#2807

I have decided to try additional Citrulline. Whether I will see any difference is hard to say. My biomarkers vary so much anyway that it may not be able to see an effect even if there is one.

1 Like
#2808

I think your second paragraph cancels/contradicts the first one. Basically, you are saying you want to start 2mg RAPA a week, as you are never going to start otherwise and then on your last paragraph you say currently you are taking 2mg per week? Out of curiosity which one is it? Real question btw not trolling (since it seems you do a lot of research)

#2809

@LaraPo I think you have been doing RAPA (for other reasons than longevity) for a long time. Can you please give an overview of how long and dosage and if you were doing daily or weekly etcā€¦ and did you ever feel it is negatively impacting your health in anyway? Plus knowing now what you know about RAPA do you feel its helped you in your health (apart from the initial reason for taking it) and do you feel youā€™re better off (health wise) than you similar age friends who may not be taking it?
Reason for my question has to with the fact that Iā€™m trying to come up with the best possible dosing and frequency. Lately, I tend to think I might seem better (health wise) if I take say 2mg twice per week. Thanks,
ps sorry if you have already explained such information before, I searched but couldnā€™t find.

2 Likes
#2810

Iā€™ve been doing it for almost 14 years. Rapamycin is an amazing drug, it keeps me alive and fully functioning. I came to a conclusion (for my situation) that taking it with breaks works better (measured by markers and overall well being) than taking the same dose (1 mg) every day. That dose, if taken every day for a long time, apparently accumulates and suppresses immune system too much (mouth sores, skin problems, acne, high BP, high glucose, high lipids, loss of weight, feeling cold all the time, less energy, bacterial infections, etc). To get back to normal, I tried to reduce the dose and introduce breaks from time to time. It completely changed everything - my biomarkers improved, gained some weight, have more energy to exercise daily, no bacterial infections or skin problems, glucose and lipids normalized. Iā€™m currently on 2-3 mg per week followed by a week break. Sometimes I take a two week break when I feel that the drug again accumulated in my system.

I cannot tell if it helped my health apart from the initial reason. Before I lost kidney function I was absolutely healthy and active (scuba diving, downhill skiing, hiking, etc). All my wellbeing at present is dictated by the health of my transplant. I take rapamycin for keeping my transplant healthy and as long as possible. Rapamycin positively affected my ruined health: it supports my transplant. But besides that primary function, I also enjoy its benevolent side effects :blush:, like overall rejuvenation and slowing the aging process. And it does show in appearance, skin, flexibility, posture, muscles tone, etc. I do look years younger than my friends of the same age. Most likely because of rapamycin.

If you want to take rapamycin for a long time, itā€™s better imo to take a smaller dose (something like 2 mg/week), especially being young as you are.

11 Likes
#2811

Thank you for sharing your experience, and Iā€™m happy itā€™s helped you with your transplant and other unintended but welcome benefits (in form of looking younger, staying healthy and benevolent side effects lol). I like your idea of 2-3 mg per week with the one-week break. I think Iā€™ll do the same (higher dose to account for probably double the weight from you lol), so I plan 3+3 mg one week and then take one week rest. Will see what happens.

Thanks for saying Iā€™m young but Iā€™m not that young, closing in on 58. We have a saying back home which rimes ā€œkryet gjok, mendjen zokā€. Hard to translate word per word but basically means not so young in reality, but in their mind (meant as tongue in cheek) LOL

3 Likes
#2812

I think itā€™s correct to take weight into account. Mine is 110 lb only and rapamycin makes it very difficult to gain even a pound more. My goal is to gain 5 lb.

2 Likes
#2813

Do you also take any another med to avoid rejection risks?

#2814

I do not take any other meds for immunosuppression. Itā€™s the only prescribed medication, which is very rare, but is based on a very close match (blood type, antigens) of transplant to my body. Thereā€™s a small group of ppl among all transplant recipients who are naturally ā€œtolerantā€ and donā€™t need any medication at all or a very small dose. I suspect that I may be one of them. Iā€™m stable for a long time being on a small dose. I measure biomarkers once a month.

1 Like
#2815

Wow - just every other week, just one drug and such a low dose of rapa. Was it tough to get your doctors onboard with that rapa protocol?

2 Likes
#2817

I donā€™t take 2-3 mg as one dose as ppl do for longevity. I take 0.5mg per day, so it takes 6 days to finish it. Such small amount taken gradually still accumulates and stays longer than a one time dose. Then I take a break. It really works well for me.

5 Likes
#2818

Hey DeStrider, what dose of Bempedoic acid are you taking?

#2819

The standard 180 mg.

#2820

Bicep, if you want a detailed analysis of your blood cholesterol the link below may be of interest. LDL-C in general is a good but broad marker. Some parts of it are particularly bad, others not so much. This link is a sample analysis about the Labcorp ā€œNMR LipoProfileĀ® .ā€ I believe Quest has a similar report. The test I had years ago did not have all of the nice explanations shown here and current tests may not either, but this visual aid is available online:

https://www.labcorp.com/tests/related-documents/L15035

1 Like
#2821

Large LDL get Oxidized (youtube.com)

1 Like
#2822
1 Like
#2824

As others have said, there are many issues here. This is a comment on one issue in isolation of the interactions with others.

T2D is somewhat overdiagnosed. The typical threshold of diagnostic concern is an A1C level moving into the 5.7% to 6.4% range even though this level is far below the point at which cellular damage occurs. The medical community is not wrong in setting the threshold this low. Among people displaying these levels, especially those with high body fat and low muscle mass, many will progress to unhealthy levels if they do not make lifestyle changes, possibly including medication. On the other hand, if there is no progression to a higher level, there may be no risks if rapamycin is the cause of a mild elevation of A1C in a fit person. The gut biome plays a significant role here but that is a different topic.

2 Likes
#2825

Ivor does a really good job on insulin resistance and T2D. For the gold standard you check both insulin and glucose. If youā€™re cheap or in a hurry you can check at the 2 hour mark and probably get by with it. Checking glucose only doesnā€™t work because you donā€™t know how you got there.

2 Likes
#2826

Glycine is also found to protect against CVD and lower BP.

Humans with a genetic variant that raises blood levels of glycine have a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease (211).

1 Like
#2827

Attias deep dive on statins

4 Likes
#2828

A few months ago, a stress test showed that my stent was occluded. Itā€™s in a small artery and the cardiologist wanted to put a new stent in. I told him that there is risk from that procedure and I donā€™t like the idea of someone poking around in my artery. I knew someone who died from that type of procedure. The cardiologist did some research and said there was a study with patients similar to me. They were followed for five years and the treated group had the same outcome as the untreated. So at least for now Iā€™m leaving it as is.

3 Likes