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Comment by ekanes | Hacker News Reader

Creatine seems acknowledged as working in the fitness community by both the bro-science and the science-based crowds.

For me, it worked very well, but I noticed I was losing hair in the shower (eep!) and stopped using it. Seems that's a thing for people with male pattern baldness. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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Wonder if these were related or just happened to occur at the same time.

If creatine helps you lift more, which increases testosterone levels, which speeds up balding, then it could be (at least part) causal.

Replying to signal boost this. I too get hair loss from DHT-boosters such as creatine or the herb tribulus terrestris. I should note that I have a higher than average amount of body and facial hair, so likely have naturally elevated DHT levels.

When I stopped taking creatine, I did lose a few reps in all my lifts; it does work.

If you were losing hair, it probably wasn't the creatine causing it: https://www.strongerbyscience.com/creatine-hair-loss/

I'm always harping back to this study: https://biolayne.com/reps/issue-5/creatine-so-effective-all-...

I think a lot of people jump straight to "placebo!" to explain this, but I am growing to think it is more that your body can also prime itself in ways that mimic creatine. That is, that it is akin to how your body will change hormone profiles on just the knowledge that you have an alarm that will wake you up in the morning.

Regardless of the reason, I'm interested in reading more on this.

Years ago I started lifting weights quite a bit. And my hairline started receeding sort of in the corners of my forehead. Stopped lifting and it stopped.

I suspect the testosterone boost from strength training.

I lost my hair at 23 without exercising at all so damned if you do, damned if you don’t I guess.

Curious, why does higher T cause hair loss if T is naturally higher in adolescence where there is less hair loss.

I don’t remember exactly, but it’s not testosterone itself that causes the hair loss, but what your body converts the testosterone into.

And that process can ramp up as you get older depending on your genetics.

So more testosterone, more byproducts, more hair loss.

Testosterone gets converted into DHT, and DHT causes male pattern baldness. Maybe younger males don't convert as much testosterone into DHT as older guys do

DHT also stimulates beard growth, so at least you get a return on investment.

For one, it's also about the hair follicle's sensitivity to circulating androgens. Maybe that changes with age.

I only use it when training hard, otherwise, you might as well flush it. Anecdotally, I feel I can squeeze out a bit more and I am not as fuzzy during the activity. I can't speak too much about how I feel during recovery or muscle growth. I do body weight, boxing, and range of motion and coordination drills with kettle bells and medicine balls.

> I only use it when training hard, otherwise, you might as well flush it

Creatine has benefits for brain function as well, people who weight train are not the only people who benefit from it.

Definitely this. I started for weight training but now keep a baseline 2.5g/day for the mental benefits.

I'm recently hearing about benefits for bone density and even elderly women are taking it now.

Yes definitely helps me feel clear or on my mental game. That was why I mentioned fuzzy. I now think this is why a steak dinner does sort of the same for me mentally when I just have steak with no carbs, veggies, or sweetened drink.

People keep posting studies dating it doesn't cause hair loss. But it absolutely causes hair loss.

I think you can add supps that lower T to DHT conversion. I have just started on this journey.

Taking creatine, RU58841 or CB0301 are even better than supplements.

> RU58841 or CB0301

Are these commercially available for topical use on the head?

> better than supplements

Supplements don't strongly target specific issues, but they work across the board to weakly target dozens of issues, including issues that one doesn't even known one has. As such, it often takes a lot of supplements together to begin to strongly target an issue.

Im losing it without the creatine so why not get the benefits.

Correlation is not causation…

Make sure your fasting glucose and HbA1c are normal, not prediabetic. Avoid eating or drinking anything with added sugar.

Also, avoid any supplement for now that strong raises testosterone and its resulting conversion to dihydrotestosterone. These supplements could include creatine, boron, tribulus, excessive zinc, etc. The workaround is a stack to sufficiently block the conversion of testosterone to dihydrotestosterone.

dude, my endocrine system is fucked. Im diabetic, have only one adrenal gland now, and have the T levels of a 90yro man unless i stick myself once a week.

If you have a few hours to spare, you can search r/FoodNerds for endocrine, read through all linked abstracts in the search results, and affect your lifestyle accordingly. Obviously I don't know your specifics, but the considerations still apply.

I had no idea, thanks. Checking it out now.

Just be sure to cycle your creatine and be aware you need to have more water when you're taking it.

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