Metformin inhibits mitochondrial adap... - Advanced Prostate...

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Metformin inhibits mitochondrial adaptations to aerobic exercise training in older adults.

6357axbz profile image
14 Replies

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/305...

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6357axbz
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14 Replies
Escudilla profile image
Escudilla

It's killing my bike riding - and the tailgating afterward. No post ride beer has been tough. So, anything I was gaining from metformin might be negated by my inability to exercise hard? That's what it felt like. It's hasn't reduced PSA and I don't like how I feel on metformin anyway. It's time for me to quit the damned experiment. Thanks 6357axbz!

addicted2cycling profile image
addicted2cycling in reply to Escudilla

In agreement that the 1,700mg of Metformin is messing with my bicycling, just not sure of the actual % of decline that can be attributed to the BIG M when the other factors each contribute their fair declining share. My 160 miler "Cold FULL Moon" ride on 12/12 took longer than in the past and was also slower but knocking on 70's door doesn't help either.

Bike Sebring 12/24 Hour RAAM is in February and providing I stay relatively healthy it will be a big test day. Would really like to surpass my 307 miles done a couple of years ago.

Escudilla profile image
Escudilla in reply to addicted2cycling

Damn! You're my hero!

addicted2cycling profile image
addicted2cycling in reply to Escudilla

Thanks but your challenging situation makes mine pale in comparison and it is I who admirer's your determination to not let this pot hole we have encountered put and end to the enjoyment obtained from cycling. Gorgeous photo!!!

BTW, " I are an engineer ;0) " or so indicated the BSCE diploma received from NCE, now NJIT in 1972. Only slightly put the parchment to use but the 4 years spent obtaining it definitely impacted my life.

Sunday morning humor-a true story??? --- A professor I had was setting down " Final exam guidelines " and told us that we were permitted to bring anything we felt might be useful during the exam into class; HOWEVER, an upperclassman carried in, as a previous Freshman did, IS FORBIDDEN!!

Be WELL

Escudilla profile image
Escudilla in reply to addicted2cycling

Lol! I appreciate the response and the humor! I look forward to more interesting exchanges.

kaptank profile image
kaptank

I don't take metformin to slow aging. I take it to slow PCa.

Ralph1966 profile image
Ralph1966

Hi Nalakrats, "Interspersed with Berberine"? Do you mean that you change metformin by Berberine? Or you add Berberine for a limited period?

cesanon profile image
cesanon

I have not subjectively noticed anything like this. In fact I have been wondering if maybe it was improving my aerobic capacity.

Escudilla profile image
Escudilla

Everybody is indeed different. You'll never know for sure how you'll respond to a drug until you try it. I'm glad that you feel well on metformin. It seems to have lot's of potential as a cancer fighter. I'll come back to it if it turns out not to be the source of recent fatigue. It seems like the most likely culprit right now though.

ctflatlander profile image
ctflatlander

I haven't noticed any changes since taking 1500mg per day but I think there is a notable change in tiredness when increasing it to 2000/day. Not sure if its in my head but will gradually increase it after the holidays to 2000. At 76.1 I go to a PT center 3 days per week for aerobic and muscle strengthening and ride there weather permitting on my E bike. Last year I recorded 605 miles on it. Elevation here in VT is 1500 ft and unable to do it on my mountain bike. Although I do get some road biking done in the winter with my studded snow tires on the mountain bike. Life has been good and I stay steady with medications, supplements and nutrition. Happy holidays to all. Bob

Ralph1966 profile image
Ralph1966

I am doing the same, except that I stop Berberie for 3-4 weeks and then resume it again. My Metformi doese is 1000 mg X 2 daily and Berberine 500 mg X 3 daily

MateoBeach profile image
MateoBeach

Very interesting study. Much of the difference are small and the scatter plots show that the individual variability is greater than the average differences. (Hence the statistical p values mostly border on significance.) Still there is an effect when taken as a whole. This is consistent with metformin producing beneficial stress via AMPK activation by mechanisms different that that produced by aerobic exercise.

Personally I am going to keep both metformin (1,000 mg/day) and and sub-maximal aerobic training (sub-threshold mostly, 70% of max HR) in large quantities in my life.

(No longer interested in VO2Max as I have given up high-level competitive endurance events.)

However, for those who do seek maximum performance as well as age-related and PC issue benefits, I wonder if taking periodic metformin holidays for some weeks for intensive training, then going back on the metformin during lower intensity cycles might be a reasonable compromise. Just speculating. Not proven.

j-o-h-n profile image
j-o-h-n

I press my bench by sitting on it.....

Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.

j-o-h-n Monday 12/23/2019 7:52 PM EST

Blackpatch profile image
Blackpatch

I'm 63 and have been on 2g/day of metformin for 15 months, as part of CareOncology's anti-cancer protocol. Four months into the metformin, I started on 12 months of ADT, in concert with eSRT. I have also been tracking lung function closely over this period because a PSMA PET scan CT detected some scarring in my lungs which is either some weird relic or the beginnings of interstitial lung disease.

Anyway, the key point is that I have tracked my breathing capacity and lung scarring carefully for the last year, during which breathlessness under load has increased markedly - my measured lung capacity has fallen 27% in this period.

Several men on this forum suggested it could be due to an ADT-induced fall in haemoglobin - and this has fallen from 17.6 pre-ADT to around 15.5 now... but the lung specialist thinks this wouldn't produce such a significant drop in breathing capacity... and scarring on my lung CT scans hasn't changed - so progressive ILD, if I have it at all, isn't exactly progressing...

Having read this paper, I am inclined to wonder if the long term use of metformin bears some responsibility for my increased breathing difficulty under high loads, and associated tiredness...

The problem is, the whole thing looks so complicated that I'm inclined to think the only way to check it would be to stop the metformin - and since I am finishing up the ADT in a month (or at least, the last goserelin shot is due to wear off about then - doubtless the T will stay down for much longer) stopping the metformin now would not provide definitive data...

Interesting stuff... well worth discussing with the lung specialist who has been trying to figure out what's going on.

Has anyone else observed an apparent link between commencing metformin (without being diabetic) and a drop in lung capacity? Some above seem to suggest the opposite!!

Stuart