I'm in similar shoes to you, unfortunately. Almost the same as what you've typed, actually. Back when I was really social and went out a lot, it all happened from one person to the next, ... so like, I met one, then from that person another, and from those people other people, and so on. I was gaining friends each time; that meant more excuses to go out. Granted, I had to do some serious grade A pushing, but I managed it. I struggled at times (was SHing, on meds, and had panic attacks, back then, but to others, I may have looked sort-of OK)

Nowadays, it's not just a case of only anxiety, it's more than that; I don't know where to begin explaining that. Stuff happened, I went a little doolaalaa, but haven't been the same since.

In the UK, we have organisations (free) that deal with this sort of thing, ... you should see what there is in your area. Support groups, social get-togethers, ... whatever you can find. It WILL be scary, you WILL freak out, ... but if you stick at it, you might find you start to enjoy it, and that you ease up a little. Won't blame you if the prospect of that freaks you out and you bail, though, ... it's tough to get that ball rolling. It took me a long time to get the courage just to go to an OCD support group. Heck, it takes a bit of balls to get to the Tesco 10 minutes walk away, these days.

I'm 27, by the way. Beleef me, you ain't alone.