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Any long term creatine HCL users out there?

john10960

Member
Hi all, question is as title states.

just wondering if any long term creatine hcl users out there? I ask mainly in regards to any possible issues experienced in regards to long term safety etc.

thanks!
 
none for me .. and know couple of other people who have been on for over 8+months with no issues.
 
I switched from monohydrate about 2 years ago. The main thing I would say is that it works slower, meaning that when I took mono, I would blow up in a week and look like I packed on 10lbs and helped in the last 1-2 reps. I would cycle on and off because I tended to always look a little puffy and after a week the water would drop. I don't get that on HCL, no puffiness or "full" feeling, but I had to take it at recommended dose (~1g day) and it took 2-3 weeks to see similar benefit.

No issues that I can report on.
 
Ditto.. no issues for me, I've long since let go of the "monohydrate bloat" take Creatine HCL pretty daily sometimes, twice with hydration and preworkout drinks. It's been good 2-3 years or more, never looked back at the mono.

I don't think HCL form works slower, I think you'll just not have the water retention side like mono has.
 
PFlowReborn said:
Ditto.. no issues for me, I've long since let go of the "monohydrate bloat" take Creatine HCL pretty daily sometimes, twice with hydration and preworkout drinks. It's been good 2-3 years or more, never looked back at the mono.

I don't think HCL form works slower, I think you'll just not have the water retention side like mono has.
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I'm basing it on the ability to push the additional reps in working sets.
 
kisaj said:
I'm basing it on the ability to push the additional reps in working sets.
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Ahh yeah I can't say I tracked creatine HCL vs mono for any difference in recovery or performance between the two.. I assumed the benefits would be equal here, sans the extra stomach discomfort, water retention of the monohydrate. Probably need a study to really tell.
 
Creatine HCI doesn't work slower than Creatine Monohydrate; it just doesn't come along with the bloating and fluid retention that regular monohydrate does. The first big fullness and bump that some get with monohydrate is related to the fluid retention, so people won't see that with HCI, but that's a good thing for those looking to avoid the fluid retention with it.

There should be nothing that would make HCI any less safe than monohydrate for long term use.
 
sns8778 said:
Creatine HCI doesn't work slower than Creatine Monohydrate; it just doesn't come along with the bloating and fluid retention that regular monohydrate does. The first big fullness and bump that some get with monohydrate is related to the fluid retention, so people won't see that with HCI, but that's a good thing for those looking to avoid the fluid retention with it.

There should be nothing that would make HCI any less safe than monohydrate for long term use.
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Ordered me some SNS Creatine HCL Raspberry can't wait! Done with Mono
 
ThaReal Big said:
Ordered me some SNS Creatine HCL Raspberry can't wait! Done with Mono
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I think you'll really enjoy it. The tastes are awesome. The Blue Raspberry Popsicle flavor is something I wish I could sip on all day. All of the flavors are good, but I'm really loving the Blue Raspberry Popsicle and Pink Grapefruit.
 
I can't think of any negatives. Personally, I like it most in my pre-workout. It enhances the pump from the AAKG and also works great with the dextrose for energy.
 
Thanks for all the replies guys. Main reason I asked is due to lack of long term studies that mono has.

appreciate it!
 
ThaReal Big said:
Ordered me some SNS Creatine HCL Raspberry can't wait! Done with Mono
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great choice .. youll never go back to mono lol unless it becomes scarce lol
 
john10960 said:
Thanks for all the replies guys. Main reason I asked is due to lack of long term studies that mono has.

appreciate it!
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no worries, yeah mono will forever be the one with most studies for longest time that was the only thing available back in the days.
 
I’ve been a ‘mono guy’ for years. Do those that transitioned over notice a difference in using the two?
 
AndroRage said:
I’ve been a ‘mono guy’ for years. Do those that transitioned over notice a difference in using the two?
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Monohydrate bloats me terribly. HCI doesn't.
 
AndroRage said:
Bit out of the loop, is the SNS/CEL powdered creatine/daily ergogenic product been released yet mate?
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We have Creatine HCI powder and capsules available; and Magnesium Creatine Chelate powder will be back in stock soon.

Daily Gains hasn't been released yet. The formula is finalized and it will be moving to production soon, we've just been focused on increasing inventory levels of a lot of existing sku's, launching some new things that were ahead and it, and a part of it was also waiting for the raw material commodity prices to stabilize some because some of the raws that we are using in it had spiked to prices of up to 6x their normal costs. So, that was kind of an unforeseen factor that bumped it back some.
 
sns8778 said:
We have Creatine HCI powder and capsules available; and Magnesium Creatine Chelate powder will be back in stock soon.

Daily Gains hasn't been released yet. The formula is finalized and it will be moving to production soon, we've just been focused on increasing inventory levels of a lot of existing sku's, launching some new things that were ahead and it, and a part of it was also waiting for the raw material commodity prices to stabilize some because some of the raws that we are using in it had spiked to prices of up to 6x their normal costs. So, that was kind of an unforeseen factor that bumped it back some.
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Thanks for the detailed response. I’ll keep an eye out for the Daily Gains introductory thread and the profile release.
yeh that makes sense, I know alot of raws have went up so makes sense from business sense
 
Darkhorse192 said:
creapure is all i use as well
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I'll save you the trouble on communicating with him - check his post history.

Creatine Monohydrate is fine for the people that can use it without feeling bloated and having stomach upset from it, but Creatine HCI is great for people that can't.
 
He gone
 
Donut Luvr said:
What about Kre-Alkalyn?
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i only took it couple of times .. i was way too young and didnt knew much.

i dont think its a scam .. i do think it works ( maybe user dependent ) but i def dont think it works well as mono, hcl, mcc , creatine anhydrous .. atleast for me.

ill take hcl + mcc over anything
 
GQdaLEGEND said:
i only took it couple of times .. i was way too young and didnt knew much.

i dont think its a scam .. i do think it works ( maybe user dependent ) but i def dont think it works well as mono, hcl, mcc , creatine anhydrous .. atleast for me.

ill take hcl + mcc over anything
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Scam probably isn’t the right word. But it’s supposed to be something like 97% creatine mono, which leave very little room for anything alkaline. The pH difference will more than likely be negligible. I also read that creatine is actually more stable at pH 2 than at 4-5, so if it does do anything, it actually could potentially break down faster.

But yeah, overrated.
 
I don't see the need to go to creatine hcl... monohydrate has the most research backing it as is the most consistently demonstrated-effective (and wallet-friendly) form of creatine. I'm skeptical of the hype surrounding creatine HCl that you can get the same effects with a much smaller dose
 
Robert5891 said:
I don't see the need to go to creatine hcl... monohydrate has the most research backing it as is the most consistently demonstrated-effective (and wallet-friendly) form of creatine. I'm skeptical of the hype surrounding creatine HCl that you can get the same effects with a much smaller dose
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Most of us that use Creatine HCI use it because we either cannot or do not want to take Creatine Monohydrate because it can cause bloating/fluid retention &/or stomach upset in some people.

In my case, Creatine Monohydrate bloats me so badly that I am miserable and it looks like I swallowed a Volkswagen Bug (in the words of my daughter haha).

In some people's case, like @Hyde for example, they're unable to take Creatine Monohydrate because it causes stomach discomfort; I mention him specifically because you said you're skeptical, and he is a very well respected member and has posted on several occasions about being happy to finally be able to use creatine again and our Creatine HCI not hurting his stomach.

Creatine Monohydrate is fine to use for people that can use it and that don't mind the fluid retention from it, but Creatine HCI is a great option for the rest of us.

As far as cost, our Creatine HCI powder is 34.99 (28.99 on some retailer sites on sale) for 150 servings and most people use 2 scoops per day, some use 4 scoops per day - so that's less than .50 cents per day, so its extremely cost effective and all of the flavors taste great - Blue Raspberry Popsicle, Lemon Lime, Pink Grapefruit, and Watermelon.

Another nice aspect of Creatine HCI is that for those that prefer capsules, we make Creatine HCI caps and there are Creatine Mono capsules out there, but you have to take a bunch to equal the daily dosage for those.
 
Robert5891 said:
I don't see the need to go to creatine hcl... monohydrate has the most research backing it as is the most consistently demonstrated-effective (and wallet-friendly) form of creatine. I'm skeptical of the hype surrounding creatine HCl that you can get the same effects with a much smaller dose
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I was in the same boat as you. I said the same thing. And for anyone who tolerates monohydrate fine, then yes, I’d recommend it. The absorption is over 90%, it’s most cost effective, and most researched.

But I’ve seen way too many reports of people getting bloating from it. So many. It simply can’t be coincidence. So, not everyone can tolerate it, and those people should look for a different source.

Now, I think originally people went overboard trying to microdose creatine HCl. I think people should still take at least a gram, but probably 2-3, which is honestly probably enough monohydrate for most people as well. People usually overdo mono, and used to underdo HCl. I don’t understand why there’s less bloating, but I can say for sure that HCl is more soluble than mono, which could be part of it. Whatever it is, it works better for some people.
 
sns8778 said:
Most of us that use Creatine HCI use it because we either cannot or do not want to take Creatine Monohydrate because it can cause bloating/fluid retention &/or stomach upset in some people.

In my case, Creatine Monohydrate bloats me so badly that I am miserable and it looks like I swallowed a Volkswagen Bug (in the words of my daughter haha).

In some people's case, like @Hyde for example, they're unable to take Creatine Monohydrate because it causes stomach discomfort; I mention him specifically because you said you're skeptical, and he is a very well respected member and has posted on several occasions about being happy to finally be able to use creatine again and our Creatine HCI not hurting his stomach.

Creatine Monohydrate is fine to use for people that can use it and that don't mind the fluid retention from it, but Creatine HCI is a great option for the rest of us.

As far as cost, our Creatine HCI powder is 34.99 (28.99 on some retailer sites on sale) for 150 servings and most people use 2 scoops per day, some use 4 scoops per day - so that's less than .50 cents per day, so its extremely cost effective and all of the flavors taste great - Blue Raspberry Popsicle, Lemon Lime, Pink Grapefruit, and Watermelon.

Another nice aspect of Creatine HCI is that for those that prefer capsules, we make Creatine HCI caps and there are Creatine Mono capsules out there, but you have to take a bunch to equal the daily dosage for those.
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An excellent point.

I understand that some individuals aren't able to tolerate creatine mono, but I wonder if it would be possible to consume a slightly smaller dose (for example 3g vs 5g) and avoid the GI upset. Over the long-term, lower doses will result in the same benefits as larger doses in the short term.

SNS always has offered affordable options, and I remember trying the Lemon-Lime Creatine HCl many years back (circa 2016/2017) and the flavor was fantastic.

My skepticism of HCl is largely due to the lack of research on it. Yes, it has greater water solubility than creatine mono, but why has there been such a dearth of studies in recent years following the initial batch of studies on it?

If it works for a particular individual that doesn't jive with creatine mono, then I think that's great. However, you obtain your creatine is more important than the particular form, but I'd be curious to see how smaller doses of mono work, even spread across the day.
 
Robert5891 said:
An excellent point.

I understand that some individuals aren't able to tolerate creatine mono, but I wonder if it would be possible to consume a slightly smaller dose (for example 3g vs 5g) and avoid the GI upset. Over the long-term, lower doses will result in the same benefits as larger doses in the short term.

SNS always has offered affordable options, and I remember trying the Lemon-Lime Creatine HCl many years back (circa 2016/2017) and the flavor was fantastic.

My skepticism of HCl is largely due to the lack of research on it. Yes, it has greater water solubility than creatine mono, but why has there been such a dearth of studies in recent years following the initial batch of studies on it?

If it works for a particular individual that doesn't jive with creatine mono, then I think that's great. However, you obtain your creatine is more important than the particular form, but I'd be curious to see how smaller doses of mono work, even spread across the day.
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For those of us that monohydrate bothers, it usually happens no matter what the dosage is.

As an example, I know that I myself won't use anything with creatine monohydrate in it at all, not even small amounts. A good example is that the small amounts that are in a couple of common energy drinks, even amounts that small bother me and I won't drink those brands because of it.

There's no reason for people like us to make ourselves miserable or even potentially miserable even trying to, when there are great options like Creatine HCI or Magnesium Creatine Chelate that we can take comfortably and get great results from without having to worry about any stomach discomfort or bloating.

You mentioned the lack of research, but that could be said of advanced forms of almost anything. Studies are almost always done on the most basic forms of something, and then that data also then would typically apply to advanced forms.

Think about it like this - the research on creatine is what it is, and studies on monohydrate do apply to other forms of creatine because the results of those studies are on creatine itself. All the advanced forms are doing is providing results at lower dosage and avoiding fluid retention and stomach discomfort in people that can't take the regular form.

I'm not trying to sway people one way or the other - heck, we're going to likely be bringing back creatine monohydrate powder into our lineup because I've had some retailers ask us to - BUT that doesn't change the fact that I wouldn't use it myself because of how it affects me. But it does show perspective that our goal is to provide options to people so that they can take the form that best suits their individual needs, and there are definitely those of us that prefer Creatine HCI &/or Magnesium Creatine Chelate.
 
Mono doesn’t bother me at all but I like the small scoop size of Hcl. I also think it tastes less “chalky”.
 
Plain and simple, mono began bothering my gut with routine use - it got to a point that whenever I dosed it, I would bloat very quickly and then have bowel movements that were very obviously causing me to mal-absorb concurrently digesting food. Eventually, the same thing happened to my wife. We both dropped mono with no replacement for a long time.

When we added HCL in eventually, her at 1.5g daily & myself at 3g, we both very immediately noticed strength bumps. We are seasoned strength athletes assessing objectively - either the weights get bigger or they don’t, and they did.

Regarding dosing monohydrate at lower amounts: I never have less than 100lbs of lean mass on Inbody scan anymore - this is much higher than the average individual in creatine studies. Using less than 5g mono daily doesn’t make any sense for me - if anything, having more skeletal muscle means larger than average storage capacity (same as glycogen reserves). A person with excess unnatural skeletal muscle needs greater intake to maintain saturation, not less.
 
sns8778 said:
Most of us that use Creatine HCI use it because we either cannot or do not want to take Creatine Monohydrate because it can cause bloating/fluid retention &/or stomach upset in some people.

In my case, Creatine Monohydrate bloats me so badly that I am miserable and it looks like I swallowed a Volkswagen Bug (in the words of my daughter haha).

In some people's case, like @Hyde for example, they're unable to take Creatine Monohydrate because it causes stomach discomfort; I mention him specifically because you said you're skeptical, and he is a very well respected member and has posted on several occasions about being happy to finally be able to use creatine again and our Creatine HCI not hurting his stomach.

Creatine Monohydrate is fine to use for people that can use it and that don't mind the fluid retention from it, but Creatine HCI is a great option for the rest of us.

As far as cost, our Creatine HCI powder is 34.99 (28.99 on some retailer sites on sale) for 150 servings and most people use 2 scoops per day, some use 4 scoops per day - so that's less than .50 cents per day, so its extremely cost effective and all of the flavors taste great - Blue Raspberry Popsicle, Lemon Lime, Pink Grapefruit, and Watermelon.

Another nice aspect of Creatine HCI is that for those that prefer capsules, we make Creatine HCI caps and there are Creatine Mono capsules out there, but you have to take a bunch to equal the daily dosage for those.
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any benefit to higher dose at 4 vs 2? body weight dependent? loading or on cycle or any considerations like that?
 
clevelandsae said:
any benefit to higher dose at 4 vs 2? body weight dependent? loading or on cycle or any considerations like that?
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We base the directions on body-weight and training intensity.

I personally go with the 4 scoop per day dosing myself - 2 scoops twice per day. I'm between 200 and 205.
 
Power_Builder said:
Is Creatine HCI safe? Probably. Effective? Not by a long shot. I have used German Creapure Creatine Monohydrate for many years and I gave Creatine HCL a shot. Two weeks into the Creatine HCL I knew it was pretty much useless. The explosive gym performance and muscle fullness I get from Mono were non-existent with HCL. I walked out of the gym, ordered some Mono and paid extra for Next Day Delivery
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I’m sure your ban is imminent, don’t you have better things to do than continuously make troll accounts and act a fool? What a sad life you lead
 
sns8778 said:
I think you'll really enjoy it. The tastes are awesome. The Blue Raspberry Popsicle flavor is something I wish I could sip on all day. All of the flavors are good, but I'm really loving the Blue Raspberry Popsicle and Pink Grapefruit.
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I’m not a grapefruit fan at all, but the Pink Grapefruit flavored HCI is awesome. Tastes like a citrus juice. I drink it on crushed ice.
 
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sammpedd88 said:
I’m not a grapefruit fan at all, but the Pink Grapefruit flavored HCI is awesome. Tastes like a citrus juice. I drink it on crushed ice.
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I love the Pink Grapefruit flavor myself. Extremely refreshing. That's a good idea with the crushed ice.
 
sammpedd88 said:
Yes…refreshing is a good describer. I think it was @Hyde that said he wasn’t a grapefruit fan either but loves the Pink Grapefruit flavored HCL.
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Yep, tastes like white Monster ultra. I have been using ATP Elite daily, and when I train I throw a scoop of the grapefruit flavored HCL powder into my orange Karbolyn for some extra. Citrus is refreshing when you’re sweating your ass off!
 
Hyde said:
Yep, tastes like white Monster ultra. I have been using ATP Elite daily, and when I train I throw a scoop of the grapefruit flavored HCL powder into my orange Karbolyn for some extra. Citrus is refreshing when you’re sweating your ass off!
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How’s the ATP Elite treating you?
 
Hyde said:
Great, on bottle 3 at least. It’s a good ergogenic product and you get your creatine in very conveniently as well.
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Ive been contemplating taking it. I just finished of my Anabolic XT and Prime, so I may pull the trigger and try the ATP Elite out.
 
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