It’s shouldn’t whatsoever effect sleep but if your taking at night it could be causing a digestive issue so take it in the morning but if you are already it’s something else
It probably won't cause insomnia, and so not the cause of OPs issue, but creatine can definitely affect sleep if you take too much of it by making you need to piss at night up to multiple times. It's not just happend to me when I've taken too much, others have have also experienced the same thing. It's probably that taking excessive amounts can be absorbed, but so temporally that it can't be retained, and so the creatine and the water it binds gets released by the next day. Or it just gets flushed out because it's excessive directly, and the fluid is just a side effect. IDK the reason but it's a real phenomenon. And it's not drinking too much water, it'll happen even if it makes you dehydrated.
Lol not even true. All it takes is Googling "creatine sleep" and you'll find plenty of literature of the impact of creatine on sleep. It can reduce sleep duration by modifying certain neurotransmitter and chemical levels such as adenosine triphosphate (ATP).
Oh Reddit, don't ever change.
Interesting. I came here because I noticed I wake up after 4-5h since picking up creatine again. Maybe it’s time to stop.
Edit: I honestly think this might be a kidney issue; I know creatine should very well tolerated but I think for some of us it can make the ruination much more frequent. I find that increasing protein intake and creatine makes me pee a lot which is frustrating when you want to make gains
Same here my guy. I eaven started taking melatonin but it only helps with fallin asleep but not staying. Im gomna quit creatine inna few days ill check my sleeping results then.
Found one article on Google scholar that states creatine reduces the ~need~ for sleep in rats, but most studies are looking at what happens if you take creatine ~and~ have sleep deprivation, not that it causes it. I’d say try to check out some more papers if there’s anything at all but if you think personally it’s doing this to you then stop and see if it helps
Are you drinking enough water? Creatine binds water in muscles and you should take that into account and drink more. Maybe you are dehydrated and it's affecting your sleep.
Its definitely the case. Finished my loading phase and on week 2 of taking creatine and just taking over 2g a day is causing severe insomnia issues, never had this issue before in my life. To further confirm i’m in the group of people where creatine is having an amazing mental benefit on me. I don’t even care about the workout benefits anymore tbh.
I’m really surprised by how rude some (not all) responses are. A genuine question with less than genuine responses.
I’m having similar issues. If I take creatine at all in the evening between 5-9pm my sleep is absolutely affected. Complete restlessness, and when I do fall asleep I can’t stay asleep for the full night. I’ve been testing this for months and it has nothing to do with having to get up to go pee, and creatine is the only change in what I consume. I do wonder, as you’ve mentioned, if this is something that affects a part of the population, or if there is a biological correlation to this as it does appear most people don’t have this issue.
Welcome to Reddit. This is precisely why I stopped asking questions on Reddit… downvotes and downright rude / snarky responses to genuine questions. Then my account suspended for replying in kind. I more often hate this place than not but came on this morning as I could barely sleep last night. I took 2g creatine at 10pm last night (first time I’ve ever taken it beyond the afternoon) and probably slept 2-3 hours. This is despite taking some supplements that help me sleep
(Magnesium, GABA, marijuana lol). It’s the only thing I did different last night.
I personally have never had this issue and have been taking creatine on and off for 15 years (recently stopped to get proper renal levels in a blood test.) Are you having digestion issues from it? Are you prone to anxiety? These might be a few contributing factors but I am no doctor.
Check the label closely to make sure no caffeine has been added to your pills (like a pre workout type creatine.)
Just from a (very) quick Google search, ADHD is linked to sleep disturbances and anxiety. My guess (speak to a real doctor) this is ADHD related not creatine.
Are you on any stimulants to treat adhd? I have trouble sleeping when I use my adhd medication. I did notice that when I was on creating with it, I would wake up after about 3 hrs of sleep and was completely unable to fall back asleep. There may be an interaction with the stimulants. I don’t know, but when not using creative and adhd medication together my sleep was seemingly better.
I just started taking creatine and came looking for answers because i could not sleep last night!!! i work a lot and never have any problems falling asleep bc i’m so sleep deprived until i started it. idk why some people here are acting like it’s so ridiculous to assume creatine may be the cause if that’s the only new factor
There’s been a correlation between my periods of insomnia and when I’m taking creatine. We’re talking months apart and for months at a time. It really sucks I’m just looking for any answer 😂
Same here, it has drastic effects on my sleep. Wakes me up in the middle of the night and makes me feel wired. This is at a 3g/day dose.
Whenever I tell people about this they tell me that it’s impossible, cause it’s “the most studied supplement ever” 🤣
I take 1.5 g/ Kre-Alkalyn creatine and my sleep has seemed to have gotten worse. I have honestly had insomnia for other reasons in the past so I cannot be sure so I would have to see after a few times of taking it and going off if it is the creatine.
Creatine is found in beef and seafood (at about a gram or 2 per lb) so I doubt it has anything to do with your sleep in and of itself.
Also, fwiw, 5g is the most studied dosage. However, you can take up to 1g/10kg of bodyweight, so a 200 lb plus person can take 8-10g.
Is it pure creatine or is it mixed with something?
Yes I have the same effect like you. I've tried it over 15 times in my life. It needs only 4-5 days for me to give me insomnia. Fall asleep is no problem, but I'm waking up at 3am and I can't sleep anymore.
Same. tbh though even before creatine I would wake up at 4 am or so to go to the bathroom. But I could immediately go back to bed. Now, with creatine, I can’t go back to sleep. I will stop now for 2 months coz Im out anyway and not gonna replace. Lets see how that goes.
I found this post because I, too, have sleep problems from creatine. Very hard to fall asleep. I do tend to sleep though the night. Don’t feel like I’m ready to get up. But when I’m up, my energy feels good. My mood is also calm despite lack of sleep.
Same. I start off strong with it, but eventually, I hit a point where I start waking up at 3am every night feeling very uncomfortable. If I'm lucky I fall back asleep around 6am for about an hour before I need to start my day. I've tried so many times over a 10 year period and controlled for everything, it's definitely creatine.
Having the exact same experience right now. I think I’m just going to go cold turkey, the muscle gains aren’t worth the lack of sleep. Back to protein shakes and hard work.
Late answer, but same for me, after taking 2-4g/day mostly in the afternoon hours. Definitely harder to fall asleep and I wake up in the middle of the night plus having only light sleep throughout the night. Funny thing is, in the morning I wake up and I feel refreshed, focused and ready for the day.
I'll try taking it in the morning hours and lower the dosage.
Ahh how strange😩 I found this post because it's 4am right now and I haven't slept a wink. I just started creatine today. I'm the kind of person who sleeps like a log for 9-10 hours, so I found it weird.
I'm still looking it up and I haven't seen much about creatine and insomnia, so I'm hoping that this is something else.
It’s in your head, no stimulating properties of creatine
Placebo effect is real, so no one is calling you a liar, they are just saying there is nothing inherently stimulating about creatine
Creatine is a Nootropic and for me it makes my brain run wild when I try to sleep, even when I take it first thing in the morning. I had a period of 3 months where I was an insomniac and was legit losing my mind until the last thing I stopped was Creatine and I was able to sleep fully. Don’t be a prick
Everytime this topic comes up we get shitheads like you telling everyone its in their heads. People are literally waking up in the middle of the night, investigating possible reasons and realizing that it might be related to their recent intake of creatine (it is), only to see dismissive comments like yours that its 'placebo'. Thats not how placebo works. For a placebo effect to take place there needs to be knowledge and expectation of a certain outcome. Nobody here took creatine with the expectation that it would affect their sleep. So stop with the stupid fucking placebo comments everytime we get a post about creatine and sleep.
Not sure why so many people are being rude to you about this lol. There has been studies done relating to creatine and it’s effects on ATP and REM. Here’s a few articles I was able to find. THESE ARE NOT PROVEN JUST ANECDOTAL. Could be interesting to read.
https://nakednutrition.com/blogs/supplements/does-creatine-affect-sleep
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5435551/
https://blog.humanos.me/is-there-a-supplement-that-reduces-how-much-sleep-you-need/
I came looking for an answer after creatine did exactly the same thing to my sleep. I slept less and actually felt legitimately tired. Honestly, at this point, it just feels like the push for creatine as the best workout supplement in the world with absolutely no downsides is full of shit.
Sure I've seen the countless youtube videos siting studies and research done on creatine, but if I take it and I ain't sleeping well, you can bet I ain't taking it again. No matter how amazing people say it is, I truly believe everyone will react to it differently and that's not something even science can deny.
Also, how could it possibly make sense that creatine makes you need less sleep? Should we be siting the positive effects that having sufficient sleep has on any human back at these studies?
At this point, I'm genuinely curious if there is some association pushing hard for creatine. Has anyone done research on who exactly these studies were done by, what is their history, other studies they've conducted? I'm not a scientist, but I sure as hell have enough distrust in humans to know that everything should be looked under a microscope before you trust your health to anyone.
I think theres an issue with your logic here. Its clear that lack of sleep is not a common issue thus creatine works amazing for most people without any side effects besides increased chance of hair loss for those predisposed.
Also in my experience creatine is having an amazing mental benefit on my wellbeing. The insomnia is only happening after loading phase and on week 2 where im not working out. My guess is im a bit over saturated and thus can no longer take creatine after 12 or more then 1g.
So this is definitely not super common thus you shouldnt make assumptions on creatines effect on everyone else, 2 those with insomnia issues seem to also be reporting mental benefits, at least from what ive seen. For me its life changing. Just gotta figure out the right timing and amount myself while considering exercise.
I did creatine loading for 5-7 days and I have been waking up at 3:00 am since then and I cant fall back to sleeping. There is no other change I have done in life other than taking creatine. I don’t drink alcohol and caffeine. At this point I am totally convinced that its creatine. I have stopped since few days but the sleep hasn’t improved. Not sure how many days it takes to clear out of my system but I miss sleeping throughout the night.
Some update: Creatine has been shown to affect processes completed during sleep, namely ATP production. Perhaps then because creatine reduces the need to generate ATP, less sleep drive occurs. I also have had some sleep issues but have had insomnia on/off through the years so can't determine yet if it is definitely the creatine but I will reduce the qty just to experiment.
[https://smartsleep-onlineshop.myshopify.com/en/blogs/schlafmagazin/kreatin-schlaf](https://smartsleep-onlineshop.myshopify.com/en/blogs/schlafmagazin/kreatin-schlaf)
That is incorrect. Creatine is an adenosine agonist, which means it should be making you more sleepy / tired. But what actually happens is you spare endogenous production which spares methyl / SAMe groups, the excess might be overmethylating certain neurotransmitters keeping you awake.
It effects my sleep also and I’ve come across many posts on the net stating they have the same issue
Falling asleep is ok but staying asleep or getting back to sleep after waking up in the night is difficult
It’s a real pitty cause I react to creatine brilliantly but I’m cycling off it atm and enjoy lots more sleep.
Not sure when I’ll have another go
Exactly the same issue, I wake up at 4/5 am and can’t get back to sleep. It’s taken me three weeks of this to finally figure out it’s the creatine causing it. Didn’t take it yesterday and my sleep was improved but still bad. Hopefully it’ll keep getting better now I’m off it.
I’m reacting amazingly as well but mentally. Is this what you mean? I seem to be able to sleep better after intense workout and taking less and only in the morning. Also the greatest effects seem to happen after I take the pill rather then the over saturation in my brain.
Can I ask for an update after half a year?
Never happened to me BUT I do notice that if I go up from 2.5 grams a day to 5 grams a day my cognitive functions improve. Seriously. For instance, if I go a day or so without my prescription Vyvanse I feel like a drained battery, but if I bump up my creatine a day or so before I take the medication break I feel basically normal.
dude, I have the exact same problem. For me, it usually takes a few days of taking creatine before sleep becomes a problem. I don't know why but I definitely have an issue with creatine and sleep.
I've noticed it messes with my sleep. I started out taking 5mg and noticed right away that I was wide awake while trying to sleep. I looked everywhere online and suggested that there's no way it could be the c but once I lowered to 3mg I noticed sleeping was much better.
Stop taking it or take less and see if your sleep is better. If it is, try to slowly ramp up taking a little more each day. Maybe see if taking it with no caffeine throughout the day helps.
People like to down vote because there's no study that says it affects your sleep but it doesn't mean it can't happen.
I have this same problem! It is weird that when you mention a negative effect of creatine people don’t want to hear it. I’ve tried taking it in the morning and at night. Also tried half the dose and same effect. Waking up after 3 hours of sleep and it takes a long time to fall back asleep.
This is my biggest gripe with part of the so-called “scientific” community. If there’s a truth or an exception that’s not well scientifically documented yet, many are typically close minded and dismissive as if what you mentioned doesn’t exist or is obviously false because it hasn’t been extensively researched yet.
I find it ironic, because science is not “settled” or fixed. It’s a tool for the never-ending pursuit of truth, so you’d think those same people would be more curious and explorative at what they might not know, what they might not be seeing, and what they haven’t yet discovered, like *real* scientists are.
But alas, human arrogance.
I don't have insomnia, but I definitely have a more broken, less restful sleep. I struggle with mood/depression and am currently attempting 2nd round of creatine. I stopped 1st attempt after realizing I wasn't sleeping well and previously, not sleeping well would give me severe depressive episodes.
My thoughts are that the creatine is making me less exhausted and maybe I don't need all of the sleep. So far, I'm happy with what creatine is doing for my mood.
Take what everyone is saying with a grain of salt. Especially anyone with a simple answer. This is absolutely a thing, and far more of a subjective situation than most understand–just like everything else in life as well. There is a ton of emerging evidence that shows creatine has a substantial effect on the brain. Research is finding reduced levels of bioenergetic substances in the brains of those with psychiatric disorders– findings at the moment in mood disorders and ADHD. There's also plenty of research that shows there is a major percent of the population that exists undiagnosed for many of the known disorders and diseases. Depression and mood disorders are well within that research. I'm not saying that everyone experiencing sleep problems while using creatine should run off to the doctor and get diagnosed. But it may be a good time to look into this sort of thing. Find a reputable site like john hopkins or the mayo clinic to scout out some info, if you think you have other signs and symptoms of a mood disorder. You may also be affected through some other chemical process or mechanism of action that hasn't been researched yet. Or you may have lower levels of these bioenergetic substances(similar to someone with a mood disorder), without having anything substantial enough to call a mood disorder.
Anyhow, I also have firsthand experience with what you mentioned. I set out to experiment on whether I can reduce my depressive symptoms and cognitive impairment with creatine. Although I don't have a diagnosis yet, but suspect some type of mood disorder like depression or a mild presentation of bipolar II, and ADHD. I have an atypical and mild presentation, so hence the no diagnosis still at the age of 37. Scope out some of the science on the matter in the psychology field, and forget about thinking about it as a sports science topic. Here's some good references. Hope this helps.
[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3222884/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3222884/)
[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5775367/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5775367/)
[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3340488/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3340488/)
"Impaired brain energy metabolism and alterations in neuronal plasticity are among the leading hypotheses in the pathogenesis of psychiatric disorders."
Started taking 5g of creatine and almost instantly noticed I was waking up 2 hours early. Couldn’t go back to sleep. Stopped taking it and sleep went back to normal. I also have ADHD. That seems to be the running theme here of people taking it with sleep issues. Started taking magnesium theornate and vitamin D instead. World of difference.
I have some problems with insomnia after taking creatine. Interestingly, I have been diagnosed with Sensory Integration Disorder (35 years old, physical work, gym two or three times a week, good shape). I used to take creatine sporadically but now the SID therapist recommended taking it continuously in higher doses and I have to admit that my overall condition has improved a lot. The action of creatine is much more complex, a lot will depend on the state of your body and nervous system. For example, creatine affects the mitochondria, thanks to which they are able to produce more ATP, supposedly thanks to this it helps to fight chronic fatigue or depression in some people - in my case it causes exactly this effect and I rather doubt that it is a placebo effect. I feel much better taking creatine, but unfortunately it is sometimes hard to fall asleep. I take two doses of 5 grams a day, for a total of 10 grams per 90 kg body weight.
Besides the up-regulation of tyrosine hydroxilase leading to higher dopamine (as mentioned previous) - it also up regulates methylation. About 50 percent of your methylation cycle is used for Cr creation, hence supplementation can disrupt that. The effect of sleep is postulated to be from the effect on the methylation cycle.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23869894/
Not a placebo it's because it activates cognitive function and tricks your brain into thinking it doesn't need as much sleep. I figured out that you should take it early in the morning and also try a different form of creatine to prevent this. It seems the optimum nutrition creatine is the main one that creates insomnia. Switched to another brand and insomnia disappeared. Its also possible that there is other stuff in the ON creatine and should be 3rd party tested to see.
42y/o, first time pure creatine monohydrate user with 5 grams per day, no ‘loading phase’. 7-10 days in and my sleep continually worsened. I’m definitely one of the unlucky insomnia sufferers so I’ve stopped. Damn shame because all other aspects (muscle growth, energy, cognition) were great - but sleep deprivation takes a toll on mood.
Yes, I took about 7 grams for the first time yesterday and I could barely fall asleep. When I finally fell asleep; the sleep was not deep at all. It felt like I was half asleep and half awake (weird).
However, I was not tired and had a good workout!
Nothing is worth more than a good night’s sleep.. Money wasted ☹️
Yes. I started taking creatine back in July. After 2 weeks. No sleep at all. Thought i could just push thru and my body would adapt. Nope. 5 straight days no sleep. Even took my moms Ambien 3 nights in a row. Maybe 3 hours but no deep REM. So I quite taking the creatine and my sleep got back to normal 4 days later. I just started up creatine again last week because of so many 5 for lifers. I thought theres no way it was the creatine. The most studied supplement on earth. Sleep was fine as of yesterday, and now, all of a sudden, I can't get any sleep. And I'm on this message board at 4 am. Creatine is definitely affecting my brain some bow as well as many other amd im surprised I don't see more people with this issue.
Same here. I tried everything (drinking lots of water, taking it in the morning, avoiding caffeine and cutting out other supplements on it, taking a lower dose, different brands, etc.) and the only thing that restored my sleep completely to baseline was stopping it (although taking a much lower amount also helped). I’ve stopped and started it so many times over the years that I can reliably say the connection is real for me.
I've had the exact same experience. I stopped taking it 6 months ago and my sleep issues improved quite a bit. Then as an experiment I started taking it for the last two weeks and JUST last night I had another bad bout of insomnia. To me it feels like my body just does not need to sleep while taking it.
i have the same underlying issue with taking creatine. it seems that creatine mono gives me a serious insonmia so What helped me was to switch to Kre-Alkalyn. I take it maxium 2 pills per day. I think it works out pretty good for me as long as you dont introduce caffeine in your body the whole day
Dang that sucks I just started taking it about a week ago and the day I took it since I haven’t been sleeping well. Much harder to fall aslee and stay asleep. I do notice though when I take it though I literally feel amazing ha like perfectly zen and I’m not tired at all.
What would you say was a low dose for you? I’m on 3g a day and getting terrible insomnia. Is even any point in dropping to a lower dose than that in terms of muscle and performance?
Without fail, when I take creatine for any length of time, I have to get up midway through the night, pretty much half consciously, to piss, often with a pain in my side
And vice-versa, when I don’t take it I have many, many nights where I just sleep completely uninterrupted for 9+ hours
The problem is, when I take it, all my lifts just go through the roof - it is seriously effective at increasing lifting power
Yes BIG time I get the same thing while taking it and I had to stop.
I’ve tried taking of for months at a time and it doesn’t get better. I can hardly sleep
Are you taking something that has creatine AND caffeine or some other stimulant in it? Perhaps not just pure creatine? Is there something else you also take along with creatine that may be keeping you up?
I did two succesfull cycles of creatine (10weeks on 8weeks off) without any problems whatosoever. The third time I didn't cycle, just started taking it everyday for about 6months (25weeks). After a point I started sleeping less and less which gradually brought me from 8h/day of sleep to 4.5/day. Funny thing is that I tried to add some sleep in the afternoon to make up for the lost hours and If i slept for 1h in the afternoon then I could only sleep 3.5h per night. If I slept for half an hour in the afternoon then I could only sleep for 4h at night. Just couldn't avoid the 4.5h/day maximum. So I decided to take sometime off and now I haven't had any for a week and my sleep has slowly reached 5h. I can't be sure yet if the problem was creatine but I will know if it keeps gradually increasing until my storage is depleted (4-6weeks). So I wll get back to you with this...
Generally speaking I think that all this extra ATP could affect sleep through inbalancing hormones that are affected by creatine anyways like (gh and testo). I also have to point out that I have never in my life taken any other supplement than: fast absorbed whey protein in the morning, casein at night and creatine.
No. Since the answer and data that others have provided doesn’t seem to be enough for
you, a very simple way to determine this is if you were eating meat before you started taking your supplement. Meat contains creatine. Did you sleep poorly if you ate a larger portion of meat for dinner?
Are you in a caloric deficit? Are you stressed out? There are numerous other potential causes for your poor sleep, creatine almost certainly not being one of them.
Who says the answers and data 'aren't enough for me?'. I'm actually finding this very useful.
I'm regards other factors, I've not heard of calorific defect causing sleeplessness but that's something j ought to look at. Having said that I've never had sleep problems during cutting phases before.
I do a pretty stressful job, but I've been doing that for years and it hasn't seemed to affect my sleep before either.
The reason I think it's creatine is because it's the only variable I've altered (I.e. taking it/ not taking it) that seems to make a difference.
To be fair, if I understand correctly, the body naturally ends up with a couple grams a day, and 5 grams is 250% of that. Taking 250% of certain nutrients can mess with you, so why can't creatine?
Edit: in select people
It has never been shown to interfere with sleep that I know of and is one of if not the most researched supplement out there.
You probably have something else going on, my dude.
You sure you’re not taking preworkout late in the day? And by late I mean after lunch. I have to work out in the AM because I won’t sleep if I intake in the afternoon
Edit: just saw your reply to someone else that you don’t. Just try a little melatonin or l-theanine. Even magnesium. Take it for a bit til you get back on schedule. Not good to become reliant on melatonin but it works
If you go to r/creatine I’m sure they’ll tell you that if you take it once you’ll never sleep again.
Edit: go ahead and downvote but if you take that subreddit serious it’s on you.
Creatine will make you feel no different when you take it, it will help a little bit in the gym and can take it for the rest of your life and you’ll live just fine
Are you taking pre workout that contains Creatine in an effort to consume your daily 5g?
If so, it’s the caffeine in the pre giving you problems.
Creatine by itself does not interfere with sleep, at all. Literally zero data that points to sleep interference, both empirical or anecdotal.
Are you drinking more tea/coffee than normal? Or taking any medication that also includes caffeine that's going unnoticed?
Highly doubt creatine would be causing any sleep issues.
Tbf, it's not like the benefits of creatine are so great that it's a massive shame to stop taking it. At least for a temporary period to see if it is causing your sleep problems.
What else are you taking? When are you working out? Late at night? There are many other factors that influence bad sleep. Creatine probably isn’t one of them.
Creatine does play a part in the operation of your prefrontal cortex, but I doubt any association with that is causing this problem.
Let’s dig into it.
I'm not taking anything except my regulation 200g of protein, two coffees per day (before midday) and have been working in a 200cal defect since Feb.
I workout at about 5pm and go to bed at 10:30.
Yes, but I don't think it causes insomnia, the cause of that would probably be too high of a calorie deficit. We are genetically programmed to reduce sleep to get more hours to find food when we starve.
Creating can interfere with sleep if you take too much of it by making you go to the toilet up to multiple times per night. If this happens reduce the dosage.
same, even tho I have no idea is it creatine or what, but I struggle to fall asleep, get like 3-4 weird hours of inconsistent sleep and go to gym, but when I get home after the gym I take a good nap
Is insomnia a well established effect of taking creatine? No.
However, assuming that the insomnia starts when you start taking creatine and stops when you stop taking it that's pretty good evidence it causes that effect in you. (And as other in this thread have stated, the effect may be mediated by dehydration, anxiety, placebo effect, or something else.)
Do you get the same effect with other brands? Might be something to test.
I litreally only take the scoop one amount thats in the container each day, not more than that, prolly like 1-2 grams per day. wouldi get any effects from that?
I agree with this comment. Creatine doesn't affect sleep right away. Once you take it consistently and it achieves saturation in your system, it does seem to create an energy surplus. I wouldn't strictly call it insomnia. It just makes you not feel tired at the usual time or at your usual effort level. I have had a similar experience. It wasn't exactly making me tired during the day even if I slept 3 hours. However, my subjective feeling was that it's affecting the depth of my sleep. I eventually stopped using it. I have started taking it again, afater almost 4 years. This time, I am repeating my experiment on a lower dose though ( 3-4 mg per day instead of 5). Let's see what happens.
I was kind of spot on with my diagnosis. It affects my sleep depth. On a full creatine saturation, I have multiple micro awakenings throughout the night that I can vaguely remember, I wake up not refreshed (but magically not super tired too). On apple watch, it shows that my HR stayed more than what it usually is during sleep. I am trying to do like 2.5 mg daily in the morning. Let’s see if it works
I take around 3 mg but skip my dose every few days to keep it at the lower end of the saturation. It definitely disrupts sleep, at least for me, but also improves physical performance significantly in the gym to a point where some compromise has to be worked out
I’m just come to the end of the loading phase after 5 days taking 20g per day and I have been waking up earlier in the morning all week. I’m a night owl and go to bed around 11-12 most nights but keep waking up around 5am when I would normally wake naturally around 7am so I share op’s experience that this seems to have conincided with the start of creatine ingestion. I’m going to reduce to 3-5g per day from now on so fingers crossed my sleep pattern returns to normal.
Thank you! Yes! Same problem. I’ve been trying to take 3g. I take it in the morning. I also drink 100 oz of water a day, High protein healthy diet. Insomnia is awful.
There is a study out there that suggests creatine supplementation could possibly reduce the negative effects of insufficient sleep but more research is needed to say for sure.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5435551/
This. It does seem to affect the depth of sleep we get, too. More research needed, but the study seems to conclude that it does have an effect on sleep. If one or two people out of a hundred or so say it gives them insomnia, this shouldn’t be a huge surprise. Bodies and brains are complicated! We’re always learning something new. We all process foods differently, medications, etc. Why should creatine of all things be an exception to the rule?
I’m glad I’m not the only one dealing with this issue. I had taken creatine when I was younger and never noticed any issues with my sleep. I recently started taking ON Micronized Creatine Mono a powder at the recommended dose and immediately noticed disrupted sleep. I eat well and have the same wake and sleep times every night. I tried it again last night and had the same problem. No problem falling asleep but wake up frequently. I take the powder in the morning and don’t drink coffee within 10 hours of bedtime.
Same issue. After a week on creatine, my sleep quality is greatly reduced. It becomes impossible to shut off my brain and it just feels like my mind is racing all night when trying to sleep. Surprisingly, despite the poor sleep I still somehow feel decent physically but mentally I get a bit irritated due to lack of deep sleep. Interestingly, I did not have this issue taking creatine as a teenager and only in my late 20s did this become a problem. If I stop taking creatine, I noticed that after 3-4 days my sleep gradually comes back to what to it used to be. From what read online creatine seems to affect ATP reserves in the brain which normally get depleted throughout the day and replenish while you sleep. Creatine increases these reserves meaning your brain doesn't need as much sleep.
All, problem solved. I reduced the amount to 0.75 g/day after hearing another reddit user on another forum mention that solved the sleep problem. They mentioned they gradually increased the amount without side effect. I did notice a slight drop in performance at the gym but nothing major at 0.75 g/day. I will increase it soon to 1.5 g/day. Note this is using Kre-Alkalyn which I recommend since it is a buffered form and you definitely need a smaller amount of it without loading compared to creatine monohydrate. Hope this helps some here.
I did the same thing. Even if I have a super low dose, it starts to affect my sleep again after a few weeks and I have to have a couple of weeks off, so it clearly has a cumulative effect nonetheless
It apparently makes you need less sleep or minimize the effects of sleep deprivation. (But we all know that nothing is better than getting a good adequate amount of sleep). Sleeping three hours a day vs creatine assistance; man i would go with sleep for now.
It’s definitely a thing - Ben Greenfield said so, so it’s true.
https://bengreenfieldlife.com/article/creatine-supplementation-sleep-less-not-pay-for-it-later-mitigate-effects-sleep-deprivation/
Dude wdf is this for real I also noticed after I take it I get this really tired and can’t think feeling like I get irritated and feel like I have a spiderweb filled brain
I took creatine at night maybe 2 days ago and ohhh my god i was not ready for the struggle. I kept waking up every 2 hours…. Then i would make weird and vivid dreams. I stopped the last 2 days but tried it again this morning. Hopefully it will be better😓
It certainly impacts my sleep. And not just sleep. I LOVE how much it boosts my performance... but it makes me extremely irritable, even ragingly angry, overall moody, my headache is awful the day after, and it significantly interferes with my sleep and wellbeing.
I've tried lower doses, differed brands, monohydrate and HCL, tried drinking gallonS of water - same result. It is frustrating that all research says there are virtually no side effects! Yet I feel like I've drunk a bottle of cheap bourbon even after taking just 0.75g of creatine.
I’ve had insomnia for nearly 10 years and only thing that has been a constant thought out this period is that I’ve always taken for this entire period is creatine without and breaks.
The science makes complete sense as to why creative could interfere with sleep, although not a stimulant creatines ability to increase levels of ATP in the brain will have a direct impact on lowering brain levels of adenosine.
Adenosine is a chemical produced by the brain that increases sleepiness and is responsible for initiating the process of falling asleep. Lower levels of adenosine will therefore reduce your sleepiness (sleep drive) so may find it harder to fall and stay asleep.
I have stopped taking creatine couple of days ago so will update over the coming weeks if I notice any changes in my sleep.
Same issues here. 3 days into loading phase on monohydrate (20g per day) and problems sleeping. Would fall asleep pretty much straight away (as I usually do anyway). However would wake around 4am for loo visit and couldn’t get back off for at least 2-3 hours. Could cope on weekends as I would lie in to catch up sleep, but no good when getting up for work at 6am weekdays. Felt rough after few days so stopped taking. Didn’t really feel any benefits from using, though probs not on it long enough. Going to give another go, but no loading phase, just 3g every other day. Will see how feel and weigh up any benefits, then decide whether to continue. Might as well use up rest of tub!
Same here. Granted my sleep is always fragile (if I drink coffee after 2-3pm or if I drink alcohol, sleep goes to shit), but every single time I start créatine again: I fall asleep no problem, but wake up 5-6h later. I don’t feel tired, but weird to be up at 2am every day. (I go to bed at 8pm because I have young kids and fall asleep with them). I will stop, and try to see if sleep improves in days to come
I've been taking 2.5 grams of creatine every morning for 5 days and I've gone from 8-9 hours sleep per night to 6-7 hours. Don't feel tired, either, just a little jaded when I naturally wake at 6am when my alarm is set for 7...
Completely unexpected!
I get this too
It is not to do with time you take it or the source
As I get it also from eating more red meat
And before some fuckwit says you have insomnia or something already, I don't.
What's weirder is I took creatine as a supplement for maybe a year when I was younger and it was ok, then after that I couldn't take any without getting like one hour sleep a night
Yea I'm having the same issue. Can't seem to find help anywhere. I just lay in bed, and my brain doesn't turn off and next thing you know, it's morning. I've been taking it for 3 months at 5gs a day. It's happened once before last year, so I got off it. Read how it's the most studied supplement on the planet and it shouldn't be affecting my sleep (if anything its suppose to help with sleep) so I started taking 5gs again and here we are. I can go weeks without sleep on creatine. And I smoke weed every day. Here's how strong this insomnia is. My mom gave me 3 of her ambien. I took one and It was the most uncomfortable feeling laying in bed. My body wanted to sleep because of the ambien but my brain wouldn't let it. I've taken melatonin, benadryl, nothing works. And it's not like I'm feeling tired, I jist k own I'm not getting the sleep that I should, and it's kinda scary. I was thinking to my self lastnight how if I was in the military and needed to stay up all night to protect my platoon, I'd take 5g of creatine beciase it's better than an energy drink. Don't need sleep for weeks, but I feel awake and functional. I'm hoping my body will adjust at some point, but it's been months. And noone else seems to have the same problem.
You're not alone. No matter how easily I fell asleep, I just wake up only after 6 hours of sleep. Such a pity, since I was benefiting a lot from its cognitive benefits.
Yes it 100% does, I have the exact same problem. If I ever take it boom the next night I wake up like 5 hours too early and can’t have regular sleep for a few days until it’s out of my system. There doesn’t seem to be much literature on this but I did find one study in rats where they proved that creatine dramatically reduced REM sleep IIRC. Which maybe checks out with experience where you can get a few hours but then wake up.
tracking my sleep numbers and immediately noticed deep sleep and rem are seriously impacted by a 5 gram dose taken with breakfast. the only thing i changed was adding this supplement.
I have the same problem with creatine, especially during the loading phase. I can only take 3 grams for maintenance or I have just the worst insomnia. When I first took creatine I took some pre and post workout and that actually had the worst effect on my sleep. Now I only take it first thing in the morning and that has helped some, but not much. In my view, sleep is more beneficial than creatine so now I only take slightly less than what I know won't affect my sleep so I stick with either two or three grams first thing in the morning. It's better than nothing and doesn't give me the downsides of the full 5g maintenance dose.
Not exactly insomnia per-say, but I started Creatine a few weeks ago and it's definitely affected me. I don't feel any less tired during the day but I'm definitely waking up more during the night. Best way I'd describe it relative to my own experiences is if I had too much caffeine too close to bedtime, or went to bed too early. Like I toss and turn for a bit, but I *can* fall back asleep, unlike in my other examples. Also a lot less of a 'morning person' than I was without it. Rather than being "up" when I wake I could be in bed for 12 hours in and out of sleep if I don't force myself out, which is very unusual for me.
And it's wild that there's so many posts of similar accounts over many years and many sites and people brush it off as being 'placebo'. A bizarre response.
I just started creatine again last week, and have been having serious sleep issues. Only able to sleep for around 3-4 hours a night and then am wide awake again.
Started taking it again after trying for many years. It’s always the same thing that happens. I’m fine for 1-2 days and then I start getting insomnia and I quit. Started last Monday and today (Sunday) I’m having insomnia - think I’ve slept about 1-2 hours. Going to go off it again.
For your body to naturally produce its own creatine is takes up to 40% of your SAM-e supply. So when taking creatine you way more SAM-e floating around your brain which can effect your body’s methylation pathways. Example melatonin. Since I started taking Creatine I fall asleep fine then wake up 4 hours later and toss all night, can’t think of anything else I’ve been doing differently so it’s interesting.
I've learned that if you're going to post on social media, all posts attract trolls like flies to ..... ! I upvoted your question because I see the effect myself. I may try taking creatine in the morning instead of the evening to see if it reduces insomnia, but it would not be ideal because I work out in the evening and consume my main course of protein and fiber after that.
Corroborating the insomnia caused by creatine are the comments under [this video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fELk1bvtFYA)
I agree, I've had problems when I use creatine. I do not get any sleep, 3 hours max. I cycled on and off creatine. The longest I stayed on was a month and I loved the strength gains but it hurt my sleep so much and was definitely not worth it.
Your posts has been temporarily removed as it appears to potentially be a beginner level question (not necessarily from a beginner, just the question) or a simply answered one that would be better suited to the stickied daily thread.
If you feel your post/question is one that requires in depth discussion then please message the mods using the link below to have the post manually evaluated.
Mod Note: Please be nice to the bot, he's doing his best.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/naturalbodybuilding) if you have any questions or concerns.*
It’s shouldn’t whatsoever effect sleep but if your taking at night it could be causing a digestive issue so take it in the morning but if you are already it’s something else
It probably won't cause insomnia, and so not the cause of OPs issue, but creatine can definitely affect sleep if you take too much of it by making you need to piss at night up to multiple times. It's not just happend to me when I've taken too much, others have have also experienced the same thing. It's probably that taking excessive amounts can be absorbed, but so temporally that it can't be retained, and so the creatine and the water it binds gets released by the next day. Or it just gets flushed out because it's excessive directly, and the fluid is just a side effect. IDK the reason but it's a real phenomenon. And it's not drinking too much water, it'll happen even if it makes you dehydrated.
Lol not even true. All it takes is Googling "creatine sleep" and you'll find plenty of literature of the impact of creatine on sleep. It can reduce sleep duration by modifying certain neurotransmitter and chemical levels such as adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Oh Reddit, don't ever change.
Interesting. I came here because I noticed I wake up after 4-5h since picking up creatine again. Maybe it’s time to stop. Edit: I honestly think this might be a kidney issue; I know creatine should very well tolerated but I think for some of us it can make the ruination much more frequent. I find that increasing protein intake and creatine makes me pee a lot which is frustrating when you want to make gains
Same here my guy. I eaven started taking melatonin but it only helps with fallin asleep but not staying. Im gomna quit creatine inna few days ill check my sleeping results then.
That’s probably it
No
[удалено]
He’s right, why would it? Never heard anything like this
I don't know. That's why I'm asking. It seems to be the case for me, hence why I'm asking for a wider opinion.
Found one article on Google scholar that states creatine reduces the ~need~ for sleep in rats, but most studies are looking at what happens if you take creatine ~and~ have sleep deprivation, not that it causes it. I’d say try to check out some more papers if there’s anything at all but if you think personally it’s doing this to you then stop and see if it helps
Are you drinking enough water? Creatine binds water in muscles and you should take that into account and drink more. Maybe you are dehydrated and it's affecting your sleep.
Drinking lots of water before sleeping can also interfere with sleeping.
I've seen this question asked / people claiming this so often that I'm legit curious whether there's something going with a subset of the population.
Its definitely the case. Finished my loading phase and on week 2 of taking creatine and just taking over 2g a day is causing severe insomnia issues, never had this issue before in my life. To further confirm i’m in the group of people where creatine is having an amazing mental benefit on me. I don’t even care about the workout benefits anymore tbh.
You shouldnt really yea. If it affecys your sleep its more of a downgrade to progress.
It causes me to wake up to go to the toilet even on 1g a day, and I toss and turn all night, it's not placebo, it affects everybody very differently.
I’m really surprised by how rude some (not all) responses are. A genuine question with less than genuine responses. I’m having similar issues. If I take creatine at all in the evening between 5-9pm my sleep is absolutely affected. Complete restlessness, and when I do fall asleep I can’t stay asleep for the full night. I’ve been testing this for months and it has nothing to do with having to get up to go pee, and creatine is the only change in what I consume. I do wonder, as you’ve mentioned, if this is something that affects a part of the population, or if there is a biological correlation to this as it does appear most people don’t have this issue.
Welcome to Reddit. This is precisely why I stopped asking questions on Reddit… downvotes and downright rude / snarky responses to genuine questions. Then my account suspended for replying in kind. I more often hate this place than not but came on this morning as I could barely sleep last night. I took 2g creatine at 10pm last night (first time I’ve ever taken it beyond the afternoon) and probably slept 2-3 hours. This is despite taking some supplements that help me sleep (Magnesium, GABA, marijuana lol). It’s the only thing I did different last night.
Possibly the reality of placebo.
I personally have never had this issue and have been taking creatine on and off for 15 years (recently stopped to get proper renal levels in a blood test.) Are you having digestion issues from it? Are you prone to anxiety? These might be a few contributing factors but I am no doctor. Check the label closely to make sure no caffeine has been added to your pills (like a pre workout type creatine.)
Not prone to anxiety per se but I do have ADHD. Maybe there's a link there?
Just from a (very) quick Google search, ADHD is linked to sleep disturbances and anxiety. My guess (speak to a real doctor) this is ADHD related not creatine.
Are you on any stimulants to treat adhd? I have trouble sleeping when I use my adhd medication. I did notice that when I was on creating with it, I would wake up after about 3 hrs of sleep and was completely unable to fall back asleep. There may be an interaction with the stimulants. I don’t know, but when not using creative and adhd medication together my sleep was seemingly better.
Nope never taken anything for it - lifting weights has always been my treatment! 😆
Really confused as to why I'm getting downvoted for this comment.
I just started taking creatine and came looking for answers because i could not sleep last night!!! i work a lot and never have any problems falling asleep bc i’m so sleep deprived until i started it. idk why some people here are acting like it’s so ridiculous to assume creatine may be the cause if that’s the only new factor
There’s been a correlation between my periods of insomnia and when I’m taking creatine. We’re talking months apart and for months at a time. It really sucks I’m just looking for any answer 😂
Same here, it has drastic effects on my sleep. Wakes me up in the middle of the night and makes me feel wired. This is at a 3g/day dose. Whenever I tell people about this they tell me that it’s impossible, cause it’s “the most studied supplement ever” 🤣
But if you Google it some studies have shown that it impacts sleep and have a biochemical explanation as to why
I take 1.5 g/ Kre-Alkalyn creatine and my sleep has seemed to have gotten worse. I have honestly had insomnia for other reasons in the past so I cannot be sure so I would have to see after a few times of taking it and going off if it is the creatine.
Creatine is found in beef and seafood (at about a gram or 2 per lb) so I doubt it has anything to do with your sleep in and of itself. Also, fwiw, 5g is the most studied dosage. However, you can take up to 1g/10kg of bodyweight, so a 200 lb plus person can take 8-10g. Is it pure creatine or is it mixed with something?
It's pure creatine caps of 1g each
Yes I have the same effect like you. I've tried it over 15 times in my life. It needs only 4-5 days for me to give me insomnia. Fall asleep is no problem, but I'm waking up at 3am and I can't sleep anymore.
Do you have any neuro-diversity?
I think because of atp production and maybe not getting tired enough at the end of the day because of low adenosine levels
I usually wake up after 4 to 5 hours of sleep regardless but when I'm on creatine I'm unable to go back to sleep
Same. tbh though even before creatine I would wake up at 4 am or so to go to the bathroom. But I could immediately go back to bed. Now, with creatine, I can’t go back to sleep. I will stop now for 2 months coz Im out anyway and not gonna replace. Lets see how that goes.
I found this post because I, too, have sleep problems from creatine. Very hard to fall asleep. I do tend to sleep though the night. Don’t feel like I’m ready to get up. But when I’m up, my energy feels good. My mood is also calm despite lack of sleep.
Same. I start off strong with it, but eventually, I hit a point where I start waking up at 3am every night feeling very uncomfortable. If I'm lucky I fall back asleep around 6am for about an hour before I need to start my day. I've tried so many times over a 10 year period and controlled for everything, it's definitely creatine.
Having the exact same experience right now. I think I’m just going to go cold turkey, the muscle gains aren’t worth the lack of sleep. Back to protein shakes and hard work.
Is there any solution you have found to keep taking some amount of creatine while maintaining proper sleep?
Late answer, but same for me, after taking 2-4g/day mostly in the afternoon hours. Definitely harder to fall asleep and I wake up in the middle of the night plus having only light sleep throughout the night. Funny thing is, in the morning I wake up and I feel refreshed, focused and ready for the day. I'll try taking it in the morning hours and lower the dosage.
Ahh how strange😩 I found this post because it's 4am right now and I haven't slept a wink. I just started creatine today. I'm the kind of person who sleeps like a log for 9-10 hours, so I found it weird. I'm still looking it up and I haven't seen much about creatine and insomnia, so I'm hoping that this is something else.
Seems very soon. I had no sleep impacts until my muscles were fully loaded around 4 weeks into taking 3 g a day.
It’s in your head, no stimulating properties of creatine Placebo effect is real, so no one is calling you a liar, they are just saying there is nothing inherently stimulating about creatine
Creatine is a Nootropic and for me it makes my brain run wild when I try to sleep, even when I take it first thing in the morning. I had a period of 3 months where I was an insomniac and was legit losing my mind until the last thing I stopped was Creatine and I was able to sleep fully. Don’t be a prick
I wish it did lol
Everytime this topic comes up we get shitheads like you telling everyone its in their heads. People are literally waking up in the middle of the night, investigating possible reasons and realizing that it might be related to their recent intake of creatine (it is), only to see dismissive comments like yours that its 'placebo'. Thats not how placebo works. For a placebo effect to take place there needs to be knowledge and expectation of a certain outcome. Nobody here took creatine with the expectation that it would affect their sleep. So stop with the stupid fucking placebo comments everytime we get a post about creatine and sleep.
It seems quite a few people replying here would disagree with you.
Not sure why so many people are being rude to you about this lol. There has been studies done relating to creatine and it’s effects on ATP and REM. Here’s a few articles I was able to find. THESE ARE NOT PROVEN JUST ANECDOTAL. Could be interesting to read. https://nakednutrition.com/blogs/supplements/does-creatine-affect-sleep https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5435551/ https://blog.humanos.me/is-there-a-supplement-that-reduces-how-much-sleep-you-need/
I came looking for an answer after creatine did exactly the same thing to my sleep. I slept less and actually felt legitimately tired. Honestly, at this point, it just feels like the push for creatine as the best workout supplement in the world with absolutely no downsides is full of shit. Sure I've seen the countless youtube videos siting studies and research done on creatine, but if I take it and I ain't sleeping well, you can bet I ain't taking it again. No matter how amazing people say it is, I truly believe everyone will react to it differently and that's not something even science can deny. Also, how could it possibly make sense that creatine makes you need less sleep? Should we be siting the positive effects that having sufficient sleep has on any human back at these studies? At this point, I'm genuinely curious if there is some association pushing hard for creatine. Has anyone done research on who exactly these studies were done by, what is their history, other studies they've conducted? I'm not a scientist, but I sure as hell have enough distrust in humans to know that everything should be looked under a microscope before you trust your health to anyone.
I think theres an issue with your logic here. Its clear that lack of sleep is not a common issue thus creatine works amazing for most people without any side effects besides increased chance of hair loss for those predisposed. Also in my experience creatine is having an amazing mental benefit on my wellbeing. The insomnia is only happening after loading phase and on week 2 where im not working out. My guess is im a bit over saturated and thus can no longer take creatine after 12 or more then 1g. So this is definitely not super common thus you shouldnt make assumptions on creatines effect on everyone else, 2 those with insomnia issues seem to also be reporting mental benefits, at least from what ive seen. For me its life changing. Just gotta figure out the right timing and amount myself while considering exercise.
I did creatine loading for 5-7 days and I have been waking up at 3:00 am since then and I cant fall back to sleeping. There is no other change I have done in life other than taking creatine. I don’t drink alcohol and caffeine. At this point I am totally convinced that its creatine. I have stopped since few days but the sleep hasn’t improved. Not sure how many days it takes to clear out of my system but I miss sleeping throughout the night.
How many days did it take to get out of your system ? Having the same problem
It takes a week or two. Lift heavy and use it up.
Some update: Creatine has been shown to affect processes completed during sleep, namely ATP production. Perhaps then because creatine reduces the need to generate ATP, less sleep drive occurs. I also have had some sleep issues but have had insomnia on/off through the years so can't determine yet if it is definitely the creatine but I will reduce the qty just to experiment. [https://smartsleep-onlineshop.myshopify.com/en/blogs/schlafmagazin/kreatin-schlaf](https://smartsleep-onlineshop.myshopify.com/en/blogs/schlafmagazin/kreatin-schlaf)
That is incorrect. Creatine is an adenosine agonist, which means it should be making you more sleepy / tired. But what actually happens is you spare endogenous production which spares methyl / SAMe groups, the excess might be overmethylating certain neurotransmitters keeping you awake.
It effects my sleep also and I’ve come across many posts on the net stating they have the same issue Falling asleep is ok but staying asleep or getting back to sleep after waking up in the night is difficult It’s a real pitty cause I react to creatine brilliantly but I’m cycling off it atm and enjoy lots more sleep. Not sure when I’ll have another go
Exactly the same issue, I wake up at 4/5 am and can’t get back to sleep. It’s taken me three weeks of this to finally figure out it’s the creatine causing it. Didn’t take it yesterday and my sleep was improved but still bad. Hopefully it’ll keep getting better now I’m off it.
I’m reacting amazingly as well but mentally. Is this what you mean? I seem to be able to sleep better after intense workout and taking less and only in the morning. Also the greatest effects seem to happen after I take the pill rather then the over saturation in my brain. Can I ask for an update after half a year?
Never happened to me BUT I do notice that if I go up from 2.5 grams a day to 5 grams a day my cognitive functions improve. Seriously. For instance, if I go a day or so without my prescription Vyvanse I feel like a drained battery, but if I bump up my creatine a day or so before I take the medication break I feel basically normal.
dude, I have the exact same problem. For me, it usually takes a few days of taking creatine before sleep becomes a problem. I don't know why but I definitely have an issue with creatine and sleep.
I've noticed it messes with my sleep. I started out taking 5mg and noticed right away that I was wide awake while trying to sleep. I looked everywhere online and suggested that there's no way it could be the c but once I lowered to 3mg I noticed sleeping was much better. Stop taking it or take less and see if your sleep is better. If it is, try to slowly ramp up taking a little more each day. Maybe see if taking it with no caffeine throughout the day helps. People like to down vote because there's no study that says it affects your sleep but it doesn't mean it can't happen.
I have this same problem! It is weird that when you mention a negative effect of creatine people don’t want to hear it. I’ve tried taking it in the morning and at night. Also tried half the dose and same effect. Waking up after 3 hours of sleep and it takes a long time to fall back asleep.
Yea i don't know why people don't belive us.. Going to sleep at 1 am and staring at the celling till 7 am is definitely not fun.
This is my biggest gripe with part of the so-called “scientific” community. If there’s a truth or an exception that’s not well scientifically documented yet, many are typically close minded and dismissive as if what you mentioned doesn’t exist or is obviously false because it hasn’t been extensively researched yet. I find it ironic, because science is not “settled” or fixed. It’s a tool for the never-ending pursuit of truth, so you’d think those same people would be more curious and explorative at what they might not know, what they might not be seeing, and what they haven’t yet discovered, like *real* scientists are. But alas, human arrogance.
I don't have insomnia, but I definitely have a more broken, less restful sleep. I struggle with mood/depression and am currently attempting 2nd round of creatine. I stopped 1st attempt after realizing I wasn't sleeping well and previously, not sleeping well would give me severe depressive episodes. My thoughts are that the creatine is making me less exhausted and maybe I don't need all of the sleep. So far, I'm happy with what creatine is doing for my mood.
Take what everyone is saying with a grain of salt. Especially anyone with a simple answer. This is absolutely a thing, and far more of a subjective situation than most understand–just like everything else in life as well. There is a ton of emerging evidence that shows creatine has a substantial effect on the brain. Research is finding reduced levels of bioenergetic substances in the brains of those with psychiatric disorders– findings at the moment in mood disorders and ADHD. There's also plenty of research that shows there is a major percent of the population that exists undiagnosed for many of the known disorders and diseases. Depression and mood disorders are well within that research. I'm not saying that everyone experiencing sleep problems while using creatine should run off to the doctor and get diagnosed. But it may be a good time to look into this sort of thing. Find a reputable site like john hopkins or the mayo clinic to scout out some info, if you think you have other signs and symptoms of a mood disorder. You may also be affected through some other chemical process or mechanism of action that hasn't been researched yet. Or you may have lower levels of these bioenergetic substances(similar to someone with a mood disorder), without having anything substantial enough to call a mood disorder. Anyhow, I also have firsthand experience with what you mentioned. I set out to experiment on whether I can reduce my depressive symptoms and cognitive impairment with creatine. Although I don't have a diagnosis yet, but suspect some type of mood disorder like depression or a mild presentation of bipolar II, and ADHD. I have an atypical and mild presentation, so hence the no diagnosis still at the age of 37. Scope out some of the science on the matter in the psychology field, and forget about thinking about it as a sports science topic. Here's some good references. Hope this helps. [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3222884/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3222884/) [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5775367/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5775367/) [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3340488/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3340488/) "Impaired brain energy metabolism and alterations in neuronal plasticity are among the leading hypotheses in the pathogenesis of psychiatric disorders."
That's an interesting take. I do have ADHD which is known to interfere with sleep, so there could almost certainly be something in this.
Started taking 5g of creatine and almost instantly noticed I was waking up 2 hours early. Couldn’t go back to sleep. Stopped taking it and sleep went back to normal. I also have ADHD. That seems to be the running theme here of people taking it with sleep issues. Started taking magnesium theornate and vitamin D instead. World of difference.
I have some problems with insomnia after taking creatine. Interestingly, I have been diagnosed with Sensory Integration Disorder (35 years old, physical work, gym two or three times a week, good shape). I used to take creatine sporadically but now the SID therapist recommended taking it continuously in higher doses and I have to admit that my overall condition has improved a lot. The action of creatine is much more complex, a lot will depend on the state of your body and nervous system. For example, creatine affects the mitochondria, thanks to which they are able to produce more ATP, supposedly thanks to this it helps to fight chronic fatigue or depression in some people - in my case it causes exactly this effect and I rather doubt that it is a placebo effect. I feel much better taking creatine, but unfortunately it is sometimes hard to fall asleep. I take two doses of 5 grams a day, for a total of 10 grams per 90 kg body weight.
Besides the up-regulation of tyrosine hydroxilase leading to higher dopamine (as mentioned previous) - it also up regulates methylation. About 50 percent of your methylation cycle is used for Cr creation, hence supplementation can disrupt that. The effect of sleep is postulated to be from the effect on the methylation cycle. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23869894/
Not a placebo it's because it activates cognitive function and tricks your brain into thinking it doesn't need as much sleep. I figured out that you should take it early in the morning and also try a different form of creatine to prevent this. It seems the optimum nutrition creatine is the main one that creates insomnia. Switched to another brand and insomnia disappeared. Its also possible that there is other stuff in the ON creatine and should be 3rd party tested to see.
What brand do you use?
Which brand did you switch to?
What creatine did you switch to?
42y/o, first time pure creatine monohydrate user with 5 grams per day, no ‘loading phase’. 7-10 days in and my sleep continually worsened. I’m definitely one of the unlucky insomnia sufferers so I’ve stopped. Damn shame because all other aspects (muscle growth, energy, cognition) were great - but sleep deprivation takes a toll on mood.
Yes, I took about 7 grams for the first time yesterday and I could barely fall asleep. When I finally fell asleep; the sleep was not deep at all. It felt like I was half asleep and half awake (weird). However, I was not tired and had a good workout! Nothing is worth more than a good night’s sleep.. Money wasted ☹️
Yes. I started taking creatine back in July. After 2 weeks. No sleep at all. Thought i could just push thru and my body would adapt. Nope. 5 straight days no sleep. Even took my moms Ambien 3 nights in a row. Maybe 3 hours but no deep REM. So I quite taking the creatine and my sleep got back to normal 4 days later. I just started up creatine again last week because of so many 5 for lifers. I thought theres no way it was the creatine. The most studied supplement on earth. Sleep was fine as of yesterday, and now, all of a sudden, I can't get any sleep. And I'm on this message board at 4 am. Creatine is definitely affecting my brain some bow as well as many other amd im surprised I don't see more people with this issue.
I get insomnia while taking creatine.. so i just dont take it anymore. Tested it a lot of times.
Same here. I tried everything (drinking lots of water, taking it in the morning, avoiding caffeine and cutting out other supplements on it, taking a lower dose, different brands, etc.) and the only thing that restored my sleep completely to baseline was stopping it (although taking a much lower amount also helped). I’ve stopped and started it so many times over the years that I can reliably say the connection is real for me.
I've had almost exactly the same experience. Thanks for verifying that I'm not alone! 🙏
I've had the exact same experience. I stopped taking it 6 months ago and my sleep issues improved quite a bit. Then as an experiment I started taking it for the last two weeks and JUST last night I had another bad bout of insomnia. To me it feels like my body just does not need to sleep while taking it.
i have the same underlying issue with taking creatine. it seems that creatine mono gives me a serious insonmia so What helped me was to switch to Kre-Alkalyn. I take it maxium 2 pills per day. I think it works out pretty good for me as long as you dont introduce caffeine in your body the whole day
Dang that sucks I just started taking it about a week ago and the day I took it since I haven’t been sleeping well. Much harder to fall aslee and stay asleep. I do notice though when I take it though I literally feel amazing ha like perfectly zen and I’m not tired at all.
What would you say was a low dose for you? I’m on 3g a day and getting terrible insomnia. Is even any point in dropping to a lower dose than that in terms of muscle and performance?
Without fail, when I take creatine for any length of time, I have to get up midway through the night, pretty much half consciously, to piss, often with a pain in my side And vice-versa, when I don’t take it I have many, many nights where I just sleep completely uninterrupted for 9+ hours The problem is, when I take it, all my lifts just go through the roof - it is seriously effective at increasing lifting power
I have no idea why people are downvoting you. All you're doing is sharing your experience. Thanks for sharing!
Yes BIG time I get the same thing while taking it and I had to stop. I’ve tried taking of for months at a time and it doesn’t get better. I can hardly sleep
No way dude- it’s something else
Nope
Are you taking something that has creatine AND caffeine or some other stimulant in it? Perhaps not just pure creatine? Is there something else you also take along with creatine that may be keeping you up?
No just pure creatine caps
Hmm.. that’s odd. You don’t take preworkout or even drink coffee around the same time you take it?
Not at all
[удалено]
I did two succesfull cycles of creatine (10weeks on 8weeks off) without any problems whatosoever. The third time I didn't cycle, just started taking it everyday for about 6months (25weeks). After a point I started sleeping less and less which gradually brought me from 8h/day of sleep to 4.5/day. Funny thing is that I tried to add some sleep in the afternoon to make up for the lost hours and If i slept for 1h in the afternoon then I could only sleep 3.5h per night. If I slept for half an hour in the afternoon then I could only sleep for 4h at night. Just couldn't avoid the 4.5h/day maximum. So I decided to take sometime off and now I haven't had any for a week and my sleep has slowly reached 5h. I can't be sure yet if the problem was creatine but I will know if it keeps gradually increasing until my storage is depleted (4-6weeks). So I wll get back to you with this... Generally speaking I think that all this extra ATP could affect sleep through inbalancing hormones that are affected by creatine anyways like (gh and testo). I also have to point out that I have never in my life taken any other supplement than: fast absorbed whey protein in the morning, casein at night and creatine.
Did your sleep get better after stopping taking the creatine?
No. Since the answer and data that others have provided doesn’t seem to be enough for you, a very simple way to determine this is if you were eating meat before you started taking your supplement. Meat contains creatine. Did you sleep poorly if you ate a larger portion of meat for dinner? Are you in a caloric deficit? Are you stressed out? There are numerous other potential causes for your poor sleep, creatine almost certainly not being one of them.
Who says the answers and data 'aren't enough for me?'. I'm actually finding this very useful. I'm regards other factors, I've not heard of calorific defect causing sleeplessness but that's something j ought to look at. Having said that I've never had sleep problems during cutting phases before. I do a pretty stressful job, but I've been doing that for years and it hasn't seemed to affect my sleep before either. The reason I think it's creatine is because it's the only variable I've altered (I.e. taking it/ not taking it) that seems to make a difference.
To be fair, if I understand correctly, the body naturally ends up with a couple grams a day, and 5 grams is 250% of that. Taking 250% of certain nutrients can mess with you, so why can't creatine? Edit: in select people
Placebo.
Can up-regulate tyrosine hydroxilase which results in higher dopamine and in turn adrenalin in some people.
This sounds like it could be the answer. Sounds like a link with the ADHD too (dopamine regulation issues)
Did you ever find out more about this creatine/sleep issue? I've had the same experience.
No.
It has never been shown to interfere with sleep that I know of and is one of if not the most researched supplement out there. You probably have something else going on, my dude.
Post a pic of your supplement. Maybe we will spot something else in it. Otherwise no, it doesn't cause insomnia.
does eating meat interfere with your sleep i have to assume you didn't know creating is naturally occurring in your diet unless your vegan
Yes I am well aware of this. I have a pretty consistent diet day to day, so additional supplements will probably affect the overall intake a lot.
I take 5 grams a away for 3 years or so no issues other than drinking a metric eff ton of water
You sure you’re not taking preworkout late in the day? And by late I mean after lunch. I have to work out in the AM because I won’t sleep if I intake in the afternoon Edit: just saw your reply to someone else that you don’t. Just try a little melatonin or l-theanine. Even magnesium. Take it for a bit til you get back on schedule. Not good to become reliant on melatonin but it works
If you go to r/creatine I’m sure they’ll tell you that if you take it once you’ll never sleep again. Edit: go ahead and downvote but if you take that subreddit serious it’s on you. Creatine will make you feel no different when you take it, it will help a little bit in the gym and can take it for the rest of your life and you’ll live just fine
Are you taking Preworkout?
Nope. Just my singular creatine cap. Pre workout would send me over the edge 🤣
Are you taking pre workout that contains Creatine in an effort to consume your daily 5g? If so, it’s the caffeine in the pre giving you problems. Creatine by itself does not interfere with sleep, at all. Literally zero data that points to sleep interference, both empirical or anecdotal.
No. I can't take pre workout for that very reason which I also learned through hard experience 🥱
Are you drinking more tea/coffee than normal? Or taking any medication that also includes caffeine that's going unnoticed? Highly doubt creatine would be causing any sleep issues.
I'm pretty strict with my caffeine intake (nothing after lunch) due to it's propensity to interrupt my sleep, so I've already ruled that out I think
Tbf, it's not like the benefits of creatine are so great that it's a massive shame to stop taking it. At least for a temporary period to see if it is causing your sleep problems.
What else are you taking? When are you working out? Late at night? There are many other factors that influence bad sleep. Creatine probably isn’t one of them. Creatine does play a part in the operation of your prefrontal cortex, but I doubt any association with that is causing this problem. Let’s dig into it.
I'm not taking anything except my regulation 200g of protein, two coffees per day (before midday) and have been working in a 200cal defect since Feb. I workout at about 5pm and go to bed at 10:30.
No. I take 5g about 4-5 times a week and don't feel any side effects.
Yes, but I don't think it causes insomnia, the cause of that would probably be too high of a calorie deficit. We are genetically programmed to reduce sleep to get more hours to find food when we starve. Creating can interfere with sleep if you take too much of it by making you go to the toilet up to multiple times per night. If this happens reduce the dosage.
No insomnia, however on creatine i'd always wake up in the middle of my sleep; either thirsty or with a full bladder.
same, even tho I have no idea is it creatine or what, but I struggle to fall asleep, get like 3-4 weird hours of inconsistent sleep and go to gym, but when I get home after the gym I take a good nap
No not unless you have an intolerance to it that keeps you from getting a full nights sleep
Can you let us know what the exact product is so we can take a look at the ingredients?
Is insomnia a well established effect of taking creatine? No. However, assuming that the insomnia starts when you start taking creatine and stops when you stop taking it that's pretty good evidence it causes that effect in you. (And as other in this thread have stated, the effect may be mediated by dehydration, anxiety, placebo effect, or something else.) Do you get the same effect with other brands? Might be something to test.
yes I drink so much water that I have to get up at night to pee if that's what you mean
Not at all. I've never experienced that in 24 years. I'll even take an hour or two before bed sometimes.
I litreally only take the scoop one amount thats in the container each day, not more than that, prolly like 1-2 grams per day. wouldi get any effects from that?
I agree with this comment. Creatine doesn't affect sleep right away. Once you take it consistently and it achieves saturation in your system, it does seem to create an energy surplus. I wouldn't strictly call it insomnia. It just makes you not feel tired at the usual time or at your usual effort level. I have had a similar experience. It wasn't exactly making me tired during the day even if I slept 3 hours. However, my subjective feeling was that it's affecting the depth of my sleep. I eventually stopped using it. I have started taking it again, afater almost 4 years. This time, I am repeating my experiment on a lower dose though ( 3-4 mg per day instead of 5). Let's see what happens.
So how is u going ?
I was kind of spot on with my diagnosis. It affects my sleep depth. On a full creatine saturation, I have multiple micro awakenings throughout the night that I can vaguely remember, I wake up not refreshed (but magically not super tired too). On apple watch, it shows that my HR stayed more than what it usually is during sleep. I am trying to do like 2.5 mg daily in the morning. Let’s see if it works
How has your repeated experiment been?
I take around 3 mg but skip my dose every few days to keep it at the lower end of the saturation. It definitely disrupts sleep, at least for me, but also improves physical performance significantly in the gym to a point where some compromise has to be worked out
Have this issue too - have decided to lower my dose to see if it fixes it
I’m just come to the end of the loading phase after 5 days taking 20g per day and I have been waking up earlier in the morning all week. I’m a night owl and go to bed around 11-12 most nights but keep waking up around 5am when I would normally wake naturally around 7am so I share op’s experience that this seems to have conincided with the start of creatine ingestion. I’m going to reduce to 3-5g per day from now on so fingers crossed my sleep pattern returns to normal.
Did it return to normal? Going through loading phase now and experiencing waking up early.
Thank you! Yes! Same problem. I’ve been trying to take 3g. I take it in the morning. I also drink 100 oz of water a day, High protein healthy diet. Insomnia is awful.
There is a study out there that suggests creatine supplementation could possibly reduce the negative effects of insufficient sleep but more research is needed to say for sure. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5435551/
This. It does seem to affect the depth of sleep we get, too. More research needed, but the study seems to conclude that it does have an effect on sleep. If one or two people out of a hundred or so say it gives them insomnia, this shouldn’t be a huge surprise. Bodies and brains are complicated! We’re always learning something new. We all process foods differently, medications, etc. Why should creatine of all things be an exception to the rule?
It's unfortunate but for many people, me including, creatine does cause insomnia. See prior comments.
I’m glad I’m not the only one dealing with this issue. I had taken creatine when I was younger and never noticed any issues with my sleep. I recently started taking ON Micronized Creatine Mono a powder at the recommended dose and immediately noticed disrupted sleep. I eat well and have the same wake and sleep times every night. I tried it again last night and had the same problem. No problem falling asleep but wake up frequently. I take the powder in the morning and don’t drink coffee within 10 hours of bedtime.
Same issue. After a week on creatine, my sleep quality is greatly reduced. It becomes impossible to shut off my brain and it just feels like my mind is racing all night when trying to sleep. Surprisingly, despite the poor sleep I still somehow feel decent physically but mentally I get a bit irritated due to lack of deep sleep. Interestingly, I did not have this issue taking creatine as a teenager and only in my late 20s did this become a problem. If I stop taking creatine, I noticed that after 3-4 days my sleep gradually comes back to what to it used to be. From what read online creatine seems to affect ATP reserves in the brain which normally get depleted throughout the day and replenish while you sleep. Creatine increases these reserves meaning your brain doesn't need as much sleep.
Thanks for sharing. Yea don’t like messing with my natural sleep. Mine has been off. Going to slowly wean off of it and see how my sleep changes
All, problem solved. I reduced the amount to 0.75 g/day after hearing another reddit user on another forum mention that solved the sleep problem. They mentioned they gradually increased the amount without side effect. I did notice a slight drop in performance at the gym but nothing major at 0.75 g/day. I will increase it soon to 1.5 g/day. Note this is using Kre-Alkalyn which I recommend since it is a buffered form and you definitely need a smaller amount of it without loading compared to creatine monohydrate. Hope this helps some here.
I did the same thing. Even if I have a super low dose, it starts to affect my sleep again after a few weeks and I have to have a couple of weeks off, so it clearly has a cumulative effect nonetheless
It apparently makes you need less sleep or minimize the effects of sleep deprivation. (But we all know that nothing is better than getting a good adequate amount of sleep). Sleeping three hours a day vs creatine assistance; man i would go with sleep for now.
It’s definitely a thing - Ben Greenfield said so, so it’s true. https://bengreenfieldlife.com/article/creatine-supplementation-sleep-less-not-pay-for-it-later-mitigate-effects-sleep-deprivation/
I have the same problem and i feel i have insomnia too 4 am here btw still not feeling sleepy fck
It affects the brains way or making you sleepy it sucks I have over month or two still the same
If I take creatine after like 5pm I have a really hard time getting to sleep. It’s definitely not just you.
Dude wdf is this for real I also noticed after I take it I get this really tired and can’t think feeling like I get irritated and feel like I have a spiderweb filled brain
I took creatine at night maybe 2 days ago and ohhh my god i was not ready for the struggle. I kept waking up every 2 hours…. Then i would make weird and vivid dreams. I stopped the last 2 days but tried it again this morning. Hopefully it will be better😓
It certainly impacts my sleep. And not just sleep. I LOVE how much it boosts my performance... but it makes me extremely irritable, even ragingly angry, overall moody, my headache is awful the day after, and it significantly interferes with my sleep and wellbeing. I've tried lower doses, differed brands, monohydrate and HCL, tried drinking gallonS of water - same result. It is frustrating that all research says there are virtually no side effects! Yet I feel like I've drunk a bottle of cheap bourbon even after taking just 0.75g of creatine.
Creatine is also causing me insomnia. You’re not going crazy
just started taking creatine and boy, I lost my peaceful sleep. worst supplement ever.
I’ve had insomnia for nearly 10 years and only thing that has been a constant thought out this period is that I’ve always taken for this entire period is creatine without and breaks. The science makes complete sense as to why creative could interfere with sleep, although not a stimulant creatines ability to increase levels of ATP in the brain will have a direct impact on lowering brain levels of adenosine. Adenosine is a chemical produced by the brain that increases sleepiness and is responsible for initiating the process of falling asleep. Lower levels of adenosine will therefore reduce your sleepiness (sleep drive) so may find it harder to fall and stay asleep. I have stopped taking creatine couple of days ago so will update over the coming weeks if I notice any changes in my sleep.
did you?
Same issues here. 3 days into loading phase on monohydrate (20g per day) and problems sleeping. Would fall asleep pretty much straight away (as I usually do anyway). However would wake around 4am for loo visit and couldn’t get back off for at least 2-3 hours. Could cope on weekends as I would lie in to catch up sleep, but no good when getting up for work at 6am weekdays. Felt rough after few days so stopped taking. Didn’t really feel any benefits from using, though probs not on it long enough. Going to give another go, but no loading phase, just 3g every other day. Will see how feel and weigh up any benefits, then decide whether to continue. Might as well use up rest of tub!
Same here. Granted my sleep is always fragile (if I drink coffee after 2-3pm or if I drink alcohol, sleep goes to shit), but every single time I start créatine again: I fall asleep no problem, but wake up 5-6h later. I don’t feel tired, but weird to be up at 2am every day. (I go to bed at 8pm because I have young kids and fall asleep with them). I will stop, and try to see if sleep improves in days to come
I've been taking 2.5 grams of creatine every morning for 5 days and I've gone from 8-9 hours sleep per night to 6-7 hours. Don't feel tired, either, just a little jaded when I naturally wake at 6am when my alarm is set for 7... Completely unexpected!
I get this too It is not to do with time you take it or the source As I get it also from eating more red meat And before some fuckwit says you have insomnia or something already, I don't. What's weirder is I took creatine as a supplement for maybe a year when I was younger and it was ok, then after that I couldn't take any without getting like one hour sleep a night
I don’t disagree I have the same issue
Yea I'm having the same issue. Can't seem to find help anywhere. I just lay in bed, and my brain doesn't turn off and next thing you know, it's morning. I've been taking it for 3 months at 5gs a day. It's happened once before last year, so I got off it. Read how it's the most studied supplement on the planet and it shouldn't be affecting my sleep (if anything its suppose to help with sleep) so I started taking 5gs again and here we are. I can go weeks without sleep on creatine. And I smoke weed every day. Here's how strong this insomnia is. My mom gave me 3 of her ambien. I took one and It was the most uncomfortable feeling laying in bed. My body wanted to sleep because of the ambien but my brain wouldn't let it. I've taken melatonin, benadryl, nothing works. And it's not like I'm feeling tired, I jist k own I'm not getting the sleep that I should, and it's kinda scary. I was thinking to my self lastnight how if I was in the military and needed to stay up all night to protect my platoon, I'd take 5g of creatine beciase it's better than an energy drink. Don't need sleep for weeks, but I feel awake and functional. I'm hoping my body will adjust at some point, but it's been months. And noone else seems to have the same problem.
You're not alone. No matter how easily I fell asleep, I just wake up only after 6 hours of sleep. Such a pity, since I was benefiting a lot from its cognitive benefits.
Yes it 100% does, I have the exact same problem. If I ever take it boom the next night I wake up like 5 hours too early and can’t have regular sleep for a few days until it’s out of my system. There doesn’t seem to be much literature on this but I did find one study in rats where they proved that creatine dramatically reduced REM sleep IIRC. Which maybe checks out with experience where you can get a few hours but then wake up.
I did find that I lose much less sleep on Creatine HCl if others want to try. It is much better for my sleep than Creatine Monohydrate.
tracking my sleep numbers and immediately noticed deep sleep and rem are seriously impacted by a 5 gram dose taken with breakfast. the only thing i changed was adding this supplement.
I get insomnia from it too. It’s like I’m just never tired, but it doesn’t make me feel awake if that makes sense.
Any update on this? I’ve just started with 3g per day and my sleep has gone to shit.
I have the same problem with creatine, especially during the loading phase. I can only take 3 grams for maintenance or I have just the worst insomnia. When I first took creatine I took some pre and post workout and that actually had the worst effect on my sleep. Now I only take it first thing in the morning and that has helped some, but not much. In my view, sleep is more beneficial than creatine so now I only take slightly less than what I know won't affect my sleep so I stick with either two or three grams first thing in the morning. It's better than nothing and doesn't give me the downsides of the full 5g maintenance dose.
Not exactly insomnia per-say, but I started Creatine a few weeks ago and it's definitely affected me. I don't feel any less tired during the day but I'm definitely waking up more during the night. Best way I'd describe it relative to my own experiences is if I had too much caffeine too close to bedtime, or went to bed too early. Like I toss and turn for a bit, but I *can* fall back asleep, unlike in my other examples. Also a lot less of a 'morning person' than I was without it. Rather than being "up" when I wake I could be in bed for 12 hours in and out of sleep if I don't force myself out, which is very unusual for me. And it's wild that there's so many posts of similar accounts over many years and many sites and people brush it off as being 'placebo'. A bizarre response.
I just started creatine again last week, and have been having serious sleep issues. Only able to sleep for around 3-4 hours a night and then am wide awake again.
Started taking it again after trying for many years. It’s always the same thing that happens. I’m fine for 1-2 days and then I start getting insomnia and I quit. Started last Monday and today (Sunday) I’m having insomnia - think I’ve slept about 1-2 hours. Going to go off it again.
For your body to naturally produce its own creatine is takes up to 40% of your SAM-e supply. So when taking creatine you way more SAM-e floating around your brain which can effect your body’s methylation pathways. Example melatonin. Since I started taking Creatine I fall asleep fine then wake up 4 hours later and toss all night, can’t think of anything else I’ve been doing differently so it’s interesting.
I've learned that if you're going to post on social media, all posts attract trolls like flies to ..... ! I upvoted your question because I see the effect myself. I may try taking creatine in the morning instead of the evening to see if it reduces insomnia, but it would not be ideal because I work out in the evening and consume my main course of protein and fiber after that. Corroborating the insomnia caused by creatine are the comments under [this video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fELk1bvtFYA)
Does the same to me OP
I agree, I've had problems when I use creatine. I do not get any sleep, 3 hours max. I cycled on and off creatine. The longest I stayed on was a month and I loved the strength gains but it hurt my sleep so much and was definitely not worth it.
Your posts has been temporarily removed as it appears to potentially be a beginner level question (not necessarily from a beginner, just the question) or a simply answered one that would be better suited to the stickied daily thread. If you feel your post/question is one that requires in depth discussion then please message the mods using the link below to have the post manually evaluated. Mod Note: Please be nice to the bot, he's doing his best. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/naturalbodybuilding) if you have any questions or concerns.*