Should I stop taking creatine?

[the DRIZZLE]

I've been a long time creatine user, and it definitely helps my performance in the gym and I believe my recovery as well. However, I think it may be contributing to my hair loss. No study has shown that it causes this but there are many anecdotal reports. A recent study showed it increased DTH which gives some credibility to these claims. I also not crazy about the extra water I retain while on it.

 

[Pantlegz]

If you think it's causing an issue I don't see why you wouldn't stop. At least for a while and see if the hair loss stops/slows if so then decide if you want to drop it all together or not. If it doesn't stop the hair loss no need to not take it.

 

[surfsatwerk]

I think you're grasping at straws trying to blame creatine for your hair loss.

 

[the DRIZZLE]

I think you're grasping at straws trying to blame creatine for your hair loss.

Could be. There are enough anecdotal reports to suspect it though IMO.

 

[eits]

increased testosterone = decrease in hair loss

creatine increases testosterone levels.

therefore, it's possible that it could be accurately correlated with anecdotal evidence of hair loss.

 

[clemsyn]

Did read some articles about hair loss. It might be related to creatine. Goodluck.

 

[polarmystery]

increased testosterone = decrease in hair loss

creatine increases testosterone levels.

therefore, it's possible that it could be accurately correlated with anecdotal evidence of hair loss.

I thought increase in testosterone increased hair loss?

 

[SociallyChallenged]

I thought increase in testosterone increased hair loss?

No, testosterone doesn't increase hair loss. The OP is talking about DHT - dihydrotestosterone. Its created in the gonads and is responsible for secondary male characteristics (facial hair, body hair, etc). OP, can you link to the study that shows creatine supplementation increases DHT levels?

If you think it may be contributing, stop taking it. The slight increase in gains you'll have while on it aren't worth the loss in self confidence that may come as a result.

 

[MJinZ]

Don't use it at all.

It's harder to get where you are without supplements but much easier to keep it that way for life.

 

[eits]

I thought increase in testosterone increased hair loss?

Whoops, yeah sorry. Typo.

It increases body hair, but decreases head hair.

 

[the DRIZZLE]

No, testosterone doesn't increase hair loss. The OP is talking about DHT - dihydrotestosterone. Its created in the gonads and is responsible for secondary male characteristics (facial hair, body hair, etc). OP, can you link to the study that shows creatine supplementation increases DHT levels?

If you think it may be contributing, stop taking it. The slight increase in gains you'll have while on it aren't worth the loss in self confidence that may come as a result.

You need a subscription to see it, but someone posted the abstract on another forum.

1: Clin J Sport Med. 2009 Sep;19(5):399-404.


Three weeks of creatine monohydrate supplementation affects dihydrotestosterone to testosterone ratio in college-aged rugby players.

van der Merwe J, Brooks NE, Myburgh KH.

Department of Physiological Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa.

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.

PMID: 19741313 [PubMed - in process]

 

[the DRIZZLE]

If really wanted to be sure I could get my test and dht checked now, then stop using it for a few months and get it them checked again. That just seems excessive though and I don't even know if I could find a doc to cooperate with that. I decided I'm just gonna stop taking it for now.

 

[polarmystery]

No, testosterone doesn't increase hair loss. The OP is talking about DHT - dihydrotestosterone. Its created in the gonads and is responsible for secondary male characteristics (facial hair, body hair, etc). OP, can you link to the study that shows creatine supplementation increases DHT levels?

If you think it may be contributing, stop taking it. The slight increase in gains you'll have while on it aren't worth the loss in self confidence that may come as a result.

I was referring to head hair, not body hair as eits pointed out

Whoops, yeah sorry. Typo.

It increases body hair, but decreases head hair.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Don't use it at all.

It's harder to get where you are without supplements but much easier to keep it that way for life.

Not true. Gains achieved with creatine are maintained to a certain degree. Yes, if you stop, you might be able to do one less rep of an exercise, but the strength gains you made previous due to the increased volume stays with you as long as you continue to exercise. If someone supplementing creatine and someone who doesn't supplement got injured, they would both return to their baseline levels so your point is relatively moot.

 

[Carlitos714]

you are suppose to take breaks with creatine. i would take it one month on one month off. then i just stopped taking it

 

[surfsatwerk]

you are suppose to take breaks with creatine. i would take it one month on one month off. then i just stopped taking it

Says who? Sounds like broscience to me.

 

[Murloc]

I think that you shouldn't take it continuosly for long periods.

Anyway that stuff is useless.

 

[surfsatwerk]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creatine

"
Long-term administration of large quantities of creatine is reported to increase the production of formaldehyde, which has the potential to cause serious unwanted side-effects. However, this risk is largely theoretical because urinary excretion of formaldehyde, even under heavy creatine supplementation, does not exceed normal limits.[12]
Extensive research over the last decade has shown that oral creatine supplementation at a rate of 5 to 20 grams per day appears to be very safe and largely devoid of adverse side-effects [13] while at the same time, effectively improving the physiological response to resistance exercise, increasing the maximal force production of muscles in both men and women.[14][15]"




I'm not a fan of wiki but at least they can site sources other than "some guy at the gym who was hyyyyuuuugge told me to cycle it.

 

[alkemyst]

I think that you shouldn't take it continuosly for long periods.

Anyway that stuff is useless.

the fuck wat?

Anyhow...OP anything can affect someone differently than normal...you know yourself better than anyone. If you think you are losing your hair over it, stop and see if anything changes.

 

[MJinZ]

Not true. Gains achieved with creatine are maintained to a certain degree. Yes, if you stop, you might be able to do one less rep of an exercise, but the strength gains you made previous due to the increased volume stays with you as long as you continue to exercise. If someone supplementing creatine and someone who doesn't supplement got injured, they would both return to their baseline levels so your point is relatively moot.

Moot? The point is that any supplementation will accelerate gains.

If you get to a point you like without any supplementation, then your body is there naturally and you will maintain it without much effort.

Get massive with tons of supplementation, find that inevitably you will need to drop all of those supplements because it is affecting your organs or for whatever reason (aging, less time available for the gym, etc), and you'll find that keeping all of the gains are either going to be impossible or require much more out of you (the part that was relying on the supplements).

Of course, you will keep most of it if you keep your workouts strong but the expectation should be tailored so you don't think that supplements are a free ride.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Moot? The point is that any supplementation will accelerate gains.

If you get to a point you like without any supplementation, then your body is there naturally and you will maintain it without much effort.

Get massive with tons of supplementation, find that inevitably you will need to drop all of those supplements because it is affecting your organs or for whatever reason (aging, less time available for the gym, etc), and you'll find that keeping all of the gains are either going to be impossible or require much more out of you (the part that was relying on the supplements).

Of course, you will keep most of it if you keep your workouts strong but the expectation should be tailored so you don't think that supplements are a free ride.

Who said using creatine alone qualified as "tons of supplementation?" It allows people to get stronger, faster. If you get off of it, you'll still be significantly stronger than you would be if you didn't use it at all. I'm not pro-supplements, but when supplements actually work and accelerate maintainable gains, then I support them. There is no benefit to "going natural' when it comes to creatine. And I call bull on maintaining gains without supplementation as requiring little effort. It requires the same amount of effort to maintain gains as it does after supplementing creatine.

 

[MJinZ]

Who said using creatine alone qualified as "tons of supplementation?" It allows people to get stronger, faster. If you get off of it, you'll still be significantly stronger than you would be if you didn't use it at all. I'm not pro-supplements, but when supplements actually work and accelerate maintainable gains, then I support them. There is no benefit to "going natural' when it comes to creatine. And I call bull on maintaining gains without supplementation as requiring little effort. It requires the same amount of effort to maintain gains as it does after supplementing creatine.

No way, that is simply not logical.

If maintaining gains require X amount of effort, and Creatine helps Y amount of effort, subtracting Y from X is an amount smaller than X.

Creatine is natural and available in many foods, so I don't have a problem with the actual supplement. My comment was about supplements in general, and it applies across the board to different degrees. If you're just taking Creatine, then it's not going to make that much difference in your lifts anyway, like some of the other crazy stuff people kill their bodies taking.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

No way, that is simply not logical.

If maintaining gains require X amount of effort, and Creatine helps Y amount of effort, subtracting Y from X is an amount smaller than X.

Creatine is natural and available in many foods, so I don't have a problem with the actual supplement. My comment was about supplements in general, and it applies across the board to different degrees. If you're just taking Creatine, then it's not going to make that much difference in your lifts anyway, like some of the other crazy stuff people kill their bodies taking.

Effort? What? Creatine doesn't add anything to training besides increased cell volume and ability to increase lifting volume. Lifting the extra 1-2 reps in a set allows for greater stress on the musculature. If you get off creatine, you will not be able to lift a specific weight for the same amount of reps. However, you will retain much of the strength gained through the greater loading you achieved on the muscles. The body retains the strength based on the loading, not based on the creatine levels in your cells.

And have you ever read research on creatine supplementation? Some people who have lower creatine-phosphate stores than others have great improvements on their lifts over 10 weeks compared to controls. Do you think people would spend the money on creatine if it had menial gains? I guess I shouldn't ask that since supplement whores love to buy crap that has no research basis anyhow.