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Creatine Side Effects





Consumer Review: He Ran A Few Tests And Came To The Conclusion That All My Problems With Heart Rate And Breathing Were A Direct Result Of The Creatine.

I have been using Creatine for about 4 months now and have experienced some dangerous side effects. I have taken two different types of Creatine. I have taken the ATP liquid form of Creatine and the Eclipse 2000 Creatine Powder. The first Creatine I took (ATP Liquid) caused a rapid increase of heart rate up to 180 beats per minute when I wasn't doing any exercise at all. This happened only two months after taking the liquid. So, naturally, I decided to stop taking the Creatine liquid and I then tried the Eclipse 2000 Creatine Monohydrate Powder. This worked only for approximately 2 months also until the Creatine made my lungs take on symptoms of asthma. I experienced tightness in chest and was unable to take a deep breath. I had to yawn to take a deep breath. Since the Proventil inhaler for asthma didn't get rid of my problems I was directed to a pulmonary specialist. He ran a few tests and came to the conclusion that all my problems with heart rate and breathing were a direct result of the Creatine.

Have you ever heard of someone experiencing these side effects before? What is the next best thing to creatine which can give me the performance creatine gave me without the supplement containing any amount of creatine?


Response #1

This is for the person who got breathing problems from the creatine. I noticed the exact same thing and have gotten off of the creatine. I would like to know if this problem will go away or if it is permanent?


Response #2

I am in the Navy, therefore, I have to perform physical fitness tests regularly. My running time on the 1.5 mile run before I began to take creatine 3 months ago was 9:40. I recently stopped using it because I could barely finish the run in 11:30 and I was breathing harder than I ever have. I run regularly and have not fallen out of shape in the past 3 months. The only thing I can attribute to this loss of breath (what you called asthma symptoms) is the use of creatine. If you find any valuable information on this subject, please let me know.


Response #3

I have asthma and have had it a long time (I am now 23). I started using creatine about a year ago and typically cycle for 2 months on, 2 weeks off. I feel it works, but I have not perceived any change to my breathing capacity.

One thing I would encourage you to think about is water intake. Creatine works your body fairly hard, it makes it process more chemicals, and to do this requires water. When your body is dehydrated it has a natural tendency to RESTRICT BREATHING. This is a response deep in your brain that is supposed to protect you. Your lungs have a lot of moisture in them to keep 'em working and as you breath, the air will take the moisture out of your body. If you aren't drinking lots of water (128 ozs per day) and you are on creatine which tends to dehydrate you anyway, your body may trigger a natural change to breathing patterns. *shrug* just one plausible answer to the phenomena, but I still don't know about heart rate and that concerns me as a creatine user.

I'm not a doctor and I don't know the technicals behind creatine or this water theory, but I have done some reading and I have started to put together the picture. Anyway, my personal opinion is that the best fundamental nutritional supplement is water and lots of it. Sure drinking a gallon a day will add pounds for the first few days, and you'll be running to the bathroom all day, but your body will thank you. A good all around guide for how much water to drink is to drink until your urine is clear. Don't go blasting away with 2 gallons a day, just cause you can pee clear water though, seems just a little wasteful.

Thanks for listening and thanks for creating and maintaining your web site, a good neutral forum for discussion is very helpful.

Cheers!


Response #4

My son is 18, and a Division I scholarship athlete in baseball. He began using the Phosphagen brand of creatine powder on November 2. Three weeks later he went to the doctor for a nagging cough he couldn't shake. Over-the-counter cough medicine didn't help. Claritin didn't help.

He stopped the creatine two weeks later because his breathing had become so bad that he couldn't work out in the weight room or do his running.

We all believed that he had a nagging chest cold which had perhaps developed into a case of walking pneumonia. It wasn't. He was diagnosed with an asthmatic-like condition which so far is not responding well to the dual inhalants he is taking.

Yeah, the creatine did what it advertised -- he put on some weight and increased his strength in remarkably short order. But he was also working out twice a day under the auspices of a full-time strength and conditioning coach and a full-time trainer. He drank six 20-ounce water containers daily.

Now he can't even train normally because of coughing fits. We're both upset. I researched that stuff as thoroughly as I could before giving him my blessing (and the $58.95 for the first two containers), and I never encountered any warnings or even studies about creatine and pulmonary function.

We hadn't yet discovered your fine web page, but the lack of information was troubling. Here's a kid who won a starting spot as a freshman, and now he's unable to even train with the team. Creatine is obviously potent stuff -- would a warning label be too much to demand?


Question #1 About Response #4

Can you please let us all know how much creatine your son was ingesting?


Answer #1 About Response #4

My son followed the recommended levels throughout his regimen. He loaded for five days (four scoops of Phosphagen delivered 22 mg. of creatine per day) and leveled off at two scoops (11 mg. of creatine) for maintenance. He took the powder with fruit juice (which is recommended for efficiency), and he drank six 20-ounce cups of water a day.

His asthma symptoms have diminished somewhat since discontinuing the creatine, and he resumed twice-a-day workouts this week, which entail weight lifting, sprinting and moderate distance running.

Interestingly, he has not taken off the weight he added earlier, although his strength has declined (owing to curtailing working out due to his breathing problems, final exams, holidays, etc.). I will monitor his return to the gym and if I notice anything especially unusual, I will write it up and post it.


Response #5

After taking creatine monohydrate for roughly two weeks I noticed the EXACT same breathing problems you describe. I would have to struggle to take deep breaths . Only about one out of ten attempts resulted in a satisfying deep breath, and I was yawning constantly. The good news is that I'm still on creatine and the breathing problems have subsided completely. I was planning to see a doctor if the problems didn't disappear in a week, and thankfully they did. My advice would be to stick with the creatine and see if the difficulty eases, it did for me. BTW I'm very happy with creatine, for the first few weeks I was practically adding a rep to my max press every workout!


Response #6

I have only been using creatine monohydrate for a month. I had asthma long before starting creatine and thus far have not experienced any of this asthma like condition. I still use my inhaler before a workout and do 40 minutes of cardio 4 times a week. I do believe that any supplement should first be okayed by your doctor before you begin taking any. The reason being that everybody is different and will react to things differently.


Response #7

This may seem long winded and full of unnecessary details, but I included all info to preclude anyone having to ask dosages and other background stuff. I am 41 years old and asthmatic. I began using creatine (GNC brand) just about 3 months ago. Loading 5 grams a day, 4 times a day for 5 days, then having a maintenance dose of 5 grams once a day. I stay on creatine for 4-6 weeks, then take about 4-5 days off from it, and then start the cycle again.

Before I started working out and taking creatine (and taking HMB-EAS brand), three months ago, I weighed 154 pounds, blood pressure was 140/90, had a resting pulse of about 68, smoked a pack+ of cigarettes a day (on and off for 20+ years), was easily winded, and had a body fat content of 26.8%. Needless to say my asthma was chronic, requiring the use of a Proventil Inhaler at the end of the day just so I could breath at night, or I couldn't sleep. Since adding both weight training and cardiovascular workouts 3 or 4 times a week to my lifestyle, cutting down the smoking to 4 cigarettes a week (yeah, I know, I should quit completely...I'm trying), reducing daily dietary fat intake to 10 to 20%, trying to drink almost a gallon of water a day, and using creatine I am in much better shape.

Two months after adhering to this lifestyle change I gained 3 pounds and cut my body fat down to 17%. After almost 3 months now, I have a hard time getting my heart rate up to it's optimum when doing cardiovascular, my blood pressure at last count was 106/62, resting pulse of 50, haven't had to use my asthma inhaler, and, needless to say, I breath much better. Hell, I breath great. I can out distance people who don't smoke. Oh, and my arms, chest and legs have packed on what I consider a substantial amount muscle mass. I don't know if this is due to the creatine (and HMB) I take or good muscle memory from years ago when I used to lift weights and compete in Karate.

The bottom line is creatine has not affected my asthma. Nor have I had any side effects some others here have mentioned, but I am interested in what they are reporting. It does make me concerned about continuing to take creatine. I do wonder though, if some problems mentioned here were due to not consuming the proper amount of water per day, having pre-existing health problems that were exaggerated by creatine or other supplements, and/or freaky medical problems caused by creatine such as some people have bad reactions to MSG.


Response #8

I was reading about the shortness of breath and oxygen capacity reduction for those using creatine. I am an older (65) runner and and push myself on distance and in speed races. I can still run a 20 minute flat 5K.

For a number of years, I had great difficulty with my breathing due to what I thought was allergies. I visited Doctors and was placed on vacanese inhalers along with other tablet form medications. My condition continued to get worse over time and on many occasions I had to drop out of races, was always tired, and found training extremely difficulty.

My symptoms were the same as someone with asthma in the latter stages as I was having extreme difficulty with shortness of breath. I also used creatine for a short period after solving my allergy problem. I gave it up real quickly as I experienced the worst cramping I had ever had in my life - in shoulders, leg, and arm muscles. I also read of the problems with dehydration which is the curse of runners.

Noting the comments in the review, I would guess that Doctors are putting these people on inhalers. After being put on these and testing for lung cancer, asthma etc., and doctors assuring me that I could not be having problems with the medications, I read the very fine print. For vancanese it states that in "rare cases users experience experience wheezing and shortness of breath". I had been using these medications for years to treat my allergies. I also noticed that over the years the medications had become stronger and stronger - from being good for 2 hours to lasting up to 12 hours. When testing for asthma on a peak flow meter I found that my air intake had dropped from 650 to 300. A light bulb went off in my mind when I read this. I stopped using it and now, two years later, I am back to normal and just recently ran a 1.31 half marathon, a 41.15 10K, and a 20.04 5K. I would suggest these users check the fine print of their allergy medications.


Response #9

I have also had these side effects. I had been taking creatine for about three weeks when I thought I was starting a cold, slightly blocked nasal passage and tickly cough. I had been taking the correct dosage and was drinking about 6 litres of water a day. This cold started getting worse and I then began having coughing fits which were worse late evening and especially while trying to sleep. Then, five nights ago, I had my worse coughing fit in the middle of the night. I was coughing constantly and then began gasping for air which then progressed into retching. I managed to drink a couple of litres of water and get my breath back in a cool ventilated room. I have stopped using creatine and in five days these symptoms have almost subsided.

Could a lower quality creatine cause this? Or perhaps some people are more susceptible to the side effects of creatine.


Response #10

For what it is worth...

I am a 30 year old female with lifelong asthma. I have been on one or two therapeutic inhalers and a rescue inhaler for almost 20 years.

I personally have not experienced such symptoms after having used creatine for 3 weeks (EAS). It has actually helped me a bit. I find the extra energy from the creatine makes working out less strenuous on my lungs, and I have actually been using my rescue inhaler less.

I'm not trying to imply that creatine is OK for everyone...it's clearly not. However, I don't think asthmatics should be categorically discouraged from using it.


Response #11

I can not say for sure, but many of you are describing what most "informed" doctors will diagnose as plueresy. Plueresy is an inflammation of the plueral sack that covers both the HEART and the LUNGS. When the inflammation occurs, it presents the feeling of a "squeezed" chest. As such, people tend to get "biofeedback" from the sensation. In a nutshell, this biofeedback makes them think "oh god, I am having a heart attack" or "oh god, my lungs are collapsing." My point is, many of the side effects the people on this page have suggested stem almost always from plueresy. Why does plueresy occur with creatine, you ask. Simple.

Most "lifters" tend to concentrate on the chest muscles equally or more than any other muscle. Just as any other plueral sack, too much stress causes an inflammation (i.e. run on a hard surface for too long or too much and you get shin splints, too much tennis and you get tennis elbow, too much chest work and you get plueresy). Another wonderful side effect of plueresy is the inability to take a deep breath due to the tightness and pain associated with the disorder. If you don't breathe deep, you don't exhale. If you don't exhale, you will develop the "walking pneumonia" or chronic cough described above. My point: Have a stress test done on your heart and a VOX done on your lungs AND get checked for plueresy. My guess is that those of you suffering from a "tight" chest and cough are suffering (at least partially) from plueresy. They only cure for plueresy is rest and DEEP BREATHING. Food for thought.

By the way, in case you are wondering how I know. I had the exact same symptoms, but I was cautious enough and smart enough to get a "second" opinion. Why? Because a medical diagnosis is nothing more than an EDUCATED GUESS. As anyone who has ever taken a multiple choice test will know (and that is exactly what a medical diagnosis is...weeding out the can't be's and picking the best might be's), your guess can be wrong as often as it is right.

Creatine ITSELF is safe, however, just like many other drugs, it just might not be safe for YOU and your body.

If they got rid of antibiotics because some people were allergic, we would all be dead!


Response #12

I am 19 years old and have been interested in creatine and other supplements like this. I have researched many of these supplements and heard different opionions from everyone. As for the shortness of breath, I have had a symptom like that for a while. When I was 13, I went to the doctor to see what it was and he said it had something to do with my rapid growing. I still have this problem and yawn often to get a deep breath. I haven't noticed a difference since taking creatine.

As for taking the supplement, I usually cycle it 4 weeks on and 1 week off. It seems to work, causing my muscles to feel like a balloon. They get larger and reach a max, then when I'm off the creatine, they go down a little. When I'm back on it, they get a little larger than before because your muscles are overflowing with creatine. Drinking lots of water is important asi is drinking more milk than usual. Staying away from alcohol is important too because it will dehydrate you and that causes the headaches, cramps and other problems. Glad to help, if I did. I can always use feedback from others on things to do and not to do.



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