Creatine has turned me into "Sir-Pee-a-Lot"?

[joewattie]

Started creatine a couple of months ago. Two grams of HCL. Didn't bother with a "loading" period. A couple weeks ago I started noticing that I pee a lot. By a lot I mean a LOT!

It's annoying. Almost annoying enough to quit. Almost. I might but it seems to have made a difference in my workouts. A big difference. I started working out almost a year ago now. Progress was slow but steady (as in "I've been down so long that this looks like up to me"). Then progress suddenly accelerated.

I didn't even correlate the progress with the creatine until all the peeing started. But it didn't make sense as creatine is supposed to retain water so I googled it. Sure enough, I'm not the only one.

I've noticed coffee and/or beer exacerbate it, So, I guess, if I know I'm not going to be near any bathrooms for the day I can stay away from creatine (or beer/coffee) for that day?

Anyone else?

[ManwittaPlan]

i pee more also but up my water intake while on, not sure if you've done the same but if you have that would make sense.

[air2fakie]

So, I guess, if I know I'm not going to be near any bathrooms for the day I can stay away from creatine (or beer/coffee) for that day?

If you're not going to be near any bathrooms for an entire day I'm going to guess there's a tree, river or boulder nearby that'll suffice.

[eatyourspinach]

is it just plain creatine?

[ManwittaPlan]

is it just plain creatine?

hcl

[SuffolkPunch]

Creatine does that to me too. Maybe it's because you are taking more than you need - remember that some people retain creatine saturation in their muscles naturally and don't actually need to supplement it. It is possible that excess peeing is your body just getting rid of what it doesn't need.

You could try reducing the dose.

Did you gain any weight during the first couple of weeks of taking it?

[jaxqen]

Am I the only one who pees less with creatine?
I am not talking about how many times a day, but when I go it's usually less than normal. Not by a lot, but noticeable.
And I am using mono, 5-7 grams a day.
While drinking over 5 liters a day.
And it constipates me.
I don't eat much red meat, if this matters.

[joewattie]

Thanks for the replies. I live in a city, no trees, no place to hide : -) By a lot I mean sometimes as much as a few times an hour so for an upcoming car trip I'm more than a little nervous.

And by a lot I also mean a lot. Not a bunch of old man dribbles but normal youthful shots of Niagara Falls.

No, I haven't upped my water intake. I know I was supposed to have, I meant to, but I haven't and, if anything, cut back some because of all the peeing. I don't know where it's all coming from.

Did I put on weight? Not really. For my first ten months, nothing. For my last month "maybe" a pound.

It's creatine HCL. Two grams. Tiny, tiny little scoop. It's so small it's hard to put any less into it.

So, I guess, for now;

* I'll have to stop taking it for my upcoming car trip.
* Resume when I get back and see what happens.
* Stop *all* coffee and beer for a week and see if that makes a difference (currently avg. 2 cups coffee and one beer a day)?
* Switch to creatine monohydrate and see if that makes any difference?
* Try a smaller dose of monohydrate. (use my 2 gm scoop rather than the 5 gm scoop)?

[SuffolkPunch]

Try stopping for a couple of weeks. If you notice no loss in weight, that could indicate you are a creatine non responder. I'm not sure that's absolutely true so maybe others can comment but it would tend to indicate that you maintain saturation without needing supplementation IMO.

I would say that if this gets you up even once in the night, it's not worth it - creatine is (on average) one of the few supplements that actually works but sleep is so important that it's not worth it if it disrupts that.

[joewattie]

Try stopping for a couple of weeks. If you notice no loss in weight, that could indicate you are a creatine non responder. I'm not sure that's absolutely true so maybe others can comment but it would tend to indicate that you maintain saturation without needing supplementation IMO.

I would say that if this gets you up even once in the night, it's not worth it - creatine is (on average) one of the few supplements that actually works but sleep is so important that it's not worth it if it disrupts that.

Well, because of my trip, I *will* be quitting ... for at least a week. We'll see what happens.

"Non-responder"? Probably not. After ten months I had "stalled" and then, after starting creatine, things started taking off again. That and because of my age. I'm old. At my age everything is depleted and most anything helps ... a little anyway.

I probably shouldn't say this but since creatine I've been waking up with "morning wood". It's been decades since that's happened.

[SuffolkPunch]

I can see why you want to keep taking it

[joewattie]

I can see why you want to keep taking it

Funny : -) But, at my age, what's the point of getting "all dressed up" ... if there's no place to go?

[brongulus]

Started creatine a couple of months ago. Two grams of HCL. Didn't bother with a "loading" period. A couple weeks ago I started noticing that I pee a lot. By a lot I mean a LOT!

It's annoying. Almost annoying enough to quit. Almost. I might but it seems to have made a difference in my workouts. A big difference. I started working out almost a year ago now. Progress was slow but steady (as in "I've been down so long that this looks like up to me"). Then progress suddenly accelerated.

I didn't even correlate the progress with the creatine until all the peeing started. But it didn't make sense as creatine is supposed to retain water so I googled it. Sure enough, I'm not the only one.

I've noticed coffee and/or beer exacerbate it, So, I guess, if I know I'm not going to be near any bathrooms for the day I can stay away from creatine (or beer/coffee) for that day?

Anyone else?

Yeah thats normal cause of creatine's use of water to help harden muscles, you are going to require and "crave" water more often and then proceed to pee it all out

[air2fakie]

Funny : -) But, at my age, what's the point of getting "all dressed up" ... if there's no place to go?

Do you still have full dexterity with your hands at your age?

[joewattie]

Yeah thats normal cause of creatine's use of water to help harden muscles, you are going to require and "crave" water more often and then proceed to pee it all out

Well that would make sense but I'm not "craving" more water or drinking more. I'm actually drinking less ...

[joewattie]

Do you still have full dexterity with your hands at your age?

Uh, no thank you <lol>

[smokinal]

Stopping creatine for a day isn't going to do anything. It's a saturation-type supp so once you're saturated, it's going to take a week or more to flush it out of your system.
I've been on it, non-stop, for over 25 yrs
I pee a ton, all the time, but then again I drink a lot of water too so.....


As far as your hands...use your non-dominant hand. It's like someone else is doing it

[joewattie]

Stopping creatine for a day isn't going to do anything. It's a saturation-type supp so once you're saturated, it's going to take a week or more to flush it out of your system.
I've been on it, non-stop, for over 25 yrs
I pee a ton, all the time, but then again I drink a lot of water too so.....

As far as your hands...use your non-dominant hand. It's like someone else is doing it

Thank you. Good point. Guess skipping one day won't be much help. And I guess I'll have to stop *before!* the road trip. Road trip is for a week so I will be off of creatine for a week PLUS and I'll learn what I learn. When I get back I will pay more attention to liquid intake. Maybe I'll get lucky and it'll be something as simple as not having coffee and/or beer.

(I have noticed in the past if I have coffee *and* beer I get frequent urges to pee but they've always been old man dribbles, they've never been *massive* amounts.)

Regarding dominate / non-dominate hands uh, no, my imagination was never *that* good. (And, at my age, I'd probably forget what I was doing anyway. Kind of like walking into a room and forgetting why you're there : -)

[air2fakie]

Thank you. Good point. Guess skipping one day won't be much help. And I guess I'll have to stop *before!* the road trip. Road trip is for a week so I will be off of creatine for a week PLUS and I'll learn what I learn. When I get back I will pay more attention to liquid intake. Maybe I'll get lucky and it'll be something as simple as not having coffee and/or beer.

Dude, pull over to the side of the road if you don't want to use a diner or gas station bathroom.

[joewattie]

Dude, pull over to the side of the road if you don't want to use a diner or gas station bathroom.

<lol> It's kinda hard to be telling the driver to pull over every 15 minutes. Even harder on toll roads / expressways with rest stops fifty miles apart. But just day-to-day life having to pee that often is a nuisance. I'll experiment some but maybe creatine is just not for me : -(

[air2fakie]

<lol> It's kinda hard to be telling the driver to pull over every 15 minutes. Even harder on toll roads / expressways with rest stops fifty miles apart. But just day-to-day life having to pee that often is a nuisance. I'll experiment some but maybe creatine is just not for me : -(

I think it might be a good idea to see a doc just in case it's not the creatine, but up to you.

[Brankov88]

I have taken creatine mono for 2 months cycle on/off, also Kre-Alkalyn pills for couple of months. I never do loading phase just 3-5 gr. daily and the effects are similar each time, increase strength, water intake and little arm size.

[joewattie]

Thank you for all the replies. I tried to push back our trip until I could "detox". That didn't work, we left even sooner, like the next morning.

The best I could do was to not take creatine that morning. The result was 500 miles with only two pee stops.

Moving forward I will take the suggestion to see a doctor. My doc is a crusty old guy (much like "Doc" from the old TV show "Gunsmoke") so I fully expect him to say something like, "You're old! Why are you messing with that crap?"

I will also try out the suggestion to take less. I currently take 2 grams. I will try 1.5 grams. Looking for a smaller scoop.

I missed my morning creatine. Sipping on it was as good, or better, than sipping on my morning cup of coffee. And, as such, it wasn't a bad morning pick-me-up.