first the one i think should be an easy answer, when driving, the car revs way to high before changing gears.

second problem, i was driving home today and my car started making this really loud knocking sound. from what i can tell it sounds like its coming from the top of the motor on the drivers side, other than that theres not much i can tell you.

im afraid to drive it anywhere because the knocking is so bad

My car would start to rev higher before changing gears. My tranny has been murdered Could be your problem too. What color is the fluid?

As foir the knocking. Could be you've spun a bearing and one of your pistons is making contact with the head. Difficult to tell without actually hearing it.

Knocking engines dont stop knocking untill you rebuild them or they blow up.

As far as your trans id say it sounds like your clutchs are on the way out.

Sorry to be the bringer of bad news but it sounds like your gonna need a couple of rebuilds.

The fluid looks normal

i kinda had the feeling that id need to rebuild the tranny or just get another one but i wanted to see if you guys had any suggestions about it first

The knocking could be really bad or as little as a loose rocker arm. Pull the valve cover and see how it looks.