I am a 69 year old male I had a full knee replacement 3-1/2 years ago as a result severe osteoarthritis (“EO”) from excessive running (marathons, etc.) I had numerous injections (viscosupplementation, corticosteroids and stem cells) prior to the surgery which were not very effective. I resumed my running after nine months of rehab. At that same time, my other knee also displayed severe EO, and it was anticipated that I would have to undergo another knee replacement surgery within a year. About three years ago I started on an intermittent rapamycin regimen under the guidance of Dr. Alan Green. Surprisingly, my other knee is holding up rather well with minimal pain. The x-rays show very little deterioration in the last three years. Is it possible that the rapamycin is responsible for this? Has anyone experienced something similar?
It certainly seems that it could be: Rapamycin Delays Age-related Osteoarthritis
Anyone else have experiences like @benag ?
Oh Yes, My rt. hip was very sore from my running and ageing. (78 yo) The soreness has gone away when I started rapa. Matt Kaeberlein cured his frozen shoulder with rapa treatment. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgIy0ghrDmo
Any other positive rapa effects especially in area of pain reduction (joint and muscle)? Am long term (12 years) moderate exerciser but just turned 70 and having musculoskeletal pains (mostly thoracic area of back). Started Ortho MD evaluation but nothing useful from that yet. I know I have some areas of disc degeneration etc.
I am a 71yo male. I began to suffer from extreme arthritic pain in both thumbs when I turned 65. Reaching for a cup or coffee or pulling up my socks could cause me to cry out in pain. I started Rapa 18 months ago. After about 12 months I realized that my thumbs rarely hurt. I had forgotten about them. Rapa or coincidence? I am currently dosing at 10mg every 10 days. Only noticeable side effect has been occasional mild acne in my scalp. Blood work is seemingly unaffected.
I take 6mg of rapa for 2 years. Unfortunately, my OA has progressed in hip and knees. In fact, I can’t say I’ve had any positive effect. But I’m still taking it as a leap of faith.
I was browsing and found this new research paper on the effect of rapamyacin on osteoarthritis in animal studies. Not effective ?
There seems to be discordant results in animal models. In murine models rapa seems protective against OA, but it failed hard in marmosets, where it was deleterious - same with guinea pigs, worse OA with rapa (and also worse with metformin). It also appears that the method of delivery might be a factor, where injections of rapa into the joint in mice was helpful, as well as formulations (nanocarriers etc.). The evidence in humans is equivocal, certainly not something I’d count on, although anecdotal evidence is all over the place.
We discussed this paper last March/2025 when the preprint paper came out. You can see the issues with the paper (with regard to translation to humans), etc. in that discussion: Inhibition of mTORC1 by rapamycin results in feedback activation of Akt S473 and aggravates hallmarks of osteoarthritis in female mice and non-human primates