Creatine and hypertension

[Al Copersino]

Hi Robert. I started taking 5mg daily of creatine monohydrate a couple months ago. Recently my blood pressure has risen from 120-something/70-something to 150-something/80-something.

An internet search of whether creatine exacerbates hypertension turned up three consecutive articles that said it raises blood pressure (first article), lowers bp (second), and has no effect on bp (third).

Can you help me out? I like that I have more energy for workouts on creatine but I have coronary artery disease and have struggled with hypertension for years. Other potentially relevant data: age 56, 5’9”, 215 lbs, and I take olmesartan and amlodipine daily for bp.

Thank you.

[Robert Santana]

You already have high blood pressure and are on drugs. Are you taking your medications consistently?

[Al Copersino]

Yes, 40mg olmesartan and 10mg amlodipine every night. My bp was under control when last checked early this year.

Besides recently starting on creative, there’s one other difference that could explain the recent rise in bp. I’ve recently been taking a unisom each night to help as I get used to starting on a cpap machine. I looked up unisom and found that it raises bp.

I’ll remove the unisom and keep the creatine and see how my bp looks each morning for a few days and report back.

[Robert Santana]

Unisom is more likely to do it than creatine so good call.

[Al Copersino]

Ok, after 3-4 nights without Unisom my blood pressure has dropped to low-130s over 77-ish, about where it was when this whole episode started. So best I can tell, creatine monohydrate isn’t affecting my blood pressure.

(Typed without glasses and after several drinks at a boring school fundraiser. Pardon any typos.)