Creatine: (Everything You Need To Know)

[WillBrink]

WillBrink wrote:
“The OP has no mention of loading phase causing kidney pain, so that nonsense didn't come from me.”

WillBrink (From OP)
“There’s been a handful of case reports that show very high doses of creatine (and the reports were not always clear as to what form of creatine was used) were associated with kidney dysfunction.(70) Typical for such a simple case report, it’s unclear what other medications were involved or pre-existing medical condition existed.”

I agree this is not a definitive study, but it does suggest there has been some association with creatine and kidney dysfunction.

By the way, the day I stopped taking creatine the kidney pain disappeared, and has not returned since.

No mention of pain was found that day, but per OP, loading is not not required so a moot issue really. There's lots of data that finds creatine does not cause kidney damage, so if your pain was caused by the loading phase (which is far from conclusive), I'd suspect some possible pre existing kidney issues.

[Hamada6]

Hey

I started taking creatine 2 weeks ago, I took 20 grams first 2 days, then switched to 5 grams per day , and before 3 days i have raised the quantity to 10 grams per day, but my question is : I am drinking one cup of coffee before the workout, because it makes me better in gym, and i take creatine after the workout, so is it okay to take caffeine before workout and creatine after workout, because i read many articles that says if you drink coffee and take creatine, you won't get the benefits.

[maniphestor]

Hi every one.
I would like to use Creatine HCL, maybe someone used it?
I read about dosage 1,5 gram per day!
Is it enough?
Tnx for the answer.J

[WillBrink]

Hey

I started taking creatine 2 weeks ago, I took 20 grams first 2 days, then switched to 5 grams per day , and before 3 days i have raised the quantity to 10 grams per day, but my question is : I am drinking one cup of coffee before the workout, because it makes me better in gym, and i take creatine after the workout, so is it okay to take caffeine before workout and creatine after workout, because i read many articles that says if you drink coffee and take creatine, you won't get the benefits.

Read OP? Loading not needed. Caffeine, other than very high doses, does not appear to interfere with creatine, so I wouldn't worry about a cup of coffee.

Hi every one.
I would like to use Creatine HCL, maybe someone used it?
I read about dosage 1,5 gram per day!
Is it enough?
Tnx for the answer.J

Read OP. Monohydrate is the only form well supported by the research at this time.

Who knows about creatine HCL?
What is the benefits of it?

See above....

[TheMarkTwain]

One side effect occurs sometimes, when Iam taking creatine: a headache -> and normally I manage to drink at least 3 litres of water a day. The dose is around 3.5 grams. Should I drink more? How can I avoid it? What do you think could help?

Another question is: Are there any risks of using creatine without a pause of consumption?
Iam looking forward reading your answers.
Best wishes from Germany

[WillBrink]

One side effect occurs sometimes, when Iam taking creatine: a headache -> and normally I manage to drink at least 3 litres of water a day. The dose is around 3.5 grams. Should I drink more? How can I avoid it? What do you think could help?

Another question is: Are there any risks of using creatine without a pause of consumption?
Iam looking forward reading your answers.
Best wishes from Germany

As there's no data showing the effect, and a bunch of studies finding creatine is highly neuro protective (good for your brian!) and studies find does not alter BP, water balance, cramps (actually reduced cramps in one study) etc, and it's the first time I have heard of that, I can't advise you to drink more or less water as It's unlikely to be the cause.

How soon after ingesting creatine (as monohydrate of course...) do you experience that? What else do you/did you, take for supps etc?

[autumngirl]

It is almost one week since I bought & started on creatinine 5 g/day. There was increment of weight/progression in lifting (I use SL 5x5 program). Tummy is bloated (my scale is reading 1.5 kg more than it should this week). I did an experiment whereby I used 10 g/day on 2-dosages spaced out through the day, I only noticed I used the bathroom more often after few hours from extra dose, which probably suggest it was discharged from my body, I will stick to only 5 g/day as recommended in the stickies.

I wonder about what the nutritionist told me "creatinine is good for endurance, both gym and cardio". Does creatinine also help in cardio? Anyway I plan to use it daily for 1-2 months for lifting & I am not doing any cardio now (I might start soon so I ask for info on what to expect).

I know this thread is about creatinine but what could help with cardio?

[WillBrink]

It is almost one week since I bought & started on creatinine 5 g/day. There was increment of weight/progression in lifting (I use SL 5x5 program). Tummy is bloated (my scale is reading 1.5 kg more than it should this week). I did an experiment whereby I used 10 g/day on 2-dosages spaced out through the day, I only noticed I used the bathroom more often after few hours from extra dose, which probably suggest it was discharged from my body, I will stick to only 5 g/day as recommended in the stickies.

I wonder about what the nutritionist told me "creatinine is good for endurance, both gym and cardio". Does creatinine also help in cardio? Anyway I plan to use it daily for 1-2 months for lifting & I am not doing any cardio now (I might start soon so I ask for info on what to expect).

I know this thread is about creatinine but what could help with cardio?

See OP for the difference between creatine and creatinine. Creatine is not helpful with endurance work as a rule.

[autumngirl]

See OP for the difference between creatine and creatinine. Creatine is not helpful with endurance work as a rule.

I think I posted in the wrong thread.

[WillBrink]

I think I posted in the wrong thread.

Regardless, your Q was answered and all you need to know about creatine (not the same as creatinine...) is in the OP.

[autumngirl]

Regardless, your Q was answered and all you need to know about creatine (not the same as creatinine...) is in the OP.

Pff I was in the right thread. Yes I found the answer in OP. Things got mixed up in my head.
Another question about creatine (I know this was not mentioned in the side effects of OP but I saw few threads where the same issue arise). Could it (l-creatine) cause frequent urination, if water intake was the same, it starts 30 minutes after the dosage and continue for 9 hrs? I am on Day 6 of 30 Days, using 5 g l-creatine powder with my Whey Protein, l-glutamine with a cup of skimmed milk.

[philgriffiths]

Firstly, great post, cheers OP.

I have been cutting since the turn of the year and am pleased to say I have lost 50lb in that time. Not used any creatine however.
The start of last week I started using 5g per day of CM, and must say, I am glad to report I am definitely not a non-responder.
Went from 179 start of last week to topping out at 183-184 earlier this week (steadied off and now back to slowly cutting) and for sure, the pump is real! Good job Creatine Monohydrate :-)

I have scoured this thread however and see no real mention of whether creatine is best cycled or not. At the risk of opening a can of worms, is there a general consensus on this?
I see some people saying that there have been no negative side effects noted following long term usage (3+ years) but it doesn't specifically say whether this is done in one-month-on/one-month-off cycles.

Any advice would be appreciated.

[OffwhiteBrah]

Possible to take creatine and coffee in the a.m ? or should i just take the creatine after workout and caffeine before ?

[WillBrink]

I tasted Creatine HCL, I think it more pretty then monohydrate. Because I was not filled.

[AbbeTube]

Thank you. This was very helpful!

[autumngirl]

If I completed the 30 days at 3-5 g, should I go to maintenance dosage? or should I stick to 3-5g? and for how long afterward?
Can I take creatine safely for years on daily basis?

[brynwolf]

Thanks for this

[leonman44]

Sure creatine is considered safe but it did increase my creatinine levels to 1.5 thats even higher than my uncles levels with 1 kidney XD
That means kidneys have to work harder than they did before , therefore its not the best in long terms but still that doent mean its enough to damage your kidney by itself.

I noticed that the new "creapure" monohydrate creatines reduced the scoup size from 5 to 3 , should we still use 5 for max benefit?

[Aches89]

First of all, awesome thread, very informative.

I’ve been taking 5g of Creatine Mono daily since November 2016, basically a full year. I’ve been lifting for 10+ years (28), and this is the first time trying creatine. I’ve noticed I would shed hair (2-3 strands) every time I would shower. This is a little worrisome, however I love the results of creatine. I understand shedding hair daily is normal for everyone, whether they notice it or not, but I just want to be sure the creatine isn’t causing too much hair shed.

As for my family genes, my mother’s father was bald on the top of his head when as he aged. My younger brother (26), doesn’t have too much hair left on the top of his head. My older brother (32) and I (28), still have a full head of hair. My father has a full head of hair at 55. There’s no uncles that are bald.

Basically at this point, should I discontinue creatine to save my hair, or is this a normal process as I grow older? Or should I possibly lower the dosage to 3g instead of 5g?

[angelitagalvisp]

Hello, Im a crossfitter trying to recover from some injuries, right now I'm taking hydroxycut hardcore elite since I got some fat, but I also happyn to have a competition soon I can not lift as I used to due to medical rest, so I am wondering if is it a good idea to take the 2 pills of fat burners for my WOD in the morning and the creatine pills before the afternoon strength session? I would appreciate your answers greeting from Colombia!

[johnnysanchez10]

Good info

[SongSong]

I just started taking Creatin from 2 weeks ago.
First dose(5g) is in the morning, Second dose(5g) is before workout. I already improved a lot of strength from able to bench from 225 to 255lb.
I already can bench 225lb X 8 or 255lbX4 from 2016 however due to lazy/vacation/relationship/workload i went down back to 225lb range.

Just want to share that it really improve power output and energy release in short-burst.

[WillBrink]

Hello, Im a crossfitter trying to recover from some injuries, right now I'm taking hydroxycut hardcore elite since I got some fat, but I also happyn to have a competition soon I can not lift as I used to due to medical rest, so I am wondering if is it a good idea to take the 2 pills of fat burners for my WOD in the morning and the creatine pills before the afternoon strength session? I would appreciate your answers greeting from Colombia!

Pills are a waste of money, always use powder. Timing does not appear to matter.

[WillBrink]

Sure creatine is considered safe but it did increase my creatinine levels to 1.5 thats even higher than my uncles levels with 1 kidney XD
That means kidneys have to work harder than they did before , therefore its not the best in long terms but still that doent mean its enough to damage your kidney by itself.

I noticed that the new "creapure" monohydrate creatines reduced the scoup size from 5 to 3 , should we still use 5 for max benefit?

Creapure has been around before you were born, so not new. It's not a type of creatine but a brand of CM made in Germany that different companies use as their source of CM. 3-5g per day, per op, is recommended dose.

[XavierLifts]

Nice post

[shashank160997]

nice

[PeanutBtterGod]

Creatine is life

[WillBrink]

Creatine is life

More truth to that then you may realize

[tvta]

Does the fact that i drink ~6L of water a day change something?

[FAT40]

a very informative post. I had been getting headaches after workouts and thought it could've been the creatine, but it could be down to the BCAA powder i was also taking which has very high levels of L-Leucine (6.250g) / 9g scoop.