Perception related anxiety, flutters, hearing things... worst part, can't drink beer!

[cassether]

Hi I made a pretty big move recently and have been suffering panic attacks ever since. The first one was extremely bad (racing thoughts & random images, hearing voices, palpitations, hot flushes, tingling/numbness) but since then they've dulled to only one or two less intense feelings at a time. For example things like stomach drops/floaty feeling randomly occurring throughout the day or hearing familiar voices giving snippets of conversation before bed.

I've sort of gotten used to it (well it's manageable) but one thing that does concern me is the transition periods between moments my perception is altered. When I go from 'sober' to 'tipsy' it's like my brain knows the exact moment my perception has changed and shoves in a panic attack (I assume it's from potentially losing control of my faculties but I thought alcohol was supposed to calm you down? Even if I have just one drink with a friend, half-way through suddenly the surrounding scene will appear foreign and strange, I'll be disorientated and my heart will start going.

I've also noticed my anxiety increases in the transition from being awake to falling asleep. I'm not scared but as soon as my thoughts start to drift (and stop making sense) I'll get a huge wack of adrenaline shooting through my body and have to start the 'falling asleep' process over again.

Does anyone have any tips or tricks to help with this? I'm not on any medication. My doctor prescribed me Diazepam but I only took it twice as it made me more anxious (has that happened to anyone else?) I don't outwardly stress about things (I guess that's why my subconscious is taking the brunt) and am pretty healthy, I exercise an hour of cardio at least once a day and eat well. Also, does anyone get the random images flashing at great succession. It scares the crap out of me when it happens cause I can't focus on a single thought, not even one to calm myself.

The only thing I can attribute the anxiety to is my moving countries (it literally started a few days after I got back). I was living in London for two years and had to return when my visa expired but I didn't think it was much of a problem. I'm planning on going back there to live permanently next year anyway... so it doesn't even make sense that I would be so worred about it, silly subconscious...

Anyway, thanks for reading! It's never occurred to me to post on a forum before so I'll have a read and a look round & see what else I can find

Love to everyone <3

[Lee Grant Irons]

Helo cassether,

This is probably sufficiently unusual to warrant going to a psychiatrist and getting checked out. Of course you are back in the states (I am assuming), so you don;t have free health care over here. LOL

I have had bad reactions to a couple of different types of sleeping medications, as well as a couple of different antidepressants. Some medications just seem to have the opposite effect for some people.