Creatine and Glutamine for 10 years

[Cyto78]

Hi I wanted to get some feedback on the use of these supplements long term.I have used creatine for 10 years now......Glutamine off and on for about 5........should I be concerned about taking the creatine as long as I have.....through out the years especially when I was younger I know there was plenty of times when I did loading fases for 2, 3 maybe even 4 weeks at a time before I would drop it down to 10 grams or so until I felt I wanted to bump it back up again........kinda concerned now that maybe I have done some ireversable damage to my kidneys maybe.....dont really have any sides to support this but maybe its still a possibility.....would it be wise to get some blood work done to find out if everything is cool?Could just be overly paranoid but I have been reading alot of info here lately on kidneys and creatine both and feel like I have definately used a LOT of creatine over the years which could have been detrimental to my health.

[nsa]

Creatine is always, at least for me, more effective after taking a break for a few weeks(anywhere from 2-4 weeks). If you drank a good amount of water while taking it your fine.

[dirtybrit55]

getting a test done would not do any harm at all, particularly as I haven't come across many long term creatine effect articles. However, I think you will be fine and shouldn't lose any sleep over it.

[PrairieDawg]

I hope you didnt take creatine for 10 years straight. that could do some serious damage. I know a guy who took creatine for a year straight and he had some health problems and had to stop.

[fritz2435]

Kidney stones....... Not something you want. You definitely have to cycle creatine so that your natural levels won't drop too much. Taking it for 10 years straight could wreak havoc on your natural levels....

[DBarcelo]

I have to find my old creatine post and bump it up again. You're not going to do any damage by taking creatine for a long time, as long as you're not over dosing it. Stick to 10 grams per day and you'll be fine. And creatine doesn't do any damage to the kidneys, even in high doses, but if you have a damage to your kidneys, they will spill creatinine into the urine. You can have your doctor check your serum creatine level if it'll make you feel better. You may have an elevated creatinine level if you are stocky and/or you work out regularly.

[DBarcelo]

"The Truth About Creatine" has been bumped up for you to read. Hope it helps.

[Cyto78]

My ex-girl who is a nurse said I was just paranoid, she reminded of the surgery I had about 7 months ago and the blood work done prior and told me when that blood work was done that they would have told me if anything was out of wack.So im all good.Thanks for the replys and info!

[Soldier of Misfortune]

Man, with one person sayin creatine wont hurt you and the next sayin its like putting a gun to your kidneys, just seems wierd to me. My mom always gets pissed when I get out my many jugs of powders esp creatine sayin its bad and this nurse at our family docs orifice said it was bad. Well Ive had good results with it so Im gonna use it. It also reminded me of the Lewis Black show on HBO, "The truth is, we dont know $hit about health! Whats good for one person, will kill the person sitting next to you!! WE DONT KNOW!!" Which is probably true.