Originally Posted by
scottfsmith
I was taking creatine + HMB but having never had any aFibs I got a couple while on this according to my watch. Creatine can cause aFib in some people according to some studies, not sure about HMB. Correlated or not? I'll probably never know.
Anyway I am back on only sleep & water & good nutrition now. I am generally good on the sleep and nutrition but I was low on water due to trying to avoid so many middle-night trips. Back on the water recently and am less tired after rides with more water in my system. More middle-night trips but I guess its just the price to be paid.
How do you know it was aFib? I've had Premature Ventricular Contractions (PVCs), which one might mistake for aFib. In my case, they were due to dehydration from trying to cut down on night trips. I drank a tall glass of water and they quit. I knew they were PVCs because I'd been trying to take my HRV and could see them on my HRV phone app and also feel them in my pulse.
There actually are no studies linking creatine to any heart problems. There are a lot of anti-supplement folks out there who would like there to be, but there just aren't any. Same with HMB. Here's the
International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: creatine supplementation and exercise
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2048496/
That said, supplements which increase performance can cause athletes who aren't monitoring their vitals to overreach, which can cause heart problems. I've been taking my morning resting and resting-standing heart rates for decades and my HRV for over 2000 days, so says my phone. I use the results to make sure I'm not overdoing it and to modify my workouts if it looks like I might be.