Hallucinations from schizophrenia or just from anxiety?

I use to get anxiety before but it's what I call normal anxiety, like maybe social anxiety or test anxiety. However the past month has been brutal hell. My brain feels on fire all the time and I'm having constant derealization. I have feelings that I'm dead or that the world is not real and I'm not even living. I'm completely sober but when I use to do drugs it feels kinda like a bad trip on edibles or something like that but 24/7. So here are the hallucinations, when I'm really out of it I'll see patterns like the tiles on the floor will move and I'll see shadows in the corner of my eyes. I dont hear voices or see people, but I have extreme paranoia and weird thoughts. When I had an episode at school, all of a sudden a ton of weight felt on my left side and I felt like I couldn't walk in a straight line like I kept walking to the left because of the weight. I then started getting extremely paranoid that people were seeing me not walk in a straight line and that I was tweaking. I then ran to my car and took some xanax, I got prescribed, and in 10 minutes I was sedated and didn't feel like that. Is this just severe constant panic attacks? or maybe signs of early schizophrenia. I'm 18 male so this would be the time schizophrenia would most likely develop. Please help, I'm going to see a psych but I need to know if this is serious or not thank you

Sorry to hear that you're going through this, but yes, It's very serious. If it's having that negative of an effect on your life, then you should go see a psychiatrist and tell them about it in full. If you live in the USA, you will have about an hour long first appointment. Write things down that you want to talk to the doctor about. Be honest and upfront. NEVER lie to your doctor, either.

Could this be from anxiety? Yes. See things out of the corner of your eyes may not 100% be hallucinations (at least according to my clinical psychologist), but they could be because of extreme anxiety. Also, Xanax is a pretty heavy duty medication. If the doctor that prescribed you that felt it was necessary, then yes, I'd highly recommend seeing a psychiatrist.

I would also recommend to stop taking whatever drugs you're taking that aren't prescribed to you. That could be a reason to why you're having this anxiety and also a reason to why you're seeing those things. Be honest with your doctor about that, too, there's nothing legally that can happen to you (in the United States, anyway).

As for it possibly being Schizophrenia, your doctor will ask you some questions. Do you have delusions? How's your social life? Have you seen or heard anything other than those two things? And so on.

As for the paranoia, that could be in part because of anxiety and because of a panic attack. If you're really self-conscious, that thing about not walking in a straight line could be because of a panic attack.

Hope this helps. Please keep us updated.

Good advice from Tyler. Stop the illegal drugs. See a pdoc. 18 years old is a common age for the onset of bipolar and schizophrenia. Nothing to fear. It's very treatable if you stay on meds.