Can Creatine Help With Depression?

Yet another potential benefit of creatine may be improving the effects of SSRIs. There’s many potential health benefits of creatine many people are unaware of and can read up on via articles here on BrinkZone and in my free report HERE with creatine buying advice HERE Now, it’s possible, it only works on women and or, only works with this particular SSRI and or only works with MDD. However, knowing that creatine improves brain metabolism in general and has other neuro-protective effects, it’s very unlikely it’s limited to women and or this particular SSRI in my opinion, but one should keep those possible limitation i mind until data shows otherwise. Good science dictates I make sure you’re at least aware of that possible limitation until additional studies done.


I have said this before, and I’ll say it again: Creatine (as monohydrate!) is one of the few supplements I would take and recommended if I didn’t exercise at all.

BTW:  The dose of creatine was 3 g/day for the first week and 5 g/day for another 7 weeks.

A Randomized, Double-Blind Placebo-Controlled Trial of Oral Creatine Monohydrate Augmentation for Enhanced Response to a Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor in Women With Major Depressive Disorder

In Kyoon Lyoo, M.D., Ph.D.; et al

Am J Psychiatry 2012;169:937-945.

Abstract

Objective Antidepressants targeting monoaminergic neurotransmitter systems, despite their immediate effects at the synaptic level, usually require several weeks of administration to achieve clinical efficacy. The authors propose a strategy of adding creatine monohydrate (creatine) to a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) in the treatment of patients with major depressive disorder. Such augmentation may lead to a more rapid onset of antidepressant effects and a greater treatment response, potentially by restoring brain bioenergetics at the cellular level.

Method Fifty-two women with major depressive disorder were enrolled in an 8-week double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial and randomly assigned to receive escitalopram in addition to either creatine (5 g/day, N=25) or placebo (N=27). Efficacy was primarily assessed by changes in the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D) score.

Results In comparison to the placebo augmentation group, patients receiving creatine augmentation showed significantly greater improvements in HAM-D score, as early as week 2 of treatment. This differential improvement favoring creatine was maintained at weeks 4 and 8. There were no differences between treatment groups in the proportion of patients who discontinued treatment prematurely (creatine: N=8, 32.0%; placebo: N=5, 18.5%) or in the overall frequency of all reported adverse events (creatine: 36 events; placebo: 45 events).

Conclusions The current study suggests that creatine augmentation of SSRI treatment may be a promising therapeutic approach that exhibits more rapid and efficacious responses in women with major depressive disorder.

Will Brink