Need help identifying a possible fear or disorder

Recently, I have moved and gone through a lot of changes. This summer, I've experienced a heightened amount of stress and because of that have been prone to stomach issues. This has been an ongoing problem and has been a factor of life for a long time, though I never connected that the stress and stomach issues were together until recently when it not only got worse but progressed into panic attacks. Any type of situation where, I guess I should say, I am away from a 'safe place' or 'escape route' I get intense stomach pains and sick feelings, I sweat profusely, and my heart beats so quickly I feel as though others around me can hear it. It then goes into racing thoughts of wanting to get out (this happens particularly in church- which is all the more strange because I really enjoy church) and I find that sometimes I even have to grab on to my seat and hold myself down to prevent just jumping and running for the doors. I've been really frightened about this because it occurs in situations like plays, sometimes restaurants or when I'm with friends and also has begun to happen when I'm running. If I venture too far from my car or house on a trail it becomes almost impossible to continue. I visited my family doctor with these concerns and he spoke with me in-depth about panic attacks and was very keen to explain that it is in fact a medicinal issue and not something that can be solved by just telling yourself to 'toughen up.' He prescribed once-daily Paxil and will have me back in a week to see how that is going. I'm particularly worried with the start of school coming soon and I would like to know specifically if this is just panic attacks or if maybe there is some type of fear connected to it or even if this is the onset of another disorder?

I agree that "toughen up" is entirely unhelpful, but I also wonder whether therapy of some kind would help in tandem with the meds. When I was stressed a couple of years ago, a counsellor took me through some CBT tools to use in defusing some of the anxiety, and I found it was very helpful, even though we only had a few sessions together. Breathing exercises can also help. Talking to someone might also help you to unpick why it's happening now in particular.

I don't know about this being part of another disorder. It seems like it's being triggered by being in public places, particularly where there's an expectation that you stay for a certain period of time as in church. And is now expanding into a wider form of anxiety when you're outside your "comfort zone" outdoors. Are there any other triggers or symptoms that you can think of? Has there been a bad event that started the anxiety in the first place?

Keeping a diary might help, you could perhaps include where and how anxiety was triggered, how bad it was [and analysing this on a scale of 1-10 was something that helped me to step back from it] and any ways of coping that either helped at the time or didn't help. [Worth knowing what not to bother trying in future.]