Creatine Questions - water weight and non responders

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mkakids
mkakids Posts: 1,913 Member
edited May 2016 in Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
I know that usually when you begin creatine, there is water weight gain of a couple of pounds (3-5ish?). I have also read that some people do not respond to Creatine.

I have been taking Creatine mono-hydrate for 14 days now. I did a loading phase of 20mg for 5 days and am now taking 5mg per day for the last 9 days.

I have not seen any water weight gain, I have also not noticed a difference in endurance or recovery (in running and strength training).

Is it possible that I am a non responder? I know its only been 14 days, and I would usually give it a full month before asking, but not having any water weight gain is making me wonder.

I have tried googling 'Creatine non resonder' and 'no water weight with creatine' and the like, but all I get is anecdotal evidence stating that all people do not respond to creatine.

I'm just curious to hear from other people who may have more insight than I do. Regardless, I will continue to take it for a full 6 weeks to gauge any progress/differences that may occur. I already have it, and I'm not seeing any ill effects, so I might as well keep taking it to see what happens!

ETA: I am currently eating in a slight deficit of around 250 a day.

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  • viren19890
    viren19890 Posts: 778 Member
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    TBH I didn't see a water weight gain either. I also did the creatine uptake during my deficit -so I should've seen an increase but did not.

  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,394 MFP Moderator
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    There is roughly 20-30% of people who do not respond to creatine. Often, those are the people tend to have a good amount of meat. But if you aren't seeing an increase in reps/weights, then you may be a non responder like I am.

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/comment/35277672/#Comment_35277672
    The above thread has great information on creatine, below is an abstract:

    Creatine monohydrate (like all forms of creatine) increases intracellular water retention to give your muscles a fuller, thicker look. However, this water is deposited inside the actual muscle cell and not subcutaneously (underneath the skin). For that reason, creatine monohydrate does NOT cause any form of “bloating”.

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