Dealing with head pressure, racing heart, and shortness of breath... help!

So, something happened to me today that I’ve honestly never dealt with before. I hit a really stressful patch and ended up getting worked up over something—well, maybe calling it "stupid" is an understatement, but I definitely reacted a bit more intensely than I usually would. And then, out of nowhere, this wave of exhaustion hits, followed by this intense pressure and pain in my head. Suddenly, my arms started feeling tight, almost like someone had injected me with a massive dose of adrenaline or something... my whole body just felt like it was racing. My heart started pounding, my head throbbed, I felt shaky, and it actually got hard to breathe. For a second there, I even felt like I was choking... and all of this happened right after I had finally stopped worrying about the initial situation. It was pretty terrifying because I've never felt anything like this. Eventually, things leveled out, but now I notice that if I sit in a certain way or even just think about what happened, some of those symptoms start creeping back. I'm not sure if this is actually tied to that specific moment or if it's just a weird coincidence. It didn't feel like a panic attack since it wasn't exactly fear, but I just don't know what it was.

Also, for reasons I can't quite pin down, I had my first total bout of insomnia last night. I didn't sleep at all. Not even for a minute. I'm wondering if this is just my body reacting to the stress, or if there might be something more serious going on? How is it even possible to stay awake the entire night? I'm feeling quite anxious because this is all brand new to me and these symptoms just appeared out of thin air.

I'm 24, by the way, and I don't drink or smoke.

Thanks in advance for any insight.

This sounds exactly like a panic attack. They don't actually come from fear—it’s more about when someone is just completely overwhelmed. 🤷

Leeloo hit the nail on the head there. Sounds like a textbook panic attack to me.
They usually tend to flare up right after things get super stressful.