ive had the same problem a lot, with the crippling anxiety and insomnia and high blood pressure, etc, and am convinced its cortisol, after a few days of drinking.
recently i decided to see if a nice hourlong bikeride would combat the cortisol with endorphins. i drank plenty of water a few hours before going out, and rode pretty hard. i felt horrible the first half hour of riding, and had anxious thoughts of dropping dead with a heart attack/etc, but of course that was just anxiety. anyway, at the end of the bikeride i found that the endorphins released by strenous biking had eliminated 80% of my anxiety. i was fine for the rest of the day, too. ive since tested this again and it works. i wish all of you struggling with this problem the best of luck.
