Creatine

[RebelWithACause]

Yo Rebel, still taking creatine? I am experimenting with a low dose, 1-1.5g a day. I think it reduces the brain fog somewhat and gives me a tad more motivation. I don't think this dose interferes with the hair results, because they recommend a lot of red meat in my diet, which contains a lot of creatine as well. Not sure if it increases or decreases my hair loss yet.

Nice man. I think low dose is OK. It could raise sodium levels I assume but it is true if you eat a lot of (not fully cooked) red meat you get some in the diet anyways.

I would give it a week or two and see how you feel then. I always notice a direct effect from creatine when I take it but generally they say creatine takes a week or two to build up in the system.

EDIT: I'm not taking creatine right now

Also there a lot of people feel worse on creatine in PFS. If you feel better than average still after 1-2 weeks I would say that is at least a good sign for you.

 

[RebelWithACause]

I did read this:

"CREATINE is often used as a body-building, athletic supplement, but creatine raises levels of phosphate in the body (by reducing its elimination) and supplementing it can dramatically alter the balance between calcium/phosphorus..."

 

[joekool]

Ever since my last var cycle, I've been responding to a lot of stuff again... and I use creatine 6 days with 1 day off a week... plain monohydrate at 5G a day... the day I skip, I notice an ever slight improvement of my morning wood... a retraining of receptors perhaps? Similar to how trib is helping others...

back prior to PFS, I used to take a Diesel Test hardcore pill, one a day in the morning (not the 6 recommended) and I used to notice fuller erections, etc... I used to skip Sundays cuz I didn't workout and those days, I was ravenous with libido... similar concept perhaps?

All has been going well for me thus far...

 

[Ingeno]

I did read this:

"CREATINE is often used as a body-building, athletic supplement, but creatine raises levels of phosphate in the body (by reducing its elimination) and supplementing it can dramatically alter the balance between calcium/phosphorus..."

Do you have a link for that?

I'm not sure if I continue with it or not, I've seen Helen mentioning that creatine lowers progesterone and potassium, and mine is pretty low already.

 

[Helen]

As we saw from blood tests of PFS people. they had low SaMe and high SAH.

when body makes creatine from glycine and arginine it produces creatine and SAH.

So high SAH can inhibit synthesis of creatine.

I assume SAH is high in some cases since NAD is low or being heavily used.

 

[RebelWithACause]

Do you have a link for that?

I'm not sure if I continue with it or not, I've seen Helen mentioning that creatine lowers progesterone and potassium, and mine is pretty low already.

The guy is a Ray Peat zealot so take it with a grain of salt.

Supplement Guide

Full text:

CREATINE is often used as a body-building, athletic supplement, but creatine raises levels of phosphate in the body (by reducing its elimination) and supplementing it can dramatically alter the balance between calcium/phosphorus, which does have stimulatory effects but in the long term will have undesirable effects on health like reduced skin resiliency and premature aging. It is best avoided.

 

[Ingeno]

The guy is a Ray Peat zealot so take it with a grain of salt.

Supplement Guide

Full text:

CREATINE is often used as a body-building, athletic supplement, but creatine raises levels of phosphate in the body (by reducing its elimination) and supplementing it can dramatically alter the balance between calcium/phosphorus, which does have stimulatory effects but in the long term will have undesirable effects on health like reduced skin resiliency and premature aging. It is best avoided.

I see, well the lessons we learned so far is that in the end everything should be used in moderation to stay balanced. The question is how much creatine would be safe to get the benefits without interfering with our recoveries, or maybe it should be avoided after all. I like the gym effects too, fuller muscles and a bit fuller face, which got totally destroyed after FIN, sunken junky face right now lol.

 

[RebelWithACause]

I see, well the lessons we learned so far is that in the end everything should be used in moderation to stay balanced. The question is how much creatine would be safe to get the benefits without interfering with our recoveries, or maybe it should be avoided after all. I like the gym effects too, fuller muscles and a bit fuller face, which got totally destroyed after FIN, sunken junky face right now lol.

Just use it on days where you workout. 1-2 grams pre or post workout. Or use 1 gram everyday. That's what I would do.

Do you get an effect from it right now? Muscle-wise and face? When I tried it a before TEI it did not do much except for brain function. It did make me stronger but I did not hold more water or anything.

I think balance is key yes. Not sure if you would get 1-2 grams everyday in a natural/balanced diet. You will need to eat a lot of raw meat.

 

[Walker]

I used creatine hcl during my recovery - totally different feel than creatine monohydrate when I used it. HCL gave me a very lean, anabolic type feeling. Monohydrate gave me bloating, but did enhance muscle stamina.

 

[Ingeno]

I used creatine hcl during my recovery - totally different feel than creatine monohydrate when I used it. HCL gave me a very lean, anabolic type feeling. Monohydrate gave me bloating, but did enhance muscle stamina.

That's actually weird because both should act in the same way, hold more fluid in your muscle cells. Any adverse effects from the HCL?

 

[Walker]

That's actually weird because both should act in the same way, hold more fluid in your muscle cells. Any adverse effects from the HCL?

None, to my knowledge. There's a thread on Swole Source about it, other members had the same results. HCL is the only kind I would use again, I hate the bloated feeling of monohydrate. I'm currently using neither now.

 

[Ingeno]

Just use it on days where you workout. 1-2 grams pre or post workout. Or use 1 gram everyday. That's what I would do.

Do you get an effect from it right now? Muscle-wise and face? When I tried it a before TEI it did not do much except for brain function. It did make me stronger but I did not hold more water or anything.

I think balance is key yes. Not sure if you would get 1-2 grams everyday in a natural/balanced diet. You will need to eat a lot of raw meat.

I'm not sure, sometimes my muscles look fuller and scalp itch goes up and down. Also took 1 gram few hours ago and I started noticing prostate cramps, maybe more 5AR activtiy from the creatine. Still have to decide if I should continue, used about 1 gram a day for 2 weeks.