Dosage experience and source

[Alden_Brindle]

I have been taking 4 mg once per week for 3 months and then a month off. It seems to improve my life quality in a number of areas. I read in one topic about getting it from India. We get ours from Mark Cuban’s CostPlus Drug Company and pay $300 for 90, 2 mg pills. This is about 1/2 of what we were paying initially. How does this compare to your source?

[DeStrider]

Sources from India are typically 1.25 USD per mg or less. You can find details about trusted vendors and prices here:

Rapamycin etc., Purchase Price Comparison Spreadsheet, and Issues Discussion

A few months ago I started to plan for a new purchase cycle of medicine, and also wanted to look at all the prices of things I might want to try in the near future. I was also curious about how all the vendors compared in terms of their pricing. So, I sent a list of medicines I was interested in, and asked for pricing given a 6 month to 12 month purchase volume on each of the medications (from the vendors on our list, and others that people have mentioned). I put all the resulting information into a spreadsheet to make it easier to compare prices and get a feel for which vendors might work better for my shorter and longer term needs. At some point it became obvious that this is more work than I had hoped for… so I’m putting it out there and hoping that we can get some crowdsourced effort on this so we can complete the spreadsheet and everyone can benefit from it. Some of the issues I’ve realize that we face with this type of effort, that we can easily overcome with a little resear…

[adriank]

I started with 6mg every Tuesday. On the third week I added grapefruit juice hoping that it will increase the effects. I’ve stopped my metformin and acarbose for now.

Week 1 - I suffered very bad gout for 5 days. I’m not sure if it is caused by it but so far so documents online says it is highly probably.

Week 2 - I increase my daily water consumption and did not get gout. I noticed my blood pressure stabilise around 120/80 than my usual 140/90. Again I thought using rapamycin will increase the risk of high blood pressure but in my case I think it is working on dropping my normally high uric acid level which could have drop my blood pressure. I also noticed my psoriasis is starting to not flare as much.

Week 3 - with the added grapefruit juice, I notice that I’m farting a lot. Is that normal? Any recommendations to deal with it? My left finger with arthritis is no longer painful. My right finger is not annoying me as much.

Week 4 - in 2 days

My question is should I drop by dosage to 2mg with grapefruit juice or not? Or should I maintain 6mg for now? Originally I was going to do 6mg and 14mg on alternating week.

Are those effects too quick? I was not expecting them to work until week 12.

Oh and I bought my rapamycin from India. The box says 2mg Sirolimus.

Thx

[Agetron]

I take 2 mg Zydus with one Red Grapefruit Juice (5 fl. ounces) and get a 6’xs increase to 12 ng/mL. Give it 10 days to clear.

So 2 mg rapa with GFJ is what I am doing – now going on 3.5 years of rapamycin with great results.

[DeStrider]

Your mileage on Grapefruit juice may vary. Studies reported an average of 3X increase, Agetron is getting 6X. You may need to do a sirolimus blood test to find your multiplier. I assume 3X for myself. You can tack on another 0.5X if you take it with a fatty meal and a little extra with Metformin.

I alternate between 4 mg and 3 mg with GFJ + fatty meal (EVOO) weekly for an expected range 11-14 mg weekly. This is kind of high and I will see what happens with my blood markers in March when I get tested next.

[adriank]

I’m farting like crazy so obviously 6mg with GFJ is too much? Next dosage I’ll try 2mg with GFJ and see if the farting continues. I’ll also have a scrambled eggs with plenty of hemp oil and my metformin and acarbose this coming Tuesday.

[DeStrider]

Acarbose is linked to farting like crazy much more so than Rapamycin.

[adriank]

I haven’t taken acarbose since starting rapamycin… Oh dear what will I find out this week.

[Arhu]

Seems like a good price if you have to pay for it, in the Netherlands the price seems to be around e4.3/mg

[scta123]

I pay 3.4 EUR/mg with my prescription for Pfizer Rapamune. I haven’t used GFJ or any other boosters, Pfizer claims 20-30% more bioavailability of Rapamune comparing to generics. I take this as a consolation. It adds up. I was taking 6-8 mg weekly for 6 months and currently I am taking 1mg/day for 3 weeks and take a week off. If I will ever decide to go back or evidence will suggest weekly dosing is better for longevity I will think about boosting it with an CYP3A4 inhibitor, since Ketoconazole is being phased out as an oral drug I was thinking Ritonavir can stand as a good alternative.

[adriank]

Funny, I pay $1.2 AUD for a 2mg pill and I complain it is expensive. It would be cheaper if I get it locally but no GP will dare prescribe it for me.

[scta123]

It is almost impossible to get medications imported into EU, customs are notorious to check everything. I envy anyone who has access to Indian pharmacies. I get prescription, but I have to pay out of pocket. Maybe I will try buying some when I travel somewhere. Just the price difference for one year supply would cover flight to India.

[matthost]

I pay $7/mg through GetHealthspan - $333/3 months at 4mg weekly so 48mg. Kind of a ripoff, but legit and was easy to sign up.

I should really get a regular doc to give me an rx but am pretty avoidant of the traditional medical system, just so frustrating for all involved.

[Agetron]

I’m farting like crazy so obviously 6mg with GFJ is too much?

Yes could be the higher dosing… farting… diarrhea are both a sign of too much.

6 mg with GFJ could be in a range of 18 ng/mL to 36 mg. You won’t know without doing a Labcorp test 2 hours after dosing.

I think 2 mg and GFJ is a good plan.

[lisa]

Pills vs Liquid ? wondering what everyone is using and what people like better

[Alden_Brindle]

Thanks for this, I will try grapefruit juice with 2 mg weekly. Thanks for all the replies!

[adriank]

2mg pill.

[lisa]

I take liquid 8 ml wondering what others think liquid vs pill

[adriank]

Is that 1mg per ml? What does the label say about the concentration?

[lisa]

Im using liquid and the taste is so bad