Yesterday I had something happen that put me on the verge of a panic attack. After that, as always, follows the residual anxiety that takes the form of knots in the stomach and constant invasive thoughts. It takes me multiple days of barely being able to eat/function for this to gradually go away.

This is the severe side of the spectrum for me. Everyday anxiety is more mild but anything out of my very tight comfort zone causes it.

I've gone to therapy but ultimately found it useless because I'm already aware of the irrationality of my anxiety but that doesn't stop it. The breathing techniques also don't help. 

I've always dismissed medication because I'm fairly confident knowing myself that if I feel relief from this, I'll never be able to stop taking it. But it occurred to me recently that it might be better to be on medication forever than to be like this forever. 

Please share your insights if you have any, thanks.