My first priority was to figure out sleep. Because I think a lot of the other symptoms come from the lack of sleep. My specific issues were 1. Inability to fall asleep due to cortisol jerks waking me up as soon as I doze off and 2. Waking up at 4-5 with a cortisol rush or a panic attack and unable to fall asleep. To force my body to sleep, I spent 3 hours a day walking or cycling. This not only helped with the akathisia but also gave me enough exhaustion to fall asleep despite the cortisol rushes. Melatonin and l-theanine also probably helped. Along with magnesium and occasional valerian. Obviously I also cut out all coffee and alcohol. I would sleep at around 9-10 and wake up at 4-5 with 2 good hours of “knocked out” deep sleep along with very light and rem for the rest of the night. It worked — I continued this routine for 6 months. I don’t have to exercise as much now — and I still get chemical anxiety when falling asleep and waking up, but nowhere near what it was. Good luck, friend! It will get better with time.
