Can You Take Creatine Forever? (What The Science Says)

The strength and performance benefits of creatine are well known and heavily promoted, leaving many curious whether it is safe to continue taking it forever (so that the creatine gain train never has to stop). 

Key Takeaways

• Taking creatine forever generally appears safe, but it might not always be necessary.

• The balance of research suggests that taking creatine within the recommended dosage amount of 3-5g daily is unlikely to yield any adverse effects, even with long-term use.

• Creatine is the most studied sports supplement on the market. The common theme overwhelmingly is that creatine poses no adverse health risks for the average person.

Long Term Use Of Creatine: Are There Side Effects? 

Creatine consumption over long periods and its effects on the body has been investigated extensively, with evidence indicating no detrimental clinical reactions or changes in health markers. 

What The Science Says

• One study found that there were no adverse effects on renal function and there were no harmful impacts to healthy individuals for short term (5 days), medium term (9 weeks) and long term (up to 5 years) use of creatine.

• Another study which showed no changes in liver or kidney function following creatine use for several months.

• A retrospective study of athletes using creatine within the duration ranges of 8-12 months and greater than 12 months compared with athletes not using any creatine for those same time frames found no differences in reported side effects across all the groups.

• A large study of 98 college footballers split into 4 groups (no creatine, creatine use up to 6 months, creatine use for 7-12 months and creatine use for 13-21 months), showed there were no adverse effects to health markers of any athlete regardless of the group they were in. 

Take Home Point

Much of the available data suggests that long-term creatine supplementation does not result in adverse health effects for generally healthy individuals.

So, if you fall into this bucket, it is likely you’ll be able to enjoy the benefit of creatine over sustained periods without any concern over its impact on your health. 

• Related: Best Type of Creatine.

You Still May Have Some Side Effects Though

With that said, some side effects, like gastrointestinal discomfort, from creatine use have been observed.

Still, these are not connected to the duration of your creatine use and often have more to do with how you consume creatine or other environmental factors rather than the supplement itself. 

I’ve written previously on some of the known side effects: 

• Creatine Makes Me Feel Sick
• Is It Normal To Poop A Lot On Creatine?
• Creatine Makes Me Feel Dizzy

Consult Your Doctor If You’re Taking Creatine Long Term With Other Medications

In addition, while studies have found that creatine is safe and there haven’t been any remarkable impacts on renal function, typical advice around creatine use generally is to consult a doctor if you are taking medication placing demands on your renal system. 

This is because creatine supplementation may stress your kidneys or liver, which are already working hard to fight illness. This advice is independent of how long you would intend to supplement with creatine. 

• If you want to know exactly how much creatine to take for your body weight and goals, use our Creatine Calculator

Taking Creatine For Years Straight: Is This Good? 

Using creatine for extended periods compared to shorter durations could yield more benefits because your muscles are exposed to higher creatine stores for a greater period of time. 

Creatine supplementation has some convincing results on strength and muscle mass:

• One study found an 8% increase in 1RM maximal strength and 14% increase in weightlifting performance when supplementing with creatine. 

• Another study showed that over a 42 day strength training program participants who were supplementing with creatine gained 2kg of lean muscle compared with those who were given a placebo and saw no change in their lean muscle. 

Creatine supplementation fills up your muscles with surplus creatine stores, providing your muscles with energy to work harder and perform better.

The longer you maintain these creatine stores in your muscles, the more likely your muscles will perform optimally during workouts. 

Given creatine is safe to take long-term and creatine use provides such significant benefits, it seems like taking it for years straight is likely to be more good than bad.

Are There Reasons To Cycle Off Creatine? 

Ultimately, whether you want to cycle off creatine will come down to personal preference. 

If you don’t have an underlying medical condition, aren’t experiencing any side effects with creatine, and you’re wanting to continually:

• Support a high-intensity training regime;

• Develop lean muscle mass; and 

• Increase strength;

There is no need to cycle off creatine. Evidence suggests creatine is safe for long-term use. 

Don’t be fooled by the naysayers, who will tell you that you need to cycle off creatine to stop your body from getting used to it and experiencing reduced benefits. 

Perhaps you have heard these myths:

Myth 1 – Cycle creatine so you don’t build a tolerance

Once you have built up creatine stores in the muscles and continue to replenish these stores with creatine supplementation your muscles are likely to be operating optimally as they are being provided with consistent energy to work hard. 

With continued creatine use you may not feel the initial boost you did when first starting using creatine, but this doesn’t mean your body has developed a’ tolerance’ or that it isn’t benefiting from it. 

Myth 2 – Cycle creatine so you don’t impact your body’s ability to produce creatine naturally

Studies have indicated that your body’s natural production of creatine may slow down when supplementing but it will return to its usual levels of production within a couple of weeks of stopping creatine. 

With that said, just because creatine is generally considered safe for long-term use, it doesn’t mean you need to continue to use it indefinitely. 

Maybe you are taking a training break, going on holiday, or changing up your style of training, or maybe you want to save some cash and cut down on supplement costs. Whatever the situation, cycling off creatine for short or longer periods of time is ok too. 

Stopping creatine won’t reverse any muscle, strength, or performance outputs achieved while supplementing with it. As long as you aren’t in a harsh nutritional cut or stepping away from training for a significant period of time, you won’t lose your gains.

Dosing Recommendation For Long Term Creatine use

The general consensus around recommended creatine dosing for long-term use is 3-5 grams per day. 

This dosing recommendation has proven to be both safe and effective when used for sustained periods of time. 

Other Tips For Taking Creatine

If you’re looking to keep creatine supplementation in your daily routine now and into the foreseeable future, consider the following:

• Is it aligned to your training goals?

• Is it aligned to your training intensity?

• Are you following appropriate nutritional practices to support supplementation?

• Are you taking a break from training?

• Have you developed a medical condition that might be placing pressure on your renal system? 

• Is your creatine supplement high quality?

• Have you noticed any abnormal side effects develop with creatine use?

Where your training, personal or medical circumstances change, review whether creatine still fits in with your plans and your goals. 

If you’re planning on taking creatine for the long term, make sure you use a supplement that is quality-controlled and of the purest form so you know you’re not putting rubbish in your body. 

Regardless of how long you’re on creatine, if your nutrition isn’t dialed in and you’re not training appropriately, you’re unlikely to reap the benefits. 

Read More Creatine Resources

• Can You Dry Scoop Creatine?
• This Is Why Your Creatine Is Not Dissolving
• Creatine Every Other Day
• Can You Take Creatine Before Bed?
• If You Missed a Day of Creatine Do These 3 Things
• Creatine On An Empty Stomach

References

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Poortmans JR, Francaux M. Adverse effects of creatine supplementation: fact or fiction? Sports Med. 2000 Sep;30(3):155-70. doi: 10.2165/00007256-200030030-00002. PMID: 10999421.

Kim HJ, Kim CK, Carpentier A, Poortmans JR. Studies on the safety of creatine supplementation. Amino Acids. 2011 May;40(5):1409-18. doi: 10.1007/s00726-011-0878-2. Epub 2011 Mar 12. PMID: 21399917.

Schilling BK, Stone MH, Utter A, Kearney JT, Johnson M, Coglianese R, Smith L, O’Bryant HS, Fry AC, Starks M, Keith R, Stone ME. Creatine supplementation and health variables: a retrospective study. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2001 Feb;33(2):183-8. doi: 10.1097/00005768-200102000-00002. PMID: 11224803.

Kreider RB, Melton C, Rasmussen CJ, Greenwood M, Lancaster S, Cantler EC, Milnor P, Almada AL. Long-term creatine supplementation does not significantly affect clinical markers of health in athletes. Mol Cell Biochem. 2003 Feb;244(1-2):95-104. PMID: 12701816.

Farquhar WB, Zambraski EJ. Effects of creatine use on the athlete’s kidney. Curr Sports Med Rep. 2002 Apr;1(2):103-6. doi: 10.1249/00149619-200204000-00007. PMID: 12831718.

Rawson ES, Volek JS. Effects of creatine supplementation and resistance training on muscle strength and weightlifting performance. J Strength Cond Res. 2003 Nov;17(4):822-31. doi: 10.1519/1533-4287(2003)017<0822:eocsar>2.0.co;2. PMID: 14636102.

Francaux M, Poortmans JR. Effects of training and creatine supplement on muscle strength and body mass. Eur J Appl Physiol Occup Physiol. 1999 Jul;80(2):165-8. doi: 10.1007/s004210050575. PMID: 10408330.

Buford TW, Kreider RB, Stout JR, Greenwood M, Campbell B, Spano M, Ziegenfuss T, Lopez H, Landis J, Antonio J. International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: creatine supplementation and exercise. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2007 Aug 30;4:6. doi: 10.1186/1550-2783-4-6. PMID: 17908288; PMCID: PMC2048496.

Antonio, J., Candow, D.G., Forbes, S.C. et al. Common questions and misconceptions about creatine supplementation: what does the scientific evidence really show?. J Int Soc Sports Nutr 18, 13 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12970-021-00412-w