How would you describe an anxiety/panic attack?

[sborber]

In your own words. I've had moments recently where I feel like I could be having one but I'm unsure if they are in fact what's happening or how to describe them to DH to help him understand.

Eg trying to pack for a night away with 2 under 2 yesterday morning and when I feel overwhelmed my mind clouds up and I can't think straight and I start to feel this huge amount of dread and suddenly find myself saying "I can't do this" to myself. It takes a little while to subside but leaves me feeling drained.

Sweating, shaking, loss of muscle control - I can’t stand, I just crumple to the floor, and loss of vision/extreme tunnel visioning.

Minor panic attacks for me are the racing heart, sweaty palms, etc.

The anxiety shits are something else. I literally sit doubled over with cramps and sweating on the loo. But once it's over, it's over and I feel fine.

Boss is rapidly running out of staff 😂 at this point it's damage control. But yeah he is a good un.

I had my first one last year, after an awful spell of health anxiety. I ended up in a&e.

like previous poster said, an sense of impending doom, I felt like I was actually going to die. I felt shaky, heart racing, pacing up and down, and restless. Once the panic had calmed down/stopped the anxiety was diarrhoea, pins and needles, chest pains and tightness, dizziness. It is the worse feeling ever.

the first time I had one I couldn’t believe that a panic attack could feel so bad

Like I am 100% certain I'm about to die and we are all doomed to dust. Detached from my body, floating and separated from the present moment/reality. Numb.

Just popping on to say thank you everyone for your helpful responses! Thankfully I've not had another moment of feeling like this since posting, but I'm taking measures to try and remove stress triggers.