[burritosnob]

I'm rapidly approaching 50 and in the gym 7 days a week 2+ hours a day for heavy lifting and cardio.

Creatine is one of the few supplements that I can say has noticeable immediate difference on or off. Without it, my recoveries take longer and I have to back down workouts to 4-5 days a week.

5mg a day... time doesn't seem to make a difference but I take pre workout. No hair loss or other side effects.

[DidYaWipe]

Is hair loss alleged to be a creatine side-effect?

[Perceval]

Creatine increases levels of DHT in the body: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19741313/

DHT appears to drive hair-loss in genetically-predisposed men: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK278957/

Propecia's mechanism of action to stop/reverse male pattern baldness is to block the conversion of testosterone into DHT: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK513329/

There is not a proven pathway from creatine to hairloss, but if you are genetically predisposed to male pattern baldness then increasing the amount of DHT in your system via creatine supplementation may contribute to further hair loss insofar as DHT drives hair loss for certain men.

[DidYaWipe]

Thanks for the info. Sounds like a contra-indication for me.

[ekanes]

I've experienced this hair loss, and if you read the comments underneath most posts/videos about creatine, you'll find a lot of people chiming in with the same experience. If you don't have male pattern baldness though, seems you're fine.

[DidYaWipe]

Unfortunately, then, I'm not fine.

[oarfish]

It is alleged, but not substantiated.

[oarfish]

I am assuming mg is a typo? 5mg would be a dose you'd almost need lab equipment to correctly measure ^^

[sauwan]

Yeah, recommended daily doses appear to be closer to 5-20g per day.