Creatine to mitigate effects of sleep deprivation
Hi Bernadette & Daniel,
I’ve seen people talk on social media about creatine use to help reduce the negative effects of sleep deprivation.
I wanted to ask you for how strong you think the research on this is.
Unfortunately, my sleep is pretty broken and often interrupted because of a baby and I do experience a lot of fatigue and brain fog from it. I’m wondering if this is something that would be helpful.
I do try to mitigate the effects with diet, supplementation, going outside, and movement whenever possible.
If it would be helpful, what would the recommended dose be? Do you have brands that you recommend?
Thanks
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Daniel
November 23, 2025 at 12:44 pmIt’s really good that you’re exploring solutions instead of just pushing through. With a baby waking you at night, your system is under more strain than a lot of people realize. Before giving full advice, I’d love to understand your sleep pattern better, because broken sleep from a child and broken sleep from an overstimulated nervous system feel very different in the body. Chances are your dealing with a combination and dealing with each should be addressed differently
A few clarifying questions to map your sleep pattern:
– Is it easy for you to fall asleep, or do you lie awake before drifting off?
– Even though your sleep is broken, does it feel deep in the moments you are asleep?
– How often are you waking up per night on average?
– When you wake up, is it always the baby, or also spontaneous wake-ups?
– When you wake up, does your heart race, or do you feel fairly calm?
– Do you wake up feeling wired or heavy?
– Do you ever feel warm at night or wake between 2–4 AM?
Your answers will help me understand whether it’s purely baby-related, or whether blood sugar, stress chemistry, or nervous system overload are also part of the picture.
About creatine and sleep deprivation:
Creatine is not just for muscles. Your brain uses it as a fast “backup battery” to recycle energy. When sleep is interrupted, ATP production drops, and that’s what causes fatigue, slow thinking, and brain fog. Creatine can give your brain more stability during these low-sleep phases. It won’t replace sleep, but it often softens the impact.
A simple explanation of the biochemistry
Creatine is one of the major end products of methylation. Methylation is like the body’s universal charging port. It powers nerve repair, mood chemistry, detox, antioxidant production, and stress recovery. Your body uses a large portion of its methylation capacity to make creatine. Roughly 50 percent of all methylation end-products are used to create creatine.
When you supplement creatine, your body doesn’t have to produce as much itself. This frees up methylation for other essential tasks, which can support nerve health, mood stability, and overall brain energy.
Dosing for brain benefits:
- 3–5 grams creatine monohydrate per day
- No loading phase needed for the brain
- Takes about 2–3 weeks to fully saturate brain stores
Who should be cautious:
- people with kidney disease
- people who are very dehydrated
- those on medication that affects kidney filtration
- breastfeeding individuals (often fine but research is limited)
How to find a trusted brand:
I usually look for creatine from Creapure. Creapure produces most of the creatine for a lot of supplements. You’ll often see on the back of the supplement Creapure is mentioned.
Look for pure “creatine monohydrate” with third-party testing. Avoid blends or flavored versions.
Bottom line:
Creatine can definitely help buffer the cognitive effects of broken sleep. But to give you the most helpful advice, your answers to the sleep questions above matter. They’ll show us whether the interruption itself is the only issue, or whe
ther your nervous system is also struggling behind the scenes.
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healthyliving99
November 23, 2025 at 8:33 pmThanks for the input and explaining how creatine works! I am breastfeeding, so now I’m wondering if it’s safe for me to take it. Here are the answers to your questions
– Is it easy for you to fall asleep, or do you lie awake before drifting off?
Depends on the day & how tired I am. Most days, I’ll fall asleep within 10-15 minutes of lying down.
– Even though your sleep is broken, does it feel deep in the moments you are asleep?
This is also dependent on the day. Most of the days, it does feel deep. I usually have quite a few dreams.
It’s interesting that when I sleep next to the baby, I’ll wake up usually only when he needs me or when he’s stirring. I will also fall back asleep faster.
When my husband is watching the baby on the weekends, I’ll sleep in a different room and he’ll bring the baby to me to nurse. Some nights I will only wake up when the baby is brought to me to nurse but some nights I wake up more frequently despite not having the baby with me. It’ll also take me longer to fall asleep the first time. My sleep also feels lighter when I’m away from my son [but I do wake up feeling more rested].
– How often are you waking up per night on average?
5-7 times on average on weekdays. 3-5 on weekends.
– When you wake up, is it always the baby, or also spontaneous wake-ups?
Most of the time it is the baby wanting to nurse or waking up himself
– When you wake up, does your heart race, or do you feel fairly calm?
Calm
– Do you wake up feeling wired or heavy?
In the morning, I usually feel pretty tired when I wake up. Sometimes, I won’t feel as tired if my son slept better too.
– Do you ever feel warm at night or wake between 2–4 AM?
No
A bit of background:
My son is now a little over 1 years old, so I have been dealing with frequent wake ups since he was born. We do cosleep so that helps reduce the time I’m up because I can nurse him right away, and fall back asleep soon after.
Unfortunately, I have a hard time napping during the day when he is napping unless I’m absolutely exhausted so I only sleep at night.
My son sleeps around 9.5-10 hours at night on average. I normally go to bed 1-2 hours after he sleeps, so I end up getting 7-8 hours of broken sleep every night.
I’m usually pretty tired most days, so I have had to cut down on the number of things I am able to do daily. I do rely on a low dose (less than 100 mg) of caffeine (matcha, black tea, or a small cup of coffee) to get through the day most days. I also can sometimes get migraines if the sleep has been particularly bad. My biggest concerns are always feeling tired and having a lot of brain fog
Supplements I take: prenatal, vitamin D & K2, cod liver oil, calcium. I plan on taking magnesium glycinate too. No medications
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Daniel
November 25, 2025 at 3:03 amThanks for sharing all this. Reading your answers, something becomes really clear: your sleep “biology” is actually healthy. You fall asleep fast, you sleep deeply when you get the chance, and your nervous system isn’t “wired.” What’s draining you is simply how often your nights get interrupted. That’s a normal phase for many mums, but it doesn’t make the exhaustion any less real.
You also describe everything in a very calm, structured way. That tells me you’re not dealing with anxiety-driven insomnia… but if you feel differently, correct me if I’m wrong! Right now I’m assuming you’re dealing with a body that still works well, just constantly pulled out of the deeper recovery phases your brain needs.
Here’s a simple plan that works for mums in your exact situation.
First, try to protect one longer window of sleep. Not a perfect night, just one decent stretch at the start of the night, ideally 4–6 hours. Your husband handles the first wake-up or two, and you go to bed when your son goes to bed on nights where it’s possible. He only comes to you when he really needs to nurse. That single block already gives your brain a chance to repair, which often reduces headaches and improves morning clarity. Not sure if this tip is achievable, but this could be the biggest win. If not, there are more tips.
Second, if your son is only stirring, not fully awake, try giving him 10–20 seconds before responding. About one-third of these moments settle before turning into a full wake-up. It reduces interruptions without needing any sleep training.
Third, the caffeine part is bigger than most people realise. Even 100 mg can affect the depth of your sleep later in the night, even if you fall asleep fine. Caffeine has a half-life of around 5–6 hours, which means half of it is still in your system long after you consumed it. And the body adapts to caffeine, so the benefit goes down over time but the sleep impact stays. Even reducing your intake by half can help your sleep feel deeper in the hours your son does give you.
Fourth, magnesium glycinate is a great idea. It helps your nervous system relax and supports deeper phases of sleep.
About creatine, here’s the honest version while still giving you the full picture. Creatine is naturally present in breastmilk, especially in colostrum, and newborns actually rely on it for brain energy. Some research shows that breastfeeding mothers transfer a lot of their own creatine to the baby, which tells us it has a biological role in early life.
There’s also a very interesting “pro-creatine” paper from 2021 (Muccini et al – click here for the full article). It shows that reproductive tissues, the placenta and newborn organs use a lot of creatine. In animal studies, when the mother supplemented creatine during pregnancy, the babies were better protected against stress, like low oxygen during birth. So biologically, creatine clearly matters.
But the same paper is also very cautious. It states that human research is still limited, dosing isn’t well-established, and we don’t yet have long-term data for pregnant or breastfeeding women. In other words: promising on a biological level, promising in animal models, but not ready for a blanket “this is proven safe, go for it.”
If you do choose to try creatine, the goal isn’t to improve your sleep. Creatine won’t make you sleep more deeply. What it can do is soften the impact of interrupted sleep on your brain (especially fog, headaches and migraines). It acts like an energy buffer for brain cells. The current research found no evidence of harm so far, but also emphasises that more research is needed. So it’s an option, but with awareness and caution. Consult your doctor if you are considering it, as it is the best course of action.
Zinc is optional. There isn’t strong research linking zinc and better sleep, but some people do notice deeper sleep when fixing a mild deficiency. I’ve noticed it in my clients as wel in myself. If your prenatal doesn’t contain around 10–15 mg of zinc glycinate or another form of absorbable zinc, it could be worth adding. It’s safe while breastfeeding.
If there is any chance for a short nap during the day, even 10–15 minutes, it can help. But if napping just isn’t realistic (which is very common), use “micro-recovery” instead. A few minutes of slow breathing, a short NSDR audio or a few minutes outside in daylight. These small resets help your system cope better with broken nights.
And one last thing: if sleep issues are causing migraines, everything gets harder. And when a mum runs on migraines and broken sleep, she can’t show up the way she wants to. This isn’t indulgence. This is self-care in the most practical sense. Taking better care of yourself is actually a strategy that helps everyone around you. It really belongs in your battle plan right now.
I hope these tips will help you forward. Let me know if I need any other help!
Daniel
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