diff --git a/backend/api-renamed/downgrade.js b/backend/api-renamed/downgrade.js
index 08975e04..39b69db6 100644
--- a/backend/api-renamed/downgrade.js
+++ b/backend/api-renamed/downgrade.js
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { getUserAccess, deleteUser } from "../src/common/database.js";
+import { getUserAccessByKey, deleteUser } from "../src/common/database.js";
 import axios from "axios";
 import { logger } from "../src/common/log.js";
 
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ export default async (req, res) => {
   }
 
   // get token and private access status
-  const userAccess = await getUserAccess(user_key);
+  const userAccess = await getUserAccessByKey(user_key);
   if (!userAccess) {
     res.statusCode = 404;
     res.send("user not found");
diff --git a/backend/api-renamed/status/up.js b/backend/api-renamed/status/up.js
index a942d0d7..05b5e263 100644
--- a/backend/api-renamed/status/up.js
+++ b/backend/api-renamed/status/up.js
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ export default async (req, res) => {
   try {
     let PATsValid = true;
     try {
-      await retryer(uptimeFetcher, {});
+      await retryer(uptimeFetcher, null, {});
     } catch (err) {
       // Resolve eslint no-unused-vars
       err;
diff --git a/backend/api-renamed/user-access.js b/backend/api-renamed/user-access.js
index dfadac35..a41af4cf 100644
--- a/backend/api-renamed/user-access.js
+++ b/backend/api-renamed/user-access.js
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import { logger } from "../src/common/log.js";
-import { getUserAccess } from "../src/common/database.js";
+import { getUserAccessByKey } from "../src/common/database.js";
 
 /**
  * @param {any} req The request.
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ import { getUserAccess } from "../src/common/database.js";
 export default async (req, res) => {
   const { user_key } = req.query;
   try {
-    const result = await getUserAccess(user_key);
+    const result = await getUserAccessByKey(user_key);
 
     if (!result) {
       res.statusCode = 404;
diff --git a/backend/src/common/database.js b/backend/src/common/database.js
index cfe92d0a..5c5e4950 100644
--- a/backend/src/common/database.js
+++ b/backend/src/common/database.js
@@ -197,7 +197,7 @@ export async function deleteUser(userKey) {
  * @param {string} userKey user key of the user to fetch information for
  * @returns {Promise<{token: string, privateAccess: boolean} | null>} token and private access status, or null if user not found
  */
-export async function getUserAccess(userKey) {
+export async function getUserAccessByKey(userKey) {
   if (!pool) {
     return null;
   }
@@ -225,3 +225,38 @@ export async function getUserAccess(userKey) {
     }
   }
 }
+
+/**
+ * Fetches token and private access status for a given username.
+ *
+ * @param {string} userName GitHub username of the user to fetch information for
+ * @returns {Promise<{token: string, privateAccess: boolean} | null>} token and private access status, or null if user not found
+ */
+export async function getUserAccessByName(userName) {
+  if (!pool) {
+    return null;
+  }
+
+  const query = `
+      SELECT access_token, private_access
+      FROM authenticated_users
+      WHERE user_id = $1
+      LIMIT 1
+    `;
+  try {
+    const { rows } = await pool.query(query, [userName]);
+    if (rows.length === 0) {
+      return null;
+    }
+    return {
+      token: rows[0].access_token,
+      privateAccess: rows[0].private_access
+    };
+  } catch (err) {
+    if (err.code === "42P01") {
+      return null;
+    } else {
+      throw err;
+    }
+  }
+}
diff --git a/backend/src/common/retryer.js b/backend/src/common/retryer.js
index 83366a94..ff36f3e9 100644
--- a/backend/src/common/retryer.js
+++ b/backend/src/common/retryer.js
@@ -2,19 +2,12 @@
 
 import { CustomError } from "./error.js";
 import { logger } from "./log.js";
+import { getUserAccessByKey, getUserAccessByName } from "./database.js";
 
 function getRandomInt(max) {
   return Math.floor(Math.random() * max);
 }
 
-// Script variables.
-
-// Count the number of GitHub API tokens available.
-const PATs = Object.keys(process.env).filter((key) =>
-  /PAT_\d*$/.exec(key),
-).length;
-const RETRIES = process.env.NODE_ENV === "test" ? 7 : PATs;
-
 /**
  * @typedef {import("axios").AxiosResponse} AxiosResponse Axios response.
  * @typedef {(variables: any, token: string, retriesForTests?: number) => Promise<AxiosResponse>} FetcherFunction Fetcher function.
@@ -24,22 +17,39 @@ const RETRIES = process.env.NODE_ENV === "test" ? 7 : PATs;
  * Try to execute the fetcher function until it succeeds or the max number of retries is reached.
  *
  * @param {FetcherFunction} fetcher The fetcher function.
+ * @param username GitHub username of the user whose PAT to use, if available
  * @param {any} variables Object with arguments to pass to the fetcher function.
  * @returns {Promise<any>} The response from the fetcher function.
  */
-const retryer = async (fetcher, variables) => {
+const retryer = async (fetcher, username, variables) => {
+  let userPAT;
+  if (username) {
+    userPAT = await getUserAccessByName(username);
+  }
+
+  let PATs;
+  if (userPAT) {
+    PATs = [userPAT.token];
+  } else {
+    // Count the number of GitHub API tokens available.
+    PATs = Object.keys(process.env).filter((key) =>
+      /PAT_\d*$/.exec(key),
+    );
+  }
+  const RETRIES = process.env.NODE_ENV === "test" ? 7 : PATs.length;
+
   if (!RETRIES) {
     throw new CustomError("No GitHub API tokens found", CustomError.NO_TOKENS);
   }
-  const startPAT = getRandomInt(PATs);
+  const startPAT = getRandomInt(PATs.length);
 
   for (let retries = 0; retries < RETRIES; retries++) {
-    const currentPAT = ((startPAT + retries) % PATs) + 1;
+    const currentPAT = ((startPAT + retries) % PATs.length);
     try {
       let response = await fetcher(
         variables,
         // @ts-ignore
-        process.env[`PAT_${currentPAT}`],
+        PATs[currentPAT],
         // used in tests for faking rate limit
         retries,
       );
@@ -89,5 +99,5 @@ const retryer = async (fetcher, variables) => {
   );
 };
 
-export { retryer, RETRIES };
+export { retryer };
 export default retryer;
diff --git a/backend/src/fetchers/gist.js b/backend/src/fetchers/gist.js
index d9cccc67..ea4ec183 100644
--- a/backend/src/fetchers/gist.js
+++ b/backend/src/fetchers/gist.js
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ const fetchGist = async (id) => {
   if (!id) {
     throw new MissingParamError(["id"], "/api/gist?id=GIST_ID");
   }
-  const res = await retryer(fetcher, { gistName: id });
+  const res = await retryer(fetcher, null, { gistName: id });
   if (res.data.errors) {
     throw new Error(res.data.errors[0].message);
   }
diff --git a/backend/src/fetchers/repo.js b/backend/src/fetchers/repo.js
index 6d45f4e7..74d76f84 100644
--- a/backend/src/fetchers/repo.js
+++ b/backend/src/fetchers/repo.js
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ const fetchRepo = async (
     throw new MissingParamError(["repo"], urlExample);
   }
 
-  let res = await retryer(fetcher, { login: owner, repo: reponame });
+  let res = await retryer(fetcher, username, { login: owner, repo: reponame });
 
   const data = res.data.data;
 
diff --git a/backend/src/fetchers/stats.js b/backend/src/fetchers/stats.js
index e5234064..7daab0a5 100644
--- a/backend/src/fetchers/stats.js
+++ b/backend/src/fetchers/stats.js
@@ -139,7 +139,7 @@ const statsFetcher = async ({
       startTime,
       ownerAffiliations,
     };
-    let res = await retryer(fetcher, variables);
+    let res = await retryer(fetcher, username, variables);
     if (res.data.errors) {
       return res;
     }
@@ -221,7 +221,7 @@ const totalItemsFetcher = async (username, repo, owner, type, filter) => {
 
   let res;
   try {
-    res = await retryer(fetchTotalItems, {
+    res = await retryer(fetchTotalItems, username, {
       login: username,
       repo,
       owner,
diff --git a/backend/src/fetchers/top-languages.js b/backend/src/fetchers/top-languages.js
index c72ca089..e49319f1 100644
--- a/backend/src/fetchers/top-languages.js
+++ b/backend/src/fetchers/top-languages.js
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ const fetchTopLanguages = async (
   }
   ownerAffiliations = parseOwnerAffiliations(ownerAffiliations);
 
-  const res = await retryer(fetcher, { login: username, ownerAffiliations });
+  const res = await retryer(fetcher, username, { login: username, ownerAffiliations });
 
   if (res.data.errors) {
     logger.error(res.data.errors);