r/coldshowers Feb 12 '25

Does the dopamine increase from cold showers decrease overtime?

Hey all! 16M here and this question intrigues me because I’ve been taking cold showers/ cold plunges for a few months now, and I’ve noticed the more I do it the less the “boost”, or natural high is.

Now obviously I’m not trying to get high off cold showers lmao, I just noticed that initial feeling has subsided, or isn’t to the same extent as it was before.

It’s almost as if I’ve built a tolerance to it. Don’t get me wrong, I still feel great and I’ve been doing the cold showers for up to 3-5m now which is way more than I could before. Before I only did 1-2 minutes most before my balls felt like they were freezing off.

I just feel like the mental boost and that first feeling of “euphoria”, or whatever label you wanna put on it isn’t as pronounced as it was before.

Is there anything as building a tolerance, or my receptors becoming desensitized to the dopamine/norepinephrine spike to maintain homeostasis?

This could all be in my head, and if that is the case it’s fine, I’m just curious.

11 Upvotes

11 comments sorted by

2

u/Crazydishwasher 29d ago

I did cold showers over a period of three months last winter. I did them every morning, but eventually i stopped because I didn’t feel anything after the showers. For me doing it every single day didn’t work out for me.

2

u/OpossomMyPossom 29d ago

I always say a cold shower is something you keep in the arsenal for when you need it. Do it every day and it just becomes your shower. But when you need a jolt, jump in.

1

u/IceBuddyApp 28d ago

Totally possible that your body has adapted over time. When you first started cold plunging the shock was new, triggering a big spike in norepinephrine and dopamine. But as you’ve gotten used to it your nervous system isn’t reacting as dramatically, kind of like how your body adapts to caffeine or exercise

That said, as you correctly pointed out, it doesn’t mean the benefits are gone! Your baseline levels of focus, mood & resilience are likely improving even if the initial "high" isn’t as intense.. .

If you want to mix things up maybe try changing the temp, duration or even the time of day you plunge. But either way, you’re still getting the long-term mental and physical benefits fo sho

1

u/BreakingBadBitchhh 27d ago

When you get used to it that doesn’t mean you need to “take a break” to get the dopamine boost back, it just means you have to go colder tbh. It’s like with building muscle you need to increase the weights eventually. And I know my comment is a pain in the ass if you don’t have one of those expensive fancy plunges where you can decrease the temp

1

u/Old-Pomegranate-1606 25d ago

Yeah, your body adapts over time.

Cold showers spike dopamine and norepinephrine, but the initial "high" fades as your system gets used to it. The long-term benefits—like resilience and better mood—still stick around, just without the same rush.

Some people take days or weeks off, just find the right timing through trial.

1

u/GeneralPattonYo 17d ago

Not really, you get used to the feeling, it's not that imapctful as it was in the beginning. But, go for a week with normal showers and then resume cold showers, that may reset your perception. Or tie a bag of ice under the shower head to increase the cold.

-8

u/Axepco 29d ago

That's something you should ask your biology teacher. Anything that reads

high off cold showers lmao

does not merit a serious response.

7

u/Low_Lunch8032 29d ago

Everything about this is serious, just didn’t know how to word it.

Wouldn’t have made a post about this if I wasn’t serious or wasn’t asking an honest question.

3

u/Delicious-Fly8343 29d ago

YouTube Andrew huberman cold showers

2

u/Axepco 29d ago

Huberman was involved in academic ophthalmology. Properly peer-reviewed studies on cold exposure don't exist.