Creatine: Anger or Depression in any users?

[RichardX]

Hi,

Im a first time poster on this site and by no means an expert so go easy on me if i sound a little thick. I'd like to say that i am by no means a fully fledged bodybuilder; i have experimented with supplements etc but i found that when i took Creatine (when i used to be an actor and needed to look a little more butch for a part) that not only did it make me really angry but also really really depressed- like to the point of all my friends thinking i was really losing my mind.
I was chatting to a couple of friends who are more serious lifters and they've said they had similar experiences with creatine; one actually took it for a fair old while and it made him so upset that it resulted in him being diagnosed for manic depression..
Now i would like to make clear i am in no way saying Creatine is reasponsible or calling it awful or anything but i was just curious to find out if anybody knew if this was the case or we are in fact a bunch of freaks who react to Creatine in strange ways... the only thing i can think of is it having some sorta effect on the testosterone levels in the body..
Any ideas?

[hrdgain81]

I've been using creatine for years and I've never had any issues with mood while on it. I've heard people claim this before, but I've always dismissed it as placebo effect.

Creatine works in the body by storing energy in phosphate form within the muslce. As your muscle contracts this phosphate is released to provide energy to the cell. It has no direct impact on hormone levels of any kind in the body, although I suppose one could argue that increased energy within the cell is anabolic, but it would have no effect on the endocrine system persay.

IMO, there is either something else causing your mood swings, or perhaps the form of creatine your taking has something else blended in with it. I would look into what other changes you made to your diet and supplimentation within the time period you were using creatine, and make sure to check the label of the creatine you used.

As for your friend who's creatine use

resulted in him being diagnosed for manic depression

thats just not a good possibility. Manic depression can set in at any age, for a host of unknown reasons, and is many times hereditary. But I highly doubt increased atp production in muscle cells would attribute to it. More likely his diagnoses and creatine use were coincidentally at the same time.

[RichardX]

Originally Posted by hrdgain81

As for your friend who's creatine use thats just not a good possibility. Manic depression can set in at any age, for a host of unknown reasons, and is many times hereditary. But I highly doubt increased atp production in muscle cells would attribute to it. More likely his diagnoses and creatine use were coincidentally at the same time.

Nah i didnt for any minute think that it was creatines fault; like most things though i believe it could in conjunction with everything else happening in his life just not help. Maybe your right; it could well be completely psychological however its wierd because people have said it and there is almost like a myth about it. Some guys i was chatting to said drinking it with beer can really cause you trouble, could this be true?
I guess it all comes down to one of two things 1) the individual; its like people who smoke all their life and live to 80+ without any problem, or the poor unfortunate fella who inhales some passive smoke and gets cancer.. i know its a poor analagy but that could be a reason.
2) following your line of thought in your reply; the ingrediants in the product itself.
When i took it there was nothing else altered in my diet in terms of other supplements... guess its one of lifes little mysteries lol
Cheers

[hrdgain81]

Richard, you know I've heard this "myth" a few times, and even from a few health professionals. Once I explained exactly what creatine does, they seemed very confused as to how that would effect mood.

Your right though, everyone is different, and there could definately be something I'm overlooking that may cause adverse effects, but with the amount of published studies on the saftey and effectiveness of creatine its hard to think that it could cause such effects.

I personally suppliment with B-vit complex to help stablize my mood swings, whether I'm supplimenting with something hormonal or not. I find it helps keep me pretty even tempered.

[dave_cshmn]

im bi-polar been taking some kind of creatine off and on for two yrs showed my doctor what i was taking all my supps he said with the meds im on for my waked out brain that nothing would mood swing or nothin so keep on taking it

[DrGonzo]

i took creatine two summers ago, and i found that i got more aggressive in general, but i had really good workouts. it could also be attributed to the fact that i was working as a camp counselor for 2nd graders and that i hate kids. so that wasn't a good combination. but anyways i stopped taking creatine because one of my good female friends said i was getting man boobs. and that was the end of that.

[Eric3237]

The only way that I know of that it could affect mood in this way is to alter the anabolic profile (hormones) a LOT. And it has never been shown to do this.

Honestly, although I doubt any of this can be attributed to creatine I would be more interested in the brands of creatine you guys were using. The truth is a lot of shit could be in your creatine you don't know about. There HAS been cases of contamination with anabolic steroids, in fact. Not to mention just shoddy stuff with impurities of uknown quality in it. There is some real crap out there.

Don't get me wrong. Like Hrdgain said there is always stuff we don't know and there could be certain individuals who are sensitive to supplemental creatine.

[DrGonzo]

Originally Posted by Eric3237

The only way that I know of that it could affect mood in this way is to alter the anabolic profile (hormones) a LOT. And it has never been shown to do this.

Honestly, although I doubt any of this can be attributed to creatine I would be more interested in the brands of creatine you guys were using. The truth is a lot of shit could be in your creatine you don't know about. There HAS been cases of contamination with anabolic steroids, in fact. Not to mention just shoddy stuff with impurities of uknown quality in it. There is some real crap out there.

Don't get me wrong. Like Hrdgain said there is always stuff we don't know and there could be certain individuals who are sensitive to supplemental creatine.

i'm pretty sure i was just using basic GNC brand

[Eric3237]

Hell, heck, GNC is notorious for selling crap. They've been fined and jacked up by the FDA probably more than anyone. I'm not saying it means anything but GNC is not known for quality. At least not in the recent past.

[hrdgain81]

Its very important to find a suppliment company that you can trust to meet lable claims. especially since many of them source from china.