Star I have recently been in a group for managing anxiety and what you talk about definatly sounds like a pannic attack. The things you said (my heart rate greatly increases, it causes me to sweat, i get hot flashes, and sometimes a little light headed) are all signs of increased anxiety and is very commin in pannic attacks.

Also you said (sometimes when i would hear the people walking upstairs or making any kind of noise on the floor i would get incredibly paranoid and feel like it was going to cave in on me) This is called Catastophising (spelling?) What this bascially means is you automatically asume something really bad is going to happen. Id go talk to your GP or a counciller about it.

There are a number of great treatment approaches out there for anxiety problems such as medication, special strategys for coping and beating axiety (there is a name for this but i honestly cant remember) also hypnotherapy could also be considered. Hypnotherapy may sound weird to you but i know of a guy who was suffering from some really bad anxiety and pannic problems and it helped him really well.

There is hope out there for you and i am almost certain that it is anxiety / pannic you are experiencing. Just talk to your doctor about it and if he agrees it is anxiety im sure things will turn out fine for you. There are many really good ways to treat anxiety. Let me know how you go

Roy