Hey Charles,
I hope you don’t think that I was being dismissive or trying to ‘shut you down’ I was attempting to add some context to my COVID symptoms. Unfortunately, it’s impossible to know if Rap had any affect on my immune response. But, I’d love to know how to measure Rapa’s affect on immune function, and I’m also really curious to know how people handle things like Covid or Flu. Do you skip a dose? Do we know if transplant patients are told to skip doses if they contract a virus? I remember reading about the paper that showed an increase in flu vaccine response, but did it do that because it primed the immune system- as you mentioned you’ve been taking it for a while. Could it have a negative affect if taken it during a virus? Does it lower immune response? Seems as though we’re all flying blind a bit. Mice in labs live in sterile environments, but we aren’t that fortunate. Rapa clearly has some benefits, but like anything and especially with a drug that hasn’t been tested for longevity humans there are some risks.
Has anyone on this thread addressed the original question? When should a person avoid taking Rapamycin? There is a risk of making a bacterial infection worse so I would quit taking it if I suspected a urinary tract infection, bacterial pneumonia, bacterial skin infection, etc. Dr. Green thinks Rapamycin improves the immune response to viral infections such as Covid. I don’t know about any of it. I am just an old engineer who was too lazy to get any Covid vaccines.
My doctor wants me to take the pneumococcal vaccine. (PNEUMOCOCCAL CONJ VACC PCV13 (PREVNAR-13). This is generally recommended for those over 65. Given that it is a “live” vaccine against strains of bacteria that cause pneumococcal disease, I wouldn’t think it wise to take while under rapamycin. This is just conjecture on my part as I don’t have an expert knowledge on how this vaccine works.
If you are having a bacterial infection or are at risk of having one, you should not be taking Rapa. If you have COVID or are at serious risk of getting it, I would stop taking Rapamycin.
Any time you are taking antibiotics, you should not be taking Rapamycin.
I would also stop taking Rapamycin at least 10 days before receiving a vaccine.
I stopped my weekly rapa dose when I got my first shingles vaccine. I wanted to make sure I got a good immune response from the vaccine and will likely do the same on the second dose. That vaccine kicked my butt pretty hard but I really want to reduce the risk of getting shingles later in life.
I caught a head cold last week so I skipped my weekly rapamycin dose. I have a history of developing sinus infections from colds so didn’t want to risk it. Fortunately, no infection this time so just resumed my dosing (3mg with a cup of grapefruit juice).
Disclaimer: personal experience only, not suggesting anything scientific can be gleaned.
I have been on Rapamycin for a year. In that timeframe (knock on wood) I have not gotten COVID or a cold. My family (which I share tight quarters with) has had many colds (some quite awful) and one bought of COVID. I have had some symptoms, scratchy throat or achy glands a few times that never materialized into anything. I tested negative many many times when experiencing these symptoms. Lastly, I was boosted twice over the year and never stopped Rapa. Just kept on truck-in’.
I also contracted Covid right around Xmas. I did take Rapa though among other things. My reason was that Rapa was supposed to prevent cytokine storm. I think it did. On day 6 I already tested negative. I also was taking an antibiotic to prevent bacterial infection developing in my lungs. Glad I did it. About balance: I lost balance for couple days and had strong needle like pain in my ears. I think Covid attacked everything above shoulders in my case. I also lost voice for 3 days. I was vaccinated (2 Pfizer vaccines), but not boosted. My bloodwork immediately after Covid showed elevated triglycerides and HA1C. All the rest was within norm including FG.
Thanks for that insight Lara. In hindsight, it might have been worthwhile me having some antibiotics on hand. I know from my genetic testing that I have a high chance of severe Covid because my immune system is inflammatory. My balance still isn’t right, although it seems to be settling down.
Were you prescribed that when you first started Rapamycin? As I mentioned the thing that I found interesting was my negative COVID test, then after another Rapa dose I tested positive again.
It sounds as though everyone’s experience varies massively. It would probably be good for people starting to have some guidelines, although I’m not sure where they would come from.
That’s really interesting. I wonder if regular Rapamycin could be boosting your response. That said, I avoided it for 3 years and have been at conferences and in offices where people around me have regularly tested positive. I was beginning to feel that was one of the lucky few who had some natural immunity.
I suppose the only way to know would be to find a way to track immune functioning, but it seems incredibly expensive right now.
I stopped taking rapamycin two weeks prior to my flu vaccine and third booster shot. I combined both so I could start back on rapamycin with less breaks. The experience of Dr. Green and his patients with Covid was mild symptoms only. Clearly anecdotal, but he probably has an older set of patients.
I was not prescribed an antibiotic. I was prescribed Molnupiravir for Covid virus which I did not take because it was prescribed too late (on day 4) and I already felt better. Antibiotics unfortunately are not prescribed for preventive use in the US. One needs an X-ray to show pneumonia/bronchitis to get a prescription. And it’s already late. Many people develop post-Covid bacterial infections - some cough for weeks, so I tried to prevent that. In Russia, for example, antibiotic is prescribed at the beginning of viral infection when coughing starts. They a kind of expect that a secondary bacterial infection will develop. I was taking a lot of supplements, and used a saline nebulizer and other steem inhaling herbs (eucalyptus, red potatoes, baking soda+iodine). It helped with head congestion. There’s an article about NAC and Guanfacine for brain fog. Even without Guanfacine, NAC may help. This is a link Potential New Treatment for “Brain Fog” in Long COVID Patients < Yale School of Medicine
That’s terrible, not only do antibiotics have side effects but using them wantonly also breeds resistance which will render antibiotics useless for us all
Everything has side effects. In extreme situations like Covid, antibiotic can save you from pneumonia and its consequences. If you develop one, antibiotic will be prescribed anyway, but at a much later stage.
