Darryn Peterson says cramps caused by Creatine Supplements

[Who]

Via ESPN

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/48710416/darryn-peterson-says-high-doses-creatine-led-cramping

Darryn Peterson finally has an answer.

One of the top prospects in this year's NBA draft spent much of his freshman season at Kansas trying to solve mysterious and sometimes debilitating cramping. But in an extended interview with ESPN this week, Peterson said that a new round of bloodwork and other tests after the college basketball season led his doctors to conclude that his use of high doses of creatine created the condition.

"I'd never taken it before [going to college]," Peterson said of the popular supplement which helps to increase muscle strength, power and growth. "But after the season I took two weeks off and they did tests which showed my baseline level was already high. So, they said when I dosed [a process of increasing a dose over time to create maximum benefit at the beginning of taking a supplement], it must've made the levels unsafe."

You see all these exercise and health nut people promoting creatine these days. That is scary that it can do that to you -- if it is indeed the cause.

You could certainly see how taking high amounts of a supplement when you already have high levels of it in your body could cause issues.

Peterson, said his issues started last year with a scary episode after Kansas coach Bill Self's annual weeklong boot camp in September that sent him to the hospital in an ambulance.

First his legs started cramping. Then his stomach, back, arms and hands. Eventually his whole body was cramping.

"I made it to the training room and just started begging them to call 911," he said. "They were trying to get a vein to get me the IV, get me back hydrated. But I was cramping so hard they couldn't get a vein.

"I thought I was going to die on the training table that day."

Finally at the hospital the emergency room doctors were able to get a vein and give him several bags of fluids intravenously. Peterson stayed there for several hours being treated for what doctors thought was severe dehydration.

He said he was sore for days afterward but pushed to return to play. The experience was far from over, however. The full-body cramp was so intense, Peterson said, that he struggled to shake the fear that it could happen again.

"Whenever I felt anything like that come on, my initial thought was that it might get to that again," Peterson said. "And I can't let that happen and be embarrassed and have that on TV and all that.

Crazy all the things they were trying on him. I wonder if they looked at all at what supplements he was taking. Docs are usually good at asking about prescription drugs but bad at asking about other stuff you might be taking. Or looking at your diet. Feels like they should have taken him off all supplements earlier while they tried to find the cause & solution.

Peterson rarely spoke to the media about his issue, he said, because he didn't have an explanation for what was causing the issues and hadn't publicly revealed the scary, full-body cramp that sent him to the hospital. Finally at the Big 12 tournament in the middle of March, he told the story of that incident to the assembled media. At that point, however, he didn't have an explanation for what caused it.

All season HIPAA rules had prohibited Self from discussing the cramping incident or giving further details on Peterson's health.

Many of his teammates had seen Peterson be taken by ambulance to the hospital after the full-body cramp. They'd kept it private all season long, out of respect for Peterson. But it had informed their view of his seasonlong struggle to understand what was wrong with him.

His teammates were also aware that Peterson frequently received preventative IV bags, electrolyte supplements, massages and other physical therapies to try to stay on the court.

"They saw I was in rehab every day before practice, after practice. Get massages. Trying all types of stuff. Carb loading because they thought I didn't have glucose or something. Electrolytes. Liquid IV, LMNT. I changed my diet. I meal-prepped. Everything I could think of."

Some more info on how he is doing now

Peterson says he's starting to feel like himself again now that he has an explanation for what caused his issues with cramping. He has been training for the NBA combine and draft in Los Angeles and hasn't had any issues since he stopped taking a creatine supplement.

His focus during this period is on honing his shooting and point guard skills. At Kansas, he often played off the ball, but he believes point guard is his best position.

"I was off [the ball] most of the year, but some of that was me not really being myself," Peterson said. "So, Coach was trying to figure out ways to help me still be effective without exerting too much. As the point guard, you got to bring it up, you got to do everything.

Interesting that he sees himself as a PG rather than a SG.

The PG position is getting fierce. Lots of these big athletic 6-5 / 6-6 guys coming into the league. Most of the other prospects nowadays are 6-3 / 6-4. Daniel Acuff is 6-2. I think he is the smallest high ranked PG in the last 2 years.

[Phantom255x]

I saw the story, and that's crazy. I also take creatinine gummies myself lol, but I obviously stick to the recommended dosage per day and have never overdone it. It can be difficult if you're consuming it in the powder version or other means as measuring it out can be a bit difficult unless you actually have one of those measuring cups or something. But yeah you also need to make sure you consume enough fluids/water throughout the day.