Rapamycin and High Iron Levels?

Just had some labs and my iron is very high. I am not taking iron supplements. Iron number is 351 and range is 38-169. Any chance this is due to rapamycin? I’m on 20 mg rapamycin every other week. My thinking is diet given I have been eating a lot of fortified iron cereal lately. Thoughts?

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I don’t think it would be related to rapamycin - my iron levels are always around 91 (the healthy range is apparently 38 to 169), and I’ve been taking rapamycin for over 2 years now. My diet is mostly plants, nuts/seeds, fruit, fish, some beef and pork.

Anyone else have any high iron levels?

Looking at the rapamycin research - it seems more closely linked with anemia (low iron):

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How’s the 20mg rapamycin every other week going for you? I tried it a bit this summer - didn’t really feel anything different. Seems like it might be worth a longer try at some point. Have you noticed any side effects that you feel?

Thanks for info on Iron. Regarding your question. The 20 mg every other week is going great. Feeling great and zero side effects.

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Are you taking the actual 20mg of rapamycin in 1mg tablets, or doing something lower (e.g. 8mg) with grapefruit juice?

The 20 mg dose every other week is done via 10 tablets of 2mg.

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I’m doing the same. So far no sides. Going to test trough soon.

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Let us know how the trough test goes.

Did you see the new lower cost testing for sirolimus blood levels available now:

Recently the Life Extension Foundation Lab services has started offering a low cost blood test for blood sirolimus levels via Labcorp. testing services. They sent this email to me recently:

" After re-evaluating current pricing for test 716712, we are able to offer it at a price of $95 going forward. Please call us if you would like to place an order. Thank you for your support and interest in our lab testing services. Life Extension".

This may be a good way to make sure your dosing schedule is working in terms of minimizing risk of MTORC2 inhibition.

From this page:

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Yes, I saw that! I had no idea they had that test available, than you. I use LE for all tests that insurance won’t cover.

At that price it makes sense to do a check to see how low our trough blood sirolimus levels are, just before we take the next dose. Please share your results here!

Regarding the Life Extension test…what will this tell us again? What should Sirolomus blood level be right before next dose? Thanks

also. Do I do the labs the day before my next dose?

Have you checked your iron metabolism genes? 23andme for example

I am homozygous H63D, so have mildly elevated iron. My first Ferritin test after learning of this, was 340. Combining this diagnosis with a deep dive on iron in general (iron is very pro-aging, a longevity marker), I started doing regular phlebotomy (every 8 weeks). I now have my Ferritin in the 12-20 range, whilst maintaining health CBC (including hematocrit and hemoglobin)

My goal is to be just above anemia.

The current iron anemia definitions are as follows:

Iron Deficiency: serum ferritin less than 12 µg/dl and transferin saturation % less than 15.

Iron deficiency anemia: serum ferritin less than 12 µgr/dl, transferin saturation % less than 15, and Hb less than 14 mg/dl.

I am skating just above these levels, with NO impact on my exercise or aerobic output.

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Regarding the first post in this discussion, was the 351 value for serum iron? Did your health care provider order ferritin? Ferritin is the most useful measure of actual iron status.

My iron is normal after 12 years on Rapa.

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What are your ferritin levels and transferrin saturation, if I could ask?
As Rapadmin mentioned, I also had read some publications that indicate Rapa may interfere with iron homeostasis, and could in fact reduce serum iron levels and transferrin saturation.
My iron/ferritin levels been very low for a long time (as a result of my vegan diet + cycle, I suppose). Prior to starting Rapa I already had to keep an eye on my ferritin levels, to avoid potential anaemia. I haven’t seen any changes in iron/ferritin levels while on Rapa. (I have taken iron supplements for quite a while, that barely keep me in the lower end of the normal range).

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This post was a while ago. More recently, my ferritin levels were very low 13 (range of 30-400). I did not change diet (have been on vegan diet for decades). The only thing I changed is that I started giving blood every 60 days over the past year. Trying to incorporate more iron into my diet until next labs. Have no idea why my iron levels were up in oct 2021. Rapamycin dose has stayed the same over this time (24 mg every other week with no grapefruit juice or other variables to increase dose).

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That should pretty much explain your low ferritin levels :-).

Since you mentioned you eat a vegan diet: personally I have found vegan sources of iron (aka ‘non-heme’ iron) wholly ineffective to increase iron/ferritin serum levels. My diet generally is pretty consistent and for years I have incorporated a lot of items high in non-heme iron. Nonetheless: my iron/ferritin levels were always very low, as mentioned. I have read other vegans express a similar thing. Studies also suggest heme iron (from animal sources) has a higher bioavailability than non-heme iron (from plant foods).
I use iron bisglycinate tabs, they are supposedly more gentle on the stomach. Some research indicates that, at least. There is a lot to say about increasing ferritin levels - tea, certain polyphenols etc can all interfere with iron absorption. There are also studies suggesting that alternate-day supplementation with iron may result in higher iron absorption than consecutive-day supplementation.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/21987813_Effect_of_tea_on_iron-absorption

Thank you for the info. I will start some iron supplementation if my ferritin is still low in next labs.

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One more thing. You say you take iron bisglycinate tabs. What brand and what dose do you take? Has that improved your ferritin levels?