Question about the rationale for low-dose SS-31

I've been looking into SS-31 (elamipretide) for longevity and noticed that quite a few people here report using ~4 or 5 mg/day or even lower for 2–4 weeks.

I'm curious about the reasoning behind this, because when I look at the human evidence, I can't really find a clear basis for that particular dosing strategy.

As far as I understand:

• 40 mg/day is by far the best-studied long-term subcutaneous dose in humans.
• Lower doses such as 4–20 mg have been investigated pharmacokinetically, but I haven't found good human data showing that 4 mg/day improves mitochondrial function or produces a meaningful longevity-related outcome.
• There are studies showing that SS-31 can affect mitochondrial bioenergetics in humans, but these don't seem to establish a clear dose-response relationship for low-dose subcutaneous use.
• I also haven't found evidence that 2–4 weeks of low-dose SS-31 has a measurable effect on "mitochondrial health" or longevity in otherwise healthy people.

So I'm wondering:

Why specifically 4 or 5 mg/day (or less)?

Is this based on:

1. a particular study or dose-response analysis,
2. pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic reasoning,
3. animal data,
4. the idea that mitochondrial effects are already saturated at very low doses,
5. personal biomarker results,
6. or mainly anecdotal experience?

I'm not arguing that low-dose SS-31 doesn't work — I'm genuinely trying to understand the rationale. If there's evidence I've missed, I'd really appreciate links to the relevant studies.

Also, if you're using 4 mg or less, what outcome are you actually trying to improve or measure, and why did you choose that dose and treatment duration?

Is this a cost speculation type situation? Cause it's SOOOO expensive. 40mg a day would be a couple of grand a month.

Hey everyone,

I've been taking amitriptylin 10mg for 4 weeks and then upped to 20mg about 2 weeks ago.

I definetly noticed my gut slowing down and after 3-4 weeks I've started being able to eat foods, that I wasn't able to eat before without any issues. However its not rly consistent yet, which is why I upped to 20mg. The past days were very stressful, and so my gut has been acting up and I've been having more diarrhea issues.

For the people who are on amitriptylin and have noticed improvements:

How long did it take for you to notice the improvements? How long until your stools were consistently "solid"?

And whats your dosage?

Its quite stressful and an up and down journey. But I am rly noticing some difference.

Thank You!