Creatine Alternatives?

DerickVonD

DerickVonD

Well-known member
I am very fatiqued right now and I've had about 5g of creatine malate and 6 litres of water. I feel very strange. I've decided to stop taking creatine, it seems to scary to keep taking it. I want to know if there are any alternatives to creatine that doesn't make u retain water. Please let me know.
 
Thats a very broad question...what are you mostly looking for out of a product?
 
Generally i love taking an amino acid product during my lift to help with recovery and endurance. I personally feel Intrabolic is the best but you can look into any quality BCAA/EAA product and decide what you want personally. I would also look into a Beta alanine product.
 
fatigue?....i don't think that's due to creatine... it's not a reported side effect of it as far as i'm aware...

It maybe even due to 6 litres of water. If you're taking that much, potassium (amongst other minerals) in the body may even be getting depleted. That can cause fatigue and even worse, irregular heart rate. 1 gallon or 3.5 - 4 litres of water should be good for your size if you're using creatine.
 
intra aid is better tasting than Intrabolic just mi 2 cents
also try getting more sleep
if uer real sore and tryd sleep and eat the harder u train the more u need to eat
 
BoyFromAus said:
fatigue?....i don't think that's due to creatine... it's not a reported side effect of it as far as i'm aware...

It maybe even due to 6 litres of water. If you're taking that much, potassium (amongst other minerals) in the body may even be getting depleted. That can cause fatigue and even worse, irregular heart rate. 1 gallon or 3.5 - 4 litres of water should be good for your size if you're using creatine.
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Didn't mean drink that much, but the creatine made me thirsty and I kept drinking because I was still thirsty
 
lonewolf77 said:
I am sorry, but i seriously doubt 5g of creatine will make someone drink 6 litres of water.
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well it did and i kept getting headache so I drank more and everytime I went to drink I wound up drinking alot because I was thirsty also. I had 2.25g malate before workout and drank 3 litres then I had 2.25g post workout and it made me thirsty.
 
that's strange.... Creatine never did that to me.... it took 2 - 3 weeks to start worknig for me... but it didn't change my appetite or thirst in anyway. I was taking 5g after workout.
 
I think drinking 6 liters of water that quick is rather dangerous. You can actually die from drinking too much water at once. It's happened in fraternity hazing incidents before.

If you think it's the creatine, you might try Beta Alanine instead. Just don't take more than the recommended dose.
 
Well I'm not going to take anything that make you retain water anymore. Guess I was lucky I had magnesium pills around. Beta Alanine doesn't make you retain water, does it? I just hate having to worry about not drinking enough water and drinking too much water.
 
DerickVonD said:
I am very fatiqued right now and I've had about 5g of creatine malate and 6 litres of water. I feel very strange. I've decided to stop taking creatine, it seems to scary to keep taking it. I want to know if there are any alternatives to creatine that doesn't make u retain water. Please let me know.
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1. Creatine does NOT make you thirsty.
2. Creatine only causes INTRAcellular water retention (i.e. INSIDE the muscles, so you get the 'pumped' look) and NOT extracellular water retention (i.e. outside the muscles, so you look bloated).
3. Drinking 6 litres of water in a day can be too MUCH water, and definitely all at once is VERY dangerous, and you can risk 'drowning' your body.
4. Everything that you have mentioned are not common (or even heard of) 'side effects' of creatine. Being thirsty and getting headaches are actually symptoms of diabetes (not saying that you have diabetes, but do you have any health issues)?
5. Was this a ONCE off problem? Because if it was then I suggest (like everyone else) that it was something ELSE causing this. If it was NOT then would be the time to look at it more seriously.
6. There are many different types of creatine (i.e. creatine monohydrate, creatine ethly ester, creatine malate, etc.). I suggest that you try regular creatine monohydrate and just see how that goes.
 
Guejsn said:
1. Creatine does NOT make you thirsty.
2. Creatine only causes INTRAcellular water retention (i.e. INSIDE the muscles, so you get the 'pumped' look) and NOT extracellular water retention (i.e. outside the muscles, so you look bloated).
3. Drinking 6 litres of water in a day can be too MUCH water, and definitely all at once is VERY dangerous, and you can risk 'drowning' your body.
4. Everything that you have mentioned are not common (or even heard of) 'side effects' of creatine. Being thirsty and getting headaches are actually symptoms of diabetes (not saying that you have diabetes, but do you have any health issues)?
5. Was this a ONCE off problem? Because if it was then I suggest (like everyone else) that it was something ELSE causing this. If it was NOT then would be the time to look at it more seriously.
6. There are many different types of creatine (i.e. creatine monohydrate, creatine ethly ester, creatine malate, etc.). I suggest that you try regular creatine monohydrate and just see how that goes.
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Well I have no problem at ALL when I'm not on the creatine. I had similar problems with mono. In fact I woke up one moring dehydrated and I had mono the night before and I even drank 3 litres of water with the mono and woke up the next moring and was dehydrated had a bad headache piss was yellow and when I drank water I started to shake very bad like I was having a seizure. So me people dumb decided to try malate thinking it might not cause as much problems for me as the mono. I was wrong.
 
It appears that your symptoms are coming from something else and it could be a coincidence. Sounds like possible hypoglycemia. Either way.. stop the creatine and see what happens. If you think something is making you sick it will. I like taurine in place of creatine.
 
DerickVonD said:
Well I have no problem at ALL when I'm not on the creatine. I had similar problems with mono. In fact I woke up one moring dehydrated and I had mono the night before and I even drank 3 litres of water with the mono and woke up the next moring and was dehydrated had a bad headache piss was yellow and when I drank water I started to shake very bad like I was having a seizure. So me people dumb decided to try malate thinking it might not cause as much problems for me as the mono. I was wrong.
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I still do not believe that the creatine is causing your symptoms, but something else. Perhaps see a medical professional for an opinion.

And you can't 'replace' creatine with another product, as there is nothing else that works as it does.
 
Guejsn said:
I still do not believe that the creatine is causing your symptoms, but something else. Perhaps see a medical professional for an opinion.

And you can't 'replace' creatine with another product, as there is nothing else that works as it does.
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well just something for muscle repair would be good
 
Love creatine, would never substitute it, unless training for a comp and loking to cut some of the bloat.
 
Flaw said:
It appears that your symptoms are coming from something else and it could be a coincidence. Sounds like possible hypoglycemia. Either way.. stop the creatine and see what happens. If you think something is making you sick it will. I like taurine in place of creatine.
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Hypoglycemia does run in my family. When I'm off the creatine though I don't seem to have as many problems. I have had problems before though, where I have felt very light headed and even woken up and felt like I was going to pass out. All I know is I don't do well on creatine. I don't know if I have hypoglycemia or not, but even if I did why would creatine give me problems?
 
needles, with a nice fat guage, test and primabolan, and you will win 3 MVP's.
 
Guejsn said:
RECOVERY. BCAA can also be good.
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BCAA's are inferior, and close to worthless,

get EAA's such as purple wrath, or if you want something a little cheaper without the extra's get Primaforce EAA's.
 
DerickVonD said:
Hypoglycemia does run in my family. When I'm off the creatine though I don't seem to have as many problems. I have had problems before though, where I have felt very light headed and even woken up and felt like I was going to pass out. All I know is I don't do well on creatine. I don't know if I have hypoglycemia or not, but even if I did why would creatine give me problems?
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Before I was diagnosed as hypoglycemic I had similiar symptoms as you. I started to question everything I was taking. I don't see how their can be a link to creatine and your symptoms. I use creaform and love it. If you were taking in a lot of sugar with your creatine I could see it. Do you just take creatine alone in water or with protein or do you take it with a lot of carbs or sugar?

A side question.. Do you consume a lot of sugar drinks or carbs on a empty stomach? Hows your diet?
 
Flaw said:
Before I was diagnosed as hypoglycemic I had similiar symptoms as you. I started to question everything I was taking. I don't see how their can be a link to creatine and your symptoms. I use creaform and love it. If you were taking in a lot of sugar with your creatine I could see it. Do you just take creatine alone in water or with protein or do you take it with a lot of carbs or sugar?

A side question.. Do you consume a lot of sugar drinks or carbs on a empty stomach? Hows your diet?
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I eat alot of eggs, bread, meat, fruit and vegetables. I have coffee daily. I was taking mono with whole milk and whey, but I was taking malate with just water. I don't think I could ever give up my whole milk and coffee. My uncle and dad both have hypoglycemia. I don't think my uncle or dad have any specific diet. My uncle said he jsut drinks orange juice alot and it makes him feel better. Hope I don't have to change diet too much if I have it. It's already hard enough to bulk up when I live at home and have no job. I do however usually eat a large protein meal after I workout. maybe an hour or two after I take my post workout creatine. Meal usually has alot of meat maybe some bread and milk.
 
DerickVonD said:
Hypoglycemia does run in my family. When I'm off the creatine though I don't seem to have as many problems. I have had problems before though, where I have felt very light headed and even woken up and felt like I was going to pass out. All I know is I don't do well on creatine. I don't know if I have hypoglycemia or not, but even if I did why would creatine give me problems?
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Coincidence?


ax1 said:
BCAA's are inferior, and close to worthless,

get EAA's such as purple wrath, or if you want something a little cheaper without the extra's get Primaforce EAA's.
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It was a suggestion. Personally I do NOT use anything 'extra' for recovery, since my supplements (i.e. IGF-2) cover me. The best things for muscle repair (and growth) are diet and recovery, though, if you're going to cut out things like creatine.


DerickVonD said:
I eat alot of eggs, bread, meat, fruit and vegetables. I have coffee daily. I was taking mono with whole milk and whey, but I was taking malate with just water. I don't think I could ever give up my whole milk and coffee. My uncle and dad both have hypoglycemia. I don't think my uncle or dad have any specific diet. My uncle said he jsut drinks orange juice alot and it makes him feel better. Hope I don't have to change diet too much if I have it. It's already hard enough to bulk up when I live at home and have no job. I do however usually eat a large protein meal after I workout. maybe an hour or two after I take my post workout creatine. Meal usually has alot of meat maybe some bread and milk.
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I would get yourself checked out for this then; sounds like you could also have it. All it takes is a simple blood test to determine it. Go to a doctor.
 
Guejsn said:
RECOVERY. BCAA can also be good.
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Guejsn said:
Coincidence?




It was a suggestion. Personally I do NOT use anything 'extra' for recovery, since my supplements (i.e. IGF-2) cover me. The best things for muscle repair (and growth) are diet and recovery, though, if you're going to cut out things like creatine.
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actually i was thinking taking EAA's intra workout to prevent catabolism.

creatine + EAA's is superior to creatine solo. if you think about it, the effect of expanded muscle cells and better hydration can allow better effect of the EAA's absorbing into your muscle cells.
 
ax1 said:
actually i was thinking taking EAA's intra workout to prevent catabolism.

creatine + EAA's is superior to creatine solo. if you think about it, the effect of expanded muscle cells and better hydration can allow better effect of the EAA's absorbing into your muscle cells.
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I see. Again I will reiterate that some things are simply up to personal preference and leave it at that.
 
Guejsn said:
I would get yourself checked out for this then; sounds like you could also have it. All it takes is a simple blood test to determine it. Go to a doctor.
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Yes.. Derick, request a 2 hour glucose tolerance test. Do not eat 12 hours before you get blood drawn.
 
DerickVonD said:
I eat alot of eggs, bread, meat, fruit and vegetables. I have coffee daily. I was taking mono with whole milk and whey, but I was taking malate with just water. I don't think I could ever give up my whole milk and coffee. My uncle and dad both have hypoglycemia. I don't think my uncle or dad have any specific diet. My uncle said he jsut drinks orange juice alot and it makes him feel better. Hope I don't have to change diet too much if I have it. It's already hard enough to bulk up when I live at home and have no job. I do however usually eat a large protein meal after I workout. maybe an hour or two after I take my post workout creatine. Meal usually has alot of meat maybe some bread and milk.
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How much coffee? Caffeine is not good for the hypoglycemic. It will make your blood sugar tank. If in fact you are hypoglycemic nutrient timing is key. You wanna eat primarily complex carbs. Whole grains for carbs. High protein and healthy fats. Stay away from sugar. It is the devil unless your sugar crashed and you need a quick fix. That's where some OJ can come into place. If you eat correctly you don't need to touch sugar drinks though. You don't want it to come to that. You might need to bump up your carbs. Post what time you eat what and what time you workout and let me look at it.
 
I have 1-2 cups coffee. Usually I'll only have one cup a day and I've never gone past 3 cups in one day. I do eat sweets but not often. I do however put honey in my cereal. In the morning and by morning I mean 11 or 12 I'll have cereal with honey, a banana, blue berries and sometimes strawberries and coffee with 2 tea spoons of unrefined sugar with whole milk. 2 hours latter I'll have a protein shake. Lunch and dinner vary greatly. Dinner will usually be something like red meat either pork or beef or something like chicken. lunch I could have anything it varies the most, but i'll usually have some kind of carb like bread or rice. I have salad with dinner. on my salad I put cheese olive oil and salt and pepper.
 
Flaw said:
Yes.. Derick, request a 2 hour glucose tolerance test. Do not eat 12 hours before you get blood drawn.
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Actually my real name is Shawn. DerickVonD or DerickVonDerickson is just the online username I use for games and such.
 
Lacradocious said:
I think drinking 6 liters of water that quick is rather dangerous. You can actually die from drinking too much water at once. It's happened in fraternity hazing incidents before.

If you think it's the creatine, you might try Beta Alanine instead. Just don't take more than the recommended dose.
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Hold your Wee for Wii.....google it. This chick died trying to win a Nintendo Wii for her kids by drinking so much water.

And, I foresee the original poster complaining about the parasthesia associated with Beta Alanine supplementation...
 
waxy maize starch, before during and after your workout along with some BCAAs is all you need. that will help give you energy though out your work out, give you a good pump and help deliver nutrients to your muscles faster and more efficiently.
 
DerickVonD said:
I have 1-2 cups coffee. Usually I'll only have one cup a day and I've never gone past 3 cups in one day. I do eat sweets but not often. I do however put honey in my cereal. In the morning and by morning I mean 11 or 12 I'll have cereal with honey, a banana, blue berries and sometimes strawberries and coffee with 2 tea spoons of unrefined sugar with whole milk. 2 hours latter I'll have a protein shake. Lunch and dinner vary greatly. Dinner will usually be something like red meat either pork or beef or something like chicken. lunch I could have anything it varies the most, but i'll usually have some kind of carb like bread or rice. I have salad with dinner. on my salad I put cheese olive oil and salt and pepper.
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Drink your coffee with a meal if you don't. Try to use a sweetner like stevia. Sugar free. Watch your sugar intake in a meal. Even though fruit is good for you it does contain a lot of sugar. Especially if you have a number of fruits. A fruit smoothie/shake would be great after a workout though. You still didn't mention your workout times and what you eat around them?

I would go to your primary care physician and explain that your family has a history of hypoglycemia and you would like to have a glucose tolerance test because you are experiencing similiar symptoms as them.
 
Flaw said:
Drink your coffee with a meal if you don't. Try to use a sweetner like stevia. Sugar free. Watch your sugar intake in a meal. Even though fruit is good for you it does contain a lot of sugar. Especially if you have a number of fruits. A fruit smoothie/shake would be great after a workout though. You still didn't mention your workout times and what you eat around them?

I would go to your primary care physician and explain that your family has a history of hypoglycemia and you would like to have a glucose tolerance test because you are experiencing similiar symptoms as them.
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I'll workout about 2 hours after breakfast on non-college day. I'll eat breakfast at 12am and workout at 2 and be done by 3:30 and then i'll have whey powder with whole milk. I'll use just alittle bit of whole milk no more then a cup and maybe an egg. an hour or so latter i'll have lunch. on college days i can't workout untill 5 and then i'll have a big dinner about 7 then at 9 I may have a snack like chips. At 11 pm I'll have protein powder with whole milk. my diet probably sucks, but I'ts hard getting 3 whole meals in on college days. I'm trying to have whey powder twice a day rather then just once, but I like to spread all meals out by atleast an hour and a half.
 
DerickVonD said:
but I'ts hard getting 3 whole meals in on college days. QUOTE]

Try your best because this will help keep your blood sugar levels stable. Pack food.. whatever you have to do. Try not to go to bed too late with 10 plus hours of no food. Eat as much as you can early in the day and every 2-3 hours. Hope you feel better bud!
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Flaw said:
DerickVonD said:
but I'ts hard getting 3 whole meals in on college days. QUOTE]

Try your best because this will help keep your blood sugar levels stable. Pack food.. whatever you have to do. Try not to go to bed too late with 10 plus hours of no food. Eat as much as you can early in the day and every 2-3 hours. Hope you feel better bud!
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Thanks man. I'm goign to try and schedule an appointment tomorrow to get my blood sugar checked. I found out that peanuts make me feel alot better. I ate about 50 peanuts at my friends house and felt great afterwards.
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