Hello everyone. I lifted pretty consistently for the first time in my life for about 6 months this year, the quit around August. About a month ago I started getting back into it, but now that I'm working full time I've noticed that it's pretty hard to get a really good energetic workout in the evenings.
I think I'm going to start taking more vitamins, particularly the B vitamins to help increase energy. I did notice however that my muscles seem to give out very quickly nowadays. It's like after I do 1 or 2 sets, my muscles are maxed out.
So this brings me to creatine. I've taken it in the past, but noticed that it makes me feel tense. I took it again today for the first time in several months, and right away it made me feel a little tense and made my mood feel a little bit unstable.
Has anyone else experienced these symptoms with creatine? Are there any other supplements that I can take that will help me build mass? Also, what can I do to help increase my energy levels when I go to lift?
Hi mate,
I have found very positive psychological uses from Creatine for me personally.
You see, relating to back to you saying you feel tense off it, etc. I suffer from extreme panic attacks and anxiety at times, and too noticed that after taking Creatine it really made me feel tense and very shaky, at least in the first week.
Anyway, this soon changed, back in 2008 in May I decided to start going to the gym, stop being skinny and to build some muscle. I achieved this dramatically within about 6 months, from 9 stone to 11 stone, all pretty much muscle.
I used Creatine throughout the whole period. Now, going back to you and saying it made you shaky, what I am trying to say is, my body reacted the same way, and obviously with me having panic attacks, etc, it didn't help, or so I thought that right at the beginning.
Until I noticed after about 2 months, my panic attacks had gone (and I suffered from it severely, not even going out of the house) and my depression had lifted. Many will say that this is due to training alone, but I also know in my own mind, that Creatine eventually started to give me a positive feeling, and more energy not only in a physical sense but too in a mental sense.
I think the tense and unstable initial feeling of Creatine is due to an overwhelming feeling of energy, that at first feels strange and not very natural. It takes a few weeks for your body to adapt properly, and you start noticing your body feeling balanced, your energy deposits are even, you feel good throughout most days.
I had a panic attack after the first time I took Creatine and also felt how you mentioned, but subconsciously I think I was slightly paranoid about taking something new, which may have also been the case for you. You can generate pretty extreme physical symptoms with your own mind, due to worrying about something, even if directly you were not that bothered about taking it.
I haven't been taking Creatine for a couple of months now, and guess what, I feel drained, down, anxious and also panicky again. I've lost the will to go to the gym, dramatically lost muscle and feel awful about it.
I'm starting back on Creatine on Monday along with a good diet and regular training again, and I know it will help bring me back, so to speak.
I will admit one negative about Creatine though. It is a very new supplement in a scientific research sense, so there could well be things it can do that could be negative. I feel as though it can be slightly addictive, maybe not as directly and as physically as alcohol, but more in a psychological manner.
I also feel that an individuals body can become dependant on it, as by listening to my experience, it's very apparent that it helped me, but now I've realised that in order to continue feeling energetic and to feel positive and alive properly, I am most likely going to have to take Creatine on a regular basis as well as to train again.
I think no matter what anyone says, if you are providing your body with an extra source of energy over a period of time, then when you stop providing your body with it, you are going to feel the withdrawal symptoms.
So in one sense, be careful with it as even though I don't personally think it's dangerous, I think you may feel you start to need it. Now, if Creatine is as safe as they make out, then there's nothing to worry about, as you could then take it often throughout your life, becoming as normal as say having your dinner. I just think to myself, let's hope in a few years they don't suddenly discover that Creatine is harmful and the results only become apparent say after 10 years or even 20 years.
I will take Creatine, and I will take it for the fact that it helped me greatly in battling the hardest thing in my life, panic attacks and depression. I would never ever turn to steroids, and to me Creatine is really the only other option if you want pretty fast results.
On this last note I will say this, If Creatine can generate growth as dramatically as it does in certain individuals, then surely there has to be a possibility that it has something negative about it, as it's quite obviously a powerful substance, regardless of the fact that it's a natural occurrence in the body anyway. As Testosterone occurs naturally, but yet can be fatal if one goes to extremes using it, etc.
I like Creatine, on and off I'd say use Creatine for 6 months and train well, then give it a break. When you start feeling a bit tired and weak again, use Creatine again.
Thanks for your post, I hope my experience helps dude
