A healthy 18-year-old man taking the recommended loading (20 g/day for 5 days) and maintenance doses (1 g/day for the next 6 weeks) of creatine monohydrate for bodybuilding purposes presented with a 2-day history of nausea, vomiting and stomach ache. The patient was diagnosed with acute tubular necrosis which can lead to acute kidney failure. Twenty-five days after stopping the creatine supplements, the patient’s blood pressure (120/70 mmHg), serum creatinine (88.4 mmol/L) and proteinuria (82 mg/day) were back to normal, and the patient was discharged from the hospital. (13)
A healthy 24-year-old taking creatine and multiple other supplements for bodybuilding presented with acute kidney injury and proteinuria which is the presence of an excess of serum proteins in the urine indicating kidney stress. After a renal biopsy it was found that he had developed interstitial nephritis. Creatine supplements were discontinued and the patient recovered completely. There have been other reports of renal dysfunction, including acute interstitial nephritis, associated with creatine use. This suggests the safety of creatine supplementation needs to be evaluated further. (14)