OCD and creatine monohydrate

ironrodtk

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Does anyone on this board find that creatine worsens their OCD?

I'm obsessing about it....
 
muscleupcrohn

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I haven’t heard anything about this in any of the mountains of research on creatine. I’ve only heard a few random people on forums mention this, but the research just doesn’t seem to ever mention that as an adverse effect.
 
TheMovement

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Does anyone on this board find that creatine worsens their OCD?

I'm obsessing about it....
Shouldn’t in the least bit. It’s in your head
 
MARK_

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I have never heard anything about this either.
 
u_e_s_i

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Some psychiatrists advise patients with OCD against taking creatine as the extra energy from the creatine can exacerbate OCD
 
toddmuelheim

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You been a member for 8 years and this is your only post? Damn you must have some bad ocd.
 
AntM1564

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Some psychiatrists advise patients with OCD against taking creatine as the extra energy from the creatine can exacerbate OCD
Creatine is a stimulant?

The only thing that is affecting your OCD OP, is your OCD. I am also OCD to an extent, I think most people are, but you sound like you have a serious issue with it. What exactly are you obsessing about?
 

ironrodtk

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I'm aware of the positive research in regards to depression and anxiety but, as mentioned by u_e_s_i, I am not sure increasing brain energy is a good idea in the special case of OCD.

Just trying to separate cause from association.
 
u_e_s_i

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Creatine is a stimulant?

The only thing that is affecting your OCD OP, is your OCD. I am also OCD to an extent, I think most people are, but you sound like you have a serious issue with it. What exactly are you obsessing about?
It's not a stimulant but it increases the amount of ATP in your body which means your body has more energy at its disposal.
The advice I gave is coming directly from a psychiatrist who I spoke with a few days ago. She said the board at her clinic has placed a ban on patients with OCD taking creatine

@OP Have you been taking creatine with a/some stim(s) or nootropics? If you've been using a preworkout containing creatine and stims or nootropics and have noticed adverse effects you should consult your doctor. I'm not aware of all the interactions caused by these classes of substances in people with OCD but I do know that substances which increase the amount of acetyl-choline in the brain (which a lot of nootropics do) and stims are known to make the symptoms of OCD worse. Additionally, be careful not to consume too much glutamine, msg or aspartame. Consumption can increase the amount of glutamate and aspartate in your system which are neural transmitters. Too much could upset your mind. This isn't to say you can't supplement with glutamine. If you have a deficiency, perhaps caused by exertion exercising, you could do with some. Just don't supplement with an excessive amount, read your body
 
muscleupcrohn

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Some psychiatrists advise patients with OCD against taking creatine as the extra energy from the creatine can exacerbate OCD
I'm aware of the positive research in regards to depression and anxiety but, as mentioned by u_e_s_i, I am not sure increasing brain energy is a good idea in the special case of OCD.

Just trying to separate cause from association.
It's not a stimulant but it increases the amount of ATP in your body which means your body has more energy at its disposal.
The advice I gave is coming directly from a psychiatrist who I spoke with a few days ago. She said the board at her clinic has placed a ban on patients with OCD taking creatine

@OP Have you been taking creatine with a/some stim(s) or nootropics? If you've been using a preworkout containing creatine and stims or nootropics and have noticed adverse effects you should consult your doctor. I'm not aware of all the interactions caused by these classes of substances in people with OCD but I do know that substances which increase the amount of acetyl-choline in the brain (which a lot of nootropics do) and stims are known to make the symptoms of OCD worse. Additionally, be careful not to consume too much glutamine, msg or aspartame. Consumption can increase the amount of glutamate and aspartate in your system which are neural transmitters. Too much could upset your mind. This isn't to say you can't supplement with glutamine. If you have a deficiency, perhaps caused by exertion exercising, you could do with some. Just don't supplement with an excessive amount, read your body
I have not seen even a passing mention of this in the hundreds of studies, papers, and meta-analyses that exist on creatine. As for “increasing brain energy,” I wouldn’t be concerned with this at all. In fact, research shows that creatine can improve aspects of cognition, but only in vegetarians/vegans, which are people who don’t get creatine from their diets, suggesting a relative creatine deficiency compared to people that consume meat. If this psychiatrist and her board recommend against it, then follow their advice if you are their patient, as I’m not going to tell you to disobey your doctor(s), but this seems like anecdotal evidence at best, and may perhaps stem from mainstream perceptions (even among doctors) regarding creatine, and the general food advice to stop all supplements when going through a new medical issue, and then since creatine is one of the common supplements being stopped, people will inherently think that it’s what made them feel bad if the issues subside, when it can be any number of other causes, or no supplement cause at all.

Does her board also ban patients with OCD from eating red meat?
 
u_e_s_i

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I have not seen even a passing mention of this in the hundreds of studies, papers, and meta-analyses that exist on creatine. As for “increasing brain energy,” I wouldn’t be concerned with this at all. In fact, research shows that creatine can improve aspects of cognition, but only in vegetarians/vegans, which are people who don’t get creatine from their diets, suggesting a relative creatine deficiency compared to people that consume meat. If this psychiatrist and her board recommend against it, then follow their advice if you are their patient, as I’m not going to tell you to disobey your doctor(s), but this seems like anecdotal evidence at best, and may perhaps stem from mainstream perceptions (even among doctors) regarding creatine, and the general food advice to stop all supplements when going through a new medical issue, and then since creatine is one of the common supplements being stopped, people will inherently think that it’s what made them feel bad if the issues subside, when it can be any number of other causes, or no supplement cause at all.

Does her board also ban patients with OCD from eating red meat?
I get the feeling there's not a single study looking into what effect creatine supplementation has on people with OCD and any psychology related study likely supplements people with cognitive functions which are happening too slowly.
Given that most studies involving creatine are only interested in its effect on physical performance I don't think a paper would even bother to mention that 1 dude in a 50 person sample said he felt he didn't react well mentally to the supplementation. In such an event the researchers would either replace him with someone else or take his physical performance readings and tell him to speak with his psychologist. In a paper looking into creatine'a effect on physical performance the researchers wouldn't bother to mention an individual psychological observation.

Yes, creatine can improve certain aspects of cognition but people with OCD have certain mental functions which are too active. Further increasing aspects of cognition in people who's brains are running too fast in some aspects is bad
 
muscleupcrohn

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I get the feeling there's not a single study looking into what effect creatine supplementation has on people with OCD. Given that most studies involving creatine are only interested in its effect on physical performance I don't think a paper would even bother to mention that 1 dude in a 50 person sample said he felt he didn't react well mentally to the supplementation. In such an event the researchers would either replace him with someone else or take his physical performance readings and tell him to speak with his psychologist. In a paper looking into creatine'a effect on physical performance the researchers wouldn't bother to mention an individual psychological observation.

Yes, creatine can improve certain aspects of cognition but people with OCD have certain mental functions which are too active. Further increasing aspects of cognition in people who's brains are running too fast in some aspects is bad
If OCD type symptoms was even remotely an uncommon occurrence with creatine use, then surely it would have come up as an adverse effect in at least one study. Many studies will note adverse effects that subjects experienced, even if they weren’t “looking for them” or “testing for them.” If subjects complained that they were having adverse psychological effects, it’s very possible that these would be noted in the studies, even if the purpose of the study was to evaluate physical parameters. If this sort of adverse effect was observed, the researchers would be irresponsible to just ignore and not note it because it’s a psychological adverse effect and they were evaluating physical parameters. My point about improving cognition was actually to say that creatine supplementation doesn’t actually possess nootropic effects in people who eat meat, but only in vegetarians/vegans. Cognitive effects don’t seem to be significant in people who eat meat, which is most people, as they get sufficient creatine to optimize cognition via their diet. This makes this whole “creatine causing/worsening OCD” even less likely unless OP is a vegetarian/vegan.

Answer my other question please. Does her board prohibit people with OCD from eating red meat?

Disclaimer: I’m not a doctor, listen to your doctor if they tell you something, even if I don’t agree with it, because I’m not your doctor.
 
u_e_s_i

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If OCD type symptoms was even remotely an uncommon occurrence with creatine use, then surely it would have come up as an adverse effect in at least one study. Many studies will note adverse effects that subjects experienced, even if they weren’t “looking for them” or “testing for them.” If subjects complained that they were having adverse psychological effects, it’s very possible that these would be noted in the studies, even if the purpose of the study was to evaluate physical parameters. If this sort of adverse effect was observed, the researchers would be irresponsible to just ignore and not note it because it’s a psychological adverse effect and they were evaluating physical parameters. My point about improving cognition was actually to say that creatine supplementation doesn’t actually possess nootropic effects in people who eat meat, but only in vegetarians/vegans. Cognitive effects don’t seem to be significant in people who eat meat, which is most people, as they get sufficient creatine to optimize cognition via their diet. This makes this whole “creatine causing/worsening OCD” even less likely unless OP is a vegetarian/vegan.

Answer my other question please. Does her board prohibit people with OCD from eating red meat?

Disclaimer: I’m not a doctor, listen to your doctor if they tell you something, even if I don’t agree with it, because I’m not your doctor.
Her board doesn't prohibit people from eating red meat

I suffer from OCD myself and I don't experience any problems taking creatine or any nootropic I've tried so far. That said, I do know that when I take creatine with phosphatidylserine, alpha-gpc and amphetam1nes my OCD becomes significantly worse

I'm not saying creatine worsens OCD in all or even most people but it's been noted that it can
 
muscleupcrohn

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Her board doesn't prohibit people from eating red meat

I suffer from OCD myself and I don't experience any problems taking creatine or any nootropic I've tried so far. That said, I do know that when I take creatine with phosphatidylserine, alpha-gpc and amphetam1nes my OCD becomes significantly worse

I'm not saying creatine worsens OCD in all or even most people but it's been noted that it can
Red meat contains creatine though, at pretty solid doses. Even if it’s not usually high enough to provide the full ergogenic effects of creatine supplementation, the fact that supplementation improves cognition in vegans/vegetarians but not in people who eat meat at least suggests that the amount of creatine consumed from eating meat does possess some cognitive effects. If creatine causes these symptoms, shouldn’t people with OCD avoid eating red meat, as it contains creatine?
 
thebigt

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It's not a stimulant but it increases the amount of ATP in your body which means your body has more energy at its disposal.
The advice I gave is coming directly from a psychiatrist who I spoke with a few days ago. She said the board at her clinic has placed a ban on patients with OCD taking creatine

@OP Have you been taking creatine with a/some stim(s) or nootropics? If you've been using a preworkout containing creatine and stims or nootropics and have noticed adverse effects you should consult your doctor. I'm not aware of all the interactions caused by these classes of substances in people with OCD but I do know that substances which increase the amount of acetyl-choline in the brain (which a lot of nootropics do) and stims are known to make the symptoms of OCD worse. Additionally, be careful not to consume too much glutamine, msg or aspartame. Consumption can increase the amount of glutamate and aspartate in your system which are neural transmitters. Too much could upset your mind. This isn't to say you can't supplement with glutamine. If you have a deficiency, perhaps caused by exertion exercising, you could do with some. Just don't supplement with an excessive amount, read your body
I wonder if the board referred to are all female? I won't even consider seeing a female doctor!!!
 

ironrodtk

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Thanks for the insights.

I currently do not take any nootropics or stimulants - that's like throwing fuel on the fire! My OCD has actually improved of late. I am just trying to sort out whether or not stopping creatine was a significant factor. This is relevant to me as I would like to use it in the future and not risk regression.
muscleupcrohn: Red meat, while containing enough creatine for cognitive benefits, perhaps falls below the threshold for aggravating OCD. Most people would never consume enough red meat to match the level of creatine attainable through supplementation. Anyway, right now my OCD levels are at an all-time low and my red meat consumption is fairly high.
 
rascal14

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Her board doesn't prohibit people from eating red meat

I suffer from OCD myself and I don't experience any problems taking creatine or any nootropic I've tried so far. That said, I do know that when I take creatine with phosphatidylserine, alpha-gpc and amphetam1nes my OCD becomes significantly worse

I'm not saying creatine worsens OCD in all or even most people but it's been noted that it can
You don’t get any problems taking creatine and nootropics, but then proceed to say you get problems when taking creatine with nootropics and amphetamines? What?
 
u_e_s_i

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Red meat contains creatine though, at pretty solid doses. Even if it’s not usually high enough to provide the full ergogenic effects of creatine supplementation, the fact that supplementation improves cognition in vegans/vegetarians but not in people who eat meat at least suggests that the amount of creatine consumed from eating meat does possess some cognitive effects. If creatine causes these symptoms, shouldn’t people with OCD avoid eating red meat, as it contains creatine?

As you and OP said, eating red meat doesn't usually elicit the full ergogenic benefits of creatine, else there'd be no need for people who eat a lot of red meat to supplement.
Individual tolerances come into question. I have OCD and have been supplementing with 6g a day without any noticeable adverse effects.
You raise an interesting point tho and I wondered whether more creatine sensitive individuals with OCD would benefit from not eating red meat. Although, if as you mentioned, vegetarians can experience somewhat impaired cognitive function as a result of not eating red meat, perhaps consuming the amount of creatine in red meat is something humans have evolved to benefit / coincidentally benefit from. A similar example would be like how humans benefit from the omega-3s acquired from consuming fish such as salmon, or the CLA in beef


You don’t get any problems taking creatine and nootropics, but then proceed to say you get problems when taking creatine with nootropics and amphetamines? What?

Just saying that sometimes it comes down to whether or not you're combining certain substances


@OP supplementing with theanine standalone could be beneficial.
It's famously good for augmenting caffeine but you'd be doing that at your own risk
 
u_e_s_i

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I wonder if the board referred to are all female? I won't even consider seeing a female doctor!!!
The board's predominantly male
The incidence of this may not be all that high but they've monitored a lot of people with OCD
 
cheftepesh1

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Does anyone on this board find that creatine worsens their OCD?

I'm obsessing about it....
This kind of makes sense if your OCD
 
LiveToLift

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Interesting info in here and I'm now feeling slightly OCD about my creatine use.
 
thebigt

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Interesting info in here and I'm now feeling slightly OCD about my creatine use.
dang...now I'm feeling ocd about your creatine use, lol.
 

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Red meat contains creatine though, at pretty solid doses. Even if it’s not usually high enough to provide the full ergogenic effects of creatine supplementation, the fact that supplementation improves cognition in vegans/vegetarians but not in people who eat meat at least suggests that the amount of creatine consumed from eating meat does possess some cognitive effects. If creatine causes these symptoms, shouldn’t people with OCD avoid eating red meat, as it contains creatine?
When I am on creatine I have very bad Ocd
 

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