Does Creatine overwork your liver?

It looks like I am going to be diagnosed soon with Fatty Liver Disease and I cannot find any concrete evidence that creatine affects the liver, anyone know for sure?
 
You should probably ask your doctor this question.
 
To be truthful the Doc will probably no little about creatine supplements and will probably say don't take it to cover his arse!
 
True the doctor won't know. Creatine Monohydrate is one of the most studied supplement in the world. Creatine is safe to use for healthy individuals...it will make the kidneys and the liver work more, that's why it's important to increase your water intake.

If you are diagnosed Fatty Liver Disease, I would focus on eating and exercise...and maybe later in the future think about Creatine.
 
I would consult a doctor's expert advice and they will most likely tell you to avoid Creatine. Just my own opinion but avoid it if you are having liver issues; using Creatine does increase the workload on the liver.
 
Interesting Liver story along this line, right when I started working out seriously and taking Creatine, I switched doctors. She did a full blood work up as per new patients and my liver levels came back really really high. So high she tested me for hepatitis o_O Of course I didn't have it. So then she tested me again recently and the liver levels had gone back to normal (in conjunction with me doing slightly less lifting and using slightly less weight work but more cardio).

We went over my activities and supplements around the time of both tests, and she said that not only does creatine increase liver enzymes, so does weight work. Any exercise really. Since you are effectively damaging your muscles and forcing them to repair themselves, your liver has to up its enzymes to deal with the toxins associated with working out.

As for doctors not knowing about creatine.... get a doctor like mine. She works at a Sports and Family Medicine clinic. She is an avid athlete herself, and we even take some of the exact same supplements as it turns out. She was even heavy once and got in shape like I'm trying to do. Overall, perfect doctor for me :D
 
That is very interesting and helpful for me Red Panda. I recently had issues with both legs cramping up all over on very short distances running. I waited a few weeks before finally going to the doctor and my legs were actually starting to feel better, but my liver muscle enzymes were over double what they were supposed to be, and I assume they were a lot higher than that when they were worse. All the issues I had were symptoms of high muscle enzymes. At the time I was taking codeine for a root canal, ibuprofin, creatine, plus I was doing both weights and cardio. I think it was just too much stress on my liver. I continued to have muscle spasms in my calves, but they weren't really an issue I found that the muscle spasms gradually went away when I stopped taking creatine. I think it is mostly related to pushing the muscles, but creatine seemed to influence it some. I plan to go back on creatine in about a month and see how it goes.
 
Thanks for the replies, I won't be able to change doctor unfortunately, but think I will steer clear of creatine for the timebeing. My alt enzyme levels for my liver came back very high and an ultrasound indicated a slightly fatty liver, will probably have to go for a biopsy soon!
 
Back
Top