I have temporarily stopped using creatine monohydrate as it was recently said by French scientists that it may cause cancer; I am waiting for further news on this front before I may start again. Anways, I have been taking it for about 3 years straight, about 2-3 grams per day. I took this amount daily and did not do the loading up for a set time, then stop, then reload. I am just wondering if anyone knows if this amount for this long a period may have caused my body to stop producing creatine naturally. So far, and it has been about a week, I have not noticed any adverse affects.

Well..i used creatine for a long time, here's what u need to know about taking creatine, if your taking a powder or any other type besides the syrum, drink LOTS OF WATER!! or else it can affect your kidney functions, also, i don't take this anymore because all it does really is give you added energy so you can work out longer, which leads to more muscle mass, from what i know, it doesn't give u any added muscle mass, it just helps u gain it :) Hope this helps
P.S. i haven't heard anything about this givign you cancer...

Not to alarm you, but I took creatine for many years and stopped cold turkey in December of 1999. By February of 2000 I suddenly fell prey to a myriad of problems: skipped heartbeats, shortness of breath, gastrointestinal difficulties, chest pain, etc.

I had been at the peak of health up to this point and all subsequent medical tests found no problem, and I can't say these symptoms where a direct result of the creatine use, but the timing seems more than coincidental.

All I know at this point, is that a year after the fact my symptoms have abated somewhat but not gone away, and that I plan on never using creatine again.

Hi,

I took some creatine awhile back because I heard it did wonders for muscle growth. Then I heard that it could have side effects, so I got off the stuff. This is what happenned, I've gained much more muscle now off the stuff, just naturally... than the creatine ever did for me. That's just me, but I'd be afraid to take it now knowing that it doesn't really work for me.