Top 5 - Which Currently Available Longevity Interventions Do You Think Are the Best

#241

Where are you located? If in the US, you should be able to get vaccinated at any of your chain pharmacies, or the pharmacy where you usually get your prescriptions filled. At least that’s what I do. I don’t waste time trying to convince my PCP that a vaccine is not going to kill me, not going to get me high, not going to personally hurt him, not going to demolish his office or collapse the hospital building and on and on and on. I don’t involve him at all. Here’s how:

I go to CVS.com, select the vaccine, make the online appointment time, select my CVS branch and confirm.

The date of the appointment arrives, I get an email from a cvs.com bot half an hour before I’m scheduled telling me that there was a problem with my appointment and it has been cancelled and I should make a new appointment (which will be cancelled again and now you are in an endless loop with an unresponsive and cryptic bot).

Instead, I ignore the email and turn up at the pharmacy at the originally appointed time. The pharmacist informs me that they can’t help me, because my insurance will not pay for the vaccine, so there is nothing they can do, and that is why the bot sent the email with the cancellation. I listen politely, nod with understanding, and pull out my credit card saying: “that’s fine, I’ll pay out of pocket”. The pharmacist with disbelief, checks again “but that’s $478!”. I smile apologetically “oh, well, some people you couldn’t pay to get a vaccine, I’m one of those who will pay to get a vaccine!”. The pharmacist is now irate that he has to go through the hassle of vaccinating someone, and coldly charges my cc and makes me sign, without looking at me. I look at the $478, and add up all the other vaccines I’ve recently paid for and it’s a tidy sum, and I think how all of this is pure speculation and probably useless and I’m an utter fool for doing this nonsense with no proof and I grow depressed and weak in the knees, but the chair is ready for me to sit on and I collapse waiting for the shot.

The pharmacist swabs my arm, administers the shot. I timidly ask which exact brand and dosage was used. I need this info, because depending on the exact shot, I may or may not need a booster and there are different schedules and so on. The pharmacist is now even more irate, and quickly rattles off the info, which I make sure to register and remember, because you don’t always get that info in your account.

I thank him, amble off and consider my next useless steps and plot more vaccines to get stabbed with, all to no purpose as we’re all gonna die anyway.

Anyhow, that’s my MO, you are welcome to improve on it. YMMV.

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#242

Cronos Tempi, I believe you, and you are definitely a persistent person. I have tried before just to get a second dose of the flu vaccine mid-year because my first shot was very early in the season and people I knew were getting sick at the time. One pharmacist simply said a prescription would be required. Another pharmacy made an appointment for me and when I got there they noted I could not get a “second” flu shot mid-year. I explained my reasons and that I would pay out of pocket. The pharmacists got into a huddle, came out of it and said “no”, I had to have a prescription. But, I see that you have a more detailed and persistent plan. I will think seriously about this … it will have to be foolproof with potential answers to any and all possible objections!

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#243

SAY WHAAATTT!! *bangs head against the wall!

This is the first I’m learning that the elderly (meaning, people over 25) can consider getting HPV vaccines!!!

Is there any downside? I’ll google and search this site, but if any of you have anything to share, please do!

EDIT:
I am already googling…. Does it only protect you from cancers if you haven’t been previously exposed to HPV? Or does it protect regardless of that fact?
I get a cold sore on my lip, but I’m not sure if that is the same. No idea if I’ve been exposed otherwise, but I’ve heard most people have?

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#244

Beth, It’s been proven to be a safe vaccine that has slowly been stretched out to include people up to 45 years old. Earlier, it was just young people! I guess the assumption is that people over that age have already been exposed and it’s useless to give the vaccine to them, but that is not necessarily so. If there’s a vaccine available that will prevent potential cancers and HPV, yes I want to take it if for no other reason than peace of mind that I’ve done the best I can in trying to stay healthy.

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#245

Well, you have to understand where the pharmacist is coming from. I have a friend who is a pharmacist in another state. A rando customer who rocks up to the pharmacy for a shot, is highly disruptive to the workflow. Pharmacists are insanely overworked, overscheduled and overburdened. A strike might be the only way they’d get their lunch hour. Their favorite people are the vaccine sceptics and hesitant. Fewer shots administered means the pharmacists can concentrate on filling prescriptions and other stuff. Now here comes a sh|thead who will actually pay $478 to disrupt their day… eff that guy! Why isn’t he like those nice folks who will refuse to get a vaccine and never disrupt their day!

Of course the pharmacist is irritated. But he’s also wrong. Because if fewer people get vaccines, it doesn’t mean their work load is suddenly lower. What will happen instead, is that the staff will be cut yet again, to accomodate the fewer customers, and the pharmacist is back to exactly the same level of overwhelmed. He doesn’t understand that it’s not my fault that he’s overwhelmed, but pure economics, and that if I and people like me were to die in a fire as he wishes, he’d be no better off. Now, I’m not about to stand there and try to explain that I’m not at fault and it’s just the system, because faced with a concrete person, that’s where the hostility will focus, not on an abstract economic arrangement. The system sets us against each other.

Same with doctors who have only about 15 minutes per patient. Sure, it’s easy to be irritated by old Bob the patient who is slow and vague when explaining his symptoms while the clock is ticking. Or younger George the patient who is full of questions, when the doctor has a waiting room full of anxious customers. I kid you not - a couple of years ago, I went for my yearly physical and the intake nurse was about to weigh me and take my BP - I was taking off my heavy coat, otherwise what’s the point of stepping on the scale, and she was visibly irritated, cause she wanted go, go, go, go onto the next one. When it was time to take my BP, I loosened my tie and unbuttoned the top button on my shirt, because I had almost run straight from my office to make it on time and my pulse was still high - I kid you not, she literally rolled her eyes, even though she tried to turn her head away. She was just absolutely frazzled. That’s how you get hostile ways of relating even though it was neither my fault nor hers that the burden on healthcare providers personnel is set up intentionally to be so high for economic reasons. Instead we take it out on each other - doctors on patients, patients on doctors, nurses against doctors, doctors against admins etc., etc., etc. But it’s the system all along.

That is why I try to be extra nice and patient with everyone in healthcare, because hostility gets us nowhere. I don’t burden the doc, or the nurse, I try to make their jobs as easy as possible. I do my homework, and come prepared, I understand the protocol and the limitations of what can and cannot be done.

Above all, it is you who is responsible for your health. You can’t outsource that to a doctor or any other human being. Educate yourself, show initiative and determination, cause nobody else will on your behalf. The resources are out there - including this fabulous site. YMMV.

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#246

I didn’t intend to imply that HPV vaccine was for elderly. Sorry. This was directed towards everyone of any age. This is a no brainer for young people. (<45yo).

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#247

For people over 45 (and planning to live a long time) Is there any way to test if you’ve already been exposed to HPV and therefore would not benefit from the vaccine (I know its very hard to get if you are over 45, but thats a different issue). It seems that some percent of people over 45 might still benefit from the vaccine but an arbitrary line has been drawn at that age.

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#248

RapAdmin, you’ve likely already checked, but in case not, here is what ChatGPT says:

HPV Tests for Men and Non-Cervical Sites

  • Limitations:
    • Currently, there is no FDA-approved HPV test for men or non-cervical sites such as the mouth or throat. Research is ongoing to develop reliable tests for these areas.
    • In men, HPV-related conditions, like genital warts or cancers, are typically diagnosed through visual examination or tissue biopsy​

Data taken from Cleveland Clinic

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#249

Beth, you mentioned cold sore. I believe that cold sores come from the HSV virus (herpes virus), not the HPV virus. Human papillomavirus (HPV) and herpes simplex virus (HSV) are two distinctly different viruses, but both are sexually transmissible.

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#250

There are blood tests for HPV but generally not recommended to get the test prior to vaccination. Over 45 yo with limited sexual history could still get vaccinated.

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#251

There’s multiple strains of HPV so even if you’ve been exposed to some strain(s), you can still be protected against strains you haven’t yet been exposed to. The most common (Gardasil 9) protects against 9 strains.

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#252

I’m very thankful for the health minster and the teams responsible for this gift

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#253

I am 45+ but I still decided to get the Gardasil 9 vaccin half a year ago, got the “inspiration” from Bryan Johnson’s blueprint protocol

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#254

I have got the Gardasil 9 vaccine as well, three doses. I think it was $200 per dose. It protects against different cancers if not already exposed to them.

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#255

Is this something I can just ask my doctor for, or is it more difficult than that?

#256

I don’t know, I was in the age range where I could take it, or the rules are more subjective (EU).

It’s more expensive in the US - $280 per dose it seems (1), that was surprising to me.

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(1) Cost Information for GARDASIL®9 (Human Papillomavirus 9-valent Vaccine, Recombinant)