hello, i hope you see this message and hope it helps you and your condition. I am someone who suffered a pretty extreme case of anxiety for about a year and a half to two years in my life including panic attacks etc. Before I explain the different things that helped me overcome my anxiety, i need you to understand, what happens when you have anxiety is, ultimately, you are experiencing recurring or (cycling) thoughts that are causing fear in your mind which is eventually leading to physical symptoms you mentioned. it is something called amygdala, and it is stuck in fight or flight mode right now. So here is the biggest challenge, I can tell you things that you need to do, but your anxiety condition is in control at the current moment meaning there is a fearful cycle of thoughts going on in your head. The first big step is, you have to believe that you can overcome this disorder, and not see yourself as a victim in any type of way, or feel like you cant change your circumstance. i am sympathetic to what you are dealing with, but we need to change the mentality to one which will enable you to take control.
The first thing, I discovered that helped me manage anxious/panic or uncomfortable physical feelings when they are happening in the moment, pick a high number like 250, and start counting to it. For me, at the time, i thought i had MS and kept feeling twitches in my muscles and had been to doctors, neurologists, who all said i did not, and i didn't believe anyone until one day at the movies, i kept feeling muscle twitches, and then for some strange reason, i started counting, i had the number 147 in mind. once i got to 147 everything had gone away. this is when i started to realise, I am causing these things to happen.
Second, and this is absolutely HUGE, you need to be getting A LOT of sleep. the reason is, when you don't get enough sleep, the amygdala which i mentioned earlier, is not able to rest and recover,(the switch gets stuck to on). I believe sleep deprivation is one of the biggest causes of anxiety disorders. So, what this means, you need to completely 100% cut caffeine out of your diet, and you need to turn all your devices (phone, tv, tablet) and blue lights off at like 8pm every night, or buy yourself some blue blocking glasses and wear as soon a sun goes down, so that you are able to sleep for good 7-8 hours every night.
As you can see, we are talking about mental health here, so alcohol, sugar, wheat products, cigarettes, drugs should not be allowed into your system. you want to consume tons of blueberry's which is the ultimate detox food.
Also, you want to be taking multi vitamins daily, and this is also HUGE, you NEED to be taking magnesium daily. what happens is, if you have digestive issues or not getting enough magnesium, it doesn't reach your organs, where your nervous system needs to reach it, and without magnesium, the nervous system is not able to calm the brain down, this leads to sleep disorders. you see how this is all connected!
The next thing is, you need to start meditating 30 minutes per day at the least, the more the better. The reason is, meditations is what helps you observe your thoughts, and become present (living in the moment) With an anxiety disorder, your past events/memories are affecting you, so meditation will bring you into the current moment, and increase your calmness. This is the objective, and how you overcome anxiety, is to get into the present, and leave the past in the past.
So guess what else helps you become present.... yep, a mantra. Everyday, you want to have a saying, like " i live for today and today only, my past is behind me" or something like that. remind yourself as often as you can. This will help program your subconscious mind so that it goes to work for you, and helps you become present (llving in the moment) not in the past.
Next up, you need to start a journal and review it on a regular basis. what happens is, we take in so much information on a daily basis and it creates tension and confusion in our minds and bodys if it is not released, expressed, organized and made sense of. Journal will help with all of these things. Also, by reviewing your journal, you will come to see the patterns going on in your life, and realise when certain things happen, they are not as significant as they seem, as you have experienced them in the past, and through the journal you might identify the triggers that are setting something off. like if you have a bad memory or thought about something that spirals out of control.
Ok, guess whats next.... EXERCISE! your brain needs daily exercise to optimise mental health and it is one of the biggest stress relievers out there. every day, you want to run, or walk, or lift weights, play sports. I strongly recommend you read the book called Spark. it is all about the mental benefits of exercise.
The next thing you want to do is, you need to become very active in life, and the reason is, this will help distract you and distance you from anxiety thoughts. You want to socialise as much as possible, hang out with friends, take classes, do hobbies like draw, cook, play video game, watch movies, read books. you are trying to break a cycle in your mind, and by keeping yourself occupied it will be easier to do.
Another habit to implement is, observe and appreciate external elements in your environment. what i mean is, with anxiety you become fixated on thinking about your condition etc, what will help you get out of this is, when you go outside, pay attention to everything you see, the buildings, the people, the weather etc. observe everything, take pictures with your phone, go for a walk on the beach, or where there is nice trees and plants to look at and lose yourself in it, become fascinated, appreciate the beauty of the the big picture in life.
One other thing to consider, but i know from experience, it is not easy, but cold showers can have a huge impact on your happiness, relief of stress and anxiety.
So you see, there is a lot of things to do, but the key here is that you have all the tools within yourself to overcome,move on, and enjoy the rest of your life and it wont take long to do. in my opinion, you don't need medical prescriptions, but you do need a strong level of self discipline. You need to star doing these things today, no ifs ands or buts. Believe in yourself and accept the challenge that is in front of you. Clean up the diet, increasing sleep, exercise and meditate every day, changing some mental perception and focus will have you on a fast path to recovery.
I hope this helps.