Yesterday I'm making an hour & half drive. About 30minutes into the drive, all of a sudden, I get a nervous sensation in my belly. My arms start to tingle and I notice my heart beating faster. I've had spells of anxiety before. I started to feel scared so I decided to pull over and do some breathing excersizes. As I'm pulling over, my fear takes me over. My heart was racing and I was having trouble getting turned onto the little gravel road because my arms were so tensed up. Once I got parked I tried to breathslowly and calm down. My heart was racing so fast my belly and breasts were sort of "jiggling?" my whole body started tingling. My arms and legs felt numb. My fingers felt swollen and they were turning pale. I felt like my heart was going to explode. I felt as if I were going to hyperventilate. I had a paper bag in my glovebox, but I couldn't reach over to get it. I couldn't get my arm to straighten out. I felt like I couldn't breath even though I was breathing extremely fast deep breaths. I got so scared that I was going to have a heart attack or something like it that I decided to call 911. I couldn't open my hands. They aren't fisted though. My wrists were turned in and my fingers curled or kinked up palm exposed. Every muscle in my body was flexed. My toes were curled and my feet turned in. I struggled with both hands to get my iPhone in my lap. My hands were totally locked up. It took every once of determination to manage to dial 911 and put it on speaker. I was out in the country on the side of the road scared to death. When I finally dialed 911 the message came on "this number cannot be completed as dialed" three times! I was terrified. I couldn't get my car door open, bc of my locked up arms and hands. At that point I started mumbling begging for it to stop. My hands and wrists were starting to hurt. I kept trying to call someone. My hands looked so strange like they weren't mine. I couldn't open my fingers or move my thumbs. I hyperventilated a little. By the time my breathing slowed I was able to will my stiff hands to open. I got my car door open and swung my legs around. Sat sideways on my seat for a while. Breathed slowly and my hands all the way open and straightened my arms.Stood up after a while and walked around. I was very wobbly at first. Like my body was shaking. (it's the way I walk after a scary rollercoaster. I don't like them!) after I got back in and continued driving it took me about an hour to feel somewhat normal. I shook and felt lightheaded after the attack. My heart has never felt like that before. Like there was more than just the 2 normal pumps at a time. Like a fluttering feeling I don't know how to describe it.
It took me a while to describe this, I know, I just wanted to be detailed. Is this just a sever panic attack? I undestand most of what happened...just not the locking up. Like my limbs were sort of numb but I could feel the tightness in my hands fingers wrists and toes. It hurt. What caused that? Is that a normal symptom of panic?
Tonight I've felt anxious like I'm builing up to an attack. What do I do? I don't have money and I don't know where to go. Please help.