Jerry Lampson 07-May-2001, updated 12-Nov-2001, 29 Jul 2003
Creatine (creatine monohydrate) is available as a sports supplement. It usually comes in capsules or as a powder. In the US creatine is sold as US pharmaceutical grade. One heaping teaspoon is about 5 grams. Bulk creatine does not dissolve well. It has a gritty consistency that makes it difficult for some to swallow. Large capsules may also be difficult. Consider:
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Dietary creatine supplementation significantly improved survival, slowed the development of brain atrophy, and delayed atrophy of striatal neurons and the formation of huntingtin-positive aggregates in R6/2 mice.
Body weight and motor performance on the rotarod test were significantly improved in creatine-supplemented R6/2 mice, whereas the onset of diabetes was markedly delayed.
We can expect creatine to delay HD onset and symptoms in humans.
There have been no human trials to determine the best amount of creatine to take. The evidence is that HD mice do best when the creatine intake is 2% of the total diet intake. More than 2% produced less gains. There were no gains at 3%.
Here is how that optimum amount for HD mice can be extended to humans. A gram of fat has about 9 calories. Carbos and protein each have about 4 calories per gram. A 2000 calorie diet may have 65 grams fat, 304 grams carbos and 50 grams of protein for a total of 419 grams. Two percent of 419 grams of diet is about 8 grams creatine. Because mice are not humans and all humans are individuals it is probably best to error on the low side of the 8 grams. ALS patients showed significant improvement on 5 grams of creatine a day.
There is some evidence that magnesium may enhance the effects of creatine. In general taking a multi-vitamin-mineral (no iron) supplement seems a good idea.
Hello, I'm back from my cruise of the Southern Caribbean. (Michelle gave us some rough seas, but that only added to the adventure.) I used a transdermal patch for my creatine dose while I was gone. It is Excel brand, you can purchase it at http://www.excelpatch.com/. Each patch delivers 5 grams of creatine monohydrate. There are 30 patches per box, for $29.95 plus $5.00 shipping. I love it! I don't have to remember or mix drink powders. I can take it whether I have an upset stomach or not. It seems to perform just as well as the powders I've been drinking. I have trouble with adhesive bandages since my skin is so thin, so just like with BandAids, the patches do leave a red welt on my skin after removal, it doesn't hurt though and fades in a few days. (You can apply the patches anywhere on your body, I prefer them on my "nether" cheeks, alternating sides every day.)
Sorry Kate, I left before you posted your question about dosage. Most of the pre-packaged creatine drink powders contain 5 grams of creatine per packet, so you would just need one of those per day. You need to read the contents of any product and figure out how much you need to get 5 grams of creatine. The effervescent mixes I've used are about $30.00 for 20 doses "off the shelf", they are cheaper on the internet (about $20 to $25 I think.)
By the way, my shaking definitely gets worse when I neglect to take the Creatine. In fact, I think some of the benefit I attributed to the fish oil, was actually due to the Creatine. The combination of both seems to be the way to go for me.
I tried the Creatine Edge effervescent powder in orange. It's not nasty, but not nearly as tasty as the Twin Labs Fizz Fuel.
I've just ordered the transdermal patches, I'll report on them later after I've used them for awhile. I'm going on a cruise to the Southern Caribbean next week and don't want to mess with drink mixes, so I thought the patch might be a simple alternative. (Of course, I'll still have to take a bushel of fish oil capsules with me, wish they had a patch for that.)
Happy Halloween everyone!
The creatine that the sport trainer gave me was just plain old GNC brand Creatine Monohydrate powder. The trainer recommended that I start taking one heaping teaspoon (5 mg) w/ apple or grape juice for quick absorption prior to exercise. I really did think I had found a miracle. When I bought my own, I picked up TwinLabs Creatine Monohydrate, and found that it seemed to absorb more quickly and last longer. I was unable to find Twin Labs again and have gone back to GNC. I read the bottle and noticed that a loading phase of 5 days was recommended where one should take the Creatine 4 times a day. Since I have an immediate positive reaction to 5gms, I didn't try taking 20gms for five days. There are a confusing amount of forms of Creatine out there with all sorts of additives, "super delivery" systems, extra amino acids etc. I have never tried any of these since taking it with water or juice while I am doing a physical activity that gets my blood flowing
I hope this helps someone.
Peace,
Susana, Cat3dancer@aol.com