Hi there - What about using Berberine instead of Metformin?
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I’m not an expert on this, but I do take Berberine. I’ve read they work well together, and aren’t really interchangeable.
Berberine has helped my blood sugar over the years I’ve been using it.
Thanks for the suggestion,
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I also take Berberine from time to time but not consistently. My BG is good.
Include in choices: Yes / No / Too Soon To Know
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RapAdmin,
Yes. Excellent idea.
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Bicep, How much berberine do you take? What uncomfortable side effects have you noticed? Thanks.
Agree that you need a “no noticeable benefits” option.
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I’ll do that when i have time to think through it more. You are right though, some of these categories are not well defined in general.
I used to take small doses with every meal (usually 2 for me), then ran out and bought 1200s and started just taking it with my biggest meal.
I’ve never noticed a side effect. Probably should take one with each meal and see if it helps.
I think the survey overlooks the most important set of benefits: age related disease prevention, which is, after all, the expected benefit of rapamycin.
Frankly I don’t have any suggestion as to how to capture such data.
When asked what benefits I’ve experienced from a few years of rapamycin, I tend to think more about what dysfunctions have not appeared yet often do appear at my advanced age. There is no box for me to indicate that I didn’t develop alzheimers, no cancer, no diabetes or pre diabetes, no hypertension, no worsening of the existing conditions I brought with me.
Even if such data were collected, it might not be too meaningful without also knowing my individual risk. The fact that I was a smoker and was exposed to asbestos dust changes the significance of having avoided lung cancer, COPD, and heart disease.
I don’t think we should over-complicate the survey but I wanted to at least bring this up.
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Absolutely, a good point but as you say, really hard to measure at this point in time. Probably our best hope in this area are some bioAge tests/ biological clocks that we do tests with prior to taking rapamycin, and then again every 6 months or year. I don’t think the biological clocks are well-validated enough for this yet, but in the next revision of the survey I’ll ask this. I’ve seen a few people here have done pre and post rapamycin biological age clocks / calculations - but many of us just started the rapamycin and then later realized it would have been nice to have the biological age clock measurement from before rapamycin.
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I don’t know your age, but if you are younger I would not expect to see too many benefits until years later as measured by epigenetic age tests. If you are young and in reasonably good shape, what is there to fix that you could quantify?
I believe this to be true of most supplements: If it ain’t broken there is nothing to fix.
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I certainly agree with you… if I were younger, but I’m not.
The fact is, I’m a couple of years older than you are. So even though I’ve never been overweight I did smoke and was exposed to considerable amounts of drywall compound dust some 40 years ago. Offsetting those risks, I’ve always done resistance training and was a jogger for many years and a consumer (still am) of far too many supplements.
Maybe its just dumb luck that I’m still healthy. Maybe it’s the rapamycin. My doctor told me once it was my ballroom dancing. Whatever the reason, the fact that many of the diseases that frequently appear by my (our) age have not presented, is something to be grateful for.
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No, I don’t believe it was just “dumb luck”. You have done several things that mitigate aging; jogging, resistance training, and ballroom dancing. In addition to its health benefits, ballroom dancing probably has some fairly important psychological benefits in regard to aging.
The shotgun approach to supplements has served me well so far.
At one time or another, I have probably tried all of the popular supplements in the health food stores. Now, I am desperately trying to whittle them down to a precious few. I just can’t stand taking so many supplements every day.
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How about adding Ginkgo Biloba and the medicinal mushrooms, Reishi ('known as the “Mushroom of Immortality” ), Lions Mane, etc. There are at least 7 of them.
Thanks so much for doing this. I am 72 and have been reading this site for awhile, still trying to figure out how much to take, where and who sells the best for the money. So these questions would be very useful for newbies like me.
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I agree Kitty, I even sent a couple emails to Fungi Perfecti to try to get Reishi into the ITP trials. Tons of papers on this out there and they all say good things. I know it is great for reducing inflammation and therefore increasing longevity. The interventions testing program is how you find out.
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It’s a very good point. Many take rapamycin to prevent age related diseases. After 12 years on Rapa I did not develop pre-diabetes or diabetes, body aches, arthritis, skin problems (dryness, itching or wrinkles), fungal infections, never had hot flashes or other side effects of menopause, no periodontal problems, no phlegm accumulation in the morning, still can read without glasses. Hypertension (developed after kidney transplant) is well controlled by medication.
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Was there any delay, in your experience, in onset of menopause while you’ve been on rapamycin? Have you ever heard from other women transplant patients on rapamycin if they saw a delay in menopause? Just curious.
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My menopause started abruptly 3 months after I got on dialysis after I lost kidney function within 36 hours due to mushroom poisoning. I was almost 54 at that time and was not on rapamycin yet (which was prescribed after kidney transplant a year later).
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I recommend adding low absolute neutrophils to the list of adverse side effects. This side effect was recently mentioned on the Health Longevity Secrets podcast by Bradley S. Rosen. I have experienced this side effect on a dosage of 5 mg/week.
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