For those taking Metformin what dose and dosing schedule do you use. I am also interested in a schedule that works with strength training. Thx
Hi, you may want to review this earlier thread on rapamycin and metformin: Rapamycin + Metformin
To minimize the negative effect of metformin on exercise benefits, I imagine you’d want to pulse dose the metformin. The half-life of regular metformin (not the slow release version) is 6.5 hours.
Nir Barzilai is a proponent of metformin:
I hope others post here on what schedule works best for them…
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I take 500 mg Metformin after my evening meal. Been taking Met long before I heard of Rapa. Glucose was in the 124 range, now stays around 99 to 103 in blood test over the past 12 years. Been taking 6 mg Rapa for 4 months. 79 years old and no noticeable effects. I do exercise but not strength training.
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Well, what nobody talks much about is the degree to which Metformin blunts hypertrophy. I don’t remember exactly but it’s a miniscule amount, IE: if you are competing in the open class of the Mr Olympia this year, you might not want to use it.
As previously mentioned, it has a half life of about six hours. I work out in the mornings around 10 AM so I take 1000 mg of Metformin with my evening meal (6PM). I’m 66 and have as much or more muscle as I have ever had.
Make sure your free testosterone is in the high end of the range (men), consume 1 gram of high quality protein per lb of body weight (remember, older people need more protein as our bodies don’t synthesize protein as efficiently as when we were young), and lift properly and you’ll be fine, Metformin or no Metformin.
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It’s the inhibition of adaptation to endurance (VO2 max) training not muscle mass that is most significant.
Falls, broken hips are, I believe, the second or third cause of death in persons over 65. Strength training not only helps maintain bone density but muscle strength helps avoid a fall and muscle mass is critical when, after suffering a broken hip, one is bedridden for a long period of time as the muscles atrophy quickly. Peter Attia has addressed this several times in his podcasts citing studies.
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Think you created a straw man there, I’m not disputing the benefits of strength training.
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Again, the question would be how significant? Statistically, or enough to affect real-world results? It would be a shame to miss out on all the possible benefits of metformin if the VO2max effect could (for instance) be overcome with an extra few min of cardio per week. Just speculating here, not asserting that this is the case.
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IMO: In order to increase healthspan I am no longer going to take metformin. Metformin has served me well for ~30 years. I took it because of the articles that claimed lifespan improvement in those taking metformin for type II diabetes.
I have never been type II and even though my fasting glucose has increased with age, I have recently tried to go without metformin. I use Empagliflozin instead and it seems to work well.
The main reason I am stopping metformin is that I think I have reached the age that metformin may not be beneficial for me. Most of the benefits of metformin can be achieved by diet, TRF, supplements, exercise, etc.
Now that I am 81, I do not want to take anything that may inhibit keeping my muscle mass.
Though I have not really noticed any detrimental effects on my strength training, metformin is known to inhibit muscle mass gain through strength training. IMO this inhibition is small, but at my age, I want no inhibition to maintaining or gaining muscle mass.
If I had to do it over again I would do the same thing. I think metformin is a good choice for younger people. As I have posted before, it has served me well.
To be blunt: This is mainly by association, not causation. I am alive and well and everyone I know who didn’t take metformin has all died before me.
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So you think DR Sinclair’s basis for using Metformin for longevity isn’t supported?
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As I have posted before: The studies indicating that metformin extends life in everyone are just overwhelming compared to the negative studies of metformin.
Also, I said “if you don’t like metformin, don’t take it” IMO: It will be your loss.
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If you are taking Rapamycin, there is even more reason to take Metformin as it blunts Rapamycin’s bad side effects and enhances Rapamycin’s strengths. Metformin is a synergistic Rapamycin booster. It also enhances the bioavailability of Rapamycin.
The biggest reason not to take Metformin is if you are a heavy gym-goer. Then you should evaluate your own circumstances. I’m not, so it’s a no-brainer for me.
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Much was made over the study showing lower mortality in diabetics on metformin even when compared to non diabetics.
Actually, a recent twin study demonstrated that the survival advantage of metformin isn’t real compared with the general population.
https://academic.oup.com/ije/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/ije/dyac200/6775037?login=false
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Yes, but that was not metformin + rapamycin. We will have to wait for more data to see if metformin + rapamycin are synergistic.
Yes, but the study is a big deal since it appeared from the prior study that metformin was such a potent longevity drug that it conferred a survival benefit even in diabetics when compared with the non diabetic control group. This doesn’t seem to be the case.
I suspect that it may give a modest increased benefit when combined with rapamycin, but probably no greater than a change in diet would be.
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Dr Attia doesn’t like Metformin because the data just aren’t consistent across studies.
A new metformin study…
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What Hba1c-levels, fasting and postprandial glucose levels are most members (taking Rapa) here aiming for?
It may also be interesting to have a write-up of these levels in members prior to starting Rapa, while taking Rapa, and what dose of Rapa they are taking, etc. (Unfortunately I started taking a SGLT2-inhibitor in the early period after starting Rapa, so my results will be skewed by that).
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There seems to be some disconnect between epigenetic age clocks and rapamycin intake.
I had been taking metformin for decades before I started taking rapamycin.
My delta on the Levine calculator was 17 years younger and on the Aging.Ai calculator 21 years younger before I started taking rapamycin.
The bottom line here is metformin certainly did me no harm.
After I started taking rapamycin my delta decreased significantly on both calculators.
I am just now, after taking rapamycin for ~1yr that I am starting to see the delta increasing again. Delta is now ~13 yrs.
It’s problematic only if you trust the whole epigenetic age calculation thing. I don’t put much stock in it at this point.
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