Creatine is widely used by the muscle building and amateur sports world. Said to increase energy and build muscle. Has a pretty good safety profile and is cheap.

I've been using it just three days and from the standpoint of PD it is great stuff. My legs had been getting progressively weaker and muscle atrophy was evident. I had been taking extra sinemet to try to counter the problem and was getting loopy from it. Also a lot of dyskinesia and erratic sleep patterns. Some incontinence developing.

After just three days most of that is just gone! Legs growing stronger by the day. Cutting back on the sinemet, which is lasting longer. Dyskenisia 90% gone. Sleeping like a log, especially during the first 24 hours.

Hope springs forth once more.

1. Neuromolecular Med. 2008;10(4):275-90. Epub 2008 Nov 13.

Creatine and its potential therapeutic value for targeting cellular energy
impairment in neurodegenerative diseases.

Adhihetty PJ, Beal MF.

Department of Neurology and Neuroscience, Weill Medical College of Cornell
University, 525 East 68th Street, New York, NY 10021, USA.

Substantial evidence indicates bioenergetic dysfunction and mitochondrial
impairment contribute either directly and/or indirectly to the pathogenesis of
numerous neurodegenerative disorders. Treatment paradigms aimed at ameliorating
this cellular energy deficit and/or improving mitochondrial function in these
neurodegenerative disorders may prove to be useful as a therapeutic intervention.
Creatine is a molecule that is produced both endogenously, and acquired
exogenously through diet, and is an extremely important molecule that
participates in buffering intracellular energy stores. Once creatine is
transported into cells, creatine kinase catalyzes the reversible
transphosphorylation of creatine via ATP to enhance the phosphocreatine energy
pool. Creatine kinase enzymes are located at strategic intracellular sites to
couple areas of high energy expenditure to the efficient regeneration of ATP.
Thus, the creatine kinase/phosphocreatine system plays an integral role in energy
buffering and overall cellular bioenergetics. Originally, exogenous creatine
supplementation was widely used only as an ergogenic aid to increase the
phosphocreatine pool within muscle to bolster athletic performance. However, the
potential therapeutic value of creatine supplementation has recently been
investigated with respect to various neurodegenerative disorders that have been
associated with bioenergetic deficits as playing a role in disease etiology
and/or progression which include; Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, amyotrophic lateral
sclerosis (ALS), and Huntington's disease. This review discusses the contribution
of mitochondria and bioenergetics to the progression of these neurodegenerative
diseases and investigates the potential neuroprotective value of creatine
supplementation in each of these neurological diseases. In summary, current
literature suggests that exogenous creatine supplementation is most efficacious
as a treatment paradigm in Huntington's and Parkinson's disease but appears to be
less effective for ALS and Alzheimer's disease.

PMCID: PMC2886719
PMID: 19005780 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Full text available

I have been taking one tea spoon of creatine in the morning every day since I was diagnosed with PD about 6 years ago.
I believed that it increased energy needed by exercise. I don't know any more because for the last 3 months my stamina for exercise has reduced even though I am still taking it.
I also take whey protein every day.

Directions call for 1 scoop with 6-10 oz. water, but that is for someone using before they perform an exercise routine. imark3000 says he takes 1 teaspoon daily. How much are you taking?

At present I am taking one heaping teaspoon per day as per the label. No reason other than that. I am keeping watch on my kidney function and blood pressure just in case but have no problems as of yet.

I am taking roughly 5 gr daily (one heaping teaspoon supposedly) and divide it over two to four doses.

I can offer the following today-

My muscles are definitely stronger and seem to be adding bulk Thus far, the greatest improvement has been in the areas with the most damage. I am sleeping great except for trips to the loo. Since creatine is processed by the kidney that is no surprise. My wife noticed this morning that my "old voice is back."

I am staying up until 11:00 and still able to omit the walking stick getting to bed. Meds are working longer (was two hours but now up to three to four. Am doing more even with the heat.

Reverett, I am delighted to hear about your improvements. Keep us informed about it.

Things continue to improve across the board. Quickly at first and a little slower now. Some deficit being corrected?

Speculation: Laura has mentioned that she and I have a problem with potassium refusing to stay where it should. When insulin goes up, potassium and glucose are independently moved from serum/blood into the cell. This potassium shift disrupts the electrical charges that allow our neurons to "fire" and results in a temporary paralysis. This is all powered by a system of tiny pumps moving electrically charged particles "uphill" across the cell wall to build the charge which can then be released or fired as needed.

Given that insulin plays such a role for many of us I can't help but wonder if Laura and I could be at one end of a spectrum where our cells have a strong "thirst" for something (potassium?) that they can't get, at least not until the creatine increases the ATP supply (the energy source for the pumps). The conventional wisdom is that it makes your muscles look bigger because it causes water to be moved into the cells which "plumps them up." Kind of a stupid reason from an evolutionary standpoint.

But what if something else is moving with that water and some hidden imbalance is being corrected?

Just thinking.....

Hi Rick, you talking about water reminded me of one of Tom Isaacs recommendations to drink more water. At WPC there was a water dispenser on their stand and PwP were encouraged to drink enough. Do we have some kind of dehydrating effect going on too........? What if water itself is what is needed in the right places to help move things on.... oh, and increased sinemet means increased visits.....

Yesterday I was "dragging" and felt blah. This morning I was awakened by cramps in my lower legs which I had not experienced since I began the trial. Legs are still much stronger. GI tract function much improved. I am going to lay off for a couple of days and work on the dosing. Still a definite "keeper" for me.

From WebMD-

In addition to improving athletic performance, creatine is used for congestive heart failure (CHF), depression, bipolar disorder, Parkinson’s disease, diseases of the muscles and nerves, an eye disease called gyrate atrophy, and high cholesterol. It is also used to slow the worsening of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, Lou Gehrig’s disease), rheumatoid arthritis, McArdle’s disease, and for various muscular dystrophies.

Americans use more than 4 million kilograms of creatine each year.

How does it work?

Creatine is involved in making the energy muscles need to work.

Vegetarians and other people who have lower total creatine levels when they start taking creatine supplements seem to get more benefit than people who start with a higher level of creatine. Skeletal muscle will only hold a certain amount of creatine; adding more won’t raise levels any more. This “saturation point” is usually reached within the first few days of taking a “loading dose.”


I am taking roughly 5 gr daily (one heaping teaspoon supposedly) and divide it over two to four doses.

I can offer the following today-

My muscles are definitely stronger and seem to be adding bulk Thus far, the greatest improvement has been in the areas with the most damage. I am sleeping great except for trips to the loo. Since creatine is processed by the kidney that is no surprise. My wife noticed this morning that my "old voice is back."

I am staying up until 11:00 and still able to omit the walking stick getting to bed. Meds are working longer (was two hours but now up to three to four. Am doing more even with the heat.