Weeks 5 & 6
Last night was my worst night’s sleep in years. The big learning? Don’t take Rapamycin if sick.
I spend a lot of time around children and the elderly in my work. In recent days I picked up a mild illness from one of the kids. It got my sinuses going, but nothing a few Sudafeds couldn’t handle. For two days my throat was slightly red, but not much pain to speak of.
This was happening just as I was scheduled to take my week 6 dose. I put off the dose for a day. My throat was still a little red but diminishing. I put off the dose for another day and found myself feeling great. Throat looking fine, no sinus issues to speak of.
So I took my next dose, upping it to 5mg.
Big mistake. All I can think is that I didn’t wait long enough and wasn’t actually over the illness. The next day the sickness came back more and more. With every passing hour I felt worse. By the end of the day I took a COVID test, which was negative. This was just the creeping crud.
Last night was harrowing. I woke up with chills that took an hour to break. I constantly awakened through the night. I woke up with chest congestion, a “frog” in my throat, and general body aches.
My hypothesis is that 5mg of Rapamycin told my cells to stop growing (healing) and in this gap a basic infection was given second wind. The whole thing is tragic in that it seems to have been entirely avoidable. I should have waited longer to take my next dose. In retrospect I could easily have skipped a week.
For those who may be wondering about antibiotics, I have been tending my microbiome for years and couldn’t bear devastating my “internal rainforest” for a bit of an infection. I believe I have a strong immune system and I believe it is revving up every day as the rapamycin works itself out of my body. So I’m going to wait and watch closely.
I will certainly go to Urgent Care and get a Z-pack if I notice things getting worse. Right now it seems to have stabilized. Besides, I do believe it’s a mild pathogen, judging by how quickly my body dealt with it pre-rapa.
Conclusions on previous side effects
In previous posts I mentioned several potential side effects of rapamycin. I have more data on those.
Concerning eye spasms, I had lots of eye spasms last week around Christmas, and hadn’t taken rapamycin in nearly a week. I am now convinced that it was the stress of the holidays and not rapa.
Concerning the slight rash on my arms, that appears to have been due to an unrelated experience I had during that particular week. Nothing like that has happened before or since. I am now convinced that it was not the rapa.
Concerning the splitting headache I had one week, I now repent of throwing OneSkin under the bus, because I happened to have used it the night before. I did several experiments over these past two weeks, applying that skin cream (as I mentioned, my partner loves it and is noticing pleasing results). Not once did I get anything even close to a headache. I am now convinced that I had a bit of a sinus infection that day (I get those) and the rapamycin kicked it into high gear.
I will absolutely be watching for any signs of illness in future weeks before taking a dose. Technically these aren’t side effects, but “effects.” If I take rapa when sick it does not help and actually appears to make things worse in the short term.
My Partner and my Dog
My partner is on a regimen of anti-fungal cream for something she wants to get rid of over the winter so her toe nail is clear by summer. To be safe she is taking only 1mg of rapamycin a week during these 45 days. She hasn’t noticed any other effects to speak of over the past few weeks.
My dog continues to react positively to rapamycin. Around Christmas some friends came to the door to drop off a present. They remarked at my dog’s perky demeanor. “How old is she, again?” They asked. “Twelve years old,” said we. “Wow, she looks so great!” They said. I am open to the possibility that we’re reading into the dog’s behavior, but I truly believe there has been an immediate and positive change in her health and state of mind. The 3mg doses for her 44lbs will continue.
A Few Learnings
This week I learned not to chew the pills. I know, what an idiot, right? Well I’d taken the pills with a spoonful of Olive Oil and I wanted it to dissolve in the oil so my mind said “chew” and I did. I immediately regretted it as a stomach ache was the quick result. You’re probably too smart to chew your pills, but if you get the idea resist it.
I have been thinking of rapamycin as a priority health intervention that “must go on!” That’s why I took the 5mg dose so close on the heels of my illness. That’s why I took 4mg two weeks in a row, because I knew I needed to be at my best around Christmas but didn’t want to interrupt the dosing.
I am coming to the realization that I can relax a bit about these dosings. If under the weather I should skip a week. If under a lot of pressure I should skip a week.
From all that I have read on this forum I’m not aware of anything that says “the dosing must go on!” In fact, I’ve read in several places that the key to rapa is in the long term usage (years) and in the difference between trough and peak. In both cases, a slightly extended dosing period should not hurt and may help, especially if there are mitigating circumstances.
Looking Ahead
We’re now in the new year and I’m close to the dose I was shooting for: 5mg-7mg weekly. I am going to monitor my body and see what makes sense as far as dose size and dose period.
To those who have chimed in on this thread, thank you! I appreciate that these missives are helpful and I especially appreciate it when you share your own experiences and suggestions. Happy New Year!