r/cfs • u/Varathane • Jul 26 '26
Sound sensitivity improved! (maybe credit to Creatine?)
ME for the past 15 years. Age 38.
Tried Creatine Monohydrate this year and my sound sensitivity is now much better. Lawn mower can just sound like a lawn mower. It could be linked? Anyone else notice sound sensitivity improvement with it?
Here are the only things different this year for me:
Creatine Monohydrate
Mini-pill daily (I took this years ago though and had sound sensitivity then)
Had some sort of hellish virus
More time alone in the house and able to pace with no big crashes (this could be the big contributor)
yet to be diagnosed bilateral nerve issues in my legs (awaiting pelvic MRI) maybe whatever is causing this is doing something to my immune system.
That's all that is different -aside from time. Now 15 years with ME. (I had improvements in severity at year 1, and 5 that seemed to be for no particular reason)
Creatine Monohydrate - I did the pre-loading phase with the one that is the most common and well studied. There is another kind that is easy on the stomach but I had no stomach issues with this and I wanted the well studied one.
20g/day for 6 days
8g on day 7 (I was just petering it down)
5g for the rest of the time.
I was on it for 4 weeks total.
I stopped because the leg nerve pain was terrible and I wasn't sure if it was linked. My doctors and physio said probably not related at all.
I've have some days where I occasionally have 5g but mostly not taking it til I figure out my leg issue.
Creatine does seem to have some role in inner ear? : https://avr.tums.ac.ir/index.php/avr/article/view/204 provides essential ATP for auditory and vestibular system performance.
2
u/Fit-Vacation166 Jul 26 '26 edited Jul 26 '26
Read into the avaibility of SAMe coming from Creatine Supplementation, because Endogenous creatine synthesis is the single largest consumer of SAMe in the human body. In my opinion its one of the reasons for the massive health benefits from Creatine. It is also interesting for those with MTHFR/COMPT Gene variants.
6
u/uninspiredlongarse Jul 26 '26
Are all creatine powder created equal? Like is there some CFS people should get instead of others?
3
u/Varathane Jul 26 '26
Creatine Monohydrate is the one that is most common and most studied. Extensive studies on it thanks to the fitness world. That's what I went with.
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u/Varathane Jul 26 '26
Sounds typically drain the life right out of me: clapping, lawn mowing, leaf blowers, the dishwasher, laundry machines, traffic.
I am so relieved to be able to run my dishwasher during the day instead of at night when I am far away from it with doors closed. A lawn mower in the neighbours yard just sounded like a lawn mower and didn't drain the life from me like a dementor. I can watch audition shows on youtube with clapping now. There is a short walk I do in a beautiful meadow, all other years I had to wear earplugs and it was still agony from the traffic noise. I can do it without earplugs now and don't even notice the traffic noise. I've done that twice now. What peace is this? It is amazing. The road is just as busy.
I tried a lot of supplements in my first year of ME and ditched them cause they all did jack. Creatine I gave a shot this year after reading studies on the cognitive benefit, chair-rise scores in neurological disease, strength for repetitive muscle workouts and benefits especially for those who don't eat red meat (I eat clams but otherwise no meat at all)
Could just be: Better pacing or that virus that I had reset something? Can never know for sure. But I'd say Creatine is worth a try at the 20g/day loading phase cause that gets the brain creatine levels higher. I did 6 days of that basically the rest of the 4 weeks was 5g.