hi everyone..

my uncle has had Huntington's for several years now...
I got him a bucket of Creatine which, hopefully, he'll start taking
(I've recommend starting with 10g/day -- 5g each morning and night).

anyway, I've heard diarrhea is one of the side effects of taking Creatine, at least initially... the problem is that he's really scared of diarrhea (had a VERY bad encounter with shellfish in the past, I believe).

...anyone know how long it takes before the body starts getting used to the Creatine, and diarrhea is no longer a problem? ...is it a few days, weeks, or months? It'd probably comfort him if I gave him some sort of estimate.

Thanks everyone!

Red

My husband started taking creatine several years ago. We get the creatine from Avicena - same creatine they are using in studies. My husband worked up to taking 10 grams a day - 5 in the am and 5 in the pm. I do feel this helps him with HD. The studies use 40 mg daily.

He tried to go up past 10 mg a day but had diahrrea problems. He, of course, didn't want this problem and I didn't want him to lose weight due to this.

I checked with a couple of doctors and a HD COE and was told some people can tolerate high levels of creatine where others cannot so he went back down to the 10mg a day and that is where he is at.

Red,

I've been taking high doses (20g/day split in two doses) for several years. I've tried everything under the sun and moon to eliminate the loose stools problem. I haven't fixed it, but I have found two things that seem to have stabilized it for me.

I take one Phillips Probiotics cap with my morning supplements and eat a snack size Mounds bar with breakfast. Coconut has anti-diahrreal properties. That regimen gives me one giant bout of loose stuff in the AM, but things settle out after that. The evening dose of creatine doesn't cause another outburst the vast majority of the time.

YMMV (Your Movements May Vary) :-)

Will



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/23/2010 04:02PM by Will.

thanks for sharing your info Shar and Will!

It's really nice to have some anecdotal evidence that the diarrhea can be managed or avoided!

Red

At last! A medicinal purpose for Mounds Bars!!

Yay, Will!

Patty

We've never tried this, but I wonder if the BRAT diet would help while your body is adjusting? Just a thought. In case anyone doesn't know, the BRAT diet is for when your child (or you) has diarrhea. It is B=unripe bananas R=plain rice (no oils) A=applesauce T=tea and toast (no butter) and also box type mac N cheese prepared just by boiling the noodles then adding the cheese pack (so no milk and no butter) can be part of this. Maybe it would help keep the tummy calm while adjusting to the creatine? The mounds bar actually sounds more yummy to me though!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/25/2010 09:33AM by eve.