Hi, gang! Happy 2025! First of all, thanks so much, everyone, for being a part of our community. I appreciate your insights as well as your assistance as we all journey together in what’s mostly uncharted territory.
My wellness doc and I get along perfectly in that she lets me “run the show” when it comes to my health and wellness. She also freely admits to knowing very little about rapamycin, so she relies on me to set my own dosage/dosing schedule. Currently, I’m on 6mg, 1 x wk., and have been for the past several years. To date, I’ve experienced no negative side effects, nor have I noticed any specific improvements in my health that I can attribute directly to my rapamycin use. (However, I simply trust that good things are happening.)
Here are my two questions:
What’s everyone’s take on whether we should be taking a “rapamycin holiday” every now and again? And if so, how frequently should we take a break, and for how long? And if we take a holiday, should we go directly back to the dosage we were taking prior to the holiday, or should we build back up, mg by mg, like most of us did when we first began? There seem to be opinions that range all over the board on this topic, and I’m interested in what most of you are doing.
Similarly, what’s your take on whether we should hold off on taking rapamycin if we have a cold? If so, for how long? Does the answer have to do with how severe the cold is? And is there actually a reason to do so if we’re otherwise healthy and have strong immune systems? (You guessed it from my question. I haven’t had so much as a sniffle for the past 3 years, and then I had to take a 12-hour flight on a very crowded plane, and…whamo! Germs got me. I’m actually doing OK and pushing through it, but today would be my normal dosing day, and I’m not sure whether I should hold off.)
Thank so much, beloved community, for your help. And I’d like to give my usual shoutout to our RapAdmin! Thanks for all that you do to keep us informed, organized, and on track.
Guardrails are hard to find ‘round these parts but I think two rules are solid:
(1) get to zero rapa in the blood regularly. I take rapa every 2 / 3 weeks to make certain.
(2) don’t feel like you lose anything by stopping rapa temporarily for any reason. Being sick is a good reason. Needing to heal a wound or infection is a good reason. Not feeling right is a good reason. Plenty of smart people take long rapa holidays.
To answer your 2 questions:
There is no evidence and really no consensus that you need to take breaks from Rapa.
That said, there is no evidence that stopping Rapa for awhile, as when you are sick, will have any detrimental effect on your health.
I have a very mild cold this week (caught it from a child) so I did not take my usual rapamycin. I’ll start it again next week when I’m better. I have not made up my mind about the “holiday” aspect yet, I am unclear on the benefit for or against with all the variables of our idiosyncratic regimens.
I have been on rapa for 2 years. I take Rapamune, 6 mg every week or 10 mg every 10 day. If I, for whatever reason, have to stop, (long distance holiday without bringing rapa ) I go directly back to my standard dose. I have never had any issues doing so.
If I try to make a top performance test in running or in the gym, then I do it at the end of my rapa-week or when I estimate that I have zero rapa in my system. The days following a rapa dose, I am weaker, and my top performance is reduced. I exercise the day after rapa, but at lower intensity.
I see no obvious reason to have planned rapa holidays. I will, at some point, take a holiday. But for the reason to find out what happens with my biomarkers after 6–8 weeks without rapa.
A reason for stopping would be to heal after any kind of trauma, accident or from planned surgery.
You asked about a Rapamycin Holiday: I generally don’t, but if I have an important medical procedure coming up I probably will to be on the safe side. Once or twice over the last few years I took a one-month Rapamycin break just to see if I would notice any difference. The only thing I noticed was lower blood glucose levels during those times. I don’t ramp back up to 10 mg /wk slowly after a break because my initial period (years ago) of starting low and gradually increasing weekly dosage was for the purpose of finding the appropriate dose that did not cause intolerable side effects. I found that dose and I always go back to it after a break.
You asked about holding off taking Rapamycin for a cold: I don’t and my colds (few that they are) over the last few years have not been worse than any time before Rapamycin. In general, I don’t pay much attention to colds. They’re just an irritating, minor inconvenience for me. I also continued taking weekly Rapamycin during the Covid-19 era. My experience with that virus was 5 days of a somewhat cold-like experience with the 3rd day being somewhat flu-like. So, I don’t think the Rapamycin during that time caused me any problems. If I’m going to have a vaccine shot I’ll wait until middle of the week after a Saturday Rapamycin dose, but I don’t skip that dose.
Well, as usual, I’m just so dang impressed by all your helpful and supportive responses! Thanks so much, everyone. Where would we be without our lovely, caring community–people who are willing to answer me on a Saturday, when you all probably had better things to do. Again, I am so appreciative.
Sooo, I’ve decided to skip yesterday’s 6mg dose, and to wait one week; then, to resume with my normal dose. Much like Jay, I don’t usually pay much attention to colds (and to date, I’ve never skipped my rapa dose due to any minor illness), but in this case, I’m right in the middle of a two-week work schedule that’s particularly brutal, and there’s no way I can cancel any of my commitments. They’re all speaking engagements to very large audiences, all of which require a lot of energy (or feigned energy, at least–haha) to perform. I decided it was best not to take any chances.
Regarding the “holiday” question, it seems as if we don’t really know whether a holiday would be beneficial, other than, as “Curious” points out, to determine what happens to one’s biomarkers during the holiday. At this point, I’m going to continue with my regular weekly rapa dose, because I’m not hearing any compelling arguments in favor of a planned holiday.
Again, thank you, gang! It’s so reassuring to know we have each other, especially since many of us are self-prescribing experimenters, sorting our way through the tangle of often-conflicting longevity studies.
Sending all best wishes for a safe, healthful 2025!