Creatine monohydrate in resistant depression: a preliminary study
by
Roitman S, Green T, Osher Y, Karni N, Levine J.
Ness Ziona Mental Health Center, Sackler Faculty of Medicine,
Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.
Bipolar Disord. 2007 Nov;9(7):754-8.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: Creatine plays a pivotal role in brain energy homeostasis, and altered cerebral energy metabolism may be involved in the pathophysiology of depression. Oral creatine supplementation may modify brain high-energy phosphate metabolism in depressed subjects. METHODS: Eight unipolar and two bipolar patients with treatment-resistant depression were treated for four weeks with 3-5 g/day of creatine monohydrate in an open add-on design. Outcome measures were the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, Hamilton Anxiety Scale, and Clinical Global Impression scores, recorded at baseline and at weeks 1, 2, 3 and 4. RESULTS: One patient improved considerably after one week and withdrew. Both bipolar patients developed hypomania/mania. For the remaining seven patients, all scale scores significantly improved. Adverse reactions were mild and transitory. CONCLUSIONS: This small, preliminary, open study of creatine monohydrate suggests a beneficial effect of creatine augmentation in unipolar depression, but possible precipitation of a manic switch in bipolar depression.

BDNF
SAMe
Folate
Inositol
Serotonin
Chromium
Runner's high
Exercise pills?
Low-fat blues
Antidepressants
Vitamins and mood
Nutritional psychiatry
Docosahexaenoic acid
Catecholamine depletion
Mood, food and cognition
Bad moods and sick hearts
Exercise and new brain cells
Exercise as an antidepressant
Phenylethylamine and exercise
Exercise programs treat depression
NO, BDNF, exercise and antidepressants
Creatine and intellectual performance (PDF)
The exercise-regulated gene VGF: antidepressant action
Major depression: exercise as an augmentation strategy
Antianxiety effects of exercise/hippocampal neurogenesis

Refs
and further reading

HOME
HedWeb
Nootropics
cocaine.wiki
Future Opioids
BLTC Research
MDMA/Ecstasy
Superhapiness?
Utopian Surgery?
The Abolitionist Project
The Hedonistic Imperative
The Reproductive Revolution
Critique of Huxley's Brave New World

The Good Drug Guide
The Responsible Parent's Guide
To Healthy Mood Boosters For All The Family