Wim Hof Method/Lyme Disease Trial

Hoagie - could you give us a summary of what it consists of?

Is it a meditation, breathing exercise?

This seems really interesting. Especially considering some of the feats he has accomplished and scientists studying MRI scans of what happens inside his brain.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/science-explains-how-iceman-resists-extreme-cold-180969134/

Lyme tends to destroy the adrenals and can cause a lot of people (myself included) to be overwhelmed from stresses that previously would have been more minor. It seems this technique almost seems like "stress desentization" (I think I just made that term up based on the allergy desentization technique) and might help our bodies slowly increase our stress tolerance.

Sounds similar to the DNR system ? My LLND and I discussed it a couple of years ago.

https://retrainingthebrain.com

I sometimes wonder if my nervous system is on this continual loop and I need something to break it...

Mind is a powerful gift . One of my fave as kid growing up near a glacier was the besson flic big blue about the diver who could slow his heart rate and thus his o2 consumption... hoagie one thing that helped me was using tuning forks on governing vessel meridian during stinging let me go of icing ...the other thing we used to do is get in the dry sauna as hot as could be then dive into the 6ft snow drifts. Quenching like ...in the ir sauna i was able to stand a fun niacin flush thru pranic breathing. Grounding , qi gong ,and others like tapping have helped me emensly.

For years, I've read about the benefits of cold/contrast showers, but haven't been able (willing) to train myself to endure them. I can't even imagine taking a dip in the ocean in Sweden in the winter! Yikes!

I guess, on some level, doing only what's comfortable probably isn't health-promoting...and, certainly not optimal. If it were, then I would have become healthy by lying on the sofa and lounging in hot baths.

A very inspiring minidoc on Wim Hof...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6xkcsm3dks

Sometimes I think my body has been pushing me to do the cold part of Wim Hof method on it's own for the last year.

I alternated between extreme cold sensitivity (extreme heat tolerance) to extreme heat sensitivity (extreme cold tolerance).

Last winter I was getting horrible migraines combined with extreme heat sensitivity (extreme cold tolerance) & air hunger. I noticed extreme cold seriously helped mitigate the migraines, and the cold air made air hunger feel much better. I found myself able to walk outside with just jeans and a tshirt for over an hour and a half and it felt so good. Migraine went down. And I didn't feel internally cold at all, but weirdly I could touch my skin and notice its freezing but it didn't bother me at all. I was often taking ice cold showers as it helped with this as well.

Now I'm wondering if the exposure to cold is a stress that causes a stress response that made the migraine pain lower.

Weirdly the air hunger / extreme heat sensitivity (extreme cold tolerance) came back within the last few days after being gone for a few months. This time no migraines came with it, but increased brain fog did come with it. And I find myself really feeling totally fine in 10 minute long ice cold showers.

sebreg said...
...I think our modern comfort lifestyles that never challenge the body with extremes somehow chips away at both our mental and physical capacities.

This is a great distillation of the many great things you stated, sebreg!

I even look at this in relation to food, too. Look at the hysteria around lectins, as one example. Despite legumes being consumed by the healthiest and longest-lived populations on the planet, many popular authors and bloggers are suggesting their avoidance, due to "toxins" like lectins. But, I don't think they're considering the hormetic effect of the lectins. That's akin to avoiding bodyweight exercises, because it damages the muscle fibers.

Anyone else tried this? It is definitely very interesting but not sure if it is safe for lyme patients until very far into recovery. I started doing it and had major herx, almost all joints achy the day after a session. since then been very touchy on doing it. Feels great when doing it but dont want to activate immune response so heavily to cause further damage. Curious on other insights. I have looked into some that pushed beyond setbacks and got to a good spot but not sure where they were in their healing process.

I actually tried wim Hof daily with ice baths for about 2 months. Although I love it, I would do it daily if I could, It made me much worse. Like significantly. I do not think that this is good for people with nervous system disorders.

The idea is that by pushing your autonomic nervous system into over drive, it learns tolerance through stress. This is great for healthy people, just not for very sick people. I think this will benefit me 1-2y down the road after I’ve done some healing.

Quite frankly, I’m learning that the exact opposite of Wim Hof is what works best for me. Breathe less. Half inhales, 11 second cycles, long exhales. Very calming for the ANS and metabolic processes.

WH looks to “breathe more” and saturate the blood w oxygen and raise the O/CO2 ratio such that you hyperventilate (you need CO2 and a low O/CO2 ratio to release oxygen). Again, great for healthy people, not so much for sick people. By breathing less throughout the day your oxygen blood saturation levels don’t change (you will always have adequate O), but the O/CO2 levels fall thereby oxygenating the organs and lowering sympathetic stress.

My $.02

Post Edited (dcd2103) : 1/9/2021 10:32:22 AM (GMT-7)

Nice, very interestd on how that goes saraeli! This practitioner sounds like the type of person you need, someone who has worked w/ all types of chronically ill and can make that judgement call.

I actually LOVE that tingly feeling. Like i mentioned, i would do it daily if i could. My frist wim hof session i was covered in sweat and felt like $1m immediately afterward. The cold showers and ice baths make me feel great as well. I got to the point where I could do 5 min in a freezing ice bath and imagine my body heating up, and it wouldnt bother me.

The problem was that as great as i felt in the moment as endorphins were released, my neuropathy exploded. I developed full-body pins and needles too, which was a new symptom for me. Those were actually some of my worst days. I actually think its more nuanced now. Much like a toxic person may not be able to handle X or Y supplement until they've done other things first, my take is that wim hof isnt for some people, and you may only benefit once you have some level of health first.

Post Edited (dcd2103) : 1/9/2021 1:58:33 PM (GMT-7)