Creatine....for what it's worth

[Gram]

I've read a lot of back and forth about creatine and hair loss. I wasn't aware of its association with hair loss until about 3 months ago. I had been off and on creatine, mostly on, over the past 3 years and have noticed a good amount of thinning at my hairline after making it into my mid 30's with a pretty good head of hair. In hindsight, the sheds would greatly increase during loading periods where creatine intake was higher than normal. Since discontinuing it 3 months ago I am only finding 10-20 hairs per day when I had been finding 3-5 times that. While the studies are limited, I'm convinced the stuff is toxic for your hair. Just wanted to pay it forward in case anyone is thinning on creatine and at a loss for a potential explanation.

[Swooping]

Yeah there is a study done on this;

 

Objective: This study investigated resting concentrations of selected androgens after 3 weeks of creatine supplementation in male rugby players. It was hypothesized that the ratio of dihydrotestosterone (DHT, a biologically more active androgen) to testosterone (T) would change with creatine supplementation.

 

Design: Double-blind placebo-controlled crossover study with a 6-week washout period.

 

Setting: Rugby Institute in South Africa.

 

Participants: College-aged rugby players (n = 20) volunteered for the study, which took place during the competitive season.

 

Interventions: Subjects loaded with creatine (25 g/day creatine with 25 g/day glucose) or placebo (50 g/day glucose) for 7 days followed by 14 days of maintenance (5 g/day creatine with 25 g/day glucose or 30 g/day glucose placebo).

 

Main Outcome Measures: Serum T and DHT were measured and ratio calculated at baseline and after 7 days and 21 days of creatine supplementation (or placebo). Body composition measurements were taken at each time point.

 

Results: After 7 days of creatine loading, or a further 14 days of creatine maintenance dose, serum T levels did not change. However, levels of DHT increased by 56% after 7 days of creatine loading and remained 40% above baseline after 14 days maintenance (P < 0.001). The ratio of DHT:T also increased by 36% after 7 days creatine supplementation and remained elevated by 22% after the maintenance dose (P < 0.01).

Conclusions: Creatine supplementation may, in part, act through an increased rate of conversion of T to DHT. Further investigation is warranted as a result of the high frequency of individuals using creatine supplementation and the long-term safety of alterations in circulating androgen composition.

 

Statement of Clinical Relevance: Although creatine is a widely used ergogenic aid, the mechanisms of action are incompletely understood, particularly in relation to dihydrotestosterone, and therefore the long-term clinical safety cannot be guaranteed.

 

56% DHT increase, I never understood this though. Serum testosterone didn't change yet DHT did. DHT is made from testosterone. Approximately 5% of total testosterone undergoes 5 alpha reductase to DHT.

 

As Creatine did not enhance testosterone levels that means that it should have affinity to 5 alpha reductase and act as an agonist of this enzyme? What else logical conclusion could there be bound?

 

I so hate this, because I actually want to use creatine as it is a pretty nice supplement but am kinda scared. Especially because I heard many people like Gram experience increased shedding and feel that creatine is doing harm to their hair.

[Gram]

Swoop,

I read the same study. Not only does it seem limited, but the test group is taking a serious amount of creatine at the time. I wonder if one were to forego the loading phase would creatine be effective and then would dht levels not spike? Unfortunately there isn't money to be made by anyone pursuing such a study so we'll probably never find out. All I know is it hit me pretty hard and that by stopping I have once again stabilized.

[Swooping]

Swoop,

I read the same study. Not only does it seem limited, but the test group is taking a serious amount of creatine at the time. I wonder if one were to forego the loading phase would creatine be effective and then would dht levels not spike? Unfortunately there isn't money to be made by anyone pursuing such a study so we'll probably never find out. All I know is it hit me pretty hard and that by stopping I have once again stabilized.

 

Yeah I agree that the study is skewed. The no testosterone increase but only DHT increase is really baffling too for me. Anyway I won't touch it then not really worth exploring if it can damage my hair due to dht increase.

 

Sucks though.. I used it once for like 3-6 months when I was much younger and really liked it. On that note did you feel any libido increase or strength increase while being on creatine?

[Gram]

Sucks though.. I used it once for like 3-6 months when I was much younger and really liked it. On that note did you feel any libido increase or strength increase while being on creatine?

 

 

Yes, all of the of the above, and my muscle tone was off the charts. The stuff is fantastic but I'm off it for life sadly