DIY senolytics — is taking a chemo drug at home a reasonable risk?
So I’ve been reading a lot about senolytics lately and the whole idea of clearing out senescent cells to slow aging. The research seems pretty promising but here’s the thing – most protocols involve either dasatinib (a leukemia drug) + quercetin or fisetin in mega doses.
I’m 38, relatively healthy, been on tirz for 6 months and doing great with that. Now I’m wondering if adding a senolytic protocol makes sense. I can get dasatinib from overseas pharmacies pretty easily and quercetin is just a supplement. The typical protocol is like 3 days every few months.
But I keep going back and forth because like… this IS a chemotherapy drug we’re talking about. Yes it’s a low dose and short duration but still. I’ve seen people in longevity communities doing this DIY and reporting they feel great, but I’m not sure if that’s placebo or confirmation bias.
Has anyone here actually tried a senolytic protocol? My PCP thinks I’m crazy for even asking about it and won’t prescribe anything. I know some of you are more adventurous with the peptide and cellular health stuff. Would love to hear real experiences, not just what the longevity bros on twitter are hyping up.
I did 2 rounds of the dasatinib + quercetin protocol last year, 100mg D + 1000mg Q for 2 consecutive days, then again 8 weeks later. Honestly didn’t feel much different but I also didn’t have any bad side effects either. My thinking was more preventative since I’m only 35.
The thing that made me more comfortable was reading the actual clinical trials – they’re using these doses in people and monitoring closely. But yeah your concern is valid, it’s not like taking vitamin C. I did get baseline bloodwork before and after through my own testing. Everything stayed normal. That said, if you have any existing health issues especially with blood clotting or immune function I’d be way more careful. The longevity community def makes it sound more casual than it probably should be.
I looked into this pretty heavily and decided not to do it, at least not yet. My issue is we just don’t have long term safety data on healthy people taking chemo drugs intermittently like this. The trials are mostly in elderly people with existing conditions.
What made me pause was talking to an oncology nurse friend who said even low dose chemo can have effects we don’t fully understand yet. Also reading about people who did have bad reactions – there was someone on another forum who had severe fatigue for weeks after.
I know that’s not what you want to hear lol. If you do decide to try it def get bloodwork before and maybe consider starting with just high dose fisetin instead? It’s less effective according to research but also way less risky since it’s basically just a plant compound. Just my 2 cents, I’m probably more risk averse than most people here tbh.