Was this really a panic attack?

[bev1234]

Earlier today I was just watching tv with family and all of the sudden I felt so nervous and just had a really weird feeling. I thought at first that I was getting nauseous because I felt a little sick. Then I felt dizzy and almost not even real, I know that sounds weird but that's the only way I can describe it. My heart was also beating faster than usual. I got a little scared and just kept trying to ignore it but it kept getting worse. I got up to go to the bathroom thinking it would help to just move around and do something but it got even worse. By the time I got to the bathroom I felt extremely nervous, honestly I felt like just running out of the apartment like something horrible might happen to me. By this time I was shaking a lot and was so scared and I literally could not calm myself down whatsoever. I called my boyfriend to get my mind off of it and he suggested I may have been having a panic attack. He said he was certain I was from what he knows about them. I just cried and was shaking and honestly felt like I was going to pass out. I have had an episode like this about two times before but that was years ago and was brought on by a stressful situation/something going on. Today it was out of nowhere for absolutely no reason. I don't know what to think. Does anyone have any advice on what this really was? Or what to think now? Thanks

[mollyfin]

That does sound like a textbook panic attack.  Not much fun, huh?  I've had them happen out of the clear blue nowhere before.  I think it can be related to how we're breathing - if you're hyperventilating even without realizing it, you end up too little CO2 in the blood and your body goes OH CRAP THIS ISN'T RIGHT. 

[pax vobiscum]

That sounds like what happened to me, I can't quite understand them when I'm fretting about dying or an illness there's nothing. Yet if I sit down relaxed and watching a movie I have an attack 

[bev1234]

Yeah not fun at all and yesterday breathing stuff makes a lot of sense. I had to make myself calm down and breathe. And i'm the same way, I worry a lot and never freak out until everything is calm. I can't even relax today because i'm scared of it happening again. My heartbeat still feels faster than usual and I just feel so nervous.