Below is my personal story, but I think it's important to say that you're you going to get a lot of anecdotes in this thread, and one's mileage in terms of how medication works really is going to vary. Get advice from more than one corner, do your research, and best of luck to you :)

I'm 35. I took SSRI medication to deal with anxiety from about 21 to 27. It saved my life, and it helped me break down some barriers. On the flip side, it made me dispassionate and inconsiderate. I hurt people, I burned relationships, and I sent my life on a path that isn't a natural fit for my unmedicated self. When I got off medication, I had to learn how to live with my anxiety naturally as if for the first time; I felt like I was starting again.

Did the drugs help me? Yes, I would have probably killed myself otherwise. But that doesn't mean they were my only option, it's possible that I just didn't look in the right places.

As for how I handle things now, it's multifaceted. Meditation, good diet, limiting alcohol and limiting caffeine are all elements of my life now.

I'll never be medicated again. But again I stress that that's my personal fit. I'm not depressed, and my anxiety has been massively debilitating, but I love the world and life. I won't ever again take a drug that impedes things like my empathy, despite the issues I might otherwise go through.