I rarely comment; please forgive me if this is too off-topic. I worked through all the rapamycin threads and the Alan Green website, secured rapamycin from dropshipmd, and tried it in cautious doses( 2mg week 1, 5 week 2, 6 week 3). I took a break because I was trying some other substances for peripheral vascular disease and did not want to mix speculative treatments with low documentation. I didn’t notice any bad effects from rapamycin, nor any good effects (which take time of course). I’ll probably return to rapamycin, but again with caution about mixing treatments.
I’m 68, APOE 4/4, metabolic syndrome, diabetic 2 controlled by metformin, high blood pressure controlled by telmisartan. I’ve recently been somewhat fatigued (maybe hay fever? but including easy physical fatiguability but no shortness of breath or heart burden) and renewed experimentation with nootropics. I tried out a 10:1 cordyceps product from an esteemed nootropics vendor (not saying name because not shilling) that offers a 1:1 extract and 10:1 extract (the 10:1 standardized to a higher 0.3% cordycepin content). Recommended dosage per internet sources for 1:1 extract runs around 1 g (1-3g according to examine.com) to 9 g maximum. I wasn’t paying close attention and did 1.5 g of the 10:1 extract on day 1. Physical fatigue was half-relieved, mental clarity improved, mood was excellent. I had the week before reduced from 40 mg to 20 mg of telmisartan because my blood pressure was moving too low (diastolic below 60, maybe causing fatigue?) but it was beginning to edge a bit high (140 systolic). The morning after my first cordyceps dose my blood sugar was 100 (usually 120 from dawn phenomenon). Blood glucose unusually perfect for remainder of day and since then. My blood pressure is running around 125/75. After more research the morning of day 2 I concluded that 1.5 g was far too high for this 10:1 extract, so reduced to 500 mg on day 2; then 250 on day 3; and now to 150 on day 4. Why reduce dosage? Because positive results are stable at reduced dosage. I’ve skipped telmisartan for two days because my blood pressure is perfect, maybe a little low, without it (I frequently monitor when experimenting and will be careful).
I thought that was pretty dramatic, so started doing more research on cordyceps, which is not much discussed on longecity or reddit. It reduces AMPK and is a mtorc inhibitor.
I don’t have biochemistry training and so am hoping that a more informed person might offer interpretation.
https://www.ncbi.nlm...ubmed/19940154/
Cordycepin inhibits protein synthesis and cell adhesion through effects on signal transduction.
Wong YY, et al. J Biol Chem. 2010.
Abstract
3'-Deoxyadenosine, also known as cordycepin, is a known polyadenylation inhibitor with a large spectrum of biological activities, including anti-proliferative, pro-apoptotic and anti-inflammatory effects. In this study we confirm that cordycepin reduces the length of poly(A) tails, with some mRNAs being much more sensitive than others. The low doses of cordycepin that cause poly(A) changes also reduce the proliferation of NIH3T3 fibroblasts. At higher doses of the drug we observed inhibition of cell attachment and a reduction of focal adhesions. Furthermore, we observed a strong inhibition of total protein synthesis that correlates with an inhibition of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling, as observed by reductions in Akt kinase and 4E-binding protein (4EBP) phosphorylation. In 4EBP knock-out cells, the effect of cordycepin on translation is strongly reduced, confirming the role of this modification. In addition, the AMP-activated kinase (AMPK) was shown to be activated. Inhibition of AMPK prevented translation repression by cordycepin and abolished 4EBP1 dephosphorylation, indicating that the effect of cordycepin on mTOR signaling and protein synthesis is mediated by AMPK activation. We conclude that many of the reported biological effects of cordycepin are likely to be due to its effects on mTOR and AMPK signaling….
….In contrast to rapamycin, cordycepin inhibits the activities of both the mTORC1 and the mTORC2 complexes, affecting the activity of the protein kinase Akt.
Wong et al say that rapamycin reduces mTORC1 but not mTORC2. According to Alan Green’s summary, “Use of rapamycin once a day is harmful because it knocks out mTOR1 and mTOR2; but use once a week is safe because it only lowers mTOR1.” If cordycepin lowers both mTORC1 and mTORC2 then there should be same problem using it every day as there is with rapamycin; if mTORC2 inhibition is bad for anti-aging purposes, and inhibition of mTORC2 is immediate with cordycepin but cumulative with rapamycin, then daily cordycepin could be more of a hazard than daily rapamycin? In my 5 days of experiment I’ve see more dramatic subjective and objective response than any noninebriant I have toyed with – especially the perfect blood sugar and blood pressure readings. It’s so powerful I want to continue yet am also worried about using it too much, or at all. I’m ignorant of biochemistry and don’t understand scientific journals’ discussions of mechanisms of action (there a good number of cordyceps review articles the last 10 years), and am unable to reason about whether cordycepin is worse, the same, or better than rapamycin for anti-aging purposes. There is ambiguity in the cordyceps informal and formal literature about whether it is immuno suppressant, immuno modulating, or immuno stimulating.
I experimented with a much weaker formulation of cordyceps daily for six months in 2012. I noticably had more energy but also that year atypically had four respiratory infections and gave it up (although temporarily living in a snow climate at exactly the same period so causation unsure); at the same time I developed a new and quite strong allergy to chemical exposures (resolved after a year). I realize that those are anecdotes and that they point in different directions, but just adding FWIW.
I thought it useful to include this information in this thread because of user interest in mTORC inhibition and in alternatives given the inconveniences involved in securing rapamycin.