Does anyone actually pulse rapa or is metformin enough for now?

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

Ok so i keep going back and forth on this. I'm 40-something, no real health stuff going on, just want to stay ahead of things if i can. Bloodwork is solid, lipids are fine, fasting glucose is fine. To be fair that's partly why i'm hesitating.

I've been on metformin for a few months at 500mg twice a day, GI was rough at first but settled. Now i'm wondering if i should add low-dose rapa once a week or if that's overkill at my stage. The autophagy angle is what gets me, metformin hits AMPK but rapa seems to do something different with mTOR.

Anyone here actually pulsing rapa long term? What made you start, and did you notice anything specific or is it more of a "trust the science" move? Also how do you decide between the two, or do people stack them?

Not trying to be a hero about it, just want to know what others in a similar spot ended up doing.

Comments

• weekendnate: I pulsed rapa for about 4 months, 5mg once a week, alongside my metformin dose. Got into it mostly out of interest in the mTOR angle since metformin already covers the AMPK side. Honestly I never noticed anything dramatic subjectively, lipid numbers and fasting glucose looked the same as on metformin alone. My main reason for stopping was the lipid noise in some of the rapa data, even at low dose, plus the hassle of timing it away from training days. At your age with clean bloodwork I'd probabl
• earlysarah: Yeah the lipid thing is exactly what's bugging me too. Your point about "save it for later if something shifts" kinda lands for me, that's kinda where i was leaning anyway. Quick one, when you say lipid noise, do you mean triglycerides specifically or the whole panel? My ldl is already kinda borderline and i don't love the idea of pushing it.
• paige_sauna: Yeah that tracks... The lipid stuff is what gives me pause too, even at 5mg. Anecdotally i've heard mixed things on whether it actually moves lipids or if it's mostly in higher dose transplant patients. Do you happen to remember which papers had you worried? Trying to figure out if it's a real signal or just noise 🧬
• earlysarah: Honestly the lipid thing was less about a specific paper and more me reading too many threads at 1am. To be fair i remember seeing triglycerides and LDL creep up in some reports but it could've been the higher doses. Do you actually pulse or is this you being cautious before starting?

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