Newbie here, considering rapamycin + metformin, where to even start?

Posted by medic_mateo in Longevity & Anti-Aging - 1 points, 4 comments.

Hey all, I have been reading a ton on this board and trying to soak it up before I pull the trigger on anything. I am 42, decent bloodwork for my age, but the family history on the cardio and metabolic side is not great, so I want to get ahead of stuff if I can.

From what I have gathered, rapamycin and metformin seem to be the two most talked about longevity things here. The weekly pulsing on rapa makes sense to me since it mimics calorie restriction at the cellular level, and metformin with AMPK activation and all that. Both are on the /peptides profiles and look pretty well documented.

But I am kinda stuck on how to think about stacking them. Is the autophagy boost from rapa redundant if metformin is also kicking AMPK into gear? Or do they hit different enough pathways that they actually complement each other?

And honestly, before I even worry about combining them, what should a beginner be looking at first? Bloodwork panels, lipid stuff, inflammatory markers? I want to do this the right way and not just start popping pills because a podcast sounded cool. Anyone got a sensible order of operations for someone just starting out? Appreciate any pointers.

Comments

• tiredmira: Congrats on actually wanting to do it the right way, that's already half the battle 😅 For bloodwork first, get a solid baseline before touching anything. Fasting insulin, glucose, A1c, full lipid panel with apoB, hsCRP, liver and kidney stuff, and a hormone panel if you haven't done one recently. That way you can actually see if anything is moving later. On the stacking question, my understanding is they hit different pathways so there's a theoretical case for combo, but the data on actual lo
• medic_mateo: Their reply got cut off mid-sentence so I cant see their full take on stacking, but the bloodwork baseline stuff tracks with what I keep reading everywhere. I did a panel about 4 months ago, fasting insulin was 6, A1c 5.4, apoB sitting at 98 which my doc wasnt thrilled about. So metabolic-wise im kinda in that "not alarming but not great" zone which is partly why this stuff interests me. If rapa has more human data behind it on its own, does that mean it makes more sense to start there solo bef
• reid_f: Yeah the bloodwork piece is huge, that part i can't stress enough either. I kinda wish i'd added a few more markers when i first started tracking stuff a couple years back, would've made comparing later way easier. Fasting insulin especially since regular glucose looked fine for me and i'd probably never have caught the early insulin creep without it.
• medic_mateo: Yeah, fasting insulin is the one I keep seeing people say they wish they'd added early. I only have standard glucose, A1C, and a basic lipid panel from my last physical. No fasting insulin, no hs-CRP, no apoB. My doc didn't order them and I didn't know to ask. Is there a short list of markers you'd wish you'd pulled at baseline? Trying to figure out what to add before I start anything so I actually have something to compare against in 6 months.

Community discussion - research and educational context only. Not medical advice.