Creatine and diving

[dunny]

Hi,

Does anybody know if there are any medical implications into taking creatine while I also go diving?

My first reason why i think the two cannot combine is the sheer amount of water I would have to drink in order to be hydrated before a dive and not get bent. The label says minimum 4 litres a day, also with exercise this should be increased to between 6 & 8 litres a day. So i'm thinking around 6.

With the type of diving I may be getting upto, 30min+ deco is this even feasible to attempt this?

Cheers
Phil

[PeteM]

With the type of diving I may be getting upto, 30min+ deco is this even feasible to attempt this?

Pee valve is cheap

[Gareth]

You can drink during a dive (foil packs), but it does take practice.

Combined with a pee valve, you can remain hydrated.

The answer to your question is that you should consult a diving doctor, see the top of this forum for the list of medical referees.

Gareth

[J-L]

Creatine is naturally found in body tissues and so apart from the drinking of water during the day there shouldn't be a problem. Drink plenty before the dive and plenty after and you should be fine, especially during maintenance and rest periods!

I've never had a problem!
hth
jl

[Nigel Hewitt]

I'm on three litres a day minimum, four target after a run in with kidney stones.

I recently upgraded from 'stick ons' to a Custom Divers HeWee and it helps with the comfort side of things. If you do a lot of diving it's worth it. That's plugged into a simple O3 unbalanced p-valve that I fitted myself.

[BogSnorkeller]

A quick word of warning about Creatine. The typical use of it in sport involves going through a 'loading' phase where you take a lot for a week or so, followed by a maintenance period where you take less. Basically, you're pumping your body full of unnatural levels of the stuff and then keeping it at that level.

It's really effective stuff in terms of getting energy to your muscles, but it's also associated with liver damage. The stuff apparently causes physical damage due to its structure. Unless you're a professional athlete, I'd seriously consider whether the benefits outweigh the risks. Have a bit of a read - I did, and decided to give up.

[dunny]

Yeah I've used it before but just not when diving, i never have 12 months "on" I do 3 months on 3 months off, with a week loading phase at the beginning of these.