mentor5959

I started drink again about 3 years ago after a 5 years of zero drinking.

I was concerned I was drinking too much so started to lower my consumption. I was at 10 beers per day for about a year.

I am experiencing problems but I am not sure if it's related to reduced alcohol intake.

I had gone down to 2 beers a day from 10 but am back up to 4 a day after some rather frightening experiences.

I am not sure if these experiences were do to the low alcohol intake or it's just a coincidence.

Seems like after a few days of only two or three beers a day I start hallucinating about 20-22 hours after my last beer. No shakes, no anxiety, no headache, no nausea, no vomiting, no sweating.

Nights can be absolutely awful however. I am told I scream in my sleep all the time and I wake up in the middle of the night 5 or more times having stopped breathing and very anxious. (The anxiousness dissipates as I become more awake, almost always terminating withing an hour or less.)

I should add, I do feel very emotional. Ready to cry easily, a heightened startle response and a dread felling, almost a slight paranoia.

Also, my vision the last several months has really been terrible with flashing lights, shooting stars and many different color blotches quickly appearing and disappearing.

So I was wondering:

1) How slowly should one taper to avoid all problems.
2) Can this be alcohol withdrawal?
3) For those of you who have been through visual hallucinations, what kind were they? Were they more imagined, full blown psychedelic images in vivid colors or something in between?

Thanks in advance