#1

Hi,
I’ve been considering Rapamycin/Sirolimus ever since I heard about its anti-aging properties.
However, access is extremely difficult for me due to living in a Nanny-State (Australia).
I may try getting some from India, but I have a question before I embark on the quest.

Recently a blood test result almost caused my doctor to fall off his chair; my (non-fasting) insulin level was only 2. (And that was about 2 hours after a good breakfast!)

My question is: does anyone know if Sirolimus reduces or increases insulin levels in humans?
Obviously, if it decreases insulin I could be in a bit of trouble!
I’ve tried searching online but I can’t find anything that clearly states it. Any advice would be appreciated.
Cheers,
Tom

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Is blood sugar raised on rapamycin?
Insulin Resistance
#2

Ah, living in the US is a pain too - we have different ways of measuring pretty much everything compared to the rest of the world and its a major pain the butt… measuring blood sugar and insulin levels is an example, but kg/lbs, km vs. miles, … its all just a royal pain. I wish the US would just get with the program…

Generally people don’t,I believe, see any change in blood glucose levels in the low-dose rapamycin protocols that we follow, and therefore, I assume also insulin levels.

But I have heard that it can be an issue in long term, high levels of Rapamycin as is used in transplant patients. See this paper: Chronic Rapamycin Treatment Causes Glucose Intolerance and Hyperlipidemia. Some researchers are saying this issue caused by rapamycin isn’t really a problem and goes away if you stop it (I think similar blood sugar / insulin responses can be seen in caloric restriction protocols that are also proven to extend lifespan and mammal health). So… its complex. Here is a related paper by Blagosklonny on this issue: Fasting and rapamycin: diabetes versus benevolent glucose intolerance

But - lets back up for a minute… help me understand what the insulin measure you mentioned is measuring example, and if you know of an equivalent measure in the US, please let us know…

My first response to your question is “what is a non-fasting insulin level of 2” even mean? Its not a measure I’ve ever seen in the US. I’m not at all diabetic, and I may have just never looked up fasting insulin testing - but I am now. So , for lets first understand what you’re saying here…

Here is a good site for Blood Glucose conversion tables (for USA vs. Rest of the world)

Not sure if this is what you were talking about - but I see a reference for blood glucose measure of 2 mmol/L is equal to about 36 mg/dl. Is that the measure you’re talking about?

Here are the different measures I see when I look up fasting insulin levels on Medscape.com - one of the leading medical websites:

BloodInsulinLevels
BloodInsulinLevels1290×1226 106 KB

But your measure of “2” doesn’t map to here so… I’m not sure if this is just a typical “US out of sync with the rest of the world” issue - or something else.

Typically what I look at are the Blood glucose levels - and that is what I use my finger prick solution and my continuous glucose monitor for - to monitor fasting and post prandial (after eating) blood glucose levels.

Blood-Sugar-Chart
Blood-Sugar-Chart870×550 112 KB

There are also the longer term average measures allowed by A1C tests:

5f07343ff0f4191f883f5372
5f07343ff0f4191f883f53721000×434 15.5 KB

#3

Thanks very much for your detailed reply; much appreciated.
Yes; my bad…the units I omitted are mIU/L.
I’m 64 and my doctor commented that most 64 y-o men he sees have insulin levels of 25-30 mIU/L.
I also found that Type 1 diabetics may have insulin levels around 1-3 mIU/L.
I don’t seem to have issues with glucose; my fasting blood glucose is typically about 4.3 (sorry; I know they are different units in the US)
Cheers
Tom

1 Like
#4

Interesting that your insulin measures so low, are you type 1 diabetic or type 2 or just unusually low in insulin?

Also - let us know when you end up getting rapamycin and your experience importing into Australia. I see people importing into Europe and Asia without problems, but other say its hard to get rapamycin into the country by mail order.

#5

No; I’m not a diabetic. I just have unusually low insulin. There’s usually enough to transport glucose into my cells. On rare occasions I have become “hypo”, with weakness, spotty vision and sweating; usually after hard work for some time.
But my concern is that I don’t understand the effect of rapamycin (or analogues) on plasma insulin levels. I can’t risk anything that would drive it even lower.

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#6

I just found your post doing a search after getting back my insulin lab results of 1.7 which were flagged as low. I’m not diabetic, have been on rapa since January and feel good. I was wondering if you ever got any insight on this? Thanks
image

#7

My free insulin is 2.5 (within normal range). Normal range differs from lab to lab. Usually 2 is a cut off. Unfortunately, I don’t have any prior results to compare. On Rapamycin for a long time. High insulin is a sign of insulin resistance.

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#8

Thanks @LaraPo. The last time I had mine checked about 3 years ago it was 3.5. I’ll probably just recheck it in a couple months.

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#9

If you’re not diabetic and don’t have elevated fasting blood glucose, having a very low fasting insulin level is fine and not a cause for concern. Quite on the contrary it’s an indicator that you have excellent insulin sensitivity. Many labs don’t measure lower than 2 mIU/L and I and some other very healthy people I know have gotten values of <2 mIU/L while having low-normal fasting blood glucose. Having such a low level 2 hours after eating breakfast is a little odd, but I guess it could be normal if your breakfast was small and you experienced a rebound drop in glucose after a quick spike.

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#10

My insulin after fasting + exercise is 1 but my HA1C is 5.9. I am not sure what to make of this. My blood glucose has been high – like 99-100-- for many years. I am worried about the low insulin after having read that it is correlated with Alzheimers in studies of both men and women. Anyone have any insight about this?

#11

Hi Deborah,

I would suggest that you discuss your results with your personal physician.

A very low insulin level may, in some people, result in elevated glucose. Such people may have not quite enough functional beta-cells. Others with very low insulin can have normal blood glucose levels.

It is true that insulin has other functions besides facilitating the entry of glucose into cells (possibly some even yet to be discovered). You are correct that some literature describes a correlation between low insulin and dementia. I was also concerned about that. However, I think that it is early yet to draw firm conclusions and also correlation does not necessarily equate to causation. For example are all people with low insulin prone to dementia, or only those with corresponding high glucose?
Good luck with your search for answers.

1 Like
#12

Thank you for your response. I have been referred to an endocrinologist who specializes in diabetes. But do you think I should be consulting a neurologist who specializes in neurodegenerative degenerative decline? My PCP is useless and just tries to quiet me down or refers me to someone else.

#13

Deborah,

Your questions are those of a rational and clear thinking person. I think your decision to see an endocrinologist is a very sensible first step. I would deal with one thing at a time. See what results you get from the endocrinologist. But there is nothing wrong with also asking his/her opinion on your concerns about the (possible) insulin/dementia link.
I would be interested to know if they have an opinion on the topic, if you are able to share that information.