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Creatine Overdose
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Can You Overdose On Creatine?
We all know people who train with weights who think that if they do 4 sets per body-part when training then 8 sets per body-part will build muscle. It is people like this who think that if the recommended dose of creatine is 5mg a day then 10mg a day would be better and get them more muscle.
But this is simply not true as we all know putting on muscle consistently throughout the year comes from establishing the delicate balance between recuperation, training and your diet that you get. Creatine overdose is something that is not unusual and can create a host of complications.
Because creatine is filtered by your kidneys renal failure is certainly always a potential problem if you already have any renal insufficiency in your kidneys before you even start taking creatine. If you constantly overdose your creatine supplements then you may even permanently affect your kidneys.
With all the enormous amount of money spent on the study of creatine the medical profession still do not know the affect that the long term use of taking creatine can have on both young and old. It is highly recommended that you see a doctor before starting creatine which is something that you will see on most package inserts when purchasing creatine.
Creatine in general seems to have the minimal side effects on most people but taking an overdose more than once is something that can cause a wide range of possible problems. Some rare cases of overdosing for a week or two there has caused the following problems starting with excessive weight gain caused by excessive water retention.
Below is the list of possible symptoms seen caused from overdosing.
General Stress and Anxiety
Difficulty in breathing
Diarrhea
Fatigue
Fever
Headache
Kidney problems
Nausea, vomiting
Rash
Stomach upset
It should also be noted that there are certain drugs that can have very dangerous interactions with other medications. One of these is something that millions of people take which are diabetic medications. But they also include like acetaminophen and a few other diuretics which are able to create dangerous interactions when added with creatine. It should also be noted that when you take stimulants like caffeine and ephedra while taking creatine you can increase the risk of side effects.
Obviously taking Creatine is not recommended for anyone with both kidney and liver disease as well as diabetes which was mentioned above. Others that should avoid taking creatine would also be children under the age of 18 plus women that are pregnant or nursing. Creatine can directly affect your sugar levels so any medications that try to control blood sugar should be avoided if you want to take creatine.