I’ve used it non-stop for up to 8 months before, and have recently been using it non-stop for about 2 months.
I never noticed any decrease in strength when I stopped after the 8 months (I stopped for 3 months after), but maybe I would have gotten stronger had I stayed on it. I don’t really know.
I did notice a slight weight gain in the first 2 weeks of going back on it, and felt stronger within the first week.
I’m thinking that, for me, it seems like the strength/size benefits are only noticeable when getting on it again, but the opposite has not been as noticeable when not using it.
I plan on using it steadily, so the times that I’ve gone without it were mainly because I forget to take it, or I run out and don’t have enough money at the time to buy more.
Edit:
I was using approximately 5 grams, or one heaping teaspoon, each day.
I’ve used Creatine for about two years straight now (3-5g/day)with breaks only when I’ve run out or been traveling and forgotten it. I must say that when I stop taking it I tend to feel flat at the gym and do not have the same ability to recover quickly. I don’t believe that my max strength levels suffer much though. I must also admit that I can notice a difference in my appearance when I stop taking it; muscles don’t feel as full, etc…and this has probably been the largest contributor to my constant usage.
I’ve never been able to tell if I am getting anything from creatine or not. However, it has health benefits outside of muscle growth… so I’m happy to take it anyway.
Basically, I’ll buy a bottle or two and stay on it until they run out. Once that happens, I’ll go without until I “remember” to go buy more.
However, I have recently decided that I may not have been taking enough. I’m buying a digital scale and will weigh it out to be sure.
I have been using 6-10 grams of creatine for 4-5 months now, the gains are still coming along, but i think i have peaked as far as water weight gain. Recovery time is still excellent.
I have not encountered any side effects whatsoever.
[quote]vroom wrote:
I’ve never been able to tell if I am getting anything from creatine or not. However, it has health benefits outside of muscle growth… so I’m happy to take it anyway.
Basically, I’ll buy a bottle or two and stay on it until they run out. Once that happens, I’ll go without until I “remember” to go buy more.
However, I have recently decided that I may not have been taking enough. I’m buying a digital scale and will weigh it out to be sure.[/quote]
I’ve been taking 5 grams a day for the past several years with breaks only when abroad. When I’m off it I feel crappy and weak in the gym and it takes most of a week to get “it” back when restarting. There is a small weight difference between when I’m “on” and “off”, though I don’t notice much in appearance- not that I’m looking too hard.
I eat very little red meat in general so I figure I’m not exactly overloading my body with prolonged use at moderate levels.
[quote]vroom wrote:
I’ve never been able to tell if I am getting anything from creatine or not. However, it has health benefits outside of muscle growth… so I’m happy to take it anyway.
Basically, I’ll buy a bottle or two and stay on it until they run out. Once that happens, I’ll go without until I “remember” to go buy more.
However, I have recently decided that I may not have been taking enough. I’m buying a digital scale and will weigh it out to be sure.[/quote]
Yeah, I’ve never gotten much out of it. But I’ve used primarilly creatine monohydrate, and I have a hard time loading with all the sugar needed for it.
I just got some cell-tech from a buddy, and I’m trying that for the next 2 or 3 weeks. This will be my great indicator if it is worthwhile or not.
[quote]etaco wrote:
I’ve been taking 5 grams a day for the past several years with breaks only when abroad. When I’m off it I feel crappy and weak in the gym and it takes most of a week to get “it” back when restarting. There is a small weight difference between when I’m “on” and “off”, though I don’t notice much in appearance- not that I’m looking too hard.
I eat very little red meat in general so I figure I’m not exactly overloading my body with prolonged use at moderate levels.[/quote]
My muscles feel and look more pumped when I’m using creatine. And I also think I’m about 5% to 10% stronger.
hey ive been using creatin for about a year and a half, the first time i used it i took the usual 5g/day n kept it for about two months. i noticed it helped me get to the “pump” n it really does help me recover quicker. right now i have been steadily taking about 3-4g/day without any loading phases n i havent really found that big a difference between the two different dosages, i guess it has something to do with the saturation levels in your muscles which needless to say is different for everyone, basically i dont think anyone needs to load creatine cuz ur prolly gonna b wasting alot of it, apart from that a steady lower dosage last longer with probably teh same effects.
[quote]terribleivan wrote:
Yeah, I’ve never gotten much out of it. But I’ve used primarilly creatine monohydrate, and I have a hard time loading with all the sugar needed for it.
[/quote]
You shouldn’t need a lot of sugar to load CMH. Just make sure it’s completely disolved in warm water (or tea, whatever you like) and you take it with food.
I’ve never seen a bottle of cell-tech - what all’s in it?
Have any of you used Creatine non-stop for long periods of time?
Yup, around a year.
If so, have you continued to benefit from it for the entire time period?
Sure felt like it - higher energy levels when under stress, better mental clarity, slight strength increase.
What other observations have you made regarding the long term use?
When you stop using it, it gets cycled out of your system so slowly the strength drop is hard to notice; that’s why I think some people don’t believe they get much out of it (of those that actually are responders), because they don’t notice an immediate strength drop or instant strength increase when they use it.
Finally, what dosage did you use regarding long term use?
About 3-5g/day for a month, then 3-5g on lifting days.