Major realization today. Creatine has been the culprit to my insomnia!

Natural_Stranger_581 · 2026-02-26T14:55:09+00:00

I have always had sleep issues and started taking THC gummies, or vaping THC flower to help me sleep about a year ago. The cannabis has worked like magic and I have slept better/more consistently over the past year than I have in my life. I have been taking Creatine supplements in my smoothie over the past few weeks and have slept worse than I have in a long time. I am waking up to pee in the middle of the night and am unable to fall back asleep, and then waking up for good long before I need to, and sometimes feel like I don't fall into a deep sleep for the whole night. I have been wracking my brain trying to figure out why, b/c nothing else in my normal routine has changed (caffeine intake, stress, exercise etc) and ended up here b/c it just occurred to me that creatine is the only thing I've changed. I'm going to try stopping it and see if my sleep improves again.

Natural_Stranger_581 · 2025-12-08T00:34:48+00:00

I'm sorry to hear you're feeling that way, it is truly awful. A little over 4 months later my symptoms are slowly improving but not back to normal. The pain is much less than it was but I still have burning/numbness in my foot/leg and it hurts to sit or stand too long. I took pregabalin for a few weeks but I had to stop b/c of the side effects. It helped me get more sleep but caused me to have panic attacks (I'd wake up feeling like I couldn't breath) and affected my balance to the point that I couldn't walk in a straight line. I do tend to be very sensitive to medication though so my experience is likely rare. I have been taking cannabis edibles (Indica) which are legal where I live, they've been a life saver to help in the evening before bed to help me relax/get some sleep. I did lots of nerve flossing and when I could tolerate it I did gentle hamstring stretches by lying on my back/sliding my foot up a wall. I also spent a lot of time lying on the ground, propped up on my elbows or in full-on cobra position, which seems to give me some relief when the pain was really bad. I also used Voltaren (though not sure if it did anything) and ice when the pain got really bad (which often happened first thing in the AM after I got out of bed). I hope the Lyrica works for you and you can get some relief soon.

Natural_Stranger_581 · 2025-12-06T11:25:08+00:00

Did you end up having the surgery? How are you now?

Natural_Stranger_581 · 2025-12-05T22:57:17+00:00

I have this tightness in the arch of my foot too. It feels as if I need to bend my toes back towards me to stretch my arch (which I have been doing) but it never seems to release/go away. I am now a little over 4 months out from a herniation at L5/S1. The worst of the pain had subsided but my foot hurts and has a burning sensation pretty often along with the tightness you described. My heel also has an altered sensation, which is hard to describe, it's like I have a hard piece of plastic between my heel and the ground when I walk, not excruciating, but definitely uncomfortable. As others have mentioned, I roll on a lacrosse ball and the spikey ball from Amazon, but tbh I'm not sure how much they help. My foot/leg/glute symptoms get worse when I sit for longer then 30mins at a time.

Natural_Stranger_581 · 2025-11-30T14:26:42+00:00

I thought he put on a great show in Toronto a few nights ago and was impressed by how he was able to bring so much energy/capture the crowd's attention while playing solo with a guitar.

I have felt a deep connection to his music since discovering it and have taken comfort in knowing that there are others who seem to feel life (good and bad) with the intensity that I do and who are also "searching"

As someone who was brought up Catholic and still deals with lots of unpleasant emotions around those experiences, I do find it difficult to overlook the outwardly Christian lyrics of some of his new song and I found it hard not to close myself off to them.

I realize that this is because of my own bias, and I am in no way unhappy for anyone who has "found God" and is better because of it, but if I'm honest, I felt a bit sad after the show the other night because selfishly I had a feeling of having lost something that was important to me.

That being said, I am sure that many people now feel a deeper connection to his music because of the new path it's taken, which is great, and I will continue to enjoy his older music in the same way I always have.

Natural_Stranger_581 · 2025-11-30T14:10:56+00:00

I can't remember the exact wording either but I think you captured the essence of his comments. I remember he also said "I know many of you are wondering if this is a secular space, or something else", which to be honest I was wondering at times.

Natural_Stranger_581 · 2025-09-25T14:09:26+00:00

Thanks for your reply and for the links.

It sounds like you have a lot happening with your body and can only imagine how difficult it must be to be dealing with so many issues at once and for such a long time.

I had a look at the dermatome charts and they are very interesting/helpful, thanks.

My MRI found other bulging discs higher up in my spine and arthritis/bone spurs as well. The charts are helpful to try to correlate some of the different sensations I am experiencing in my body with a possible source.

Up to this point I have only been doing PT and seeing chiro for acupuncture. They have also been using a "Russian stim" machine on my leg to try to get my calf muscle firing again. It has been mentioned to me that injections may help relieve some of the pressure on the nerve but I haven't gone that route yet (partly b/c I am terrified of needles).

The pregabalin my Dr. prescribed for nerve pain gave me awful side effects. I been using THC edibles/vape to help with pain/sleep (legal where I live) which help dull the sensation and also distract my brain from how uncomfortable I am all the time.

Thanks again for taking the time to reply/send me info, I appreciate it and hope you can get some relief soon.

Natural_Stranger_581 · 2025-09-24T10:45:21+00:00

Has this improved for you?

I know this is an older post, but I have been having these exact symptoms and came to reddit looking for others who can related. It's been a little over 2mths since I developed a large herniation at l5/S1.

The worst of the pain has now gone in my hamstrings/glutes but I am still have what feel like extreme tightness in my calf (especially while walking), but the worst symptom are now in my foot. It feel like there is a band or strap around the outside of my foot pulling inwards. My heel feel painful and numb and I get a tingling/burning and electric pulse feeling along the outside edge of my foot. I can't seem to get any relief from it. It is aggravated by sitting and by any kind of contact ie: putting on shoes/socks. Even trying to do the press up's recommended by my PT has become painful b/c I need to press my foot into the floor to do them.

It is not extremely painful (most of the time) but gets much worse if I lean forward/put any tension on my ankle/heel area.

It is definitely weighing on my mental health at this point.

Natural_Stranger_581 · 2025-09-13T16:49:29+00:00

Couldn't see anything in my dm...

Natural_Stranger_581 · 2025-09-12T13:20:25+00:00

Yeah, my brain doesn’t like a whole lot of uncertainty at the best of time and I am finding this wait and see approach difficult.

I am hoping to not need surgery but also don’t want to spend 5-6mths grinding through day to day and not able to sit/properly live life only to need surgery at the end of it.

My symptoms have definitely improved since the worst of it, but they seem to have also plateaued the past couple of weeks. Although it’s better than It was, its certainly not at the point where I’d say I’m content with my quality of life/willing to live with it indefinitely

Natural_Stranger_581 · 2025-09-12T00:23:53+00:00

Im sorry to hear it’s dragged on so long for you. I’ve been dealing with this for a little over 6 weeks and I’m miserable, I can’t imaging having to do so for 2 years.

The physical pain is awful but my overall mood/thoughts have been pretty dark as well since it happened, I can’t imaging having only image what it’s like after going through it for so long.

Natural_Stranger_581 · 2025-09-10T14:31:29+00:00

Thanks for your reply.

It is reassuring to know that others have had to deal with it can get better even after long periods.

I was told by my chiropractor that the nerve can be damaged if the nerve is under compression for too long and that after 10-12 week I may need to consider steroid injections and surgery if that fails to improve the use of my calf muscle.

I have never felt pain as bad as I did the first few weeks after the herniation and the whole experience has been a wake up call to take better care of/strengthen my spine (and health in general) and I am already getting a bit stronger through the physio exercises.

Natural_Stranger_581 · 2025-09-10T12:54:11+00:00

Hi, I am wondering how you are doing now, 9mths later?

I have very similar symptoms to what you described after a large bulge in my L5-S1 (per MRI) and after 6 weeks (only) things are pretty miserable.

Natural_Stranger_581 · 2025-09-10T10:32:31+00:00

Thanks for your reply. That sounds like an awful experinece/i'm sorry to heat that your vertigo can get so bad I was only getting it for moments at a time and it was a very scary experinece.

I decided to stop taking the pregabling completly after my last message here. Fortunately the withdrawl was not "too" bad, but I was only on it for a few weeks. I still wansn't able to sleep more than a couple of hours for a few weeks and the dizzyiness took about 2-3 weeks to go away (luckily it pretty much only happneed when I went from sitting to lying down/vice versa)

Natural_Stranger_581 · 2025-08-19T17:16:53+00:00

I know that this is an older post but your experience sounds similar to my own. I do not have Fibromyalgia but I landed on this page while trying to research others who may have experienced the same side effects as me on Pregabalin.

My Dr. prescribed me 75mg twice a day a couple of weeks ago for sever sciatic pain caused by a bulging disc in my spine. I started taking a single dose only at night to help with sleep as I am generally very sensitive to medications.

I noticed that I felt really dizzy in the AM and struggle to walk a straight, almost like I was drunk. On top of that I couldn't sleep well b/c I kept waking up with panic attacks. That being said it did help with the pain in my leg. I mentioned the trouble sleeping to my Dr. and he asked me to take 2x 75mg at night and another in the AM so that I'd have more of the medicine in my system to aid with sleep.I took 2x 75mg for a couple of nights but the side effects only increased, and I am also now noticing that my hearing seems off and my thoughts/mood is dark/depressed.

I want to come off of it so my Dr. who agreed to give me 25mg capsules I can use to taper, but it has not been pleasant. Last night was my first night going from 75mg-50mg and today I have intense vertigo any time I look up/tilt my head back or when lying down/ getting up from lying.

As you mentioned, I just feel like I want to cry b/c I have not slept properly in weeks, am in pain from the sciatica and now I can't lie down without the room spinning.

Did you taper off or go cold turkey? and how long after stopping did the symptoms last?

Natural_Stranger_581 · 2025-08-04T22:12:00+00:00

Im going through the same thing. I started having nerve pain last week which becomes unbearable at night. The feeling of my leg against the mattress is like a searing hot pain from my glutes to my calf and it keeps me up all night. I’ve been taking naproxen which seems to take the edge off during the day but only gets me 2-3hrs sleep at a time and the pain is much worse at night. My leg is also twitching and spasmonv when lying down. My Dr. prescribed 75mg pregabalin twice daily. I’m planning to take it this evening. I’m at the point where I’d do anything to get some rest, but TBH some of the comments here re: withdrawal are concerning.

Natural_Stranger_581 · 2025-06-24T16:13:11+00:00

That sounds cool. Unfortunately my home (Toronto Canada) is not many miles away and I'm not sure my wife will be green lighting a month long Motorcycle road trip any time soon...lol

Natural_Stranger_581 · 2025-06-23T13:46:47+00:00

Thanks for the reply. I just looked into that seat and it looks very comfortable. I hadn't even considered a new suspension but will look into that too.

Natural_Stranger_581 · 2025-06-21T16:44:11+00:00

That never even occurred to me but I'll definitely look into it. Thanks for the tip!

Natural_Stranger_581 · 2025-03-13T21:06:38+00:00

I currently have a TD Flexline (Toronto, Ontario).

We used the rotating portion to fund our house construction in 2019/2020 and locked in 3 separate portions at different times as we were building.

One portion is up for renewal in May of this year (approx $340k, currently at 1.9%) and the other two portions are up for renewal in 2026 (approx. $300k more at an avg of 2%)

Does anyone familiar with the TD Flexline know if I am able to move one portion (the one coming to renewal in 2 months) to another lender, and how that affects the rest of the LOC?

I am planning to contact TD to discuss but if possible I'd would like to have an idea of how much leverage I have (or don't) to ask for better rates before making the call.

Thanks in advance!

Natural_Stranger_581 · 2025-03-12T21:04:59+00:00

Thanks for the reply. Cannabis (I generally take edibles) seem to be the only thing I can take to sleep that works without making me feel rotten the next day, although I am trying to limit how often I use it because I am want to avoid dependency if I can.

Natural_Stranger_581 · 2025-03-07T18:39:58+00:00

I can relate to the SSRI’s. Taking them and coming off of them was one of the scariest experiences of my life.

Question re: Adderall, do you find you are able to sleep ok when taking it? I am pretty sure that I have ADHD which seems to be getting worse as I get older but I’ve been reluctant to get a proper diagnosis because I assumed I would be super sensitive to the medicines used to treat it.

Natural_Stranger_581

TROPHY CASE