32 male / No family male pattern baldness history || Pre-workout / Creatine-based hair shedding/loss

[hairforumuser83]

New to this forum - curious if anyone has experience with hair loss/shedding due to pre-workout/creatine usage. I'm a fairly athletic, young (32) man and have had thick, healthy hair my entire life. As of 2 months ago I started on a new type of pre-workout (NO Bull XT) + GNC's Creatine XXX. Those 2 combined supplements (around 6.5-7gs of creatine in total per day), I believe, caused my hair loss/shedding. Prior to taking them I never saw any hair in the shower... certainly none came out in my hand when I ran my fingers through it. Now the texture of my hair just feels different... weaker. When I shower I lose around 20 strands of hair per day. I can, for the first time in my life, see my scalp when I look at myself in the mirror straight on. Also, when looking at my crown using my cellphone's selfie mode, I can see loss. The loss is extremely aggressive and there is no hair loss in my family except for my younger brother (though we have different mothers). So, really, I have no idea what to do except for my current regimen of Viviscal and MSM - I'm going on 5,000 mcg's of Biotin starting tomorrow. Any thoughts or similar experiences? Appreciate it guys.

 

[shookwun]

New to this forum - curious if anyone has experience with hair loss/shedding due to pre-workout/creatine usage. I'm a fairly athletic, young (32) man and have had thick, healthy hair my entire life. As of 2 months ago I started on a new type of pre-workout (NO Bull XT) + GNC's Creatine XXX. Those 2 combined supplements (around 6.5-7gs of creatine in total per day), I believe, caused my hair loss/shedding. Prior to taking them I never saw any hair in the shower... certainly none came out in my hand when I ran my fingers through it. Now the texture of my hair just feels different... weaker. When I shower I lose around 20 strands of hair per day. I can, for the first time in my life, see my scalp when I look at myself in the mirror straight on. Also, when looking at my crown using my cellphone's selfie mode, I can see loss. The loss is extremely aggressive and there is no hair loss in my family except for my younger brother (though we have different mothers). So, really, I have no idea what to do except for my current regimen of Viviscal and MSM - I'm going on 5,000 mcg's of Biotin starting tomorrow. Any thoughts or similar experiences? Appreciate it guys.

 

[obm]

Im a fellow bodybuilder myself. Ive used all the supplements you have described aswell as (cough cough) MANY others. If there is one thing I know most about hairloss it is this specific area of hairloss.

There is some data that states creatine increases DHT levels and thus may accelerate hairloss if you are gentically prone. I never noticed any substantial loss and to be honest I find creatine to be a waste of money. If creatine alone was causing your hairloss you would also lose hair from eating large amounts of fish, beef and chicken because they to contain creatine. Even your own body produces creatine naturally. Im not sold on the theory of creatine causing hairloss. Im not sold on creatine period. As for the pre workout, As long as it isnt spiked with some sort of androgen or prohormone type ingredients it also should not cause hairloss. Take a look at the ingredients and do some research. Drop the creatine for now and see if things stabalize.

There is a big difference between hormonal shedding and male pattern baldness. The entire head can shed many many hairs a day. Some times hair can appear quite thin... other times quite thick and full. Some times this cycle of shedding can happen in a matter of days even weeks. There is whats called the "Hair pull test". If you pinch a small tuft of hair in a NON male pattern baldness sensitive zone of the scalp (side of head, nape of neck) and gently pull you can determine if it is in fact your whole head shedding or just the male pattern baldness zones. If hair consistantly comes out from male pattern baldness zones but remains strongly rooted in the permenent zones you can speculate that it may infact be male pattern baldness. If hair comes out equally all over the scalp you may be experiencing some hormonal shedding which will stabalize and return to normal in time. You need to see a derm to be certain though.

Honestly though man, I go through shedding phases often. If every time that I shed hair was actually male pattern baldness I would have been bald 10 times over. If you arent seeing clear recession or a distinctive balding pattern I wouldent be concerned until you go to your doctor.

 

[hairforumuser83]

Im a fellow bodybuilder myself. Ive used all the supplements you have described aswell as (cough cough) MANY others. If there is one thing I know most about hairloss it is this specific area of hairloss.

There is some data that states creatine increases DHT levels and thus may accelerate hairloss if you are gentically prone. I never noticed any substantial loss and to be honest I find creatine to be a waste of money. If creatine alone was causing your hairloss you would also lose hair from eating large amounts of fish, beef and chicken because they to contain creatine. Even your own body produces creatine naturally. Im not sold on the theory of creatine causing hairloss. Im not sold on creatine period. As for the pre workout, As long as it isnt spiked with some sort of androgen or prohormone type ingredients it also should not cause hairloss. Take a look at the ingredients and do some research. Drop the creatine for now and see if things stabalize.

There is a big difference between hormonal shedding and male pattern baldness. The entire head can shed many many hairs a day. Some times hair can appear quite thin... other times quite thick and full. Some times this cycle of shedding can happen in a matter of days even weeks. There is whats called the "Hair pull test". If you pinch a small tuft of hair in a NON male pattern baldness sensitive zone of the scalp (side of head, nape of neck) and gently pull you can determine if it is in fact your whole head shedding or just the male pattern baldness zones. If hair consistantly comes out from male pattern baldness zones but remains strongly rooted in the permenent zones you can speculate that it may infact be male pattern baldness. If hair comes out equally all over the scalp you may be experiencing some hormonal shedding which will stabalize and return to normal in time. You need to see a derm to be certain though.

Honestly though man, I go through shedding phases often. If every time that I shed hair was actually male pattern baldness I would have been bald 10 times over. If you arent seeing clear recession or a distinctive balding pattern I wouldent be concerned until you go to your doctor.

Hey man-

Thanks for your reply (I really appreciate it). I did your pull test today and, honestly, it's only the male pattern baldness zones - the hairs on the side and back and near my neck won't budge. The crazy thing is before taking this particular pre-workout and creatine I never experienced any hairless whatsoever. It was sudden and now aggressive. So should I assume I'm (the hair is) a goner?