Creatine and Diarrhea

[Dedicated]

I just started creatine again and I decided to load it so that my muscles can saturate sooner. I understand loading is not necessary but I want to saturate my muscles quickly because I am anxious to see it's effect. Last time I took creatine I did not load and I didn't even take enough every day. Well anyways I am taking 20 grams a day, for 5 days, today is the second day and well I have horrible diarrhea. What can I do to help prevent this, and how much water should I be drinking, over 1 gallon a day? Thanks in advance.

[BCC]

I don't think you're going to be able to prevent it. That's fairly common when loading. I used to always take 20 grams every day and eventually my body became accustomed to it.

[chris mason]

No need to load. If you don't take as much you will not have the problem.

[the rev]

I just finished a loading phase and had the same problem. You wont have the problem when your done loading. I havent heard of any way around it, so if your like me and insist on loading then just grin and bear the diarrhea. :confused:

[Optimum08]

i have the same prob wit creatine except i didn't load and i still got tha bad stomach cramps, my bro had the same problem so could it be that our family just can't take creatine?

[the rev]

i have the same prob wit creatine except i didn't load and i still got tha bad stomach cramps, my bro had the same problem so could it be that our family just can't take creatine?

Drinking more water will help with cramping. :thumbup:

[Sleepr]

What kind of creatine are you taking? If you are taking a premade cocktail, there is probably a lot of crap in there.

[Dedicated]

The diarreah is gone, it's just creatine monohydrate, the white powder. I guess I got used to it, thanks for the replies.

[Optimum08]

ya i just take reg old creatine mono, i've been off of it for like a week or so after being on for about a week and a half or 2 weeks because of tha cramps so i think i might go ahead and tough out tha frequent craps and stomach cramps by drinkin more water...

[TheLittleGuy]

I've just finished loading and have been experiencing the same side effects -- how long after loading are these particular side effects likely to linger?

[bradatlsu]

I just finished a loading phase and had the same problem. You wont have the problem when your done loading. I havent heard of any way around it, so if your like me and insist on loading then just grin and bear the diarrhea. :confused:

I had to give up the Flax Seed Oil for this reason. My hole was bleeding and raw from days of liquid. Creatine thankfully doesn't get me that way, but I've never loaded it. Scared to for some odd reason.

[sCaRz*Of*PaiN]

You don't need to load. You only need 5 grams a day. And drink plenty of water. However, even if you're doing everything right, you may still have these side effects. I hope you're not using a pre-made blend like CellTech? That stuff gave me horrible runs. Then I switched to regular Creatine Monohydrate and all was well.

[marcus2006]

i found that it was the high amount of water that was giving me the runs, but this cannot be helped

[sCaRz*Of*PaiN]

How much fiber are you eating every day?

[Powdered_Power]

Newbish question here and I apologise to the OP for going off topic, but what do you all mean by "loading" ? Im baffled.

[thesmallone]

u take a ****load of creatine the first week or so to "LOAD" it into your body then after that week u take the "normal" amount

[MaFi0s0]

Are you guys with the runs taking it with a high GI drink like gatoride or grape juice?

[Stray]

Mix it in with Kaopectate - two birds one stone. :ninja: