I wanted to check the dosages they used. Looks like the review includes studies ranging from 5g/day to 20-25g/day.

(Typical dosage you'll see for daily use is 5 grams)

Just in case anyone is thinking about trying it: 25g seems pretty high. It’s worth it to review what that means for the rest of your body before starting this regime. Kidneys are really useful organs to have working.

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ai_fry_ur_brain 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

This is a myth, its not bad for your kidneys. The reason this gets spread is because you will have higher levels of creatine in your urine if your Doctor tests your urine for kidney function, which indicates kidney disease.

However, If you reveal to that doctor that you're supplementing Creatine it will not be concern them.

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vidarh an hour ago | parent | next [-]

I've even had doctors unaware that the regular eGFR tests needs to be adjusted for body mass to be remotely accurate if you're bigger than average - e.g. lifting weights or obese. Couple that with creatine and you get some "fun" moments when your doctor tries to gently break to you how messed up they think your kidneys are. The first time I had that I'd warned my doctor ahead of time to expect elevated creatinine, and he still freaked out.

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chakintosh an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Creatinine not Creatine

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laszlojamf an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-]

This has been my understand as well. I have CKD and my doctors have always been chill about it as long as I stop taking it about a week before having blood work done.

EDIT: I don't do 25g though... sounds like a lot...

	▲	vidarh an hour ago \| parent [-]
		You're lucky your doctor is aware of it. I've had several who did not understand, and insisted creatine must be dangerous if it elevated creatinine levels, and/or didn't understand the effects.

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Insanity an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-]

At the risk of sounding stupid. Doesn’t this mean it would mask actual kidney disease? So you’d be ignoring potential warning signs.

	▲	radley 39 minutes ago \| parent \| next [-]
		IF you tell your doc, they can adjust their interpretation of the test. Edit: see comment below (i.e. better to stop taking creatine at least a week before a test).
	▲	42 minutes ago \| parent \| prev \| next [-]
		[deleted]
	▲	llm_nerd 31 minutes ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		There is a much more accurate test called Cystatin C that can be used instead, and it isn't subject to being thrown off by creatine, muscle mass, etc.

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s3graham an hour ago | parent | prev [-]

creatinine != creatine

	▲	llm_nerd an hour ago \| parent [-]
		It's pretty clear they understand that. Creatinine is, however, the waste product of creatine. So the more creatine you consume, the more creatinine is in and discharged from your system. Precisely and correctly as they said, normal eGFR presumes average musculature and average creatine consumption. If either of these out of the norm, eGFR becomes inaccurate and potentially flagging false positives for damage. Creatinine, the waste product of creatine, raises in a way that can get confused with kidney damage, which is precisely how the confusion about it causing kidney damage or being bad if you have a compromised kidney came about. In some studies, people with CKD actually improved with creatine supplementation, though notably this was not people with PKD where it could increase cyst growth.

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vidarh an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I'm not aware of any evidence that creatine harms the kidneys if your kidney function is remotely normal. You'd probably want to check with your doctor if your kidney function is already compromised.

Creatine supplementation will freak out a lot of doctors if they're not warned of it ahead of time, though, and sometimes you'll even need to explain to them that they will see elevated levels of creatinine on the tests and it won't be an accurate predictor of kidney function.

If you're supplementing with creatine and need your kidneys tested it's easiest to stop a couple of weeks before, or ask for a Cystatin C test and make sure they use the relevant adjustments for body mass as well if you e.g. lift weights - I've more than once had doctors imply they were worried I had kidney disease because they were entirely unaware of the effects both creatine and large body pass has on the regular tests.

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zug_zug an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I can second this, do NOT start at 25g of creatine. If you're too lazy to read the literature a friendly AI tool will summarize it.

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cobolcomesback an hour ago | parent | next [-]

Most guidance I’ve seen says to start with a loading phase of 25-30g per day for several days, then go down to 5g per day maintenance.

	▲	basch 7 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		Per day being a key part of that. 30g at once is going to give a good chunk of people pretty severe cramping or a trip to the bathroom.

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jjulius an hour ago | parent | prev [-]

If you're too lazy to read the literature, then just don't take it.

Going to something that frequently hallucinates or misstates things to the point where it's "trust, but verify by reading the source" means you may as well just read the literature you'd have to verify the summary against anyway.

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SoftTalker 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Yes, the labeling does caution against using it if you have kidney disease. Not sure how much of a risk there is if your kidneys are functioning normally. Maintaining good hydration is always a good idea.

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6r17 an hour ago | parent | prev [-]

Hei more than that - as an avid weed consumer - drugs are not dangerous by themselves especially when you don't like them - they are dangerous when you create space for them and get along with them. I like to believe weed is my little "cheat" - but i'd argue that any product is an abuse on a daily basis - so taking creatine once in a while might be fun to try out - but i would warn about anything on the spectrum of "regime" that plan for a daily basis etc... especially as you rightfully justified, without a doctor or an expert being able to know what effect this is going to have on a said person.

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SoftTalker 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I use it as a supplement because I do weightlifting. 5g/day. I did 20g/day for a week once, and didn't notice it made any difference, so I'm back to 5g now. In terms of stuff like memory, mood, etc. I can't say it's made any improvement but the idea that it might be helping prevent decline is nice.

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radial_symmetry 36 minutes ago | parent | next [-]

For lifting you hit a saturation point quickly where your muscles will only hold so much of it. Not sure if there is an equivalent for any brain related effects.

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ai_fry_ur_brain an hour ago | parent | prev [-]

Its changed my life. Im also a long time vegan with MTHFR gene mutations and sleep issues though.

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SoftTalker an hour ago | parent | next [-]

I've heard others say it helps with mood, energy, depression, etc. and if that's the case for some people then great. I don't notice it myself but that's just me. Not everyone has the same body chemistry.

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iwontberude an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-]

That’s a pretty amazing acronym if real

	▲	Insanity an hour ago \| parent [-]
		Say MTHFR one more time, I dare you. Never heard of the acronym though so not sure what the mutation implies.

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throwmeowaway an hour ago | parent | prev [-]

I also have MTHFR gene mutations and sleep issues.

What exactly helped you?

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2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

[deleted]

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piskov an hour ago | parent | prev [-]

High dosage is not for your daily intake

It’s called a loading phase to quickly saturate the tissues i.e for a week or so for someone who never took the creatine. You can absolutely skip this.

I wouldn’t go higher than 10g daily on a regular basis.

I personally take 7.5g for the last couple of years.