Creatine side effects?

[bob_stra]

This is fantastically lazy of me, but I'm time starved at the moment so ...

Was wondering if any of you knew of / had URL's to any research showing the side effects of creatine supplementation? A friend bought me a barrel of the stuff for Xmas. I've never used it before, so I'd like to educate myself a little.

Any "good" (reliable) sites, both on general use and side effects? I'm totally ignorant on this topic.

[Cilian McHugh]

Well Bob, this is yet another example of the spooky side of this forum you mentioned the other day, I was recently discussing this very issue with a friend. So in the interest of my phone bill I'll just post a chunk of the email I sent him on Thursday:

Originally posted by Cilian McHugh
This link has a pretty straightfoward rundown of the available research on Creatine and other supplements.

http://www.supplementwatch.com/supatoz/supplement.asp?supplementId=94

I also found an article in a back issue of Muscular Development where they asked four or five respected Strength & Conditioning Researchers and Coaches (forget the majority of the names right now but William Kraemer was one of them) a load of questions about Creatine, there experience using it with their athletes and their interpretation of the available research. It's a good read and I will give it to you next time I see you, but in the meantime essentially what they said was that in their experience they had not seen any serious side-effects and that it had enhanced athletic performance at all levels (including in Muscular Dystrophy patients (not athletic I know, but interesting nonetheless), who were able to tolerate much higher dosages before meeting diminishing returns). They also said that large doses were harmful and pointless and greater education was needed as to recommended dosages, as the typical 'if some is good then more is better' mentality seemed to be all to prevailing among young athletes.

All agreed that long-term research in the area was severely lacking. (Although that was written nearly five years ago, so perhaps there are some floating around now).

Another interesting consensus was that they had never seen the adverse side-effects commonly associated with Creatine usage recreated in laboratory conditions. A possible explanation offered for the anecdotal evidence of bloating and muscular cramps, was poor hydration practices while training in conjunction with the muscles' increased ability to retain water.

Since then (this morning) I started reading Power Eating (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0736038531/qid=1073144678//ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i0_xgl14/002-9342680-9512056?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) by Susan M. Kleiner who had this to say about Creatine:

Quite possibly, creatine is the most important natural fuel-enhancing supplement yet to be discovered for strength trainers. Unlike a lot of supplements, creatine has been extensively researched. Exciting experiments show that creatine produces significant improvement in sports that require high levels of strength and power, including strength training, rowing, and cycling sprints. Another big plus for creatine: Several creatine supplementation studies have shown gains in body mass averaging two to four pounds. It was once thought that this increase was mostly water weight gain. But now we're seeing that a significant amount is pure muscle, and only a small portion is water.

She also says
Creatine works best in combination with a liquid carbohydrate supplement. In fact, this combination boosts the amount of creatine accumulated in muscles by as much as 60 per cent!

She goes on to say that in the study the subjects were also recorded as having higher insulin concentrations in their muscles in addition to the higher Creatine retention levels mentioned above. (The control group in that study were given the same dosage of Creatine as the experimental group minus the addition of a 17oz Carb based solution 30 mins after the Creatine)

Hope this is of use.

Cilian

[JasonE]

I got turned on to Creatine for a while in 1999. I did some homework, got myself a smallish container of EAS-brand plain creatine powder, and proceeded to follow the directions for loading and maintenance cycles.

I had no bad side effects, and I noticed an improvement in muscle gains and overall strength endurance. Over a course of 2-3 months, I used maybe 1/3rd of that little container.

Eventually I stopped using it to see if I would lose the mass I had gained. I kept it, and didn't notice any immediate drop-off in overall performance. Overall, my experience was positive.

When using creatine, don't try to accelerate your gains by taking more than the recommended amount, and don't load more often than one week per month. You need to drink extra water, but that's about it. All the horror stories involve guys taking too much too often and probably not drinking enough water.

Don't take creatine if you are trying to cut weight. Bad idea, and it promotes mass gain anyway.