Creatine and Hair Loss in 18 Year Old

My son is 18 and was taking creatine on and off for 2 years. He is heavy into football and was weightlifting in preseason. LAst spring we noticed he was losing his hair. HE stopped the creatine in May.

We have been to his pediatrician in July and she thinks it will grow back. However itis now late Sept. and he is still losing some hair. I brought him to a dermatologist and he said use Rogaine and propecia. They are too expensive, plus the rogaine is not a routine I think he will use ona regular basis.

My question is this…Have you heard much about creatine and weight lifting in regards to hair loss? We are a pretty hairy family, but his Dad has a receding hairline.

Thanks

Hair loss has been reported with use of creatine as one of the rare side effects. There is not enough sophisticated research on its rate of occurrence, but every now and then I see patients on creatine with an increased rate of hair loss (see Creatine and Hair Loss).

I recommend starting any patient with proven male pattern hair loss on just one medication and follow it for at least 6 months before adding another one. We usually perform microscopic evaluation of the scalp to check for miniaturization of hair before starting any of these medications. After 6 to 8 months, patients need to be evaluated with another miniaturization study to determine if another medication should be added if the first one has not been helping to decrease the level of miniaturized hair.

Most of the patients don’t need to be on two medications (minoxidil and Propecia), especially if they are not willing to take multiple medications for the rest of their lives. While using both can sometimes be quite helpful, stopping either medication will result in the loss of any benefits you received from that stopped medication. It is a big commitment to stick to both, particularly if you get results from just the one.