High Creatinine Bloods When Taking Creatine Monohydrate

Diet and Nutrition
1

Had bloods done recently and creatinine levels where about 20 points over for kidneys.
All other readings were good.

Has anyone found this to happen when taking creatine monohydrate? Ive heard that it may impact blood work numbers.

2

Yes, it’s an absolutely normal occurrence and should be expected when supplementing with creatine. It’s not, on its own, any kind of indication of a health issue. Even just lifting recently may result in elevated creatinine levels.

If you’re super-extra concerned or paranoid, cycle off for a month or so and retest to get a baseline.

This talks more about it: What Your Doc Doesn't Know About Weightlifting

3

Never had this happen to me, but I’m sure it’s normal. You should probably tell us how much you’re taking, though. Anything more than 10g per day is too much, and even then, that’s the dosage that serious bodybuilders take.

4

Thanks Jon, I wasn’t taking any more than 5gm a day and skipping maybe 1-2 days a week when i didn’t train. Going off Creatine for a few weeks and will get a second kidney test done to see the results. Plus apparently you shouldn’t train for at least 2 days before the test as well. Lets see how it goes.

5

Strange. Have you had any kidney problems in the past? I’ve never had any issues with it, but perhaps you’re on the older side, and/or have had some previous urinary issues?

6

No all tests in the past have been good.

7

this statement is not correct.

  1. Gualano B, Roschel H, Lancha-Jr AH, Brightbill CE, Rawson ES (2012). In sickness and in health: The widespread application of creatine supplementation. Amino Acids, 43:519–529

  2. Buford TW, Kreider RB, Stout JR, Greenwood M, Campbell B, Spano M, Ziegenfuss T, Lopez H, Landis J, Antonio J (2007). International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: creatine supplementation and exercise. J Int Soc Sports Nutr, 4:6

  3. Kim HJ, Kim CK, Carpentier A, Poortmans JR (2011). Studies on the safety of creatine supplementation. Amino Acids, 40:1409–1418

  4. Poortmans JR, Auquier H, Renaut V, Durussel A, Saugy M, Brisson GR (1997). Effect of short-term creatine supplementation on renal responses in men. Eur J Appl Physiol Occup Physiol, 76:566–567

  5. Poortmans JR, Francaux M (1999). Long-term oral creatine supplementation does not impair renal function in healthy athletes. Med Sci Sports Exerc, 31:1108–1110

  6. Poortmans JR, Kumps A, Duez P, Fofonka A, Carpentier A, Francaux M (2005). Effect of oral creatine supplementation on urinary methylamine, formaldehyde, and formate. Med Sci Sports Exerc, 37:1717–1720

  7. Gualano B, de Salles PV, Roschel H, Lugaresi R, Dorea E, Artioli GG, Lima FR, da Silva ME, Cunha MR, Seguro AC, Otaduy MC, Shimizu MH, Sapienza MT, da Costa LC, Bonfá E, Lancha Junior AH (2011). Creatine supplementation does not impair kidney function in type 2 diabetic patients: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, clinical trial. Eur J Appl Physiol, 111:749–756

  8. Gualano B, Ugrinowitsch C, Novaes RB, Artioli GG, Shimizu MH, Seguro AC, Harris RC, Lancha AH Jr (2008). Effects of creatine supplementation on renal function: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial. Eur J Appl Physiol, 103:33–40

  9. Neves M Jr, Gualano B, Roschel H, Lima FR, Lúcia De Sá-Pinto A, Seguro AC, Shimizu MH, Sapienza MT, Fuller R, Lancha AH Jr, Bonfa E (2011). Effect of creatine supplementation on measured glomerular filtration rate in postmenopausal women. Appl Physiol Nutr Metab, 36:419–422

  10. Kreider RB, Melton C, Rasmussen CJ, Greenwood M, Lancaster S, Cantler EC, Milnor P, Almada AL (2003). Long-term creatine supplementation does not significantly affect clinical markers of health in athletes. Mol Cell Biochem, 244:95–104

  11. Bernstein AM, Treyzon L, Li Z (2007). Are high-protein, vegetable-based diets safe for kidney function? A review of the literature. J Am Diet Assoc, 107:644–650

  12. Lowery LM, Devia L (2009). Dietary protein safety and resistance exercise: What do we really know? . J Int Soc Sports Nutr, 6:3

  13. Wyss M, Kaddurah-Daouk R (2000). Creatine and creatinine metabolism. Physiol Rev, 80:1107–1213

  14. Burd NA, Tang JE, Moore DR, Phillips SM (2009). Exercise training and protein metabolism: Influences of contraction, protein intake, and sex-based differences. J Appl Physiol, 106:1692–1701

  15. Refaie R, Moochhala SH, Kanagasundaram NS (2007). How we estimate gfr–a pitfall of using a serum creatinine-based formula. Clin Nephrol, 68:235–237

  16. Gualano B, Ferreira DC, Sapienza MT, Seguro AC, Lancha AH Jr (2009). Effect of short-term, high-dose creatine supplementation on measured GFR in a young man with a single kidney. Am J Kidney Dis, 55:e7–e9

  17. Gualano B, de Salles PV, Roschel H, Artioli GG, Neves M Jr, de Sá Pinto AL, da Silva ME, Cunha MR, Otaduy MC, Leite Cda C, Ferreira JC, Pereira RM, Brum PC, Bonfá E, Lancha AH Jr: Creatine in type 2 d (2011). A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Med Sci Sports Exerc, 43:770–778

  18. Poortmans JR, Dellalieux O (2000). Do regular high protein diets have potential health risks on kidney function in athletes?. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab, 10:28–38

  19. Brândle E, Sieberth HG, Hautmann RE (1996). Effect of chronic dietary protein intake on the renal function in healthy subjects. Eur J Clin Nutr, 50:734–740

8

You’re incorrect in saying it’s not correct. Though, to be fair, I’m not at all interested in tracking down and interpreting 19 different studies.

Creatine breaks down into creatinine in the body, and the overwhelming preponderance of evidence for 30+ years is that creatine does not damage kidneys unless disease is already present. That’s the moral of the story.

For squirts and giggles though, these very much support the creatine:elevated creatinine connection (but do we really need to get into a Study War over this?):

  1. Kreider RB, Kalman DS, Antonio J, et al. International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: safety and efficacy of creatine supplementation in exercise, sport, and medicine. J Int Soc Sports Nutr . 2017;14:18. Published 2017 Jun 13. doi:10.1186/s12970-017-0173-z

  2. Yoshizumi WM, Tsourounis C. Effects of creatine supplementation on renal
    function. J Herb Pharmacother. 2004;4(1):1-7.

  3. Williamson L, New D. How the use of creatine supplements can elevate serum creatinine in the absence of underlying kidney pathology. BMJ Case Rep . 2014;2014:bcr2014204754. Published 2014 Sep 19. doi:10.1136/bcr-2014-204754

  4. Wyss M, Kaddurah-Daouk R. Creatine and creatinine metabolism. Physiol Rev.
    2000 Jul;80(3):1107-213. Review.

  5. Drion II, Fokkert MJ, Bilo HJ. [Considerations when using creatinine as a
    measure of kidney function]. Ned Tijdschr Geneeskd. 2013;157(38):A6230. Dutch.

  6. Shahbaz H, Gupta M. Creatinine Clearance. 2019 Jul 5. StatPearls [Internet].
    Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2019 Jan-.

  7. 1: Jäger R, Purpura M, Shao A, Inoue T, Kreider RB. Analysis of the efficacy,
    safety, and regulatory status of novel forms of creatine. Amino Acids. 2011
    May;40(5):1369-83. doi: 10.1007/s00726-011-0874-6. Epub 2011 Mar 22.

  8. Pline KA, Smith CL. The effect of creatine intake on renal function. Ann
    Pharmacother. 2005 Jun;39(6):1093-6. Epub 2005 May 10.

  9. Refaie R, Moochhala SH, Kanagasundaram NS (2007). How we estimate gfr–a pitfall of using a serum creatinine-based formula. Clin Nephrol, 68:235–237
    Yes, that’s at least one of the studies you provided which actually proves my point: “Creatine is an amino acid which is a precursor of creatinine, and is known to transiently increase serum creatinine. 6 weeks after discontinuing creatine ingestion, serum creatinine had fallen but still gave rise to an apparently abnormal calculated eGFR.”

9

obviously i’m not interested in a study war. i thought that you or other forum members may be interested in read them, because in my opinion they show that the increase in serum creatinine is not caused by creatine supplementation, but by training. only if you supplement creatine while you exercise, your serum creatinine will rise. i hope that my point is clear. i’m sorry, but my english is quite poor.

10

Nope, you weren’t anything close to clear because your post was just a slew of references with zero context, zero explanation, and zero detail. I understand there’s a language barrier, but still. Just posting studies is lame.

Nothing there indicates that you’re saying creatinine is elevated due to training and, from taking another quick look at what I could see of the studies, I’m not really sure they even support your claim in that case. Again, at least one of your studies actually says that supplementing with creatine increases creatinine levels. I can only imagine what the rest really say.

11

ingested creatine that is directly degraded in creatinine is a very small amount.
increasing creatine ingestion does not significantly increase the amount of serum creatinine.
you can find more precise informations in the body of the referenced studies.

training with creatine supplies incresed by creatine supplementation leads higher creatine degradation and causes higher sereum creatinine.

“6 weeks after discontinuing creatine ingestion, serum creatinine had fallen but still gave rise to an apparently abnormal calculated eGFR.”
obviously, if you stop supplement creatine, you lower your creatine supplies, so you have lower creatine degradation during training and lower serum creatinine.

still, creatine supplementation is not the cause of previous higher serum creatinine. the cause is training that produces creatine degradation.

training deload lowers serum creatinine even if you still supplement creatine.

i hope this time is more clear :slight_smile:

12

i posted a list of studies, cause i taught that they explain why i think that your statment is not correct and they could be interesting for someone.
i did not want to start a confrontation and for me post studies is more convenient that try to express me.

13

i do not agree that the author of the first post should stop supplement creatine, but that he better repeat the analysis after a training deload.

if creatinine is still high, i would suggest to go to a doctor.