I feel very sorry for the OP. just reading it made me anxious - I often have nightmares very similar to what he experienced!

I almost did something like this in Auckland international once after too much time in the Emirates lounge. There’s only about 10 gates in the whole little terminal! I panicked when I couldn’t find the gate, until I finally realised QF were using a little known bus gate that night, which is hidden in between the two far off A380 gates. Lesson learned - that last drink may not be a great idea