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Creatine usage


FlyingLotus said:
Does that only happen when doing a loading phase? Keen to try creatine at some point but most advice now seems to be avoid taking 20g a day.
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Bad belly for the 20g loading phase is not uncommon, 5g after that should be pretty unnoticeable but you don't need to load up for a week, it'll just take longer for saturation (about 3 weeks) so if you're not in any hurry and concerned about an upset tummy, just do the 5g from day one.
 
FlyingLotus said:
Does that only happen when doing a loading phase? Keen to try creatine at some point but most advice now seems to be avoid taking 20g a day.
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You don’t need to take 20g a day even for loading, just take 10g for first few days and will be at saturation only a bit longer than 20g, then 5g to maintain. Any more than that is unnecessary.
 
connolly_31 said:
Morning all,
Been reading up on the many benefits of creatine as I look to ramp up the working out ahead of a trip in September.

Looking to tone up rather than bulk up and ideally lose a bit of the wobblyness, not necessarily lose a load of weight.

Appreciate the creative will help with muscle mass so won’t be staring at the scales. But one thing holding me back is the water retention. Is this noticeable and if so does it go away in time? Only looking to take about 5g a day 5 days per week for the next two months alongside strength training and cardio.

Interested to hear the opinion of any more qualified folk than I.

Cheers.
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Muscle tone is produced by the CNS - it keeps the muscles in a state of alertness in response to repeat exercise. Definition is from building a muscle and losing fat over it. Creatine could help because it could increase your strength and strength endurance, allowing you to train heavier, longer more often.

But some people don't respond at all! Try a cheap version first and if not looking to cut weight, take with OJ to increase absorption.

If you have high blood pressure, kidney or liver issues or heart probs I would give it a miss.

Never noticed water bloat myself when used it.
 
Montysavestheday said:
Muscle tone is produced by the CNS - it keeps the muscles in a state of alertness in response to repeat exercise. Definition is from building a muscle and losing fat over it. Creatine could help because it could increase your strength and strength endurance, allowing you to train heavier, longer more often.

But some people don't respond at all! Try a cheap version first and if not looking to cut weight, take with OJ to increase absorption.

If you have high blood pressure, kidney or liver issues or heart probs I would give it a miss.

Never noticed water bloat myself when used it.
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How long before you accept you're a non responder? Been taking for a week and no change in my failing point.
 
Montysavestheday said:
Muscle tone is produced by the CNS - it keeps the muscles in a state of alertness in response to repeat exercise. Definition is from building a muscle and losing fat over it. Creatine could help because it could increase your strength and strength endurance, allowing you to train heavier, longer more often.

But some people don't respond at all! Try a cheap version first and if not looking to cut weight, take with OJ to increase absorption.

If you have high blood pressure, kidney or liver issues or heart probs I would give it a miss.

Never noticed water bloat myself when used it.
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Lovely stuff. Definitely seeing improvement in performance, endurance and just generally in how I look. So continuing it for the now. I am experiencing headaches quite a bit and not sure if it’s linked or not. Maybe just over thinking. I drink an obscene amount of water a day and rarely get headaches but they’ve become frequent recently.
 
Having plateaud for some time, I've been taking tablets for a week now and last few visits I'm able to squeeze a couple more reps out. Didn't believe it would change owt but it's doing the trick.
 
Matnab said:
Having plateaud for some time, I've been taking tablets for a week now and last few visits I'm able to squeeze a couple more reps out. Didn't believe it would change owt but it's doing the trick.
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I’ve also had it for a week now, and I think it has made a small difference in terms of getting an extra couple of reps out/feeling more energetic and motivated.

Been using an unflavoured powder which is a little grainy but fine when chucked in a protein shake.
 
Gave any of you had your blood work done before taking creatine?

You may be damaging your kidneys by taking it if they are not functioning.

Get your kidney function checked, if eGFR is below 90, avoid creatine suppliments.
 
Joe Public said:
Gave any of you had your blood work done before taking creatine?

You may be damaging your kidneys by taking it if they are not functioning.

Get your kidney function checked, if eGFR is below 90, avoid creatine suppliments.
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Best thing i did years ago was to stop taking creatine.
It hugely increases your creatinine levels which is bad for your kidneys.
I also dropped waist size due to the water weight it puts on you.
 
High Entropy said:
Dr Mike says this is simply not true, they are two very different things and I can find any papers that support creatine being bad for kidneys.

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When i used to take it i had blood tests done at my GP. He commented on the high levels of creatinine in my results
I stopped taking it and the levels returned to normal.
 
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jackynutmeg said:
When i used to take it i had blood tests done at my GP. He commented on the high levels of creatinine in my results
I stopped taking it and the levels returned to normal.
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Maybe coincidence ?
Journal of Renal Nutrition have meta analysis of medical studies and found there to be no correlation-
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Creatine supplements are intended to improve performance, but there are indications that it can overwhelm liver and kidney functions, reduce the quality of life, and increase mortality. Therefore, this is the first systematic review and meta-analysis study that aimed to investigate creatine supplements and their possible renal function side effects. After evaluating 290 non-duplicated studies, 15 were included in the qualitative analysis and 6 in the quantitative analysis. The results of the meta-analysis suggest that creatine supplementation did not significantly alter serum creatinine levels (standardized mean difference = 0.48, 95% confidence interval 0.24-0.73, P = .001, I2 = 22%), and did not alter plasma urea values (standardized mean difference = 1.10, 95% confidence interval 0.34-1.85, P = .004, I2 = 28%). The findings indicate that creatine supplementation does not induce renal damage in the studied amounts and durations.
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