Just had my yearly physical (first one after about 7 months of using rapa at about 6mg/week). LDL was up to 3.01 mmol/L vs previous 2.52 mmol/L (and I was already on statins). Dr asked if I had any “lifestyle changes” which I haven’t. He doubled my statin dose. Reconsidering my use of rapa at this point.
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I went to every 2 weeks and that problem went away. Blood sugar problems persist. I’m keto and the morning fasting glucose is really hard to keep down.
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I have been on rapamycin for 2 years - highest dose was 10mg once a week, but decided to decrease since my cholesterol and LDL has been on a steady rise. The latest test while on 4mg a week showed 209 cholesterol, 133 LDL, 113 ApoB! I am 37, I eat a diet very heavy in vegetables, mono and poly fats, I am bordering on underweight, fit… Before rapa, cholesterol was always in 160s, LDL in the 80s.
Quite concerned about this to say the least
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Me too Milly. There are so many arguments about cholesterol and Rapa dose and I don’t think anybody has a great answer there. I am 63 and have had high LDL, in the 160-180 range for years and now I have a bad CAC (400). I think the damage was probably started before I started Rapa and went Keto (now more like very low carb). My Apo B is in the 90 area and triglycerides are low too because they come from carbs.
If I could go back in time I would never eat any corn chips, or any grain chips of any kind ever and would go low carb sooner, mostly avoiding all added sugar and flours.
I do Rapa bi weekly because it gives your body a longer rest and I think that helps. I use grapefruit juice because it’s so much cheaper, using 3 mg (x 4 probably) so now probably 12mg every 2 weeks. I use acarbose because it helps increase mtor2, be careful if you use any wheat otherwise a great supplement. Since I have backed down from 5…to 4… now finally 3mg/2weeks my numbers are finally reasonable. It’s possible they’re reasonable because of the cyclodextrins I’m using too. I can’t help it I’m completely sold on the cyclodextrins.
Good luck,
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Not a bad idea but you should’ve replaced them with chicken breast and olive oil.
Thanks for mentioning that. I must have missed the previous posts where that was discussed…
" Though Acarbose does other things… I’ve seen reports it increases mTOR2, which is good for lifespan enhancement, see this new paper: New Paper: Targeting the Biology of Aging with mTOR inhibitors
and it changes the gut microbiome…"
Are there any studies that found an mTOR2 increase resulting from acarbose? I couldn’t find any.
Yeah with 113 apoB that rapa is going to be useless. I’d look into lowering dose as you are and adding cholesterol lowering medication(s), like statins, ezetimibe, bempedoic acid or pcsk9 inhibitor. Also lifestyle changes like the Mediterranean diet or at least decreasing saturated fat.
For every increase in 20 mg/dl you should see about a twice increase in heart attack risk from 70 mg/dl. Probably half the risk at even lower apoB. It’ll probably half so much it’ll go to zero pretty much at low enough apoB, neonatal apoB levels, unless you live to 200 and the exposure to apoB has accumulated enough.
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At the age of 37 i would look at a big reduction in frequency to perhaps every 6 months.
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I have just started rapamycin. I got my (non-fasting) cholesterol tested last month:
Total cholesterol: 2.69mmol/l (104mg/dl)
HDL cholesterol: 0.75mmol/l (29mg/dl)
LDL cholesterol: 1.14mmol/l (44mg/dl)
Triglycerides : 1.74mmol/l (154mg/dl)
edit ng/dl to mg/dl
Converted to mg/dl using an online tool with rounding so hopefully no mistakes.
I am not on any cholesterol lowering medication and will retest in 6 months or so and update on here.
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Thanks, yes it should, I’m not familiar with the US units
Hi,a little update for those who follow the story:
I have given up rapamycin completely and have modified my diet to minimize saturated fat (literally followed the boring guidelines). Not even religiously, just the general direction - less fatty meat, less dairy, more fish and lean meats.
In 4 months:
ApoB went from 113 to 73
Total Cholesterol 209 to 167
LDL Cholesterol from 133 to 89
Triglycerides from 63 to 58
Not sure how much of it can be attibuted to quitting rapa vs change in diet but I am willing to go back to low dose rapa and see what happens
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You could try Rapamycin+Bempedoic Acid+Ezetemibe. You get all of the benefits of Rapamycin plus you can probably lower your lipids even further.
My LDL went from 120 to 66 with these three.
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Four months and a week 
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Yes i was thinking about this… but I think i will really struggle to get a prescription
You don’t need a prescription. Just order from India. You can find reputable suppliers through recommendations on this site. Buy Rapamycin Online - List of Reliable Pharmacies
It’s also a lot cheaper.
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Triglycerides were great pre- and post-change. So diet quality was probably quite good both before and after.
We can argue till the cows come home about whether the lower LDL, etc. are actually meaningful improvements for you. We need to be cautious about focusing on surrogate markers of health.
The data says your risk of heart disease is lower with these lipids. It is not so clear your expected longevity is meaningfully longer with these lipids. Your actual health history is relevant here, along with your risk factors for heart disease.
My guess is that the trade is strongly negative - off rapamycin but improved lipid panel → statistically lower expected longevity. But that assessment is based on some guesses about rapamycin’s benefit that are unproven. So obviously I may be wrong. (Although if I am, most of us taking Rapa are similarly wrong.)
Good luck!
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Despite the fear that rapamycin raises cholesterol and glucose levels, I found that yes, it does have an effect, but I found it very easy to correct for it. In the case of cholesterol, I just added pantethine for cholesterol control and Linagliptin (5mg) for glucose control.
Before taking rapamycin my meds included metformin, 500 mg/day, and atorvastatin 40 mg/daily tablet. As I have previously posted: I am currently taking rapamycin 4mg/weekly with GFJ. My cholesterol levels are all in the low normal range and my HbA1c is 5.6%, which isn’t bad for my age.
Bottom line: Whatever effect rapamycin has on your cholesterol and/or glucose levels it is easy to bring them back to your previous levels by making lifestyle adjustments and/or adding supplements.
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@Milly_C two comments to you and Thorin
Apo B is casual, so would not see that as a surrogate marker.
In biology nothing is crystal clear, but the evidence is mounting in the direction that higher Apo B => lower life- and healthspan:
Mendelian randomization reveals apolipoprotein B shortens healthspan and possibly increases risk for Alzheimer’s disease
And
A trans-omic Mendelian randomization study of parental lifespan uncovers novel aging biology and therapeutic candidates for chronic diseases
And
Effects of apolipoprotein B on lifespan and risks of major diseases including type 2 diabetes: a mendelian randomisation analysis using outcomes in first-degree relatives
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