Yeah I had just started taking creatine for the first time last Thursday and and I was going good until Saturday night when I started feeling like crap. After I had gone to sleep, a few hours later I woke up with chills and eventually had spells of nausea and diarrea. After that had passed my stomach has ached up until this moment, but I'm starting to feel a little better. Anyways could this be contibuted to creatine or could it be a stomach bug or just something I ate. Both my mom and dad have said it was these supplements I am currently taking, but I dont know. Please any help would be appreciated.

By Anonymous on Tuesday, January 25, 2000 - 06:11 am: Edit

Many people have stomach discomfort with creatine. Several companies use this fact to promote their effervesent creatine products which do not have to go through the stomach to be absorbed. Those products may be beneficial for someone like you who has stomach problems. Don't worry, the stomach problems you're having are very, very common but there's nothing really dangerous about it. They're just a pain in the ass. . .hahaha.

By Nate on Tuesday, January 25, 2000 - 06:38 am: Edit

So does effervesent creatine work any better or any worse than powdered creatine?

By Anonymous on Wednesday, January 26, 2000 - 05:39 am: Edit

I've never tried effervesent creatine, so I couldn't tell you. I'm satisfied with regular creatine.

By andy on Wednesday, January 26, 2000 - 06:39 am: Edit

is it possible for ur body to not take to creatine...like not seeing gains and all from it?

By juicedpig on Thursday, January 27, 2000 - 03:25 am: Edit

yes. 4 out of 5 see results from creatine. Maybe you happen to be the 1 out of 5. You may want to try a product like cell-tech, it's expensive, but I havent heard of any one not getting some results from using it. You dont have to load with it, that is a waste (and its too costly to waste!!). By taking it 1 or 2 times per day you should gain between 4 to 8 pounds within three weeks. Hope this helps.

By Nate on Friday, January 28, 2000 - 05:00 am: Edit

So no loading eh? Wouldn't loading put added stress on your kidneys or liver anyways? Sorry if that sounded stupid, but I'm virtually new to this stuff. And I have read that if you weren't to load that you would have the same amount of creatine in your body after a month as you would if you had loaded in the first place. So I do suppose loading is pointless.

By Anonymous on Sunday, February 06, 2000 - 01:39 pm: Edit

is it real that Creatine will make your bodyhair lose???

By john stubbs on Tuesday, February 08, 2000 - 12:19 am: Edit

i used to take creatine and then my cock fell off, i go by the name john stubbs now

By Anonymous ( - 216.244.26.45) on Friday, June 30, 2000 - 01:31 am: Edit

I have bad news for all of you,creatine is bad for your kidneys.creatine can cause renal failure,in heathey kidneys.I ask pharm, and showed me out of a PDR on supplements.dont take my word for profe ask your pharm or the pharm at rite aid.thata were i got my info from.

By hacked ( - 209.5.124.85) on Friday, June 30, 2000 - 02:00 am: Edit

No one said this is the healthest thing you can do but it works. You just have to be smart when using it. Cycle out of the product every 2 months and let the kidneys rest for several weeks. This problem can be demenished by drinking a lot of water, like 5 liters or more a day. This keeps the kidneys flushed out, and don't stay on this stuff for ever...

By John ( - 212.120.195.115) on Friday, June 30, 2000 - 04:25 am: Edit

Listen some more news, your kidneys will have a problem ONLY if they were not function properly BEFORE you started taking creatine. Creatine has clinically tested many times and when some patients experienced some problems in their kidneys, this happened only to those that had a pre-existing problem. ln healthy individuals NO ONE can give any scientific report that says creatine supplementation can has a negative side effect in your kidneys. And about pharmacists to ask them for what reason? To tell me that ALL supplements are deadly? lnstead of seeing that more than 100,000 Americans died because they abused the drugs that they were taking from their local pharmacies, or because of wrong prescriptions from their doctors? What happens when you abuse creatine? You get a bloated stomach and you go more often to the toilet? And even at the worst case your kidneys MIGHT experience some problem after long term use, but as soon as you stop taking it your kidneys are fine again? And what happens when you abuse ANY drug? Maybe you go to see your creator? Thanks but no thanks, l preffer to educate myself enough in order to know what, when and how to take any supplement, (and to feel safe that even if some time l exceed the recommended dose l will continue feel fine), in order never to mess in my life with any drug.

By Anonymous ( - 209.248.17.136) on Friday, June 30, 2000 - 12:41 pm: Edit

Stay away from Biotest's liquid creatine product--I heard it was tested and had hardly any creatine in it and that it degraded to some toxic substances.

By PZA ( - 207.41.203.76) on Saturday, July 01, 2000 - 04:59 am: Edit

STAW AWAY FROM BIOTEST PERIOD!

By Craig on Wednesday, July 12, 2000 - 07:04 pm: Edit

Creatine works great BUT, I experience the worst excruciating headaches after taking Creatine powder and/or liquid. I used to bear through the pain but can not take it any more. Does any one else experience these affects? and what do you do about it?

By Zach on Thursday, July 13, 2000 - 08:41 am: Edit

Headaches are usually caused by dehydration. You must drink atleast 120 oz's of water daily or you are wasting your creatine and you have a good chance of getting certain side effects caused by dehydration.

By Karen ( - 151.202.116.138) on Monday, August 14, 2000 - 05:40 am: Edit

I am also getting side effects of dehydration, headaches and dry eyes. I thought it was from the creatine but I started other supplements at the same time I stopped everything but the creatine and still have the headaches and dry eyes. Yes I am guilty of not drinking enough water! I see now that I have to incease my fluid intake from what I was doing before I started the creatine.

By itoleck ( - 24.92.186.217) on Monday, August 14, 2000 - 08:47 am: Edit

If you are serious enough to use your money for creatine then you need to be serious with your water intake. No one said this being huge thing was easy. Every time I pass a water fountian or some other water source I take a big drink. Just make it a habbit. Also I only take creatine the days I lift and hour before. For me it doesn't have any side effects like less fullness or power and I save some money too.

LIFT BIG! EAT BIG! SLEEP BIG! BE BIG!!!

By MATT ( - 205.188.197.23) on Tuesday, September 05, 2000 - 07:47 am: Edit

I saw a health warning on the news a couple of weeks ago on createin, but didn't cacth what it was and wonderd if anybody else saw what it said.

By gopher ( - 24.178.48.8) on Wednesday, September 06, 2000 - 12:38 am: Edit

Matt, it was probably just a bunch of B.S. I didn't see this recent warning but every so often the media deciced to warn us about creatine or some other supplement. Not to long ago a wrestler died while trying to make weight. He was malnurished,dehydrated, and wearing a rubber suit in a sauna. He had also used creatine earlier in the year during a bulking cycle, he was not even on creatine at the time of his death. Still the headlines read IS CREATINE DEADLY? What a bunch of crap! It was later determined that do to this guys electrolites being all screwed up he had a heart attack. Of course this new information did not make headlines but was reported in a small paragraph on page 6 of the sport section. There is absolutely no evidence that creatine is harmful to someone with normal kidney function.

By Carlos Ferreira on Thursday, September 07, 2000 - 10:33 pm: Edit

I used to take the powdered Creatine that comes in the big black plastic jars about a year ago and found that the side effects are harsher with it. I guess it could be that it's so much easier to exceed the dosage when you are using a spoon to measure. I find the big horse tablets are much better... Been taking those for about a month now with no side effects except the occasional spat of minor dehydration. Easily fixed though. Just like ANY creatine product should say on the bottle, Drink LOTS of WATER. Drinking coffee or pop or any other crap like that will only dehydrate you more (caffeine is a dieretic, I think that's how it's spelt =\ ) Besides, Muscle tissue is 90% water so without the extra water intake don't be dissappointed if you get less than impressive results.

Anyways, Happy Lifting

By Anonymous ( - 64.12.105.181) on Sunday, December 10, 2000 - 02:09 pm: Edit

I am 17. I started taking creatine about a month ago. After a week I was having a small arryhthmia in my heart so I stopped taking it. When I got back on, I had the same problem even though I had been getting the proper rest, water intake, etc. My doctor said that creatine can aggrivate cardiac nerves and make them more susceprible to overstimulation by adrenaline, leading to tacha cardia(extremely-rapid heartrate), increased blood pressure, and respiratory irrhythmias during the REM phase of sleep. But don't believe me. The FDA posts all drug-related and suppliment-related causes of death and injury. You'll see a couple up there. One is mine. Look, I'm not saying that no one should take creatine. Just you may want to check with you doctor and watch your dosage in the initial days to slowly step-up intake. It may be fine for many people, although I do recommend proper hydration or you will start getting headaches like my workout partner.
Happy lifting,
M D

By Anonymous ( - 205.200.3.54) on Monday, December 11, 2000 - 07:11 am: Edit

i also get a bad head ache when i take creatine monohydrate,i drink about 1 gallon of h2o per day.is there a better product out there??? should i be trying something else??? HELP!!!

By John ( - 195.97.116.20) on Monday, December 11, 2000 - 10:14 am: Edit

l have something interesting for you to read.

"Effect of creatine supplememtation on body composition and risk of injury in male and female collegiate athletes"

MINDY MILLARD-STAFFORD, PH.D., FACSM

GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

Purpose: Forty-eight college student-athletes (29 men, 19 women) participated in a study investigating whether creatine supplementation had detrimental effects on health.

Methods: Athletes were divided into three groups: short-term creatine loading (five days), long-term creatine (five days of loading plus maintenance dosage for 12 weeks) and no creatine (placebo control). The loading dose was based on body size (0.3 gram per kg of body weight) and the maintenance dose was five grams per day, a maintenance dose similar to what most manufacturers recommend.

Results: The five day loading dose and 12 weeks of creatine supplementation had no measurable detrimental effects on kidney or liver enzymes which implies that no damage occurred to these organs. There was a mild increase in serum creatinine (a by-product of creatine and protein metabolism) with short term (17%) and long term (20%) creatine supplementation, but the levels in the blood were not significantly different overall after 12 weeks of creatine supplementation compared to when no creatine was ingested. Blood lipid profiles such as total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, total cholesterol/HDL ratio and triglycerides were neither improved nor impaired by short-term or long-term creatine supplementation. The blood potassium levels did appear to decrease slightly with short-term and long-term creatine supplementation but still remained within a normal range.

And now the good part.

The only complaint that occurred during the loading phase was HEADACHE. Three athletes (two females and one male) experienced HEADACHES after three days of creatine loading which began about one hour after creatine ingestion and subsided when acetaminophen or ibuprofen was taken. However, THE HEADACHES stopped occurring during the maintenance phase in two out of three individuals.

So anon it does happen in some individuals to experience some headaches, and don't worry, you are not the only one as you saw from that research.
l personally feel light headed the first few days on my loading phase, but after one week, (when my maintenance phase starts), l am fine again. l would suggest you to try one more time, (maybe you should skip also the loading phase, and to start taking only 5gr from your first till your last day of your cycle), and if the symptoms do not disapper after 5-10 days at most, then maybe is better to avoid Creatine.

By RICK on Saturday, January 27, 2001 - 09:41 pm: Edit

I HAVE HEARD CREATINE CAUSES CANCER IN THE LONG TERM WHAT IS SAFE TO LET MY 15 YEAR OLD SON TO TAKE THAT WILL HELP HIM BUILD BIGGER MASS BUT NOT HARM HIS BODY

By Revo ( - 198.164.200.232) on Sunday, January 28, 2001 - 03:10 am: Edit

Maybe you should let your son try
Nitro-Tech...It is a Whey Protien supplement
but is said to be much more effective than
regular whey protien....builds muscle mass
quicker...look into it....hope this helps

By mike ( - 63.17.152.173) on Tuesday, January 30, 2001 - 05:59 am: Edit

Am I the only one who has gotten a discharge from creatine ?? 2 days into the loading I found a new slight burning during urination. is that common ??

By karl ( - 142.166.137.102) on Wednesday, February 21, 2001 - 03:02 am: Edit

creatine has been giving me real bad diearea, is this common? It really suxz too cuz i think i gotta fart and i almost shit myself

By Dominik ( - 209.239.68.211) on Wednesday, February 21, 2001 - 10:41 pm: Edit

Try to disolve creatine in a glass of warm watter or grape juice. After you stop mixing, wait until fluid clears up (but not more then 3 minutes) Drink slowly, and throw away the dirt settled on the bottom. Do not ingest undisolved powder, because it can irritate inside organs and cause dhiarrea.

If this doesn't help, then switch to glutamine. It actualy makes your *shit harder so you can fart as much as you want.

By karl ( - 198.164.200.217) on Saturday, February 24, 2001 - 10:21 pm: Edit

thanx for the info dominik, i'll try it out

By FLY GUY ( - 64.12.101.177) on Sunday, March 18, 2001 - 06:40 am: Edit

hey, theres been shit all over about CREATINE causing cancer...is this true or is it just bullshit from the media?

By Richard on Monday, March 19, 2001 - 01:02 am: Edit

Hey Guys... just a word on Creatine.. my friend and I both started taking EAS Phosphagen, and both us us started getting extreme tiredness after being on it for 3-4 weeks. We wern't over training or anything like that, it seemed happen when we had taken our serving before a workout and then had been at the gym for 20 minutes or so... We both stopped taking it and had no problems.. In fact we both thought we had more strength than what we had while on it..

And with regard to health warning about creatine.. in New Zealand we too have had warnings posted about creatine being hard on the liver etc. Apparantly some people naturally have high creatine levels, so supplementing it can have negative effects. Maybe it's worth getting a diagnostic done to see what your levels are before taking it? You may be better trying something else if you do have high levels of creatine already?

Cheers

Richard

By WesThompson (209.42.171.173) on Saturday, May 19, 2001 - 02:59 am: Edit

Hi my name is Wes Thompson, and I recently bought Creatine Monohydrate, the powdered form. What is yall's advice on mixing the powder with a solution other than water like a lemonade or grape juice? By the way, how much water should I mix with Creatine Monohydrate. Thanks.

By Jason (203.76.17.27) on Monday, May 21, 2001 - 08:40 pm: Edit

Wes, im glad you got the powder form as there is plenty of proof that liquid creatines dont work. Anyway, Its ok to mix creatine in those things you metion and it doesnt matter how much of the liquid you use to mix it in. You have to drink it within 10-15 minutes otherwise the creatine becomes creatinine and is useless.

By Anonymous (209.71.52.225) on Tuesday, July 24, 2001 - 10:14 pm: Edit

When I was taking creatine I retained a lot of water in my face and neck. I have no other complaints about it but that. Is there anything I can do to combat it?

By Anonymous (195.92.67.74) on Thursday, July 26, 2001 - 05:08 pm: Edit

I am a begginer body builder and am considering creatine use. I have heard that creatine helps you burn fat quickly, the fact is I am trying real hard to gain weight as I am very slim and have a high metabolism anyway. I would like to try creatine but am worried that it would be bad for my health as I am only 10 stone and 16 years old. I would really appreciate it if you could help me out.

By Big Cat HH (Bigcatmod) (213.224.83.150) on Thursday, July 26, 2001 - 07:55 pm: Edit

Creatine has no effect on body-fat composition whatsoever. On the contrary it will increase weight by storing more water in tissue. Creatine is excellent at helping you put on weight and should under no circumstances be used when dieting, as the water retention will make you look bloated. Just read the post right above yours.

By Anonymous (63.252.152.143) on Tuesday, August 07, 2001 - 08:16 am: Edit

My brother is taking creatine and i was wondering if it has any affects on the moods of a person, like steriods. I heard from a health teacher it might is he right

By BigJ HH (66.68.101.113) on Tuesday, August 07, 2001 - 09:37 am: Edit

No, it doesn't. Health teachers and the media dont know wtf they're talking about with creatine 90% of the time. It's a natural nutrient found in red meat. The only sides are cramps and dehydration, but only if you dont drink enough water

By Big Cat HH (Bigcatmod) (213.224.83.134) on Tuesday, August 07, 2001 - 08:17 pm: Edit

And diarrhea if you take too much too close to each other. Ask your brother if eating steak makes him depressed. Then your gym teacher might have a point. But no, creatine is a natural nutrient and as such is not prone to many side-effects.

By warrior (64.12.103.181) on Friday, August 24, 2001 - 04:23 am: Edit

hey . i use creatine and i don't have any side- effects. i been on this stuff sinc last november and i load ever month on it. im currently loading now and i drink a ton of water. as log as you drink that water and carry around u all day and your piss isn't yellow but clear your doin good. i love creatine- but even thought i do drink alot of water with i i do get stomach aches now and then but im retty use to it so it don't bug me. thats the only thing i see from it - stomach aches but they don't happen that much really. drink enough water and u won't have kidney probs

By Mohammed (130.111.226.185) on Sunday, September 23, 2001 - 02:30 am: Edit

I have tried creatine (Cell-Tech) and seen good gains. however, after I stoped taking it, I lost most of the weight that I gained. Is what I lost only water or did I also lose size too?

By Big Cat HH (Bigcatmod) (213.224.83.70) on Sunday, September 23, 2001 - 03:46 am: Edit

water

By Paul21 (208.28.116.58) on Monday, September 24, 2001 - 03:08 am: Edit

Bump that, all water.

P.S. -original topic- no side effects.

By Anonymous (65.229.15.91) on Wednesday, October 17, 2001 - 02:09 am: Edit

If you're going to use creatine, make sure you're off of it for at least a week if you're going for a physical. I was on it, and the doctors told me there was protein in my urine and my creatinine was too high and that my kidnyes were malfunctioning. I told them I was using creatine, but they still made me do a 24 hour urine test where you pee in a jug for a full day, and they even referred me to a specialist. To make a long story short, after all the running around, I was perfectly fine.