From my experience, I used to have it much much worse, now it is only impedes a limited number of circumstances. Your only source of the anxiety is in yourself – your the enemy, your the one backing down to others or situations – people aren’t overpowering you. Self beliefs like this made real results, but you must not only believe them, but know and act and live them as the blood in your veins and air in your lungs.

The heaviest anxiety I had to face was around 5 years ago and most of it’s symptoms are gone completely these days; they included:

Stiff ankles when walking (shuffling) – stiff right calf (another sign that it’s in your head)
Overconcious breath and heartbeats (palpatations) – gulping throat. I would worry a single gulp would render me a coward around people, yet the gulps almost forced themself to occur from the pressure.

Shakyness. Stiff neck when sitting down, shaking in movements, weak movements and muscle relfexes. Passing a paper around was hell in school and jobs. When it was my turn to continue the process, my arm felt like it was weighed down by a 50lb boulder on a chain.

Fearful eye contact, little or none. I felt as if my soul were being devoured if one were to look into my eyes. People can tell if your the slightest bit nervous when looking into your eyes, so this is certainly one of the more difficult symptoms to overcome if your facing anxiety – but working around curing the foundation of your anxiety (in your head) will naturally allow my eye contact, so don’t stress it and force a blood shot eye of vengence upon everyone you meet, let it flow in to place.

Walking away from critical social situations, things we need to face in life with atleast a yes or no answer and stand by our word no matter what. Walking away should be very limited, not abused. Most situations don’t require people to walk away – and if you do it too much – your anxiety will only remind you of being cowardly.

Panic attacks – most people who have heavy anxiety have panic attacks wether they know it or not… Heavy anxious flashbacks of bad memories are certainly panic attacks. Forcing yourself to shut them down and practicing control over their intensity helps a lot with easing these away. Just remember, your brain is your world – you must put a leash around it and pull if things aren’t feeeling in control. It’s possible some cannot control their mind, but if you can think and speak, more than likely your in some control and have the power to control it all – if in doubt – you CAN control your mind. Doubt proves you can. Practice allows the subconcious to automate more tasks you normally didn’t have automated anymore.

Conquering anxiety in your way gives you an advantage to those who havn’t faced chronic anxiety – you will have an advantage in facing stressful situations that everyone has to face (temporary anxiety).
note: I’m seeking “YOUR” experiences with anxiety in answers.