Acid reflux flare up, lingering symptoms and crippling anxiety

Hello all! I am 19 years old and fairly new to this community, well, ive had a general idea about acid reflux but i didn’t know anything about its related symptoms up until a month ago when i had my first severe flare-up. I had a large curry shawarma on an empty stomach right after 3 weeks of exam stress and that same night i woke up thinking i’m choking with a chest pressure i’ve never felt in my entire life, i thought i was dying. Now, there is a dental retainer i’m wearing every night because ive worn braces before and on that night i noticed the retainers weren’t in my mouth anymore, in that 4 AM panic my first thought was that i was feeling that chest pressure and it was difficult to breathe because i swallowed my retainers and i was about to suffocate to death. Eventually i turned the lights on and found my retainers on my bed and calmed down because i realized they just fell out of my mouth while i was asleep, the chest pressure was still not gone but i decided to ignore it because i got relief from the choking scenario i was making up in my head. Afterward, i kept eating triggering foods because i couldn’t understand what was happening to me, i absolutely ADORE garlic mayonnaise sauce i always get it when i eat out, but each time i had it after the heartburn incident i would get dizzy, weak, lightheaded and feel like i’m about to pass out. The symptoms would gradually multiply, i’d get nauseous in the morning and its gotten so bad that my anxiety would try to convince me that i was pregnant even if logically i knew my periods have all been regular and that pregnancy was biologically impossible. I only went to a GP 2 weeks later because i needed clarity even if i’m terrified of clinics, and i was diagnosed with GERD.

Despite the diagnosis, the doctor hasn’t referred me to a gastroenterologist for further evaluation and they just prescribed me a 7 day course of some alginate barrier product alongside some ashwaganda pills for anxiety (which doesnt have an effect on me anymore i’ve been taking ashwaganda for 2 years and my body grew resistance to it), which are both dietary supplements and not a proper medications. I’ve been taking the alginate product for an additional 2 weeks because my symptoms wouldnt settle, the sour taste in my mouth from regurgitation is gone but i still have throat symptoms, sometimes i feel like there is something stuck in my throat even if there is nothing and when i eat i can feel that sensation getting stronger even if the food doesnt actually get stuck. I’ve been having this intense fear of choking on food, or crumbs of food getting stuck in my throat and blocking my airways so much that i’ve been eating way less than normal and i lost weight. As long as that sensation is there I just can’t stop hyper-focusing on it, i can not even swallow pills anymore out of fear that i’ll choke on them, now i just take probiotic supplement capsules and dissolve them in water and ingest them like that.

I’d like to clarify that i have a history of 6 years of general anxiety disorder, and i’ve had other digestive issues caused by my anxiety like functional constipation and daily painful bloating, but i never thought something like this could happen to me. I can not even wrap my head around why doctors don’t take this disease seriously either, I know what i went through internally for the past month and my heart completely shatters at the thought of how many people go through these experiences for years, it still feels surreal that i might have to get used to this as well because there’s no “one size fits all” cure.