4 mg + GFJ + EVOO, which I believe to be about 14 mg equivalent every 2 weeks. GFJ provides 3X, and EVOO provides 0.5X. These are my rules of thumb. At this level, I get some minor side effects (diarrhea, gut cramps, euphoric fatigue, etc.), but if I go up a mg to 5 mg, I develop hives. So, dialing down the dosage decreases side effects. I’ve gone up to a maximum of 7 mg + GFJ + EVOO before, and it just made the hives worse.
With everything, the dose matters, and the ideal dose varies from person to person; however, I believe the biggest factors are gender and size. Women should take less as well as smaller people. I am trying to take the maximum dosage that doesn’t cause me significant problems/discomfort. The generally accepted rule of 6-9 mg a week seems to be the highest level with the least side effects.
I am exposed to a lot of viruses and bacteria, and it is common for me to develop a bacterial infection. These infections are worse if I have more Rapa in my system. For instance, I had COVID last month and I had to stay off Rapamycin for 3 weeks to recover from the coughing crud I developed. However, in the past, before I started biohacking, a similar cough could last for months to the point where I would be coughing up blood and developing headaches from coughing so much every day. So, I am recovering faster than I have in the past. (However, I attribute a significant portion of this cough recovery to the 4 g of NAC I take daily).
Next year, I’m getting the COVID vaccine, because every year for the past 3 years, if I don’t I get full on COVID. I’d bet the vaccine is the better alternative of the two. I also get an annual flu shot.