I’m a first time poster. A bit about myself. I’m from Canada, 57 years old and in what I consider very good shape. I exercise 7 days per week comprising both weight lifting and cardio. I consider myself very fortunate with no major aches or pains, normal blood scores, optimal blood pressure, etc. I’d like to keep it that way for as long as I can. Enter rapa. I have reviewed a bunch of material on this website (excellent resource btw) and have developed a plan as follows (not taking rapa yet until I get the below work done):
Get a hsCRP test done (high specificity C reactive protein test) which will be needed to determine my biological age.
Once all of the above is done, start taking rapa at 1 mg / wk ramping up by 1 mg / wk until I reach my peak dose of 6 mg / wk.
Prior to dosing, consume a high fat (sardines) to help improve bioavailability by roughly 35%.
will stay on 8 wks, off 5 wks. Unfortunately, being in Canada, LabCorp does not offer the sirolimus blood test so this cycle will just be the best I can do.
Some questions I have and would love to get feedback on:
Are there any pre rapa blood tests I should be considering that I haven’t covered above?
Could monitoring my blood glucose be a good and simple surrogate way to determine if mTORC2 inhibition is occurring?
Good luck. I’ll offer a personal lesson, since you say you are very healthy. Take some time to notice and document the little things that have emerged in the last 10 years. A sore spot or a joint that hurts a little extra after lifting or doing cardio or a stiff joint or muscle that you only feel when you stretch or do mobility work. A dry patch of skin. etc. Take some good hair photos to mark hair lines and gray. Having not done this up front I’be been playing catchup with “why am I doing this?”. Blood markers are a bit impersonal.
Its interesting, we have some Canadian members who say that not only can they get blood sirolimus tests easily, they can get them free. So, perhaps do a little more research or contact the other members here…
This is very interesting. I approached my family Doc and he was not interested in working with me. He did say he would reach out to some specialists (eg. gerontologist) to see if they might be interested. Here in Canada, to use public services like blood tests, I have to go through a family DR. My family Doc would not agree to ordering sirolimus tests given the purpose. I checked for private clinic tests and found none in Canada. I think that Cdn who somehow gets them done for free on the public dime is a very unique situation.
Hi Karl - yes, the 8/5 cycle as all the other protocols I pulled together for my own regimen were gleaned from this great forum and the research papers. What information are you referring to when you state “may be detrimental”?
There may be an increased level of mtor activity above normal when you stop taking it. A “rebound” effect. More study needs to be done on this. Don’t think there is a right answer yet.
If one is worried about a rebound effect, I would think one could merely taper their last few weeks, say from 6mg to 4 mg to 2mg to 0mg, or 6mg to 3mg to 0mg. For me there are so many unknowns to taking Rapa that a rebound effect is not something to worry about. Of course with further evidence I could change my mind.
I can’t help but think of that Simpson’s episode where Bart is taking “Focusin” a new ADHD drug. When his Mom suggests stopping treatment, the researchers tell her, “Whoa, you can’t just go ‘off’ Focusin…”
I recently stared taking rapamycin (a couple of months) and I’m a very fit 63 year old (I run a 40 min 10K).
It would be interesting to see how people who exercise regularly perform.
I worry that people who exercise regularly may already be benefiting from “adversity mimetics” and won’t see as much of a benefit from rapamycin as couch potatoes.
I made a few observations at this early stage in my journey:
I’m 6’ 2" and prior to rapamycin I weighed 142 lbs. That’s already a very low BMI, which is normal for proficient middle distance runner. But as soon as I took rapamycin (within 6 weeks), I dropped 4 lbs., which is unprecedented for me. That’s a big drop for someone my weight.
I have noticed my running times are a little slower. I think it’s having an impact on my endurance, particularly on my Monday run after taking rapamycin on the weekend.
I have been doing better in the gym. I’m gradually seeing an increase in my ability to do reps.
I can’t know for certain if any of this is real or imagined. It could be a placebo effect.
But I think what you’re doing make sense. It would be useful for people who are dedicated fitness addicts to document their results and share. I recommend tracking functional changes, like running speed, reps, etc.
Good question. I’d contribute if I tracked my workouts but I don’t think about it much. I don’t even know how much weight I lift; I just know what plates go where. I can report that I have put on muscle better after rapa than before. I have lost fat (now ~15% bf) and gained muscle (200 lbs). But rapa slows recovery for 24 hours. I usually have to take an extra day off after a dose (every 9 or 10 days). I take 6mg with fat and GFJ.
Yes. I wanted to lengthen the timeframe so I’m experimenting with a higher dose as well. I’m waiting 9/10 days between doses. I’ll see what the blood tests show next time to assess.
Thanks for sharing that. Yeah, I have wondered the same. I still haven’t started taking rapa yet as I wait to gather all my metrics. I log all of my training - how much weight, how many reps, etc. I measure my weight, lean body mass and body fat regularly (about bi-monthly). It will be very interesting to see how these change, if at all, once I start the rapa.