I am a healthy 61 year old man. Working on health, fitness, and longevity has been a priority for me for at least 15 years. I do all the basics of diet, exercise, sleep, and supplements, but I wanted more.
In this article, we will talk about rapamycin and why many people start taking it. With my doctor’s consent, I will explain why I started taking the “anti-aging” drug rapamycin and why I stopped taking it, all within 4 weeks.
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Rapamycin is also known by its prescription names sirolimus and rapamune.
In 1964, Georges Nogrady wanted to understand why the people of Easter Island did not get tetanus, despite the conditions that would have caused it. He decided to collect and study soil samples from all over the island. (1)
Nogradi was unable to answer questions about tetanus, but he provided soil samples to the company that later became part of Pfizer. These researchers have discovered a new antifungal compound with interesting properties. Since then, the compound rapamycin has been extensively studied. Rapamycin was found to have antifungal, immunosuppressive, and antitumor effects.
Rapamycin is currently approved by the FDA as an “labeled” prescription drug to treat certain types of cancer as well as to prevent organ rejection.
In addition, rapamycin was also noted for its potential anti-aging effects. By 2006, extensive research from several independent studies, including studies from yeast to mammals, all pointed to rapamycin having anti-aging effects or at least slowing down the aging process. No serious side effects have been observed, which is very remarkable. (2)
There are a lot of interesting things about rapamycin. One mouse study translated to humans suggests that rapamycin can extend human lifespan by six and a half years. Influencers like Peter Attia, MD, are now taking the drug “off-label” because of its anti-aging potential. Attia said rapamycin “definitely [is] It is the most important, exciting and promising neuroprotective molecule. ” (3)
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I take my health seriously. My workouts consist of multiple low-intensity Zone 2 cardiovascular workouts that address aerobic fitness and at least one high-intensity Zone 5 cardiovascular workout that addresses anaerobic fitness, typically measured by VO2 max . I also lift heavy weights three days a week. In addition to exercise, I manage my diet by severely limiting carbohydrates and consistently consuming at least 120 grams of protein per day. I haven’t had any alcohol in 4 years. My sleep goal is 7 hours per night as measured by my Oura ring. I was previously taking metformin, atorvastatin, testosterone cypionate, and several supplements to keep my metabolism and hormones as healthy as possible.
Even considering everything I’m doing, I couldn’t ignore the excitement of what rapamycin could do. I discussed the possibility of taking the drug with the concierge doctor. After doing his own research, he agreed to prescribe me sirolimus. The anti-aging dosage is not clear because comprehensive human studies have not been completed, but it is much lower than the labeled dose. Most people take 3 to 10 mg weekly for anti-aging benefits. In my case I decided on a dose of 4mg once a week. The toxic dose of sirolimus is unknown, so I was relieved about that.
Sirolimus is not expensive. The cash price was about $40 a month, which I paid out of pocket.
After taking the 4 mg dose for a week, my only side effect is occasional pain in my lower right abdomen, but this is a normal side effect. It wasn’t until he was 2 weeks after taking sirolimus that I associated the pain with the drug. If it had that much effect, I would have been fine. But I also started losing weight. After 4 weeks, I lost 5% of my weight. I also started having sleep problems. My normal sleep time was 7 hours for him, but now he’s getting less than 6 hours. Additionally, my sex drive had decreased. After 4 weeks, my doctor and I agreed to discontinue the sirolimus protocol.
A few weeks after I stopped sirolimus, my weight stabilized but did not return to normal and I thought that was strange. When I was prescribed sirolimus, my doctor and I also adjusted the doses of metformin and atorvastatin. Each went up. Metformin was increased from 1000mg to 1500mg. He also increased his dose of atorvastatin from 20 mg to 40 mg per day.
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I started wondering if any of these other changes were causing my weight loss. I returned those doses to their original levels, but there was still no change in my weight. Further investigation revealed that the newly filled metformin prescription was not extended release, whereas the original baseline medication was. When I removed non-extended-release metformin from my diet, my weight finally started to rebound. So maybe sirolimus wasn’t the cause of my weight loss.
In retrospect, there were actually two mistakes made in introducing sirolimus. Everything else had to remain the same. Another mistake we may have made is starting sirolimus at the final or target dose. Some people start with a low dose and gradually increase to their target dose over several weeks.
I will consider taking sirolimus again once my body returns to baseline levels. Consider starting sirolimus at a much lower dose, such as 0.5 mg or 1 mg per week, and increasing the dose very gradually without making any other changes to avoid other surprises.
Indeed, this experiment would not have been possible without interested and available doctors and the availability of drugs at affordable prices. I hope my experience with rapamycin will help others who have this luxury be able to introduce this drug more smoothly than I did.
By: Greg Damian: I’m a 61-year-old author, motivational speaker, health and fitness disruptor, and coach. my book, Abs at 60: 4 steps to look and feel younger at any age Recently released on Amazon. My mission is to help men over 50 overcome the limitations of age and look and feel younger. I do this by applying his DOLR(TM) system of four steps explained in this book. Each chapter of this book has a set of questions to answer. You can download a free workbook containing all these questions here: www.absat60.com
References
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https://www.bio-rad-antibodies.com/blog/history-of-rapamycin.html
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Powers T. Rapamycin’s origin story: Systemic bias and Cold War politics in biomedical research. Mol Biocell. 2022 11 1;33(13):pe7. doi: 10.1091/mbc.E22-08-0377. PMID: 36228182; https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9634974/
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7s7d7WNT1Ek&t=4079s
Written by Greg Damian.
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