It seems that there is some variance in the literature 
Looks like they gave the drug by IM injection in the osteosarcoma study, which would extend the half life.
My thought is to use 60 based on some internet searches. I want to be conservatively realistic so I’d like to hear if anyone thinks I should use a different period.
I have a dog too - and have been giving her approx. the same dose/kg that I’m taking. But I’m also thinking that going forward I may slowly increase her dose to the level I’m considering going to in the future, so I get an early look at any possibly side effects that I may get as I also ramp up dosing.
Our dogs can give us an early and accelerated look at the results of rapamycin since they age much faster than we do. And since we are acting as Guinea pigs as far as rapamycin goes, why not recruit our dogs too in the test of higher doses?
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That’s great feedback, thanks. Am I right that you’re on a 2 week regimen? If so, then your dog is as well? Can I ask what dose you’re considering for the future?
Yes - right now 20mg every two weeks. It seems reasonable to consider slowly, over the next year, work up to 30mg or 40mg - given the Everolimus clinical study on dosing I posted last week.
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Hello
I am about to start my 140lb, 6 year old, leonberger/st.Bernard mix on rapamycin and just had a couple questions before I officially started with my dog.
I planned on doing 3mg/week for him.
I was wondering to those who gave their dog rapamycin, did you get blood work done with your vet before hand? If so, what did you look for? Then after giving rapamycin, how often did you get blood work done for you dog?
In regards to timing of giving rapamycin, what time of day
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I started my 65 pound 7 year old golden doodle on rapa about a month ago. Current dose is 3mg three times weekly (same as original dose used by Dr Kaeberlein in dog safety studies, but higher and more frequent than the current dog aging project rapa study). The vet I’m doing it through required baseline CBC, CMP (compete metabolic panel) and urinalysis. There’s no real written in stone guidelines about how often to repeat these. I’m not sure how often they do them in the dog aging project, but that info should be available somewhere (but keep in mind they are being extremely cautious so they’re probably overdoing it a bit). I’ll probably have them done again soon, then if still normal, less and less frequently over time as long as he’s doing ok.
I give it to him immediately after his morning meal, just to minimize risk of stomach upset. Giving on empty stomach may in theory be better since it results in more rapid and higher spike (which some believe is better) even though overall area under the curve is higher, I think, when taken after a meal.
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Thanks!
When you first started, did you start at the 3mg/3xweek? or did you start off lower / less frequently to see your dogs reaction
Started at 3mg three times weekly from the beginning. He’s had no side effects as far as I can tell.
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I’ve been doing 3 mg / 2x week which is less than the 3x week recommended by some. He’s 8 years old 80 lbs. He’s shown a very noticeable improvement in activity level and enthusiasm. I’ve done no tests.
From the data I’ve seen, a 2.5 day half life seems a reasonably conservative estimate for dogs which isn’t that much quicker than us humans (I calculate a 3 day half life for myself). Based on this, I’ve recently decided to reduce him to 3 mg / 6 days. I’d very much like to hear what others think. If the half-life is not too different from us, what would be the basis for giving dogs much more than what I’m willing to take on a weight adjusted basis? I do plan on increasing his dose when & if I increase mine.
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See these two posts about dosing protocols and increasing bioavailability - I think they are equally true for dogs as people.
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My justification for using higher and more frequent dose for my dog is that he’s older than I am (in dog years) and the previous animal research doesn’t typically do a washout. Also, it’s the dose his “rapa vet” currently recommends. However, I’m considering backing him down to once weekly, maybe 6mg, or maybe 3mg two days in a row once weekly (that way I don’t get too high of a spike while also allowing 5 days off between doses for a washout). As with rapa in general, we’re in mostly uncharted territory 
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I wanted to ask , have you seen improvements in him? Just curious how your experience has been with him?
Also do you give him anything else such as fish oil, glucosamine, etc and do you do anything with him as well such as daily exercising, TRE window, etc
Thanks
Thanks, How has your dogs experience been? Have you noticed improvements at all and also do you do anything on top of rapamycin like fish oil, glucosamine, daily exercising, TRE window, etc
Hard to say, especially given the subjectivity and unblinded nature of my 1-dog “study”. Also, he’s only been on rapa for 5 weeks, so it’s very early. I give him daily fish oil, taurine and recently started a chewable PEA supplement. He has recent onset mild mitral valve leakage, so it will be interesting to see what his follow up echocardiogram will show in about 4 months from now (hopefully stabilized, trying not to get my hopes up too much that it’ll be reversed).
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What is PEA? I do not think I have heard of that, also any reason for the Taurine?
I hope things get better for him!
There’s a recent thread about PEA on this forum by a biochemist with all kinds of good info. Taurine also has a multitude of potential health benefits for the heart, brain and other organs, and a deficiency is sometimes seen in dogs with cardiomyopathy. It’s also very safe and essentially non-toxic. I’d recommend the web site Pubmed to search for research articles on taurine.
Okay so what would be the benefit of giving the PEA or OEA to your dog?