It does get better
We had a really bad couple of years from 2008-2010 which resulted in my partner getting custody of my step daughter - which is fab I love her dearly but at the time the whole process was hard, then my partner was made redundant, my brother got ill
I dealt with it all at the time but then last year around march 2011 when everything settled down, brother was okay, other half got great new job, step daughter is settled - i got ill. I had croop cough, tonsillitis, and swine flu all at once, I couldn't breathe and had to call an ambulance, that was my first panic attack. I was having them every day till the august when I finally went to the doctor.
I kept thinking I was going to have a heart attack and felt like such an idiot always having these attacks, it was all i thought about every day
my other half wasn't very supportive at first but when I went to the doctors finally he knew I was in a bad way - I never go to the doctors!
The doctor put my heart attack fear at bay by doing tests to show I was fine and it was an emotional problem rather than physical.
He recommended that I do more sport, practice breathing exercises and try to spend at least 30 minutes a day relaxing because I didn't want medication, I was told i had symptoms of post traumatic stress syndrome :/
Anyway I know I'm ranting on but I wanted to say I did what the doctor said. My other half works nights and with the kids I can't go to the gym often so I do zumba on the xbox, afterwards I have a hot bath with a book each night. I have a massage once a month too as I have real bad muscle tension in the upper part if my body :/ I still have days where I feel on the edge of an attack but I fight through it, it's becoming less and less. I just tell myself it's all in my head, there's nothing wrong carry on!!!
I hope you feel better soon, speak to your GP because they are good at listening or finding someone who will listen and help find ways for you to deal with it xxxxxx