METFORMIN UPDATE: Could a Decades-Old Diabetes Drug Help the Body Age More Slowly?

A cautionary note: While metformin is regarded as quite safe, a reader wrote that he suffered severe and lasting side effects from metformin and a GLP-1 (he didn’t say which one). I tried microdosing Ozempic and then Tirzepatide, which a lot of medical people I know are doing for metabolic and neurological benefits (it’s thought to reduce dementia risk). In my case I found that it raised my resting heart rate from the mid-50s into the low 70s in the case of Ozempic, and the mid 60s with Tirzepatide. That’s a known side effect considered harmless, but I didn’t feel good about it. It also reduced my HRV (Heart Rate Variability) which is possibly bad. I have gone back to normal since going off, but it took a couple of months. (And I wouldn’t have even known absent the Oura Ring, which tracks those things.)