Normal creatinine = underdosed creatine?

Medical Q&A [Moderated]
1

I’ve been taking creatine daily for the past year or so, about 5g/day. I’m not sure how helpful it is, although I think that when I miss a dose I tend to have some DOMS, which I don’t usually have. I thought I might be a “non-responder”, perhaps because I eat meat regularly and probably get a fair amount of creatine already from diet.

i had lab work done recently, and expected to have to reassure my doctor about elevated serum creatinine. The result, however was 1.03, which is stone cold normal. I’m 5’7”, about 185 lbs.

Does this mean I’m not absorbing or maybe underdosing my creatine? I use micronized creatine monohydrate. I thought about doubling up on my dose to test this hypothesis, but I don’t think my GI tract would like that. Wondering if I should ditch the creatine altogether.

2

I wouldn’t interpret it that way; if you want to continue taking it, I’d stick with the 5 g per day.

Additionally, creatine doesn’t wash out of your system in a day if you were to miss a dose, so that relationship with DOMS is likely spurious.

3

Thanks! Yeah, I think the missed creatine doesn’t do much, but I have a hard time knowing if taking the creatine does anything for me. If it wasn’t so cheap and easy to use, I’d try to do some on/off testing, but that would take weeks, and I’m lazy. Rather think about other things…