Responding to Creatine?

[maddhatter]

How can I tell if im responding to creatine?

I am returning to the gym after a long absense and im starting with creatine for the first time. How can I tell if im responding? Is there any symptoms? I dont really want to go on it, evaluate my gains, then go off it and evaluate my gains. I don't really have time for that. I just don't want to be wasting my time and money on creatine if its not responding. So let me know how to tell. i wont be able to tell if i would have made the gains without the creatine so i dont know.

[booze]

its different for everyone, i didnt notice much of a difference untill 6-7 weeks into taking it. alot of others notice a big difference in the first week after the loading phase, and some it doesnt effect at all.
I havnt noticed a massive jump in size or appearance, ive just gotten bigger slowly so it is hard to tell what its doing. But after week 6-7 all my weights increased by a fairload and seamed much easier to push.....since then ive kinda hit a plateu and increased slowly. But this sudden up in weights round week 6 was more than the usual increase. so i guess thats how i could tell....i really would of liked to see better results tho, its not as good as thought it would be.

[Lift2Live]

If you respond to it, you really will know after the first week or week and a half. The weights you were lifting are going to feel "easier" in a sense. When I loaded the first time and started noticing results (about a week in), my weights went up about 20lbs. on all my lifts 'seemingly' overnight. That may not be typical, but you won't be left guessing whether or not it's working.

[abear]

i agree. after some time, you will notice that you're able to perform a greater number of reps than you're accustomed to