Found something that helps a little with fatigue

[Sarbear123]

Hi All, My husband is nearly a year out from his hypoxic Brain injury and he’s doing really well all things considered. But like many brain injury sufferers he gets tired far more easily than he used to.

One of the things he has tried recently has helped and I’d thought I’d share it with you all to thank you for all of your support in the past year.

He takes 5g of creatine mixed with orange juice a day. Creatine is a traditional bodybuilding supplement but it turns out it’s also involved in helping how the brain uses energy. Creatine is really safe to take it’s been studied for decades. The only time you shouldn’t take it is if you have kidney problems.

Now it’s not a miracle cure for fatigue by any measure, but it definitely helps. It takes about 2 weeks to build up in the system and to notice a difference. If he doesn’t take it for a few days he definitely notices.

Just thought I’d share in case anyone wanted to try it.

[sospan]

Hi,

It is good to know your husband is seeing the benefit. However, there are a lot of dangers with taking powdered creatine very frequently. Most body builders take the supplement for a short time when then are "bulking up" for an event and then stop to let their system recover. This is normally for only a month then drop to much, much lower than you are giving your husband maybe 2 or 3 mg at most but remember these are big guys with a faster metabolism and bigger fluid intake to absorb the creatine.

What specialist prefer to recommend is to get protein and the same amino acid from sea food and good quality red meat. The protein will especially help develop the brain plasticity to develop new neuro pathways. Indeed the energy bodybuilders need, comes from the large amounts of protein they consume especially the vast amounts of chicken and eggs.

Similarly with nuts and vegetables such as kale and spinach, peas and beans. Spinach contains B, E, & K vitamins, folate, and L-tyrosine. These nutrients can help improve memory and mental focus.

Just a suggestion

[Sarbear123 in reply to sospan]

Sorry to contradict you but this is simply not true. All the research shows it to be one of the safest supplements to take long term. Are you perhaps confusing it with anabolic steroids?

5g a day is the standard dose in all studies and there’s no evidence you need to cycle it (ie take a break)

Here is a study of people taking 5g every day for nearly 2 years with no adverse effects on their health:

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/127...

The veterans association in the US have assessed creatine as a potential supplement for TBIs and concussion.

A good overview of its safety with links to research can be found here: healthline.com/nutrition/cr...

[sospan in reply to Sarbear123]

No not confusing the two,

I have a lot of experience of people with supplements, the current mr Olympia and Wales's strongest man are friends.

The professionals and amateur athletes whom take Creatine regularly a by their nature is a good physical condition and they have their blood and urine measured regularly plus they take in an above average amount of liquid to deal with the effects of creatine.

Apart from the physiological risks which have been explored further than the 2003 report you quoted, there are interactions with simple things such as caffeine and NSAID such as brufen which can cause a stroke.

The additional problem is that creatine in the blood system is a key indicator for a number of illnesses. If your husband was to have a blood test it may set off a number of false positives and lead to more stress.

As I said in my original post, it is a suggestion and it is entirely up to you.

[Matt2584]

Hi,

That is probably helpful for some but switching to a vegetarian or vegan diet is much more rewarding... I feel.

I don’t suffer much with fatigue now :).

[Plenty in reply to Matt2584]

Are you on a vegan diet and it’s really helped with your fatigue?

[Matt2584 in reply to Plenty]

I’m not on a complete vegan diet but I am more of a flextarian and a lean much more to plant-based foods.

I prefer to call myself a rubbish vegan :).

When I was little I used to have a terrible junk food diet which consisted of many sugary foods, fizzy drinks and hardly any fruit or veg.

In 1996 I was diagnosed with a brain tumour and a 2nd in 98 and in total I have had a lot of operations on my head.

As I grew up I started coming away from all the sugar intake, felt a lot better for it and gradually started to eat more and more fruit and veg.

So glad I did it too :).

I believe now that my highly poor diet in the past is the reason why I ended up with 2 brain tumours.

[Sarbear123 in reply to Matt2584]

Creatine helps vegetarians with their brain power too

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

[New_beginning]

This is a interesting post. Tad early to try with my husband, but something i can try. Thank you for the awareness and articles.

[headwayuk Partner Headway]

Hi everyone,

Many thanks for sharing things that have helped with fatigue - it's certainly one of the most common, and debilitating, effects of a brain injury.

As with all similar posts, we just wanted to remind everyone that's it's really important to seek medical advice before trying any new supplements or dietary changes to help ensure it is right for you. Some 'health supplements' may have unintended side effects or interactions with your medications so experiences, benefits and risks can vary.

Please don't hesitate to contact us at Headway if you need to talk things through.

Best wishes,

Andrew

[Sarbear123 in reply to headwayuk]

That is great Advice Andrew and I should have mentioned that my husband’s GP is aware of his usage of creatine and approves of it for him if he finds it helps.

[New_beginning in reply to Sarbear123]

Any update how supplement went with your husband, my husband referred for hormonal therapy, but I'm so worried about this intervention with him being high risk for seizures, so came across this post again to help with researching and help with questions, as I've lost faith in nhs or the person not specialised enough to understand the consequences of getting it wrong

My husband solely relies on my thoughts with route of treatment , at 38 I feel so many researching, decisions on my own without husband input has been hard road these past 14months

[Painting-girl in reply to New_beginning]

Don't forget to keep talking to Headway about your options NB, you don't have to do it all in your own. Do you have a local Headway group as well that might be starting up again soon? x

[New_beginning in reply to Painting-girl]

I spoke to Headway end of April I think, told to contact my local Headway after 40min letting an element off my shoulders; I really want to reach out, but I just cant, I can roll off so many reason but none gives reasoning with this new life and unknown territory I'm now in.

It's purely down to being solo, absent family, friends, professionals yet these would give good enough why to reach out despite struggling, I just haven't accepted my new role as a wife, I haven't accepted husbands disability or health condition (each sees it differently), it's a major barrier in reaching out. This is only source of support on this forum, I've not looked at other forums, I dont do social networking I literally dont have anyone to talk to that has observed our life, it's just me, husband, toddler and teenager

[Painting-girl in reply to New_beginning]

I think Sarbear is right about you finding some respite NB . Try and think about it as part of your care for your family that you are working so hard at. True support sometimes comes from just from being open to what's out there. Will be thinking of you. Tperhaps treat a Headway call like another fact finding mission? Take care x

[Sarbear123 in reply to New_beginning]

Hiya, it continues to help with fatigue but honestly I wouldn’t risk it with seizures. Has your gp offered anything? There are several medications that can be tried such as modafinil but I don’t know if UK gps prescribe them? (I’m in Ireland)

[New_beginning in reply to Sarbear123]

GP always refers to Southmead with advice even doing bloods as all over shot. Local hospital even for ENT refers to GP who refers to Southmead and relies on my observations and care. We dont get actual medical advice from local BI Team as centred on managing behaviour

I research alot and ask info on here too

[Sarbear123 in reply to New_beginning]

That sounds so frustrating it seems like there’s just no joined up thinking in the health service sometimes. I do think you need more support than this forum though, Please contact Headway again and see if they can put you in touch with some kind of resource that would give you some kind of respite. Xx

[New_beginning in reply to Sarbear123]

Covid prevented and on medical notes/letters states his care not followed care pathway due to this, I get 30mins before bed for my timeout like now, until next September when toddler starts education no time for break, but I'm nearly half way so trying to keep together best I can , I dont know how though I'm just so focused on children and husbands needs x

[Stubble]

Hi,

I've just posted an update on creatine's potential use for headache and fatigue that I think you'll find very interesting.

healthunlocked.com/headway/...