What is this?

[Hm2020]

When I am alone at night in my flat I start to get serious intrusive thoughts that someone’s gonna break in someone’s hiding in the flat I think I can hear noises I think someone’s coming through the door my anxiety gets that bad I can hear my heart beating I start sweating and literally can’t move I jump at my own shadow and feel like I can’t breathe.

I also sometimes think I’m having audio hallucinations where I can hear like distant chattering but I know it’s not real.

I have a diagnosis of bipolar1 and take qautiapin and it seems to be when I’ve taken my tablets but before I go asleep but not sure it’s the tablets as I’ve been on them a year and this has only been happening for 5 months it is not every night it’ll happen like 3 nights In a row and then nothing for a couple of weeks and then it will start again I cannot find the trigger.

I’ve actually walked out in the middle of the night and gone to stay with a friend and once my Nan had to stay with me the dr put me on propanalol but I don’t think it does anything and I’m wondering now if it is anxiety or actually if it’s tipping in to paranoid delusions. I’ve got phone apt with a duty psychiatrist soon as mine retired and hasn’t been replaced and my care co ordinator has left aswell. Just wondering what you’d call these episodes?

Not able to offer much in terms of advice, but I have something similar. I have a sense that there’s someone/something behind me all the time, and the longer I don’t like the worse it gets, like I’m going to turn around and there’ll be something right there. It’s bloody annoying and debilitating in a number of ways. I take ages to fall asleep because I’m so anxious when I close my eyes I’ll open them and there’ll be something there. Logically I know there won’t be, but tell my nervous system that!

When I was little I went to a psychologist and one of the things I remember her saying was that some people have a more sensitive ‘danger sense’ or something. I think the theory was that having a few nervous people in your tribe in the old days was beneficial for the group because they’d always be on edge and looking out for danger, so nervousness stayed in the gene pool.

I’ve found some things that help are being in small rooms with a bedroom door that shuts and ideally locks, having a lamp that can be left on when I need to and living in close proximity to other people eg I feel better if I can hear people around. Not sure if any of this will help you but thought it was worth mentioning. I’m sure there are other potential causes and solutions for what you’ve described too. Hope you find something that works for you

My money would be on the quetiapine personally. I'd probably call it paranoia but as you said it's hard to describe.