Anyone take creatine?

[JohannesSweden77]

Yep. 5g morning and 5g afternoon. I've found that when I increased to 10g vs 5g a day, I have a bit more cognitive clarity at work and just improved speed of thinking (started to notice after a few weeks on the higher dose.) I primarily take it for muscle support (I exercise A LOT) but also because I'm a vegetarian so I don't really get natural creatine that meat-eaters get.
It's one of the safest and best researched supplements out there. And there's a lot of really cool new research about the cognitive benefits, which makes me an even bigger fan of it.

I take 5g a day but I'm interested in trying 10g for the cognitive aspect so I'll begin tomorrow with switching to 10g and as I "feel" nothing on 5g I'll see if I notice any change. I can't comment on any positive reaction to it as I started taking it at the same time as starting my training 5 days a week but I'm impressed in the change I see after about 3 months. Didn't expect that fast change on muscle growth. Seeing veins and family and friends commenting about me getting bigger (in a good way not that far way I used to be big.) taking nothing else... Yet.... 😁

 

[hasanhasator]

This is what I’m calling my morning elixir, all about brain health & longevity.

Collagen 11g
MCT powder 10g
Cocoa Bean Extract 1/4tsp
Lion’s Mane 1g
Creatine 5g

Feel the cognitive benefits every day, without question.

This stack along with clean AF eating has helped me remove ADHD stimulants totally from my life. 🙌✊

Do you buy supplements in bulk?

 

[Rdg1970]

Do keep in mind that taking 15g all the time would just result to an expensive urine. A standard dose is about 5g daily for adults. This is all your muscles need to stay saturated.

Here are new studies that suggest 20g is needed for the real cognitive benefits. I was doing 10g in the am and 10g in the pm. Made me really burpy especially when exercising. I quit taking it because my creatinine levels were high, and my doctor wanted to know if it was because of the creatine or was I suffering from poor kidney function I noticed almost 0 difference being on the creatine and off the creatine except the burping went away, and my creatinine levels dropped.

 

[Bioexplorer]

Was taking creatine daily about 7g a day for 3 months. Before starting I had done testing and everything was normal and after the 3 months I had another test and dr said my kidney function was reduced, but no indicators of kidney damage. He asked me to stop the creatine because he thinks the increase in creatine intake is making my kidneys think they’re not working properly. I’ll know in a couple months when I retest.

It's most likely not a concern. I took creatine for may years but quit over a decade ago when I was diagnosed with early kidney disease based on elevated creatinine and low eGFR. Labs improved when I quit creatine so I stayed away.

I just resumed taking 5mg/day this year after learning that it's normal for creatine supplements to cause an increase in creatinine as measured in blood test and creatinine is often used to calculate estimated GFR creating a false indicator of kidney problems.

So when your blood work comes back showing improved kidney function after stopping creatine, it's just an artifact of the test. You need more expensive testing to truly evaluate kidney function. I'm surprised your doctor isn't aware of this effect since a simple Google or AI search will confirm this info with multiple references. But to be fair, I aware of no data on possible effects of long term supplementation

 

[woundcarping]

Cystatin C is a better lab for eGFR calculations vs creatinine when supplementing creatine, since the supplementing raises creatinine levels.

 

[Beachnwaves98]

Do you buy supplements in bulk?

I do - funny enough from a site called bulksupplements.com

They’re great.

 

[TacoLifter420]

I currently dont take creatine. I have in the past and I just dont get the results from it. Sure I hold a little more intercellular water, but no extra strength or capacity.

I do eat a good amount t of red meat, so its possible im already getting a sufficient amount for my physiology from my diet.

 

[alphaskunk65]

Creatine monohydrate is absolutely vile, no shame if you can't take it. Someone else recommended creapure, that sounds heavenly. I also heard that nutricost is better at dissolving than some brands, bulksupplements was like drinking sand for me.

Creatine HCL capsules are great if you can afford it and want to run capsules. The powder is quite vile. If you're made of money, I would suggest creatine monohydrate mixed into a specialized drink on workout or sleepless days (creatine is AMAZING after a sleepless night) and creatine HCL capsules daily to hit your 1-2g per day dose.


^^^ Creatine after a sleepless night is AMAZING


I'm a broken record when it comes to this shit. Electrolytes are as simple as potassium and table salt. All the other bullshit and expensive powders are unnecessary. Sodium cancels out potassium. I eat a ton of sodium, so I take 1g of potassium every morning and salt water later if i sweated a lot. Just look up electrolyte powder on amazon and find the cheapest one that has 600-1000mg of potassium. Take less if you eat less salt.

Even if you don't have potassium, a glass of table salt water in the morning is a great way to hydrate.


I will add... reddit.com/r/creatine has some great resources!

My cardiologist would kick my Lilly white ass if heard I was drinking salt water. I think I would try creatine unless it's loaded with salt .

 

[birdwhacker]

My cardiologist would kick my Lilly white ass if heard I was drinking salt water. I think I would try creatine unless it's loaded with salt .

Why would creatine have salt?

In your case, potassium water may be preferable. Porassium balances sodium intake.

 

[alphaskunk65]

Why would creatine have salt?

In your case, potassium water may be preferable. Porassium balances sodium intake.

Awesome good thanks for the tip appreciated much. As an older male I have to watch to much crap to stay alive. The days of 2 whoppers with cheese , large fries washed down with a six pack are gone. Damn it !

 

[Calm Logic]

Awesome good thanks for the tip appreciated much. As an older male I have to watch to much crap to stay alive. The days of 2 whoppers with cheese , large fries washed down with a six pack are gone. Damn it !

Taco Tuesday, Whopper Wednesday, Funeral Friday, haha

There was a guy on Reddit who coincidentally had a heart attack the same day he had an Impossible Whopper at BK. Since then, I have been even more skeptical of Impossible's coconut oil and ultra-processing.