Creatine Problems?

[jkjk8991]

Hey, so I've used creatine before fairly successfully, but I've never loaded it as hard as I have this time. So basically, I started up my loading phase probably six days ago, I was taking 2 hefty teaspoons twice a day, probably too much but I thought "what the heck." I never really seriously measured it out, just scooped and dumped it in my shake or whatever. I also take a pre workout which I just thought about a couple days ago, it too contains creatine, though I figure it can't be more than 1 or 2 grams every time I take it. But looking back, I realize now it would be very possible that I've been taking over 20 grams a day, probably more around 25-30 grams a day for the past 6 days.

So today started up, I had around 7 grams of creatine in a shake around 11am. I also took this thing called "Mega T Green T Blend" or something like that, just a little pill that has green tea extract and stuff in it, I took that around 12. Around 1:30 I was getting ready to hit the gym, and I pounded my preworkout "Jack3d" then, more than I usually take. I usually take around a scoop and a quarter, this time I was around 2 scoops. Anyways, I got to the gym and I had serious problems. I was doing deadlifts and after every set when I let go of the bar I'd look at my hands and they weren't, I guess reforming. Like, I could see where the bar was pressing down on them, it was flat and flushed of color and it would take quite a longer time than usual to gain the color back and reform. I then noticed blood essentially feeling like it was stuck, like "the pump," except not in a good way, I began to feel quite light headed and thought I was going to faint. I did a set of crunches and as I was going to stand up my entire abdominal seized up into one big bulge which felt horrible and terrified me.

As of now my extremities are cold, yet sweating, I feel quite weak and am mostly just nervous. I've been drinking water like crazy today hoping that's the problem, but I'm curious if it could simply be that I loaded with too much creatine and that has basically messed with my blood circulation/blood volume? Or possibly that I took too much jack3d and the combination left me with very dialated veins causing the whole "faint" feeling and other symptoms of poor circulation, though I thought jack3d was supposed to improve circulation. In any case, any advice or suggestions are most welcomed. My plans for now are to cut back the creatine to around 2grams tomorrow and test the waters out at the gym again, if it goes well I'll go up to my usual 4 or 5 grams a day.

I've taken jack3d many times as well as creatine, though I suppose I've never taken them quite in this quantity simultaneously.

 

[Jrahien]

Firstly, it is a TERRIBLE idea to not keep track of your supplement intakes. You need to be measuring out how much of everything you're taking, less you should overdose on certain chemicals.

Secondly, creatine is something you NEED to be regulating, as it's a touchy supplement to use. During your 3-5 day loading phase, you should be ingesting about 20g, then take it down to 3-5g to maintain. Too much creatine isn't going to do you any help, and will likely cause stress and damage to your kidneys.

As for that Mega-T Green Tea blend, from what I see online, it's an alleged fat burner, correct? It contains a s**t-ton of chromium, a controversial mineral with little proven biological effects. But from what I know, overdosing CAN be very harmful to the body, though I'm no expert on the mechanisms of it. What is clear on the label for the Mega-T, though, is that a serving contains 208%, which is certainly too much in any case. (And I won't even get into my opinion on weight-loss supplements in general...unless you ask.)

As for your preworkout supplement (another type of supplementation that I find highly controversial), I'll just list the "active ingredients".

Arginine Alpha-Ketoglutarate: Little to no proven benefits.
Creatine Monohydrate: If you're already taking creatine supplements, you shouldn't be taking this. If you feel you NEED to take a preworkout supplement, get one without creatine.
Beta Alanine: Causes paresthesia in high doses.
1,3-Dimethylamylamine: A vasoconstrictor, which is confusing, since most preworkout supplements are supposed to help with vasodilation. This likely could be causing a LOT of vascular distress while your blood pressure rockets during weight lifting.
Schizandrol A: Central nervous system inhibition (?) - Few studies on this, however.

My verdict: It's likely a cause of overdosing on the combination of everything. Cut down on it ALL and rethink you supplementation plan. Next time you buy supplements, research the ingredients. There's a lot of marketing BS out there as well as highly dangerous chemicals.

 

[jkjk8991]

Hey, thanks for the response, I'm begining to feel better after drinking a ton of water/ probably the jack3d wearing off. As for the green tea thing, I never bought it, just something my mom bought but didnt want, i take it on occasion as directed. I don't like weight loss supplements either, real bogus, but I was mainly using it for mental energy in a calorie deficit and it curbs my appetite nicely, it was free, why not?
As for preworkouts I understand there is little to no information out there to support them, but i do know that it makes me really get into my lift, even if its a placebo, it works.
But I'm glad you replied, I know it's a dumb thing to not keep track, I've used GNC Brand creatine many times before with no bad things, I was slightly more reckless this time and with a different brand. I think GNC's stuff wasn't nearly as pure or worked a well as this, but it seems much more potent and i messed up there. I think the jack3d was the main contributor since I've been feeling better as time goes by, though I still feel slightly off still.

 

[TPT]

I would suggest skipping the loading phase altogether and just taking 5g of creatine for a month to a month and a half. There has been studies done that show that the body doesn't really absorb all the 20g of creatine during the loading phase and that 5g a day is optimal for increasing muscle mass.

 

[Jrahien]

I would suggest skipping the loading phase altogether and just taking 5g of creatine for a month to a month and a half. There has been studies done that show that the body doesn't really absorb all the 20g of creatine during the loading phase and that 5g a day is optimal for increasing muscle mass.

Well, it's true that the body may have a hard time absorbing the 20g of creatine all at once. However, more in-depth testing shows high responses to a combination of creatine and glucose taken gradually during the day, rather than all at once.

 

[TPT]

Well, it's true that the body may have a hard time absorbing the 20g of creatine all at once. However, more in-depth testing shows high responses to a combination of creatine and glucose taken gradually during the day, rather than all at once.

I can't seem to open your link. I've taken a load up stage of creatine before with grape juice to help absorb it but even then I notice a better effect with taking 5g every day and skipping the load-up stage. I'm aware of the studies done that provide proof that creatine should be loaded up in the first stage, but I have yet to witness it on myself after competing for 3 years now.

 

[Jrahien]

Darn. That link is supposed to be a permalink for my college's journal database, but it's a hit and miss for it to ever work..

But anyways, to be fair, creatine responses would likely also vary depending on one's existing diet. If you're already getting quite a bit of natural creatine from your whole foods, it would make sense that the extra loading wouldn't have much effect.

 

[Hallbert]

Hello

This prob always create when kidneys not work properly and creatines develops which is called the infection in the kidneys due to stones.so need intensively treatment for its treatment.