Thank you! I appreciate how welcoming this community is!!! Okay, so here is a list of my questions!! I am open to any and all feedback/opinions!
If I want to start, who do you recommend I contact and where is the best rx source (maybe these are the same)?
What do you think is the best starting dose and schedule: 57 yo, vegan, 109 lbs, does occasional rounds of Prolon, on metformin, hashimotos, heart disease (high calcium score, hereditary), tiny bones/frame with low level osteoporosis, and sensitive to many things?
Are there still potential positive effects if you err on the conservative side and dose low… meaning, you get 50% of the benefit vs 100% … or do you need to hit a threshold to have an effect? (The article shared last night suggests to me there might not be any benefit, but I’m not sure I absorbed it all correctly)?
Are all the known negative side effects fully reversible?
It seems mostly great, but is there anything bad out there that happened to a person or dog that I might have missed? Even as simple (albeit horrifying) as their hair fell out?
If this is to lower mTOR, and vegans have lower mTOR, as a vegan, could this make mine too low? And is this a reason for a much smaller dose? (I have a very general understanding, but I don’t understand this topic to the level most of you do, so I only know enough to ask the question. Is there a worry that this could make muscle building even harder for me because my mTOR is presumably lower than an omnivore? Maybe this is why Attia eats a ton of protein because he’s lowering his mTOR? (I agree with his mantra to eat enough protein for muscle growth/maintenance).
I do Prolon 2-4 times per year. Is this still very good for me, and is this instead of rapamyacin? Meaning, if I’m in autophagy on occasion, is there any additional benefit to rapamyacin? I usually don’t eat between 12-16 hours a day but I realize that doesn’t bring on autophagy.
Does anyone notice they feel better on it, or is this mostly invisible and just for good stuff in the future (which is reason enough)
In the video, I think I remember Matt saying it might reduce depression but David and Peter said studies showed it can cause it, thoughts?
There is no “one best” source for prescription rapamycin… we have a list of many doctors and sources at the following link. Choose one that meets your needs: How to Get Rapamycin, Where to get a Prescription
Best staring dose… I think most of the doctors start women of your weight and age at around 3mg (once per week), and depending on results/side effects they adjust from there. You can see the dosing discussions here: What is the Rapamycin Dose / Dosage for Anti-Aging or Longevity?
Are there potential positive effects if you err on the conservative side…? We really don’t know yet. There was a rather famous study that showed positive immune system improvement with relatively low doses, but its just one study: mTOR inhibition improves immune function in the elderly - PubMed
Side effects reversible? Yes, as far as I know they all are reversible. You can see the in-depth side-effect discussion here: Side Effects of Rapamycin (part 2)
Anything bad that has happened to a person or dog that you may have missed? I’m not sure how much you’ve read. I recommend you read and study the FAQ as much as you can. Everything is there (or in the forums more generally). I’ve tried to pull all the more important or interesting things into the FAQ: Rapamycin Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
MTOR is always activated due to nutrition/food you eat, but then should be inhibited when you are not. As you get older the basal rate of MTOR goes up and becomes dis regulated… this is the hyper function theory of aging, and its thought that with MTOR activated a larger percentage of the time than necessary further accelerates aging. So our goal with rapamycin is to inhibit that age-related increase in basal MTOR levels. You can read more here in this article by Blagosklonny if you want more details: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.4161/cc.5.18.3288 and this article: The hyperfunction theory of aging: three common misconceptions - PMC
Prolon is a type of caloric restriction, and yes I think its good to continue doing that. Some of us here do fasting in addition to our rapamycin use. Fasting (and Prolon) help to further lower mTOR and boost autophagy. The pathways of caloric restriction and rapamycin/mTOR are thought to overlap substantially, but not entirely; so people tend to think they are complimentary, but if you only want to do one of the two, there can be a reasonable argument made for that also. See this thread for more information: Even with calorie restriction, rapamycin slows muscle aging
Rapamycin might reduce depression, or increase risk? I haven’t seen any reports here on increased depression on rapamycin, and have seen many positive reports of the opposite (euphoria), or energized and active. Whatever the case, it doesn’t seem to be a large effect either way in most people.
Brand name or Generic Sirolimus? Given that in the US the brand name Pfizer Rapamune is about 400% more expensive than the generics (about $4.00 to $6.00 per 1 mg tablet for Rapamune, vs. $1.50 to $2.50 per 1 mg tablet for US generic sirolimus / rapamycin), most of us use generics, and a substantial percent (close to 50% of users here according to our survey on this topic) buy the generics from India. India purchased rapamycin is typically in the $0.80 to $1.20 range (plus shipping). Details here: How to buy Rapamycin (Sirolimus)? What is the cost?
Don’t feel like like you have to jump into the deep end with Rapa. No downside to easing into it. Start with 1 or 2 mg to see what happens and then work up to a higher dose.