My muscles definitely felt a little flatter after I stopped. This thread is making me want to start taking it again.
You know, wanting to be an inspiration for others is a really good reason for trying to lose fat and get in the best shape possible. I have that same motivation. My friends have so many excuses and bad habits that prevent them from getting results, but they know from hanging around me that all that hot air doesn't fly with me at all.
It took me a long while to figure that out. Not as short a time period, but from Thanksgiving last year to Turkey day this I dropped 30 lbs. 185 top 155, by changing my quantity intake and what I eat. About 5 years ago I quit drinking, more so because I needed to grow up and get a grip, but also to get rid of excess weight. I had a short term drop, but I hadn't changed my eating habits, so the weight came back. I also changed my workouts, but the main change was what I ate and how much. I haven't quit the "bad" stuff, ie Kopps custard and burgers, but I don't go overboard. At no time have I felt like I have limited myself or am missing something. I feel better and possibly this makes eating healthier an afterthought these days. I'm still working on my 6' 3" 300 lb son who was a lineman, and still hasn't adjusted his diet to a world where he works out, but not as an active athlete. Peace and congratulations!
You should be congnizant of potentially harmful interactions: https://www.mayoclinic.org/drugs-supplements-creatine/art-20347591 Interactions Many drugs might interact with creatine and increase the risk of kidney damage. Possible drug interactions include: Nephrotoxic drugs. Because taking high doses of creatine might harm your kidneys, there is concern about combining creatine with drugs that might damage the kidneys (nephrotoxic drugs). Potentially nephrotoxic drugs include nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin IB, others) and naproxen sodium (Aleve, others), cyclosporine (Neoral, Sandimmune) and others. Caffeine and ephedra. Combining caffeine with creatine might decrease the efficacy of creatine. Combining caffeine with creatine and the supplement ephedra might increase the risk of serious side effects, such as stroke.
Probably. But like I said, I rotate supplements so if I stop creatine, I will start something else up like ursolic acid or tomatidine so the negative effect of stopping the creatine isn't the end of the world.
Okay. But why the rotation? To not feel tied down to any one thing? Also, how would you compare those other supplement to creatine in terms of efficacy?
Many supplements state on the labels to only take them for 4 - 6 weeks. I imagine that's because the body adapts to what you're taking after a while which can lower the overall effectiveness of the product. So having products that you rotate in and out of is generally better than just taking one product non-stop all year.