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Hey Czor and Sally
Sorry so long responding
It’s been a long week with work, grandkids, and church.
To answer your question about my journey Czor….
I’ll try to make this short and to the point (more details if you need later)
Looking back it is easier now to understand what happened to me though it may have happened anyway, I think I caused it with lack of education on my part.
I was taking Zoloft for over 20 years
Not for anxiety or depression, it was just very helpful for keeping my focus and setting things aside that would normally aggravate me. Being a new Christain back then it seemed a really easy way to get rid of some bad habits.
Fast forward 20 years and I realized all Zoloft really does is cover up the problem and you have to keep taking more and more. Sooner or later you have to swap ssris (hit or miss style) or face your struggles head on. I thought I was much more mature now and with the Lord’s help I could handle my temper much better.
Little did I know that what I thought for years was a very good safe drug requires a very very high price to get off of it.
At this point let me say please please please don’t take any ssri or benzodiazepines. They will not help you. They will only delay or add to your problem. You don’t need them. Stick with Martin. And read that book by Dr Claire Weeks
“Hope and help for your nerves “
Disclaimer: I’m no doctor of course, this is just my personal experience.
Well back to my story…
Being the ignorant man that I am, I quit Zoloft cold turkey. The only withdrawals I had for a month were dizziness. After a while this passed and all seemed to be well. If only I had read or been warned by my dr….
Over the next 6 mo I knew something wasn’t quite right but the last thing I wanted was back on Z again. In Dec 22 I had been very sick with chest cold and taking lots of otc meds to get through it. One night I woke very early and couldn’t sleep any longer that night. Of course I thought it was the cold meds. Then it happened a 2nd 3rd 4th night. By then I’m down to 1 hr sleep a night and losing my mind cuz I have no idea what is happening to me.
Forced myself to work everyday not knowing what else cuz I certainly couldn’t sleep and was a nervous wreck. Then I truly found out what anxiety was.
Finally got a drs appt and was told I had to get back on ssri and here’s some benzos to help you sleep.
Bad advice. I’m am absolutely shocked by the ignorance of the medical industry, both the GPs and Psychologists side.
I took Benzos for 1 mo only. Side effects made it worse because it’s not real sleep and then you’re a zombie all day and then you have to go through withdrawals to get off that as well. So, after all that and going to Psych NP and being told I just need more ssri and having every test known run, the dr says “well it must be all anxiety related, that’s some bad anxiety you have. Hope you get better”
Thankfully the Lord did not leave me there without hope. The whole time all this is going on I’m researching like crazy and I find Martin…..
I’m watching and listening and trying everything Martin says before I ever joined his program.
Of course I was on my knees constantly begging to be saved from this but as you know, the Lord works in His own time in His own way through all of our trials in this life.
Slowly but surely I began to see a glimmer of hope with the sleep restriction. The same day I had that last conversation with my dr I went home and hired Martin for full access by email. In my darkest hr God sent me to the right place for help
As I said before, Martin teaches the right thing at the right time to help us understand what’s happening and more importantly accept it then move past it.
It is not a a straight up process, it’s gradual.
It’s like you have to let your mind know that you’re serious and you will not fear this. This can only be accomplished with time, patience, perseverance, and faith with no days off. Let your feet hit the floor every morning close to the same time and face every day with a willingness. Keep you focus on God and all the blessings He has already given us. You will make it through this
I pray this is helpful
May God bless you and walk with you through each day
In Christ
LarryHello Sallyseo and Czor
I want you to know I am praying for you both.
You can and will make it through this. I have graduated and sleep well now with no fear or anxiety because the Lord led me to Martin’s course and sustained me through it.
Remember this: “The fear has no teeth “ Do Not listen to it. It cannot hurt you. You need time , patience, perseverance, and faith. You Will get through this and be so grateful for all the important things in your life on the other side.
I just want to encourage you to read my other posts from week 1
“Encouragement “
“Encouraging tips “
That is if you haven’t already
Also don’t research yourself crazy, but if you want to get right to the heart of the cause of all of this (I think)….
The book “Hope and Help for your nerves “ by Dr Claire Weekes was very helpful to me. Martins course explains it all at the proper time and pace but this lady nailed it in 1960 which was so encouraging to me because this problem so many of us go through is common and completely curable.
I pray this is helpful
May the Lord walk with you through this journey
LarryHi Anastenise and Nik
Thank you A
You are so right
Remember this,
We have really already survived the worst this if we look back over the past however long we’ve been dealing with this. My darkest day is what pushed me to find a solution. It feels worse because we’re actually facing the problem now. Fear is a tough master but…..
As Drew Linsalata says on his podcast “The Anxious Truth “, Fear is a monster with no teeth. What can fear do to us really?
Only what we allow it to.
As Martin has taught us,
Fear is an emotion
Emotions have no power
Don’t act on it
Allow it to float by like a cloud in the sky
Continue life how you want to live not how fear wants you to live and over time fear loses its power over your mind and body
You can do this
This mind and body God gave us is an amazing machine
Psalms 139:14
“I will praise You for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well “
If you’ve watched everything twice on the podcasts as I have, you could go to The Sleep Coach School podcast by Daniel Erichsen. There are some good success stories there as well. We are all going through the same thing and this can be overcome.
I pray this is an encouragement
LarryHi NikC
I have to say my faith in Jesus Christ is my anchor. At my lowest point I knew giving up was just not an option that He allows. Also I keep my wife, who has been my best friend through all, my daughter and grandchildren, mom and dad all on my mind each day knowing that God has put us here to be a help to our family and all in our circle of influence for Him. So if He wasn’t through with me I knew this was not going to take me out. That’s the spiritual level
On the logical level what I can see for myself is that this will not kill you it’s all about how the fear of it makes you feel. I’ve found that the anxiety around it is the biggest problem. Besides all I’ve learned from Martin, I’ve found other sources of Hope as well. I was listening to Jordan Peterson a lot last year before this hit me. Something he said came back to me this year, he said “ When you’re dealing with fear and anxiety you’ve got 2 choices, lay in bed and let it get worse or get up and do the best you can everyday. Even a little step each day is an improvement “
There is only one choice for us, get up and accept where were at, and get on with doing what we want and need to do. This teaches our brains little by little that we are not in danger.
Also ck out The Anxious Truth podcasts. This guy reaffirms everything Martin has taught us but applies it specifically to anxiety. You’ll be amazed at how closely related insomnia and anxiety are and the way to get past them are almost identical.
Another thing , I listen to a lot of uplifting Christian music all day but if that’s not you’re preference I also have a powerful pop song that I play to bring my courage up. It’s Unstoppable by Sia. It’s works really well when you’ve had a small win It’s like pouring fuel on your confidence and saying to yourself I know Im getting past this one day at a time no matter what it takes I Will continue to live my life. Find the things that take you to your happy place and use them as another tool to help you through this.
One more thing if you’re a Lord of the Rings/Tolkien fan. When Gandalf was speaking to Frodo about the bad times they were in he said “ no one desires to see such times as these come in their life but that is not for us to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that has been given us”
I’m praying for you to improve each day and night.
We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.
May God bless you my friend
LarrySo happy for you. It’s such a blessing to begin to make peace with this. I hope your days and nights continue to improve. I think I’m right behind you. Not that I’m cured but at peace with whatever sleep my mind chooses to give me then I get up a do something fun like watch baseball. And if I don’t fall back to sleep (which I have yet to do) then I watch the sun come up and pray and start my day. God always carries me through.
I wish you the best
LarryThank you Brad
Remember we’ve just got to stick with the program as long as it takes. Some minds (like mine) take a while to become retrained. I wish you good sleep soon. Remember “Our body knows how to sleep
eventually “
God bless
LarryHey NikC
I just wanted to tell you I am praying for you. I was where you are about 2 mo ago. I went to emergency room because no sleep and anxiety were awful and I didn’t know if something was wrong with me. They basically checked my vitals and said there was nothing they could do for me and I should go to primary care Dr. They also said I shouldn’t take sleeping pills but offered no other help. This made me realize that the medical industry is clueless about our problem. After all my tests came back normal and was basically told that’s all they could do by my Dr ,
I decided to go all in with Martin. I’m still only getting about 4 hrs a night but I learned early on that this wasn’t going to kill me. I just had to make a choice to get up every morning at same time no matter how bad I felt and go to work and do the best I can. God has carried me through each day. There seems to be a pattern, at least for me. I know if I can make it to 12 or 1pm things are better from there on. I try to do all things I would normally do like exercise after work, spend time with family, be a help to others, go to church, etc. This helps me remember why it’s so worth it to keep going each day and try to live as normal as possible. Take one day at a time. Do your best and try to enjoy the small wins each day. Do not compare how bad yesterday may have been to the next day ahead. I have found that one day has nothing to do with the next. You may think when you first get up the day is going to be awful but if you stay committed and get up and do your best, you at least have a chance of something good or hopeful or encouraging happening.
Whereas if you lay in bed nothing will change. I remind myself of this every morning and pray consistently. I hope this gives you some encouragement and I want you to know you are not alone. We are all somewhere in this journey together with you. Make sure and listen to the podcasts. They will keep your hope alive through the tough days.
God bless
LarryHi NikC
I just want to encourage you about your worries.
I am living proof you will not die from lack of sleep.
Since Dec 12 I have had no more than 4-4.5 hrs sleep per night. Sometimes 2. Sometimes none. Those days are hard but because I was listening to Martin’s podcast early on, I knew I could get up and make it through the work day and would be better for it in the long run. My mistake was trying to do this by myself because. Before I signed up I would get blown off my sleep window by a really bad night and get very discouraged. Now that I’ve joined and listened to all the videos and have Martin’s support with every question, I know what to expect, have much more confidence, and am fully committed to the sleep window. (12-5:30 is mine) I’ve been here a week now. Here’s what I’ve noticed so far. I’m not sure if I’ve gained length of sleep because I don’t look at the clock until alarm but I have gained quality of sleep (deeper sleep) I know this by how I feel during my day compared to a week ago. Less nervous and anxious, better concentration. One more thing I did that removed a doubt so I could fully commit to this,
I went to my doctor and had every blood test run to make sure there was nothing physically wrong with me. Takes about 2 days to get results. Once that was clear , I had once less thing to worry about.
Don’t give up , don’t let the fear and anxiety control your actions. We can and will get through this together
Hope this is helpful
God bless
LarryHey Chuck
Hang in there. I have the same problem except I never look at the clock when I wake up. (12-5:30 window)
So far this is how I make it through the day,
I know that every day by 12 or 1 I will be past the nerves and fatigue and my day will be better.
Today I made it a point to go visit my grandchildren after work so I would have one more good thing to add to my list of 3 good things today.
Don’t give up. You are not alone. I hope this is helpful.
God bless
LarryHi Marie C and Sunshine
I have the early waking problem as well.
I am getting out of bed past 2 mornings and reading
Seems I barely get back in bed good and my 5:30 alarm goes off.
I wish you both the best. I am praying for courage for all of us to follow through this course and have much needed sleep
God bless
