Summary
This page describes my personal experience with creatine supplementation.
Contents
Beginnings
I first heard of creatine around 2010, when I began buying protein powders to add extra protein to my diet. I think some of the powders contained creatine, but I didn't know much about it at the time. In subsequent years I bought powders without creatine.
In 2013 to 2014, I heard a few friends suggest that vegetarians like myself should consider taking creatine supplements, because creatine is naturally found mainly in meat (although the liver and kidneys also synthesize it). Rae et al. (2003) reported that creatine supplementation improved cognitive performance in vegetarians. So in 2014, after reading more about the topic, I began taking a creatine supplement capsule roughly every day.
While I didn't notice any effect on my cognition, creatine did have a pronounced effect on my muscles: it made my muscles feel significantly less achy following exercise. However, if I stopped using creatine for a day or two, the achiness returned, stronger than before I started taking creatine at all. This made me wonder whether the creatine supplements actually had any net benefit or merely created dependence.
Possible long-term risks of creatine
Mayo Clinic Staff (2017): "When used orally at appropriate doses, creatine is likely safe to take for up to five years. However, there is concern that creatine taken in high doses is possibly unsafe and could damage the liver, kidneys or heart."
Hackethal (2015): "Men who use muscle-building supplements containing creatine or androstenedione may have a higher risk of getting testicular cancer, according to a study published online in the British Journal of Cancer."
It's not obvious how to trade some remote possibility of increased mental function against some remote possibility of these health risks.
Paresthesia when going off creatine
This discussion has moved to Tomasik ("Arm numbness while sleeping").