Creatine & Finasteride

[londonhairlossvictim]

16 minutes ago, Craig2412 said:

Yeah I was impressed with it the couple of months I used it for. Gave me a slight edge training and made me look slightly bulkier too. But it’s not a huge deal as you say, hair is much more important and not worth the risk. It’s a shame for such a popular supplement there’s not really any solid research regarding Creatine and hair loss. 

Strange my clinic told me there is nothing wrong with creatine and no proven effects on the hair so i carried on using it for now.

[Craig2412]

1 hour ago, londonhairlossvictim said:

Strange my clinic told me there is nothing wrong with creatine and no proven effects on the hair so i carried on using it for now.

Interesting as my clinic told me the same thing, in fact they said it’s good to take Creatine. 
I see this statistic from a small study which was conducted in 2009 I think and it scared me off big time with levels of DHT increasing by 56% after 7 days (loading phase) 
On maintenance phase/dose DHT levels increase by 22%.

I’m no expert and maybe where I take Finasteride daily would help combat this but to me there’s an element of risk in the long run where it’s increasing your DHT levels. Someone can correct me if I’m wrong.

Stat below:

[mtb]

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7871530/

 

I found this journal article helpful. Hopefully it helps others. It cites 13 studies done looking at the affects of creatine on testosterone, free testosterone, and DHT. Only one of the 13 studies shows a potential impact on DHT from creatine, if I'm understanding correctly.

[Craig2412]

On 11/12/2021 at 6:25 PM, mtb said:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7871530/

 

I found this journal article helpful. Hopefully it helps others. It cites 13 studies done looking at the affects of creatine on testosterone, free testosterone, and DHT. Only one of the 13 studies shows a potential impact on DHT from creatine, if I'm understanding correctly.

Very interesting, from this article it looks as if it’s safe to supplement with Creatine.

[londonhairlossvictim]

I been using since after my FUE - since i went straight back into the gym...I'm now just over 2 months, you can see my progress on my thread. So far no issues with using creatine in my pre workout stack

[Gokuhairline]

7 hours ago, londonhairlossvictim said:

I been using since after my FUE - since i went straight back into the gym...I'm now just over 2 months, you can see my progress on my thread. So far no issues with using creatine in my pre workout stack

same here....i would even say its helping....might be the combination of whey protein as well....but i really think the study is a bit biased...there is no reason to be doing a loading phase unless you are specifically trying to put on mass by certain date or compete....normal 5mg 2-3x week is completely fine and should have no effect...

[PsSAU]

On 8/5/2021 at 6:48 AM, Melvin- Moderator said:

I’ve sent out a request to Dr. Charles, he’s a surgeon who’s into lifting himself, he’s been working with bodybuilders and athletes. Should hear back next week stay tuned.

Hi Melvin, Just curious if you managed to get a response from dr. Charles .

[PsSAU]

Also would like to know if it is safe to take pre-workout supplements containing L-arginine and citruline after 2-3 weeks for HT . As they tend to increase the blood flow will it hinder the healing process ?

[Gatsby]

Personally I wouldn't worry about taking creatine (or even whey powder for that matter) for body building. The only way to directly increase your own testosterone endogenously is by resistance weight training (in one form or another). So that alone will increase testosterone levels and it would be insane to stop weight resistance training (which has so many health benefits beyond aesthetics) for fear of MPB. If you can tolerate a 5ari then all the better. I've even thought of going back to free weight resistance training since my surgery. All the best!

[PsSAU]

5 minutes ago, Gatsby said:

Personally I wouldn't worry about taking creatine (or even whey powder for that matter) for body building. The only way to directly increase your own testosterone endogenously is by resistance weight training (in one form or another). So that alone will increase testosterone levels and it would be insane to stop weight resistance training (which has so many health benefits beyond aesthetics) for fear of MPB. If you can tolerate a 5ari then all the better. I've even thought of going back to free weight resistance training since my surgery. All the best!

thanks @Gatsby .  even I do heavy workout,  and rely on  protein supplement to complete the protein requirement as I am not that of meat eater.  so my main intension of taking protein is to complete my protein need (as per my macro breakdown) , and creatine for that boost during workout session and extra pump.  I will stop taking creatine if it is going to affect the HT (hence was looking for answer) .  do you also reckon stoping protein (just weigh protein) powder !                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

 also since our last discussion I have started taking fin 1 mg alternate day. I hope that will keep 5ari in check to compensate the test boost by resistance training. 

[Gatsby]

13 minutes ago, PsSAU said:

thanks @Gatsby .  even I do heavy workout,  and rely on  protein supplement to complete the protein requirement as I am not that of meat eater.  so my main intension of taking protein is to complete my protein need (as per my macro breakdown) , and creatine for that boost during workout session and extra pump.  I will stop taking creatine if it is going to affect the HT (hence was looking for answer) .  do you also reckon stoping protein (just weigh protein) powder !                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

 also since our last discussion I have started taking fin 1 mg alternate day. I hope that will keep 5ari in check to compensate the test boost by resistance training. 

I'm also on finasteride 1mg every other day and so far no side effects after getting side effects taking 1mg every day. It's only my opinion but I believe that it will go a long way to blocking DHT. Personally I think resistance training has incredible benefits to mental health, bone density, sleep patterns and the list just keeps going on with plenty of clinical data to support this. I'm now also taking a good multi vitamin and another vitamin supplement high in biotin and zinc for my hair. I think at the end of your day your health is your wealth. In the past three months I've had one friend commit suicide and two work colleague's (one an incredibly close friend) die from pancreatic cancer. As you get older one's mortality encroaches upon you more and more. I work very hard and long hours as I wish to retire early in life but my values on my work ethic are really starting to change. There's not much point in spending the hours I do at work for a future that may not exist. I've really enjoyed this thread (as I did my recent hair transplant journey) as I am reassessing my goals and values and I really want to get back to training. apologies for going off topic but I think the only danger that you need to look out for is not increased DHT levels but decreased overall health and life! All the best!

[rsb]

Hi @Melvin- Moderator , any reply from Dr. Charles ???

[webathon]

On 10/11/2022 at 8:12 AM, rsb said:

Hi @Melvin- Moderator , any reply from Dr. Charles ???

@Melvin- Moderator you never updated here