Help! Creatine = facial bloating/swelling

I bought a jar of CEE. it is lots more expensive though. ( €70 instead of €20) Oh well, I'll give it a try. We'll see what happens in a few weeks. -Tommy

creatine bloats my face too. 5 days after i stop using creatine it goes away.

I've never had any bloating or swelling on any creatine product.  In fact, I recently did a 20 day course of cell mass (cee) and my face got thinner.  Is this bull****?  Some may experience bloating and swelling, but not all.

5'7", 180 lbs., 5% bf, 25 years old
max bench - 335
max squat - 525

I took CEE for a month now, and I must say CEE is far more better creatine for strenght increasement, but.... the facial bloating continues. I guess for all of us who have this negative side effect it's either stop taking it and save money or live with the consequences.

Hey are you allergic to peanuts, shell fish, etc.  a lot of the machines they use to make this powder are used for other things as well.  Read the NO Xplode label as it states it on the bottle.  If you are highly allergic to any of these substances then it probably is because of the machines that they use.

Height: 5'7

Weight: 170-174

Bench: 265 max

NO Xplode
ON Whey Protein
Multivitamin
Vitamin C
Fish Oil
Food :)

Always finish what you start!!!

ORIGINAL: EightFour

Creatine sux...
-Water Retention
-Stretch Marks (after you lose the water weight 2monts after)
-Soft Muscle
-Balloon Look

It's all about the Whey Protein/Amino Acids/Multi Vitamins & Animal Pak
-Blood Flow
-Hard Muscle
-Veins
-Pump

Now... Now... Let's not forget about the Kidney Problems (even if you drink adequate amounts of water): http://anabolicminds.com/forum/supplements/46205-kidney-trouble-cee-creatine-ethyl-ester.html

Good Luck!

Its interesting that there is a bloating effect on the face.
Lets see what creatine does in a nutshell. The instantenous energy required by muscle cells to lift weights etc. is provided by by the equation ATP ---(reduces to)---> ADP + release of energy (which is an irreversible reaction), naturally occuring creatine from our diet is absorbed into the blood stream and then into the muscle cells where it combines with ADP ie. ADP+ creatine ---> ATP and so the cycle repeats giving muscles energy again after a while.
Pure creatine is absorbed into the muscle cells and has a tendency to draw water hence the muscle cell volumization; however if creatine has impurities then it does not get absorbed into the muscle cells easily and tends to stick around outside the muscle cells( in the intracellular spaces ) attracting water there, this does not allow cell volumization rather causes intracellular volumization which is nothing but the bloating effect.
Logic says bloating should be more where there are large or more muscle groups ie. arms, chest, shoulders etc. rather than the face.
In your case the one explanation i can come up with for facial bloat is: since ur working out, the bloating effect is more where the muscles are being exercised the least. ie the facial muscles.
Ps: make sure the creating u take is 100% pure usually creatine produced in Germany is said to be purer and better than creatine produced in China.(notice most of the creatine is imported from one of these 2 places.)

Sid

 I think it does depend on your genetics - when i took CR when i was younger it would bload my face also as family members would always ask me if i was taking CR -this would make me feel bad as nobody like a chubby face i would than discontinue and the bloating would go away along with some of the strenth i had gained .I think if you are naturally lean you would have no problems but all our genetics are different .

hey guys..i joined this forum just b/c of this topic.
I too am experienceing facial bloating and i just did a search on google and this came up...i read all the replys and just like the 1st guy i am taking CytoGainer...im seeing great results and i am a HARDGAINER!! im 27 and my metabolism hasnt even tapped the breaks yet..which i am glad of course. but this is my concern...
while overseas i took cell tech/ nitro tech combo religiously..i didnt see the actual gains that i see off of my cell mass/ cytogainer combo...but i was more lean and no facial fat boy!
has anyone had good results with cytogainer with out gettin a fat mug? ha
i was thinkin like damn...maybe im gettin old and its time for me to have golfball cheeks..but damn i hope not!
another question...a buddy of mine...that i no longer talk to or i would just ask him... anywayz..he took some sort of pills just b4 his bodybuilding comp. to dehydrate his body to appear more cut.. and i noticed his face looked crazy thin..is that something i could look into with extra small doses....and does that even ring a bell with anyone? experience users opinions carry more weight with me..not to discourage any newbies like myself...thanks!

any input??

Jonb411                 I agree 100% ive experienced this myself. On mono my face cheeks were swoll up no doubt...when i switched to ethel ester it seemed to go down..................................JJ

sounds good, i appreciate it fellas. i seem to have hit a roadblock in my ever continuous road of trying to gain so i think ill post a few topics. thanks again!

hang on...does 11 lbs in 3 weeks sound reasonable?? i would think it all cant be muscle.. could be another reason why there is bloating kinda. not sure

BALLIN'

get JACKED!

ahh ok thanks for clarifying...

BALLIN'

get JACKED!

Dpends on your starting weight but I'd say 11lbs in 3 weeks is bloating outside the muscle as well. In three weeks I gain like 5 lbs just of the creatine, but I don't lose any definition at all or lose it after. That's with creatine blends not plain mono. You might want to try a different creatine product. Keep in mind unwanted bloat is temporary anyway.