7 ms·

Look up creatine as a candidate treatment for sleep deprivation.

washadjeffmad 2y ago
Creatine plus exercise. I add 1.5 tsp to my morning tea, plus 1/5 tsp NAD and 1/2 tsp of L-theanine, and I've doubled my workout and no longer have DOMS. It's like I'm a teenager again. I tried it because I'd been getting 4-5 hours of broken sleep due to peripheral neuropathy from a congenital spinal disorder for the past four or five years, and I finally feel like I'm healing. It's wild being able to fall asleep and stay asleep.
- grugagag 2y ago
  Do you only take it in the days you exercise? Does it have any side effects?
  - esperent 2y ago
    Creatine is one of the very few supplements that seems to have only upsides and few if any side effects (except the basically obligatory "minor stomach upsets for some people" ). You can take it every day at any time of day, the effects take a few weeks to build up. The main downside is that the effects are small - most of the research is in strength and endurance training and it seems like at most there's a 5-10% increase in lifting endurance (IIRC, it's been a while since I researched this). It's one of a very few supplements that I personally feel should be generally taken by most people (unless you eat a lot of red meat). The others are omega 3 (unless you eat fish several times a week) and possibly magnesium as the western diet tends to be low in that. If you want to read more about effects of creatine on the brain this is a good paper: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7916590/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7916590/ The consensus seems to be that supplementation of creatine is less clearly linked to increases in the brain than it is for muscle (although there have only been limited studies done), however, if you've ever suffered from depression, sleep deprivation or other neurological issues it's likely to be beneficial. For people without those issues, there's less evidence yet, but they would still get the benefit of more energy overall if not specifically more cognitive energy.
    - chrisweekly 2y ago
      Is Vitamin D's omission from your list deliberate?
      - Retric 2y ago
        It’s a common deficiency especially in the winter, but most people don’t benefit from regular supplements. At least assuming 20ng/mL is a reasonable minimum. Some people suggest that’s a little low, but there’s real issues with excess vitamin D.
        mgarfias 2y ago
        So take k2 with your d3
      - esperent 2y ago
        I originally put it in, along with vitamin c during flu season, but felt I haven't personally done enough research to make claims about them. Regarding vitamin d, I am unsure about whether it should be taken with vitamin k or not.
        _0ffh 2y ago
        With K2 to counteract the risk of soft tissue calcification.
    - sizzle 2y ago
      I know someone who got painful kidney stones from Creatine. Pretty scared of taking it now
      - throwuxiytayq 2y ago
        I know someone who got painful kidney stones and didn’t take any creatine. Pretty scared of not taking it now
        2y ago
  - washadjeffmad 2y ago
    Everyday. It's retained in skeletal muscle, so I consider it similar to carb loading on off days. I exercise at least lightly every morning and get around 5 miles in a day. My biggest struggle is being diligent about getting enough protein and calories. From everything I've read, creatine is as close to being a "free benefit" as it gets. I didn't experience any overt improvement just from taking it, as in, no extra energy or motivation. However, I'd stalled on all of my exercises for about a year, and after a week of "loading" 10g/day, I started back and instantly hit my max reps in a single set. I didn't want to hurt myself and was scared of DOMS, so I waited another week before trying again (I had a single day of soreness). After a light warmup, I immediately did it again. The results of that have been highly motivating, and I've remained excited to push myself. The only side effect is that I enjoy my tea slightly less. Creatine doesn't have a flavor, but it makes everything taste 20% less delicious, somehow.
  - autokad 2y ago
    it does, but only for some. for me it causes massive muscle cramps, no matter how much water I drink. other then that, creatine is considered the only supplement (protein not considered a supplement) that has virtually no side effects and known gain. caffeine is behind that with some side effects. beyond that, most other supplements havent been either to have proven benefits and proven no side effects
  - pitched 2y ago
    You need to be drinking more water while taking creatine. This is important to point out because the side effects of not getting enough water are very rough and taking creatine can put you there faster.
- hgomersall 2y ago
  Are there long term studies on the effects of creatine? I was asking given the evidence for increased cancer, and mortality associated with high red meat intake, but a lack of understanding re the causative mechanisms.
  - ImHereToVote 2y ago
    I think mouse feed is probably the healthiest diet according to mouse models.
manmal 2y ago
I‘m taking creatine every day, and think it’s great for various reasons. Do you think it has an affect on sleep quality itself, or does it just improve things during the day?
- pitched 2y ago
  I personally find that sleep quality does drop a bit but I also don’t need as much every night. The sleep-tracking apps I use say the opposite though, that quality is much higher and I get more hours in. It’s a bit of a different flavour of sleep maybe, that the apps aren’t tuned for.
tucosan 2y ago
Can you point to any good research to back up your claim that this is a good treatment?
- JonChesterfield 2y ago
  I liked this one https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-54249-9 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-54249-9 They went with the premise of "a little a day seems to help, what happens if we feed ridiculous quantities once". The sort of medical research that appeals to the engineer in me and something you can only really do with compounds that are already known to be unlikely to kill your patient if you exceed the usual dose. Also I strongly suspect they did this to students given the age range. There's more literature out there than this. That paper's references are probably a reasonable start point. But as creatine is very cheap and has been widely consumed by athletes for ages now it's about as low risk a gamble as any out there.

Creatine plus exercise. I add 1.5 tsp to my morning tea, plus 1/5 tsp NAD and 1/2 tsp of L-theanine, and I've doubled my workout and no longer have DOMS. It's like I'm a teenager again. I tried it because I'd been getting 4-5 hours of broken sleep due to peripheral neuropathy from a congenital spinal disorder for the past four or five years, and I finally feel like I'm healing. It's wild being able to fall asleep and stay asleep.

grugagag 2y ago
Do you only take it in the days you exercise? Does it have any side effects?
- esperent 2y ago
  Creatine is one of the very few supplements that seems to have only upsides and few if any side effects (except the basically obligatory "minor stomach upsets for some people" ). You can take it every day at any time of day, the effects take a few weeks to build up. The main downside is that the effects are small - most of the research is in strength and endurance training and it seems like at most there's a 5-10% increase in lifting endurance (IIRC, it's been a while since I researched this). It's one of a very few supplements that I personally feel should be generally taken by most people (unless you eat a lot of red meat). The others are omega 3 (unless you eat fish several times a week) and possibly magnesium as the western diet tends to be low in that. If you want to read more about effects of creatine on the brain this is a good paper: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7916590/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7916590/ The consensus seems to be that supplementation of creatine is less clearly linked to increases in the brain than it is for muscle (although there have only been limited studies done), however, if you've ever suffered from depression, sleep deprivation or other neurological issues it's likely to be beneficial. For people without those issues, there's less evidence yet, but they would still get the benefit of more energy overall if not specifically more cognitive energy.
  - chrisweekly 2y ago
    Is Vitamin D's omission from your list deliberate?
    - Retric 2y ago
      It’s a common deficiency especially in the winter, but most people don’t benefit from regular supplements. At least assuming 20ng/mL is a reasonable minimum. Some people suggest that’s a little low, but there’s real issues with excess vitamin D.
      - mgarfias 2y ago
        So take k2 with your d3
    - esperent 2y ago
      I originally put it in, along with vitamin c during flu season, but felt I haven't personally done enough research to make claims about them. Regarding vitamin d, I am unsure about whether it should be taken with vitamin k or not.
      - _0ffh 2y ago
        With K2 to counteract the risk of soft tissue calcification.
  - sizzle 2y ago
    I know someone who got painful kidney stones from Creatine. Pretty scared of taking it now
    - throwuxiytayq 2y ago
      I know someone who got painful kidney stones and didn’t take any creatine. Pretty scared of not taking it now
      - 2y ago
- washadjeffmad 2y ago
  Everyday. It's retained in skeletal muscle, so I consider it similar to carb loading on off days. I exercise at least lightly every morning and get around 5 miles in a day. My biggest struggle is being diligent about getting enough protein and calories. From everything I've read, creatine is as close to being a "free benefit" as it gets. I didn't experience any overt improvement just from taking it, as in, no extra energy or motivation. However, I'd stalled on all of my exercises for about a year, and after a week of "loading" 10g/day, I started back and instantly hit my max reps in a single set. I didn't want to hurt myself and was scared of DOMS, so I waited another week before trying again (I had a single day of soreness). After a light warmup, I immediately did it again. The results of that have been highly motivating, and I've remained excited to push myself. The only side effect is that I enjoy my tea slightly less. Creatine doesn't have a flavor, but it makes everything taste 20% less delicious, somehow.
- autokad 2y ago
  it does, but only for some. for me it causes massive muscle cramps, no matter how much water I drink. other then that, creatine is considered the only supplement (protein not considered a supplement) that has virtually no side effects and known gain. caffeine is behind that with some side effects. beyond that, most other supplements havent been either to have proven benefits and proven no side effects
- pitched 2y ago
  You need to be drinking more water while taking creatine. This is important to point out because the side effects of not getting enough water are very rough and taking creatine can put you there faster.
hgomersall 2y ago
Are there long term studies on the effects of creatine? I was asking given the evidence for increased cancer, and mortality associated with high red meat intake, but a lack of understanding re the causative mechanisms.
- ImHereToVote 2y ago
  I think mouse feed is probably the healthiest diet according to mouse models.

manmal 2y ago

I‘m taking creatine every day, and think it’s great for various reasons. Do you think it has an affect on sleep quality itself, or does it just improve things during the day?

pitched 2y ago
I personally find that sleep quality does drop a bit but I also don’t need as much every night. The sleep-tracking apps I use say the opposite though, that quality is much higher and I get more hours in. It’s a bit of a different flavour of sleep maybe, that the apps aren’t tuned for.

tucosan 2y ago

Can you point to any good research to back up your claim that this is a good treatment?

JonChesterfield 2y ago
I liked this one https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-54249-9 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-54249-9 They went with the premise of "a little a day seems to help, what happens if we feed ridiculous quantities once". The sort of medical research that appeals to the engineer in me and something you can only really do with compounds that are already known to be unlikely to kill your patient if you exceed the usual dose. Also I strongly suspect they did this to students given the age range. There's more literature out there than this. That paper's references are probably a reasonable start point. But as creatine is very cheap and has been widely consumed by athletes for ages now it's about as low risk a gamble as any out there.