Intro to rapamycin

Hello everyone,

Rapamycin is an mTOR inhibitor. It has been used for years to prevent organ transplant rejection in humans, in part because mTOR inhibition also inhibits the immune system. 

mTOR is a pro-growth factor that is involved in cellular growth and protein synthesis. Its inhibition has been associated with longer lifespans in certain organisms (not yet humans). 

Rapamycin administration has been shown to extend the remaining lifespan of middle-aged mice, making it an interesting life-extension candidate for use in middle-aged humans. 

Has anyone tried rapamycin? What were the results? 

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    • Danmoderator
    • skipping my funeral
    • dantheman
    • 5 yrs ago
    • Reported - view

        I think Bill is now recommending that if you're suppressing AMPK sufficiently via lifestyle and Metformin then the Rapamycin isn't necessary. 

    Like 1
      • Iðunn
      • Iunn
      • 5 yrs ago
      • Reported - view

      DanMcL Huh? You quoted him as saying "There is a change in the first step to substitute metformin and various forms of calorie reduction in lieu of rapamycin"

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    • Van
    • Van
    • 5 yrs ago
    • Reported - view

    There are many people here who are uninformed about the science of anti-ageing using Rapamycin and Metformin.  Here is an article by Mikhail V. Blagosklonny, MD.

    He is considered the number one leading authority on ageing and treatment of such. Rapa and Metformin complement each other. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6286826/

    also: https://www.aging-us.com/

    Like 4
  • Has anyone used everolimus instead of rapamycin? Everolimus appears to have lower side effects in studies. https://jim.bmj.com/content/64/4/932.2 Anyone know an inexpensive source?

    Like 1
    • Paul Platt Everolimus just went generic in 2019 so its been expensive - I see the brand name product was $16K/month. Now you can buy it on Indiamart.com for $8.50 for 5mg tablets, and $10 for 10mg tablets - which works out to about $200 to $800/month depending on the dose and tablets you take. Most people go for the cheaper sirolimus which sells for $1 to $2/mg, so if you're taking 10mg in one dose per week (as I am right now) it works out to about $10/week or $40 a month - which is fine.

      Like 1
      • Van
      • Van
      • 4 yrs ago
      • Reported - view

      Brin Chikovski Everolimus is much weaker Tor inhibitor than Rapamycin taken at the same dose.  1/2 life is appx. 1/2 Rapa. (30 hrs)  You will have to take more to get the same Tor inhibition.  No benefit that I can see taking this regardless of cost.  Most trials were used using Everolimus because it was an prescription Rapamycin and the drug companies make more money.  See Mannick.

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      • Michael
      • Michael.1
      • 4 yrs ago
      • Reported - view

      Van Help! I'm confused. So the 1mg Sirolimus Rapacan 1 tabs that cost roughly $1 a mg are or are not worth taking? Thank you!

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      • Van
      • Van
      • 4 yrs ago
      • Reported - view

      Michael Rapamune is Sirolimus not Everolimus.  Everolimus works just have to take twice as much to get same effect.  Everolimus was developed for organ transplant patients taking daily doses to suppress immune system.

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      • Michael
      • Michael.1
      • 4 yrs ago
      • Reported - view

      Van Thank you!

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  • I have been taking 5mg/wk for 5mo; only noticeable effect is body hair (arms, legs, abdomen) has become very dark; has this happened to others?

    Like 2
    • Koo
    • Koo
    • 5 yrs ago
    • Reported - view

    Another study on rapamycin his hit the news today, see https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-11/uoth-srp110619.php

    It shows that young mice given a daily dose of rapamycin preserve their good blood flow to the brain and memory into very old age.

    Like 2
    • Koo I read in Science Daily in a publication dated July 25, 2013:
      "[Rapamycin's] impact on aging itself is limited. The life-extending effect seems to be related to rapamycin's suppression of tumors, which represent the main causes of death in these mouse strains".
      https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/07/130725141715.htm

      I ask: How much of Rapamycin's life extension properties can really be extrapolated to humans?

      Like 1
      • Koo
      • Koo
      • 4 yrs ago
      • Reported - view

      Laurence R I'm a newbie to this field of research, and I'm sure there are others that could answer you better. It seems to me that there are quite a lot of papers that demonstrate  that rapamycin down-regulates mTOR in both human cell cultures and animals. The mTOR pathways are conserved across species, so it seems likely that there will be similar effects in humans, and the human cell cultures support that. However I think that human clinical trials are still underway to see how effective rapamycin is for treating ageing in people, others on this forum will know more about these.

      Rapamycin is known to suppose at least one part of mTOR, TOR1, which controls the timing and rate of cell division, other aspects of cell metabolism and protein products. mTOR plays a key role in fibrosis, one of the major disease mechanisms in aging (eg heart disease, vascular disease, lung disease, kidney disease etc etc), and mTOR is also one pathway by which senescent cells resist cell death. So it seems that down-regulating it would be beneficial for the problems associated with aging. This is supported by a large body of research on fasting, which has similar beneficial effects. 

      Rapamycin reduces the amount of inflammatory cytokines produced by cells. Increased levels of inflammatory cytokines are associated with ageing and are made by senescent cells. The inflammatory cytokines harm healthy cells in the body, eventually turning them senescent as well, like zombies. Rapamycin also reduces the numbers of Th17 cells in people with rheumatoid arthritis, see the abstract “RAPAMYCIN INDUCES REMISSION IN PATIENTS WITH NEWLY DIAGNOSED RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS” by Chen et . al. 2018. Th17 adds to the inflammatory feedback cascade of ageing and disease. But at the end of the day we are all experimenting here, and some of us may respond better than others.

      Like 3
  • I've been taking Sirolimus for 4 weeks in amounts of 3x2mg once a week. The side effects didn't take long to show. "Commonly reported side effects of Sirolimus include: upper respiratory tract infection... extreme fatigue". I'm reducing my frequency of intake and may quit if the symptoms don't clear out. I don't see immune-suppression as a pathway to immortality. 
    See below for a comprehensive list of adverse effects.
    https://www.drugs.com/sfx/sirolimus-side-effects.html

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    • Laurence R recommend you start on a lower dose maybe 1 or 2 mg along with metformin from my experience.

      Like 1
      • Michael
      • Michael.1
      • 4 yrs ago
      • Reported - view

      Laurence R I believe this is exactly what's happening to me. Either that or I finally have lung cancer.

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  • 2013 is long ago re: rapamycin; much newer analysis!

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  • So I came across rapamycin when I was reading a Betteraging article, and had interest in it ever since. I haven't visited the doctor yet but I'm very interested in it. Has anyone discussed this with their doctor and got recommendations to starting using it? Are doctors pro or anti rapamycin overall?

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      • Karl
      • Karl.1
      • 4 yrs ago
      • Reported - view

      Aaron Lahm It is unlikely that you will find, unless you specifically search for, a doctor that is up to speed on anti-aging therapy, and Rapamycin use.  There is even less of a chance that a doctor will prescribe a potentially dangerous drug for a non indicated condition.  Your best bet is to use referral list on this website.

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    • Aaron Lahm I found my doctor through the age-reversal.net directory https://age-reversal.net/physician-directory/ . I called, doctor's assistant told me to just walk in on any Monday, waited 10 minutes in the waiting room while filling the paper work... 20 minutes later, I had my prescription for metformin and Rapamycin plus some very valuable advice. I feel lucky that he holds office only 7 miles down the road in Oldsmar (Tampa Bay area). Before that, given the potency of Rapamycin and its heavy side effects, I could not resolve myself to obtain it from a shady online pharmacy with no guidance and no assurance for quality.

      Like 2
      • David H
      • David_Hanson
      • 4 yrs ago
      • Reported - view

      Laurence R If possible, would you tell me what he charged you?  I live about 30 miles from Oldsmar.

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    • David Hanson Howard Chipman, $150. Very good contact. General exam + interview.

      The expensive part is the Sirolimus (Rapamycin). But a Good RX coupon slashed the price in half to a little under $500 for a 5 months supply, which will last me 6.5 months since I took on me to pass the prescribed weekly dose every 3rd week to recover from the Rapamycin nasty side effects.

      Like 2
      • Mary Holt
      • Mary_Holt
      • 2 yrs ago
      • Reported - view

      Laurence R What was the Drs name that prescribed the meds and what was his fee?  I imagine that the RXs were costly to fill in the US.

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    • djmichel
    • CDR Phx
    • djmichel
    • 4 yrs ago
    • Reported - view

    This topic seems to continue at this link with a lot of relevant information.  https://forum.age-reversal.net/t/h4s991/rapamycin-self-experimentation

    Like 1
  • Cross-posting from my self-experimentation

    Update on blood work after 3 months on Rapamycin and one D & Q treatment.

    For about 5 years now I've been getting poor results on kidney functions - low eGfr and high creatine. My grandfather and aunt both died of kidney disease, so i figured that was hereditary.

    My eGfr increased from averaging 52 to 89 and my Creatine dropped from 1.41 to 0.88

    I am ecstatic about these results! Didn't exercise much over the last 3 months either due to winter, so maybe able to improve.

    Using the Levine spreadsheet provided by others on this forum my predicted DNAage dropped from 63.5 with last years blood work to 51.3. Hopefully there is some validity to this! Best part is my predicted mortality risk dropped from 16.6% to 5.8% over the next 10 years

    Like 4
      • Van
      • Van
      • 4 yrs ago
      • Reported - view

      Paul Beauchemin 

      Paul congratulations, I have also seen positive results with my kidney function.  If you have ever been to a kidney dialysis center, you will be very motivated to take care of your renal health.  

      Like 2
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