Hi there.

I'm just starting my transformation (I might post the entire story some time soon) but I started a good meal plan just over two weeks ago and joined the local Gold's gym last week.

Tomorrow is my first session with my new trainer and looking around, I thought I'd add a little creatine drink to my routine over the past few days to get me ready.

However, whenever I drink it, I feel very dizzy. Is this normal for someone who's never used it before?

Hi there.

I'm just starting my transformation (I might post the entire story some time soon) but I started a good meal plan just over two weeks ago and joined the local Gold's gym last week.

Tomorrow is my first session with my new trainer and looking around, I thought I'd add a little creatine drink to my routine over the past few days to get me ready.

However, whenever I drink it, I feel very dizzy. Is this normal for someone who's never used it before?

You shouldn't feel dizzy at all. In fact, you shouldn't feel anything from the creatine except extra endurance while lifting.

What are you putting in your drink? When are you taking your drink? Are you a diabetic?

You shouldn't feel dizzy at all. In fact, you shouldn't feel anything from the creatine except extra endurance while lifting.

What are you putting in your drink? When are you taking your drink? Are you a diabetic?

I'm just mixing it as per the instructions; one scoop to about 6fl oz of water. Mix up, drink within 10 minutes.

I'm not diabetic (to my knowledge) and have no other problems. When I drink it I feel dizzy, light headed and have cold sweats sometimes so I stopped yesterday and thought I'd ask here before spending the money to go see the doc.

I start my weight training tomorrow. So nervous :(

The simple answer is to stop taking the creatine.

However, if you want to check with your doctor, you can try a few other things to see how your body responds to creatine. For example, try taking it during different times during the day. Try mixing it in grape juice (high sugar drinks help absorption, supposedly). Try taking it with food. If you're still dizzy when trying these new approaches, obviously your body doesn't like creatine. But check with your doctor before continuing to use it.

I found that when I started using creatine on days that I didn't work out it increased my heart rate a bit, but that went away after a few days. If you are cutting back on your food intake then that could increase the likelyhood of dizziness if your body has not adjusted to the defecit.

Thanks guys. I was getting worried because I thought something was wrong.

I cut out all sugar a while ago and was wondering if it was just a sugar rush, possibly from a cheap brand (bought at Vitamin World). I'll try taking some tonight and see if anything changes.

Appriciate your time answering my questions :tu:

you may want to try taking less. If I take too much, I feel nauseous. Or, try breaking up the dose into morning and evening doses.

Thanks guys. I was getting worried because I thought something was wrong.

I cut out all sugar a while ago and was wondering if it was just a sugar rush, possibly from a cheap brand (bought at Vitamin World). I'll try taking some tonight and see if anything changes.

Appriciate your time answering my questions :tu:

Ya, stopping sugar all together can cause some of those problems--disrupted blood sugar balances. Did you buy "pure" creatine, or creatine that is pre-mixed with sugary kool-aid type stuff? Is it pure white or colored? If you're not used to sugar and then you take a swig of creatine kool aid, you'll likely get the rush you're describing.

The best way to buy creatine is in the pure form--a white power with no sugar or additives. It's tasteless and calorie-less. I buy mine from Kentnutrition (sponsor banner). Good price and pure. I take it with only water.

Ya, stopping sugar all together can cause some of those problems--disrupted blood sugar balances. Did you buy "pure" creatine, or creatine that is pre-mixed with sugary kool-aid type stuff? Is it pure white or colored? If you're not used to sugar and then you take a swig of creatine kool aid, you'll likely get the rush you're describing.

The best way to buy creatine is in the pure form--a white power with no sugar or additives. It's tasteless and calorie-less. I buy mine from Kentnutrition (sponsor banner). Good price and pure. I take it with only water.


Yup this stuff looks like Kool Aid when mixed, but is a little bitter. I picked it up cheap at the mall but I'll source some pure form instead. It's probably the sugar doing it since I don't drink any at all anymore (no Pop, no nothing).

Many thanks :) I feel better now knowing I wasn't about to collapse with a heart attack or something lol.

Yup this stuff looks like Kool Aid when mixed, but is a little bitter. I picked it up cheap at the mall but I'll source some pure form instead. It's probably the sugar doing it since I don't drink any at all anymore (no Pop, no nothing).

Many thanks :) I feel better now knowing I wasn't about to collapse with a heart attack or something lol.

What you have might not be so bad after all. Once you start your weight lifting routine, it's a good idea to get simple carbs in your stomach as soon as possible after lifting. This helps with recovery and growth. It's not advisable to not ever have any simple carbs after lifting. So, you can use your creatine kool aid after lifting to kill two birds with one stone--get the carbs and creatine in your body after a workout.

Talk to your doctor and trainer for more information.

What you have might not be so bad after all. Once you start your weight lifting routine, it's a good idea to get simple carbs in your stomach as soon as possible after lifting. This helps with recovery and growth. It's not advisable to not ever have any simple carbs after lifting. So, you can use your creatine kool aid after lifting to kill two birds with one stone--get the carbs and creatine in your body after a workout.

Talk to your doctor and trainer for more information.

Many thanks for all your time :) I will mention it to her tomorrow and see what she says.

Mix the creatine in a warm drink- green tea or coffee are fine. Some people like to make a cocktail of ALA, dextrose, etc. It's not necessary, from what I've read.

Are there any other ingredients in your creatine? Some companies add things like niacin and such, claiming it works, and it just ends up giving you a flush, dizzy feeling.

Also, make sure when you buy your creatine, you are getting the Creapure label on it. It's made by Degussa, formerly SKW Trostberg, in Germany. Still the highest quality made.


Many thanks for all your time :) I will mention it to her tomorrow and see what she says.

Mix the creatine in a warm drink- green tea or coffee are fine.

I disagree. Caffeine hinders the body's absorption of creatine and also its ability to supply a phosphorus in the atp energy cycle. It's largely recommended to not have any caffeine two hours before or two hours after consuming creatine.

I disagree. Caffeine hinders the body's absorption of creatine and also its ability to supply a phosphorus in the atp energy cycle. It's largely recommended to not have any caffeine two hours before or two hours after consuming creatine.

This is true. Railz, more important than the whole creatine isssue is making sure your trainer has you on a good program. Tell her you want to lift heavy. Plenty of squats, deadlifts, benching. Pull-ups, chin-ups, dips, rows (of all types-bent-over, standing, seated, one arm-using barbells, dumbells, cables where appropriate). Standing shoulder press. Take this opportunity to properly use free weights, and have her teach you plenty of compound, multi-joint exercises. Machines do have their place, but don't settle for a second-rate machine-heavy workout. Free weights and the exercises mentioned are very important.

I hate to be a stickler, since it's such a small point....

In the literature, it was found that 1-2 cups of coffee had no effect on hindering the effectiveness of creatine uptake or retention. However, 3 or more cups consumed within a few hours of dosage did have marked effect. The more important issue is that the drink was warm, and dissolved the creatine fully, rather than a cold drink, where the stomach has to break down the powder, and expose the chemical to stomach acid for a longer period.

While it's not ideal, coffee is ok, but not the best choice. There are numerous debates on this one. Regardless, anyone just starting out on a routine of weightlifting should wait to use the product.



I disagree. Caffeine hinders the body's absorption of creatine and also its ability to supply a phosphorus in the atp energy cycle. It's largely recommended to not have any caffeine two hours before or two hours after consuming creatine.

I hate to be a stickler, since it's such a small point....

In the literature, it was found that 1-2 cups of coffee had no effect on hindering the effectiveness of creatine uptake or retention. However, 3 or more cups consumed within a few hours of dosage did have marked effect. The more important issue is that the drink was warm, and dissolved the creatine fully, rather than a cold drink, where the stomach has to break down the powder, and expose the chemical to stomach acid for a longer period.

While it's not ideal, coffee is ok, but not the best choice. There are numerous debates on this one. Regardless, anyone just starting out on a routine of weightlifting should wait to use the product.

Hmm...interesting. I would still think the best time to take creatine is probably in your PWO drink. Everything I've read seems to support this. Perhaps on non-training days, taking it in a warm drink caffeinated or otherwise is a good idea. I had never read any literature about creatine needing to be dissolved. But it's certainly possible. As said, using it now for him is probably not necessary anyhow, and if it is used perfect timing probably isn't that important.

Yes, warm liquid is good. However, I still disagree about the caffeine.

(No matter how I say this, it's going to sound snobby, but trust me, I'm not and just want to have a friendly conversation--the troubles with chat boards is you can't accurately express emotions). I'd like to see the literature you mention. If it's just a web page by Joeschmoe, then I'm not interested. I'd like to see peer-reviewed research. I'd be very interested in learning more about this because I use creatine myself.

Creatine makes your muscles hold more water. Caffeine is a stimulant and has the opposite effect. It pulls water from your body.

Ok, I attached a file about creatine and caffeine. It's a peer-reviewed scientific paper, so it has more credibility than webpages.

It's in PDF format. It's called creatine.pdf and can be downloaded from this post.

jsbrook- Our good friend JB advocates for the green tea in all his creatine/supplement articles.

It appears that the initial loading phase (the suggested 5g 4 times a day for a week) is when it's most essential to maximize creatine uptake. That's when timing and transport supplements (ALA and carb/pro cocktails) seem to play a role, which would seem that pwo (when you are already spiking insulin) would be the best time to take advantage of this. After that, 5g/day is sufficient to maintain. Some (like JB) suggest to stay on creatine indefinitely, and to reload every few months.

There is some business about taking creatine pre-workout- this is what I want cleared up by some well-written, trustworthy article. I had read by some Joeschmo websites that creatine is only effective for 2 hours. I know that creatine uptake peaks after 2 hours of ingestion, but once you're loaded, your muscles are more or less saturated, provided you are well hydrated. I haven't been able to find an article worthy enough to believe the claim that pre-workout is better.

Jaybird- The only reference I can find at the moment is from the Degussa website, but I think I found the article about creatine loading theories on pubmed at one time. Here's their take:

Try to avoid taking high amounts of Caffeine with Creatine. Simultaneous supplementation of large amounts of Caffeine (e.g. 4 cups of coffee) eliminates the ergogenic effects of Creatine by interfering with the resynthesis of Phosphocreatine. Lower amounts of Caffeine (e.g. 1-2 cups of Coffee) seem not to influence the efficacy of Creatine.

While they are selling a product, I do think they wouldn't be giving bunk advice. However, reading through their references section, they do cite the Will Brink article that "proves" Creapure's "pureness." I'm not going to fight that one- I honestly don't want to put the Chinese creatine in my body. Do you?


And yes, intelligent, friendly conversation is where it's at. I want to know if I'm just spouting off sh*t, too.





Yes, warm liquid is good. However, I still disagree about the caffeine.

(No matter how I say this, it's going to sound snobby, but trust me, I'm not and just want to have a friendly conversation--the troubles with chat boards is you can't accurately express emotions). I'd like to see the literature you mention. If it's just a web page by Joeschmoe, then I'm not interested. I'd like to see peer-reviewed research. I'd be very interested in learning more about this because I use creatine myself.

Creatine makes your muscles hold more water. Caffeine is a stimulant and has the opposite effect. It pulls water from your body.

I read the info you suggested, and I also did some addition readings from Joeschmo websites (against my own rules). Perhaps there is some credence to caffeine not affecting creatine. I'll have to mull it over and perhaps not be so anal about my morning coffee and creatine.

Jaybrid- Thanks for the article. It gave me an excuse not to finish my masters thesis tonight.

My only issue with it (flaw in methodology) was the administered dosage amount. 5g/kg/day of caffeine for 3 days preceeding (let's say, he's 180lbs) is equivalent to the amount of caffeine in about 4-5 cups of coffee for that same guy. Acute administration of bolus (pill) of one dose (about the same amount of caffeine in one cup of coffee) had no effect.

I think this may be more relevant to those who are using ECA stacks, where caffeine levels may be this high.

Conclusion- For habitual, high-level coffee drinkers (like me! but im not on creatine right now), creatine is a waste. For someone drinking 1 or maybe 2 cups a day, it wouldn't matter (too much).

Do you agree?


Ok, I attached a file about creatine and caffeine. It's a peer-reviewed scientific paper, so it has more credibility than webpages.

It's in PDF format. It's called creatine.pdf and can be downloaded from this post.

Conclusion- For habitual, high-level coffee drinkers (like me! but im not on creatine right now), creatine is a waste. For someone drinking 1 or maybe 2 cups a day, it wouldn't matter (too much).

Do you agree?

Sounds good to me. I am a pretty heavy caffeine user, so I try to make sure I don't have any within hours of taking creatine. I think your conclusion is on the mark.

Sounds good to me. I am a pretty heavy caffeine user, so I try to make sure I don't have any within hours of taking creatine. I think your conclusion is on the mark.

I agree with that conclusion also.

Well, I'm ordering some this week...

I've come to the conclusion after this discussion that I'll have to cut down my coffee intake (it's been around 4 cups a day). Maybe now just one in the morning. Jaybird and jsbrook, thanks for all the info. It's posts like these that keep me coming back here...



I agree with that conclusion also.

Well, I'm ordering some this week...

I've come to the conclusion after this discussion that I'll have to cut down my coffee intake (it's been around 4 cups a day). Maybe now just one in the morning. Jaybird and jsbrook, thanks for all the info. It's posts like these that keep me coming back here...

It was a good conversation. I learned from it. Thanks to all.

Conclusion- For habitual, high-level coffee drinkers (like me! but im not on creatine right now), creatine is a waste. For someone drinking 1 or maybe 2 cups a day, it wouldn't matter (too much).

Do you agree?

OK, I didn't study the whole article in detail, so maybe I missed something, but that would not be my conclusion.

It seems that they are not saying caffeine prevents creatine absorption, but simply acts in a contrary manner. In this case caffeine + no creatine is going to be worse than caffeine+creatine, maybe the same as no caffeine, no creatine. This is why the one-shot-deal of caffeine had no adverse affect - not enough caffeine in the system to make you weaker.

They say that large amounts of caffeine by itself reduces strength - something I have not noticed myself.

Personally, I smell a rat - it doesn't quite make sense. Until someone actually shows me an article that measures the significantly lower absorption of creatine when taken with say 100-200mg caffeine, I won't believe caffeine hinders creatine absorption.

OK, I didn't study the whole article in detail, so maybe I missed something, but that would not be my conclusion.

It seems that they are not saying caffeine prevents creatine absorption, but simply acts in a contrary manner. In this case caffeine + no creatine is going to be worse than caffeine+creatine, maybe the same as no caffeine, no creatine. This is why the one-shot-deal of caffeine had no adverse affect - not enough caffeine in the system to make you weaker.

They say that large amounts of caffeine by itself reduces strength - something I have not noticed myself.

Personally, I smell a rat - it doesn't quite make sense. Until someone actually shows me an article that measures the significantly lower absorption of creatine when taken with say 100-200mg caffeine, I won't believe caffeine hinders creatine absorption.

I don't think that caffeine interferes with creatine absorption (changed my mind after researching a little). I think caffeine interferes with the ability of creatine to hydrate the muscles. Creatine pulls water in, caffeine draws it out.

I don't think that caffeine interferes with creatine absorption (changed my mind after researching a little). I think caffeine interferes with the ability of creatine to hydrate the muscles. Creatine pulls water in, caffeine draws it out.


That makes sense. Somehow I now get the feeling I didn't read through the post carefully enough. :D

That makes sense. Somehow I now get the feeling I didn't read through the post carefully enough. :D

I did change my mind half way through this thread. :D At first I did believe that caffeine interfered with the absorption of creatine. Now I believe it only interferes with creatine's effectiveness.