I take berberine. 500mg x2
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Peter Attia is an exercise fanatic so metformin is off his list. David Sinclair says he rather lives longer than have slightly smaller muscles (5 or 10%). I think it’s individual and priority determined. I started to add metformin (500mg only) as I would like preemptively to counter the potential lipid and glucose effect of rapamycin (which is well documented for the short term). I also started to take my maintenance rapamycin 1mg for Psoriasis in the evening along with metformin per this comment from Sinclair and it made sense to me. I found my sleeping quality is much better with this combo.
Also, Metformin is known as a dirty drug as the mechanism of action is not well understood to this day.
Here a related podcast by a good researcher: Adam Plans to Study Metformin's Effects on a Range of Metabolically Healthy Individuals - PodClips
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I only take 500 mg a day and I take it at night right before bed. My last meal is a few hours before it and I think the best way to take it is spaced out from meals where Vit B12 could be coming from. If I took 1000mg I’d do 500mg when waking up in addition to the nightly dose — that works for me as I usually skip breakfast. But I don’t think there’s any hard and fast rule. Just take a megadose liquid drop vit B12 to cover your bases.
Honestly Attia’s argument re: reduction in Vo2Max from metformin is irrelevant to anyone except power / elite athletes who are pushing their bodies to the max. I’ve got such a long way to go on the exercise front that it would be ridiculous to worry re: tiny effect from Metformin.
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Metformin July 2023 Lancet (U of Hong Kong). In this study, researchers found that people who took metformin were, on average, 0.36 years younger in PhenoAge than people who did not take metformin. This means that their biological age was 0.36 years younger than their chronological age, with a 95% confidence interval.
https://thelancet.com/journals/lanhl/article/PIIS2666-7568(23)00085-5/fulltext
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Metformin: A Chinese study (2022) has found a strong association between metformin intake and slower epigenetic aging.
Limitation: n = 32 w single-center
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@medaura I too take it at night and only 500 mg (a newbie). This is following David Sinclair’s practice that at night, your body is entering fasting so along with metformin, it will have a synergistic effect.
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An interesting, possible “breakthrough”, about a synergistic effect of metformin and galantamine( an old medication for Alzheimer’s disease) for prevention of sarcopenia.
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News related to metformin:
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Rapamycin + Metformin is a wonderfully synergistic combination.
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Not a lot of paper on it but here is one on mice: Rapamycin + Metformin Rapamycin/metformin co-treatment normalizes insulin sensitivity and reduces complications of metabolic syndrome in type 2 diabetic mice - PubMed.
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Okay I got back on the Metformin horse again today. I have shy’d away since having some mild hypoglycemia and what appeared to me mild lactic acidosis last time i took it for a couple of weeks. I was using Metformin from India so I bought some from AgelessRx to remove that variable. I plan to take it with my meal on Rapa days only with Acarbose too. There are some studies (metformin-associated lactic acidosis: Topics by Science.gov) that suggest that Acarbose helps with lactic acidosis and Metformin complications. I have a CGM I will fire up to monitor myself for a couple of weeks. I figured the synergies with AMPK and MTOR2 were worth trying again. If I shut down this experiment or keep it alive with good reports you will be the first to know! 
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For two weeks I have taken Metformin with my mid-day meal (Bryan Johnson’s super veggie ) along with 50MG of Acarbose only on my Rapa dose days. I have to report that the Acarbose seems to be keeping Metformin in check with my biology. Whereas in the past I had some pretty bad symptoms with Metformin alone (headaches, hypoglycemia, racing heart). I am going to continue to see how this goes and am due for my bloodwork in another month or so. For those that have scrapped Metformin because of similar bad side effects this may be an option.
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If you are suffering hypoglycemia due to Metformin, you should reduce your dosage or increase your sugar intake. The former is preferable IMHO.
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Metformin: prevented bone loss and improved periodontal parameters in mice and humans. It also influenced oral bacteria and metabolic responses to bacterial dysbiosis. Metformin may be a promising new treatment for periodontal disease.
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More Evidence Metformin May Be Neuroprotective
Megan Brooks
October 31, 2023
TAKEAWAY:
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General question- If I were to take metformin (other than for diabetes) what time of the day is best to take it? I read/heard that before bed is best time?
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Yes, I take it before bed. I believe it is the best time to take it.
However, on the day I take Rapamycin, I take 1 g a couple hours before the Rapamycin dose to improve bioavailability and reduce blood sugar spikes.
It’s best to take metformin tablets with, or just after, your evening meal to reduce the chance of getting side effects.
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From the studies I’ve seen so far, my understanding is that metformin is probably a good idea to take if you are older and sedentary.
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I take it with the first meal I eat after taking my weekly rapa dose. I only take the one 500 MG ER pill weekly. I combine it with 50 MG of Acarbose.
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Well, Metformin for longevity has finally hit Vogue magazine (about a decade after Barzelai started working on the TAME trial I think)… so perhaps another 5 years or more before rapamycin makes its way into popular lifestyle type magazines?
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