Creatine helped, maybe. But...

[Wilderbessy]

Ok so...first of all, I know, creatine shouldn't give you energy and I'm betting that people will automatically assume it was placebo. But, it wasn't. Yup. It isn't a placebo. Or it could be a coincidence. We'll see.

I was unaware that I was taking it at all but mysteriously on a few of the days where I had a friend's breakfast smoothie, later on in the day, I felt strong and...virile and I could think. I didn't feel lethargic, for some reason for the first and only time since I had 4 energetic days (last year), by the end of the day I didn't feel totally busted and run down. I felt like my brain fog was gone and my extremities weren't icy cold. Even my numb toe stopped being numb which is quite bizarre. By the end of the day I felt...sleepy but not horrible, like usual--this is usually out of the question for me. I usually wake up feeling messed up. People tell me I look like I'm dying all the time. I go walking with my dormmates and they get shocked because they say I suddenly get pale and ghoulish. I personally feel strained; my eyes become painful and pressured, and the feeling in my limbs starts fading. I become extremely cold and weak feeling. "OI symptoms" I suppose. Of course I push through it, but it is rather depressing having every walk feel so gross. I recall that I felt worse when I was fat, but I didn't expect to feel this bad.

I looked at my journal and offhandedly mentioned that I felt better on certain day--and my friend said that those were their planned days for the creatine, when they go work out.

I wrote down the changed condition in my journal. I had my friend's smoothies several times before but never felt such an effort. I recorded thus. And, the days I had felt better...5...all had the creatine. And no other did.

I kinda doubt it's very meaningful but...I kinda also looked up more about it. Mechanically it doesn't really make much sense for it to give you energy but I found that it does seem to do something for...traumatic brain injury patients (*gasps*), hypoxia (basically inadequate oxygen to certain regions), and stuff like sleep deprivation.

I do get 7+ hours a day, etc., and...I'm sure I don't have TBI. But, I do have fairly bad asthma...basically very low lung capacity (that of a 10 year old with asthma as my doc said), and I seem to have a ton of difficulty breathing through my nose. Did make me wonder somewhat.

What's your take on this? Is it just a wonderful coincidence? Can creatine function to help people like me or no?

For reference my average day feels...4/10 not horrible, but on the alleged creatine days, 7.5/10 easily. Even near the end of the day. It was bizarre.

 

[YippeeKi YOW !!]

I kinda doubt it's very meaningful but...

It seems that with all the hard-to-dismiss evidence, it can't be dismissed as " ....doubt that it's very meaningful ...". There definitely seems to be some pretty hard evidence that it does something ... Creatine is used my almost all serious work-out enthusiasts for its ability to cut the bad side effects of those workouts. There's obviously a connect of some sort.

What's your take on this? Is it just a wonderful coincidence? Can creatine function to help people like me or no?

I have no idea if creatine can function that way statistically @Wilderbessy, but in your case, it seems to. Have you pushed the experiment a little further, by, say, calculating how much creatine was in their smoothies, what portion of that you consumed on those days when you shared them, and what else might have been in them that could have either 1) Potentiated the creatine, or 2) Been the actual source of the benefits you're experiencing?

And then, try taking the same amount of creatine in supplemental form on your own and seeing what the result is.

But do try to find out the entire constituents of their magical smoothies. Maybe just duplicating that would be a better way to go.

And be ready for the infamous "What worked then may either stop working suddenly now, or turn on me like a mountain lion and rip out my gizzards" effect. We've all experienced it, and survived to fight another day

Either way, good luck. It always feels good to find something that helps, no matter for how long or for what odd and difficult to calibrate reasons. It means that improvement is possible, you just have to keep plucking at the threads til you unravel the pattern of symptoms somehow.

 

[lafarfelue]

I'm pretty sure I've read about a few people who benefit from creatine on these forums. Have you run a search of the forums for other discussions about it?

The basic gist is that it helps direct water and nutrients to muscles, which is exactly what many PwME and many with OI/POTS need. If that is how creatine functions in the body, then it stands to reason there'd be less stress on cognitive function (outside of any direct effects of creatine on cognition).

Random hypothesis following: As for direct effects, if creatine aids cells in absorbing nutrients and water, then that may also help the brain? I haven't researched it enough yet, though it's been on my list of things to try for a while now.

An experiment worth following, whatever it is! If it helps, it helps.

 

[Seven7]

I don’t understand why you say it why it would work?! Anything mito cocktails or body builder use for energy, might help ME so makes total sense like = coq10, dribose, l cartinine.... I always say the biggest bang for the money is go for the mito supplements!!!

 

[Pyrrhus]

Yes, creatine can give you some immediate energy and other benefits, but you may want to be careful with it.

Creatine increases the amount of phosphocreatine in the cell. Phosphocreatine is the energy shuttle between the mitochondria and other parts of the cell, and phosphocreatine functions to maintain high ATP levels. So yes, it makes perfect sense that creatine would boost energy capacity.

Creatine biosynthesis is also one of the two greatest consumers of methyl groups in the body. Supplementing with creatine frees up a lot of methyl groups that otherwise would have been consumed in the manufacture of creatine. So supplementing with creatine acts as an indirect booster of methylation capacity.

Now for the downside. Creatine supplementation can come with the same initial start-up effects as other boosters of methylation capacity, along with some other start-up effects. Diarrhea, nausea, headaches, irritability, painful cramps, etc. The good news is that these effects seem to be temporary and might be alleviated with lots of liquids, extra potassium, and by increasing the dosage very slowly.

Here is what worked for me:
1) First, I started taking B vitamins, electrolytes, magnesium & calcium before starting creatine.
2) Then I started with one dose of 500mg creatine, taken with food and water, and then I waited a week. In the second week, I took the 500mg dose on Monday and Friday. In the third week, I took the 500mg dose on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. In the fourth week, I took the 500mg dose every day. In the fifth week, I had no more start-up effects.
3) Then, I repeated step 2) to slowly increase my daily dose from 500mg to 1000mg. (half in morning, half at night). I had to take it with food and water to avoid stomach cramping, bloating, or nausea.
4) I had to drink lots of juice and potassium-rich foods while I was on creatine!

Hope this helps.

 

[YippeeKi YOW !!]

Hope this helps.

@Pyrrhus
Helps enormously !!! Excellent post, and thank you so much. I'm tying to work up the courage to try creatine, may take awhile .....

 

[Hd-x]

Now for the downside. Creatine supplementation comes with the same initial start-up effects as other boosters of methylation capacity, along with some other start-up effects.
Diarrhea, nausea, headaches, irritability, painful cramps, etc.

Such side effects mostly still occur with formulas like Monohydrate, HCL and so on.
Esters like Tri-Creatinorotate, Creatin(Ethyl)malate or Creatinglycerolphosphate are gentle for the stomach, you will usually not get any Diarrhea, headache, cramps or whatever so. Such esters also result in less water retention and
you will not look that bloated like with Monohydrate.
To get the maximum synergetic effects out off it, you may combine Creatine with ß-Alanin, L-Glutamine and so on.

There are also few products out there which combine Creatinglycerolphosphate with L-Carnitine + ALA + Astragin (Astragalus / Panax Notoginseng). I found it somewhat usefull, but most off these supps are expensive.

 

[Wilderbessy]

Ok, thanks for the feedback guys! It's encouraging to know that there's some threads of meaning to be found here.

Yesterday I ended up going to the doctor for more simple things and, like I had suspected, seems like my nose breathing is severely compromised--and I will see an ENT soon. I don't want to rely on an endless string of supplements to get better, I hope I will be able to make baseline me stronger. But creatine seems worth it.

My doctor also referred me to a GI guy and I sincerely hope it goes through, as I really want to get more info.

Also wanted to note cuz of what @Hd-x said, I actually did add in Glutamine into my morning coffee for those days which...wow, I didn't know could have helped too. I thought I was just helping my GI system!

I still haven't exactly gotten any of those nasty side effects. I think the one time I reacted poorly to a supplement it was to Jarrow's B-right vitamin--it was a severe reaction, pretty terrifying, and oddly my numb toe started hurting horrifically which is such a stupid detail, not something I'd want to bring up to anybody normally.

 

[Hd-x]

Imo, still a small subset off CFS may take benefits from things like creatine. If you are one off them ( I am too ) and able to do some exercises, it might be worth to check out also other supplements like ß-Alanin, L-Citrulline, HMB, L-Carnitine, Q10, D-Ribose, MSP or so. Obvisously, it may not help, otherwise (most off) those supplements are cheap and a try out didnt cost a lot.
L-Glutamine did btw. not only fix "leaky gut", it also helps on muscle regeneration.