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If I start taking Creatine, and say a few months down the line I stop taking it, will I lose all of the size, strength, and energy that I had gained while taking it? Basically, is it worth it if you won't be taking it forever?

Energy? Yes. Size? Maybe a bit since the muscles seem to "bloat" during use. Supposedly this is not the case with CEE form though. Strength? Just from fatigue.

Depends on your diet and training. Creatine supplies extra anaerobic fuel for your muscles, helps the cells retain water and helps activate satelite cells which could lead to more protein synthesis over time. However, none of these things will put you at or beyond your genetic limits or even close to it, so the gains are easily maintainable. As the other poster said, you might lose some water weight and anaerobic endurance.

Personally, even though I'm convinced creatine monohydrate is safe for long term use, I prefer to cycle off creatine regularly than to just keep taking it indefinitely. That's just my personal choice though.

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"But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you..."

Back when Creatine came out, I remeber there was only like 1-2 companies that had it. When I did a search for it today, I saw so many companies that it blew me away! Which is the best bang for my buck to try it out and see whether it helps me or not? I'd prefer something that comes pre-mixed so I can just add water, but now it comes in liquid form also? Amazing!

Liquid creatine is a rip off in my opinion, until I hear differently. Creatine is just a series of three amino acids, which tend to denature or unfold if left in fluid for too long. A lot of the creatine products you're seeing are likely mixtures of creatine monohydrate, creatine ethyl ester, the two malate and chelate versions, etc. There are plenty of versions around. They also likely have arginine of some form in them, "transport matrixs" which is usually a fancy name for some carbohydrates mixed in, etc. In other words, stuff you don't really need. Get raw bulk powder creatine, of whatever form you want. Right now they've all been out for a while, so the price per effective dose has basically equalized for the various forms available. Optimum Nutrition sells a tub of creatine monohydrate powder that's 2000 grams and just under 40 bucks on the internet. At ~5 grams a day which is a good dose it'll last more than year. But, you may want to buy a small tub first to see if you respond to it. Some people don't. At that point it's possible one of the other forms of creatines might work for you.

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"But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you..."

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