What does it feel like when you have an asthma flare-up? Some people describe it as "like breathing through a straw" or "drowning above water."

I actually have never had a real flare-up, but when I have breathing trouble, my throat loses the moist feeling. I feel like no air will go through or down my throat, like a boulder rolled over my throat blocking air. Like someone once said about having asthma, "I feel like a fish out of water."