Blog #19: The Wim Hof Method and migraine. An update.

It’s been just over a month since my last blog post about the Wim Hof Method and migraine. Check out the blog here if you haven’t read it as this update will make a lot more sense if you do.

When I hit publish on that blog post, my husband Nick and I had completed 3 days of Wim Hof Method breathing exercises and 3 ice baths (though I had been doing a variation of the breathing exercises since January).

Since then, we’ve completed the final 2 ice baths of the first round of 5 days of 5-minute ice baths, and then 1 ice bath each week for 3 weeks. We then started another round of 5 days of 5-minute ice baths. We’ve also been doing 5 rounds of the breathing exercises most mornings, followed by 10 minutes of meditation (Waking Up with Sam Harris).

The breathing exercises have been great and I love how Wim Hof describes them – getting high on your own supply. I recommended a couple of books to read in this blog post if you’re interested in the physiological effects of hyperventilation breathing and there’s a tonne of information on the web about the positive impact hyperventilation, diaphragmatic and nasal breathing can have on our health. The breathing exercises and meditation have been a great way to start the morning, although it has meant setting the alarm earlier than usual, which I’m sometimes not a fan of. But needs must, I suppose.

Now about those ice baths.

During the second round of 5 days in a row of 5-minute ice baths, I completed day 3 and decided I needed to take a break. The previous couple of weeks I had entered into the ice bath already with the tell-tale signs of another impending migraine attack. Of course, this wasn’t unusual, as most days I have a dull ache behind my right eye, and given the right circumstances (of which there are many!) it develops into a migraine attack. But the following day after a couple of the weekly ice baths my head was really sore and I had to take a triptan to ease the migraine pain.

But even though I’d had a migraine attack after a couple of the weekly ice baths I wasn’t ready to give up on them after only a few weeks.

So, Nick and I began another 5 days of 5 minutes in the ice, with the temperature usually around 4 or 5 degrees Celsius. The day after the 2nd ice bath I woke with another migraine attack that I treated with a couple of triptans. I convinced myself to give it one more go that night and did a 3rd ice bath. The next day I woke with a terrible migraine attack that took a few days to recover from.

To say I’m disappointed about the ice baths is an understatement. However, I suspect many of you reading this who have migraine are breathing a sigh of relief that you don’t have to immediately go out and jump in the ice! Do you think if I said I was migraine free you’d be up for trying (food for thought eh!)?

I’ve continued with the daily cold showers at the end of a hot shower. Not all of the time, but most days. My understanding is there’s still a lot of value to this short immersion in cold water each day, even without getting into the ice.

To be fair, in the Wim Hof Method book, it does urge people with migraine to be cautious about taking ice baths. And like everything my fellow migraine tribe people try to gain more control over our migraine attacks, different treatments work for different people. I’m so glad I gave the ice baths a go. A couple of people did contact with me to say they thought the ice might cause a migraine attack, but I needed to try for myself.

So, what’s my plan now?

I’ll continue with the Wim Hof Method breathing exercises daily. I’ll endeavour to continue with daily cold showers, though if I’m honest I’m worried about how successful I’ll be in the middle of winter. Already the cold tap water is colder than a month ago. Any motivational tips greatly appreciated.

And the ice baths. I’m going to take a break for a little while. It’s funny, I was actually starting to enjoy them. The first 30 seconds or so are a bit of a shock to the body, but that’s why the breath work I learnt at the Wim Hof workshop is so important. It took me about 20–30 seconds each time to begin to breathe normally, and after that initial shock of cold it was definitely more mind over matter to stay in for 5 minutes.

My husband Nick, who fortunately doesn’t have migraine, has enjoyed how he feels after the ice baths. Coming out of the ice does feel invigorating, but sadly I don’t seem to have the right head for it. But I’m 100% positive I’m going to find the right combination of treatment options to minimise my migraine attacks, so when I do, I hope to return to the ice baths for the other benefits.

In the 11 ice baths I did, I learnt I could endure the cold more than I thought I could. It was also a great mental challenge, and one I kicked ass in. I actually stayed in for 6 minutes during 1 ice bath – the coldest ice bath I had at around 1 degree Celsius. Just saying.

While the ice baths may not have been a success for me at this time, I’m still a fan of the Wim Hof Method. I can’t recommend either way if you give the method a go, but I do encourage you to learn about the power of breathing if you haven’t already.

So at least I’ve ticked trying ice baths off my treatment list. They’re on pause for a while, but not struck off the list forever hopefully. And I’ve got another couple of treatment options I’m about to try that I look forward to sharing with you soon. There are always more options to try, which is what fuels my optimism for a better head one day soon (fingers crossed!).

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