Postviral fatigue syndrome and creatine: a piece of the puzzle?, by Sergej M Ostojic in Nutritional Neuroscience pp. 1–2, 19 Aug 2020 [doi.org/10.1080/1028415X.2020.1809880]
Letter conclusion:
Creatine supplementation may recharge creatine stores (at least in the skeletal muscles) but this does not inevitably lead to better clinical features in all PFS (postviral fatigue syndrome) patients. It might help some patients to perform more physical work without negative consequences yet creatine is probably less effective to tackle general fatigue and/or nervous system-specific signs and symptoms of PFS. We are still short of information. Does supplemental creatine even reach the brain in PFS, a major stumbling block for creatine delivery in clinical neurology.
The appropriate daily dose, dosing interval, and treatment duration, gender-specific pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic considerations, possible interactions with other disease-modifying agents, long-term side effects of creatine – all details missing for PFS patients.
Creatine supplementation, therefore, requires much more research credentials before being endorsed in PFS, with correcting creatine might be just a piece of solving the big jigsaw puzzle of metabolic turmoil in this baffling disease. Finally, to answer to a PFS patient’s question about creatine – play safe and wait for better evidence!
