I recently bought some new creatine, this time - good ****. It cost my $60, and so far, I'm loving it! One thing, I've notice I have to drink and pee a lot more, just like one of the effects with N02. Does this have to do with the creatine? Or is it just that I've been needing more lately, for some reason?

Well creatine makes your body hold water, but in counter balance, you need to drink a lot more water or else you will get dehydrated. That's what's making you piss so much. It's all good though man. I just started doing some creatine too, but I'm only doing it post workout to get that insulin spike that the body craves. Good luck.

good **** doesn't have to cost $60 man.

$15 for 500g of creapure Monohydrate, be it AtLarge brand, ON, or any other that uses creapure processed monohydrate.

why?

because all the googling in teh world won't find you a single solitary scientific study that showed ANY kind of creatine works better, is better absorbed, is more effective...than monohydrate.

Not citrate, not malate, not ethyl ester, not 'buffered' kre-alkalyn. So blowing $60 on 'good' creatine is a waste of $45 IMO.

and tony...creatine doesn't cause an insulin spike post workout...but simple carbs added to your shake does increase insulin response, which supposedly aids in creatine absorption (nutrient absorption in general for that matter).

Thanks for that correction malkore

How do you know when you're in saturation? Will there be a noticable difference in your body weight?

joe, it depends. we don't all hold extra water the same way, and its only water in the muscles themselves. I would guess a couple pounds of water, at the most.

And from research I have seen, 3g a day for those under 200lbs (5g a day for over 200lbs) will achieve saturation in about 3 weeks.

most people simply 'feel' it in their workouts, meaning they find they have the energy to get those last few reps, or sets, pushed out. and when the go off the creatine, they notice they lose that extra push..that recovery between sets seems to take longer to 're-energize'.
That's all creatine does...it aids in energy transport in muscle cells. we increase to saturation to get the most efficient energy transport naturally possible.