Which Rapamycin brand to buy versus which to avoid?

John The key physiological effects are weight loss, more energy, easier to exercise. I've also been taking Metformin (a year and a half ago - which helped me quickly lose 10 to 15lbs), then Acarbose (good on blood sugar, but causes gas), and now Canagliflozin (another easy 10lbs of weight loss).  I think Rapamycin is working - but without biomarkers its hard to know for sure.  I take 10mg to 12 mg every 10 days, in a single dose. I'm 58, 5'9", currently 162lbs or so. I get blood work done every few months and things seem to be going in the right direction.  Biological age as calculated by the Levine Phenotypic calculator is in the 42 to 45 range.  I also take about 10 supplements - CaAKG, Lithium Orotate, Niacin/Niacinimide, Quercetin, etc.

John Some other minor things I've noticed in terms of there effects of taking rapamycin (at 6mg to 10mg per week) over the past year:

1. Used to get phlegm in my throat during the night, and in the morning so I'd have to clear it when I woke up - that problem went away on Rapamycin

2. Eye discharge (sleep) used to accumulate in my eyes overnight - but that's gone away with rapamycin

https://www.allaboutvision.com/conditions/eye-discharge.htm

3. Toe nail fungus - used to have some of this the past few years, all gone now with rapamycin

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/nail-fungus/symptoms-causes/syc-20353294

John with regard to the blood glucose medications - I started with Metformin and used it for about 4 months and lost about 15lbs.  Then I became aware of the research that suggests metformin has a negative impact on muscle growth after exercise, so I decided to pause metformin (plus the lifespan improvement of Metformin in the NIA ITP studies is minimal).  I then tried Acarbose after the ITP results on it were announced - and its generally ok, but the amount of gas I would get sometimes was higher than I would like - so I'm using it much less frequently (I have a stash, and generally will add 50mg or 100mg if I'm having a higher carb meal). The benefits of acarbose is that you can take it with the meal and it helps block carb absorption.  Then I purchased Canagliflozin and really like it - no noticeable side effects and its active for 12+ Hours - so I just take it in the morning and forget about it.  I quickly lost another 10lbs after initiating Canagliflozin and blood glucose levels are really well controlled and kept in the range of 70 to 110 most of the time.  So no I mostly just take Canagliflozin and occasionally add a bit of acarbose at dinner or with a beer later in the evening as needed.  

With CaAKG I typically take 1 gram of the powder a few times a day - I tried the Rejuvant for a few months - but that's about the same price as I pay for my rapamycin and canagliflozin combined - so it was more expensive than I would like.  So - now just take the generic CaAKG.

John Canagliflozin is almost as good as Rapamycin.  Read up here:  

https://forum.age-reversal.net/t/p8hktdh/canagliflozin-a-one-month-report-its-good

No obvious improvements with CaAKG.  Just trying it based on the studies.

Brin Chikovski I share your concerns about product safety, unfortunately, having to get a prescription from a doctor every time you want to make a change to a regimen is a challenge. I see that you made several changes, such as switching from Metformin to Canagliflozin (a wise decision), adding acarbose, etc. Do you consult with a doctor for all these new prescriptions, or are you buying from a source which does not require them? The reason I am trying to find a reputable supplier of anti-aging drugs in India is because I want flexibility and independence to manage my regimen, not depend on a doctor every time I want to make a change. 

Violette Toulon Hi Violette - I work with and discuss/consult with my personal doctor, but he does not prescribe my rapamycin, etc. medications - I buy them off Indiamart, partly due to the lower cost, and partly due to the ease and flexibility of buying what you want, when you want. I've spoken to many people who have purchased products off vendors on Indiamart. I've heard of dozens of successful orders, and only 1 or 2 bad experiences of not getting the product. Most of the vendors are good - but do your due diligence. The more important thing is to be sure you can trust the manufacturer of the medications. The pharmacies are just resellers of the drugs so they have no impact on the quality of the medicine. Its more important to make sure the medicine is of good quality. Some people have done lab tests on the medications to verify the dosage and to check for any of the common contaminants they see in medications from 3rd world countries. You can see there is a lab test of some of the top rapamycin brands at the bottom of this page at this link: https://www.rapamycin.news/t/why-and-how-to-test-your-rapamycin-pt2/66

John I can load their site now. As far as I know they only sell in powder. I have not yet bought from them. I mailed them two days ago, still no respons. 

John I'd be really suspect of any powder rapamycin for human consumption.  A completely opaque supply chain is a bad thing for pharmaceuticals - who knows what contaminants might be in it?  Completely untrustworthy.  At least you know with a pill from a major or minor Pharma company you know that there is a higher likelihood of it being something a human can ingest and there is "some" accountability - at a corporate level - even if its just in negative news stories and books like Katherine ban's book.  Chinese firms have no accountability in any legal sense (from Western consumers) and they know it.  If it harms you, good luck suing them!

Staffan Olsson Steffan - you say "testing is crucial" with these powders - but the issue is more complex than that.  The analytical labs will do HPLC analysis to determine purity of the compound for you (and even that is expensive - frequently $700 to $1000+ for one test) - but even if you get lucky and it tests say "98% pure" - you have no clue what the other 2% is.  Have you ever done lab testing?  its not like there is a test that says "Here is what the other 2% is..." - you have to test against a sample standard - so if you don't know what is in the powder, you can't test for it.  Really to do proper testing you need to understand the raw materials used in making the compound, and the manufacturing process, so you can make a reasonably informed guess at what contaminants might be in the final product - which you an then test for.  Buying powder rapamycin from China is truly a huge leap of faith.  Is it really worth it to save $50 over buying from a Pharma company in India (itself a far from perfect solution)

Brin Chikovski janoshik the steroid lab tester, he also test rapamycin. 300 euro per test so its a ok price 

John i found 10mg spoons, that got the same acurassy as a 300 dollar scale. works great ! doing 2 spoons - 20mg 

John 

    A couple of years ago I had some Dasatinib bought from BonHoa in India (and manufactured in Sri Lanka) tested at a US laboratory by HPLC followed by mass spectroscopy.  It was the real thing.  The testing lab provided a plot showing two mass peaks one very large and the other one tiny.  The dominant peak was at the expected molecular mass for Dasatinib.  The other was 16 units higher, which I think indicates that a small fraction had been oxidized.