#21

It’s interesting that you felt rapid age progression only after 80. My mother said the same. She noticed rapid changes and decline after turning 80. I’m saying it’s interesting because it’s established that the second wave of aging comes after 60. It’s a 20 year gap. Could be because of Rapa.

2 Likes
#22

I have a feeling desertshores will outlast us all, because he started on a million supps, drugs and interventions decades ago, when most only start late in life, so he has had the advantage of an early start.

I first felt “gee, this is not a young man feeling” at around 53, when I was diagnosed with a BCC on my back, and simultaneously had some gastric issues, plus a high PSA reading (which transpired to be a one-off due to a very long and intense bike ride before the test, all other readings since to this day have been at or below 1). I just felt - so many issues at once!

The other thing is muscles and endurance. I feel that in the last 2-3 years (I’m 67), if I don’t exercise a particular muscle, it tends to decondition much faster than before. Before, if I stopped exercising for 3 weeks due to some dental surgery and the like (excision of the BCC), I could go back to exercise with virtually zero impact on muscles. But in my last dental surgery April of this year, I took a 3 week break from exercise, and the first couple of sessions were brutal - my muscles deconditioned. The other thing I noticed while hiking - until a couple of years ago, if I had to spontaneously run up a hill or do some other athletic feat that I never trained for, I’d get winded, but could do it with relative ease, and recover super fast. The last couple of years such spontaneous challenges that I have not trained for are much less feasible - for example, if I had to run up a long stair along the side of a hill in the Palisades, I’m not sure I could do it without training for it. A few years ago my father in law visited us and on a spontaneous challenge, he and I ran up those stairs I was winded as heck, but did it and recovered fast (btw. my FIL is older than me and a phenom, with national medals for running times in different formats for his age group and he also regularly wins races in younger age groups where he’s the oldest).

Last few years my eyes - vision - got worse, less sharp. So I’d say all in all, 63 or thereabouts I started to feel “gee, this never would’ve been the case when I was younger”. Mentally and intellectual performance - knock wood - I have not felt much difference, I’m astonished to report. I was sure I’d be like other 60+ guys out of it to some degree (you can sense that in conversation). But I feel a strange difference - I seem to perceive all my older friends to gradually slip mentally, while I’m still OK… I beg my wife to tell me if I’m starting to sound like an old guy like my friends, so far she has not dropped the dime (she’s 16 years younger than me). That day will come, no doubt, but it’s still not quite right now. I’m stragely optimistic that if I can keep all my marbles, I’ll age at a reasonable rate without a vegetable stage. We’ll see. But yes, desertshores is our poster boy next to Agetron, but Agetron is some kind of mutant so that doesn’t count.

6 Likes
#23

Me too. My face has aged in the last two years and my hair is mostly gray, but otherwise I’m unimpaired. I look old but I don’t feel old, which I attribute to interval training. And peptides. I also read a lot–at least 14 hours a day. Both of my parents were readers, and I inherited the reading gene from them. I know, though, like the coyote in the Road Runner cartoons, I am about to go off a cliff.

6 Likes
#24

Note on modafinil:

This morning I took my usual 100 mg modafinil dose, and after about an hour I felt uncomfortably “wired,” heightened nervous energy akin to a caffeine overdose and also a rise in my normal systolic blood pressure from 118 to 128. After investigating further, I did note that it is a common side effect of modafinil. This would certainly be a warning for someone with blood pressure problems to be aware of.

Also, I entered the dose into the online half-life calculator.

(The FDA label states that after multiple doses, the half-life is about 15 hours.)

The online half-life calculator shows that after a few days I am accumulating a dose that is closer to 150mg. The half-life calculator’s accumulation appears to plateau at approximately 150mg. This is because modafinil has an unusual half-life in that it tanks quickly and then tapers off. The half-life looks more like the red line.

“Modafinil’s plasma concentration declines quickly after ingestion and then gradually tapers off. This is attributed to its two enantiomers, R-modafinil and S-modafinil. The S-isomer has a significantly shorter half-life (3-5 hours) compared to the R-isomer (10-14 hours), leading to an initial rapid elimination of the S-isomer and a more prolonged decline driven by the R-isomer. This results in a biphasic elimination pattern for the racemic modafinil, while armodafinil (which is just the R-isomer) shows a monophasic decline.”

When properly dosed modafinil works great for me. Too much is a bad feeling.

Now I will titrate down to a 50 mg dose or maybe try dosing every other day.

8 Likes
#25

But yes, desertshores is our poster boy next to Agetron, but Agetron is some kind of mutant so that doesn’t count.

Hahaha… thanks seriously. Feeling at my peak in the gym with the young medical students. No pain… sharp minded.

No mutation… at 58 years old… took off 30 lbs. and started at gym 9 years ago, then, TRT 6 years ago, rapamycin 5 years ago, HGH 6 months ago.

Pretty sure that’s what worked… beat that 60’s age bump. So I am still feeling 50. Biological markers confirm. The things I do and can’t mention here… hahaha. :wink:

Without those interventions, I would be a sad, miserable mess. Each one took a leap of faith. But staring into the abyss… had no alternative.

Hoping similar benefits to my peers… and those coming up behind me.

10 Likes
#26

Good on you, you were willing to take a chance. You also are apparently a superresponder to rapamycin, which is fantastic, but everyone is different. You are very lucky, but you also put in the work, go to the gym, read and educated yourself, and gathered your gonads to take a chance. It worked out. But everybody has to find their own optimal combination. Glad you found yours, and keep sharing the joy!

6 Likes
#27

Anyone tried Vyvanse instead of Modafinil?

f the goal is to directly target and significantly boost focus and sustained mental energy in the context of conditions where these are impaired (like ADHD), Vyvanse would typically be the more potent and specific medication of the two.

If the primary issue is excessive sleepiness or fatigue that then impacts focus and mental energy, Modafinil might be considered, as its primary mechanism is wakefulness promotion.

3 Likes
#28

The Air Force provided Modafinil to the B2 pilots who dropped the bunker-busters on Iran, a 37-hour round trip.

3 Likes
#29

DesertShores, a two-week break from Modafinil use usually works to bring back it’s effects for me. And, yes, for me too it definitely raises systolic blood pressure by 10 points or more. For that “wired feeling” you noted the only thing that relieves that for me is physical activity such as walking.

2 Likes
#30

fisher1, I’d like to know more about your source of HGH and how you dose it if you have time. Thanks.

3 Likes
#31

I’m a bigger fan of every other day than lowering the dose.

Much more additive from what I’ve read.

#32

Have you monitored your blood pressure?

#33

I check my blood pressure once every month or so. I should do it more often.

Varies from 110-130. Averages around 120.

I should probably test it more often.

#34

Vyvanse at 10mg with Coffee and 100mg L-Theanine produces incredibly sustained mental energy for me. I use it 2 times a week at most. Not addictive.

Vyvanse is more popular with the younger crowd than modafinil.

#35

Never tried it. I bet that feels good though.

#36

I have “chronic fatigue” and asked my doc for some a few months back. 100mg did absolutely nothing and 200 made me a bit anxious but not really good energy. I’ve settled on taking 100mg with 200mg caffeine - that sometimes might keep me going for 3 hours then back to bed, other times nothing.

#37

I’m near 72 and at 67 fell and had a bad break of femur which has never been the same then a doc talked me into a knee replacement that had never been on my radar, to try and help residual problem with femur, and it’s been a disaster. Although due to fibro/fatigue I wasn’t in great shape at 67 it was surprising what my body could do when I felt like it. Now though I feel I’ve aged 25 years in the last 5. My point to all this is……DO NOT FALL.

3 Likes
#38

I remember my mom, who lived to 92, one day staring into space and longingly saying “ohhhh……to be 80 again.” :slight_smile: I think she was 89 or 90 at the time. I did notice a big difference in her between 85 and 90, but she didn’t do much to keep healthy as all you are doing, course this was before all the emphasis on longevity, but she still lived a good life, slept well, was pretty energetic, visited with grandkids, read a lot of mysteries, mind sharp (did a lot of geneology) and yet never lifted weights, didn’t watch what she ate or any of that, and this was true for most of her friends. I get now folks want to be playing baseball and such with grandkids, which is great, but the generation before me, the ones I knew, lived independent lives up til late 80’s to mid 90’s, some even older, without doing all the things folks are doing today. I just wonder how much all this is going to matter in the end vs luck/genetics, and just doing the obvious things like not smoking, drinking, being obese and such. (The ones who smoked and drank, those all died 60-75.)

4 Likes
#39

My skin is where I’ve really noticed a big difference since turning 70. My face looked years younger but now wrinkles popping up on forehead and around jowls, but I’d say it still looks much better than most my age, yet my inner arms from elbow down looks 20 years older. I would think skin would be skin no matter where, and I’ve never used much sunscreen anywhere so it’s not that I put that on my face. I live in CO which is very dry that probably doesn’t help. My only advice would be lift weights, stay out of excessive sun, and moisturize!

#40

Thank you for sharing. Aging scares me. I haven’t noticed any rapid age related changes yet. My knees are still good. I do resistant training and walking 8000 steps on the average. I have a young dog and take him daily to a park or beach. I also swim and jog a little. I feel that staying active is the most important at my age. You are right about falls or accidents. I use vibrating platform for balance maintenance daily - it’s in my bedroom so it’s easy to use it in the morning and at night. It makes me feel good and I don’t know why: could be because of lymph circulation. My body loves that vibration.

About skin aging: you anre right about weights! Even light weight lifting daily may help with skin on the back of arms. I use 7 lbs for each arm for some 10 min a day only. It apparently helps because I still don’t have creepy skin there. With face it’s easier. My meso therapy every 3 months takes care of deep moisturizing. I also take HA and Tremella mushrooms daily. Have you tried those?

Hope your knee recovers soon!

1 Like