Struggling newbie looking for helpful tips

I was diagnosed with severe sleep apnea after a home test last May (note: I am allergic to tree pollen and this was the height of tree pollen season).
After diagnosis, while waiting for a CPAP, I changed my sleep position to try and eliminate sleeping on my back. I received a CPAP in July and began trying to use it but woke up in a panic every night feeling like I was suffocating. I stopped using the device. The only suggestions I received from the “support” was keep using it. My PCP sent me to a sleep specialist. I talked to the specialist about the change in sleep position and feeling better as a result. She sent me me for a sleep study which I understood to be 1/2 and 1/2 - 1/2 revalidation of the apnea diagnosis, 1/2 titration but the lab said the orders were only for titration. Anyway, after a mostly sleepless night in the lab, the tech said the only time I reached REM sleep was during the last hour of the test while on bipap settings. I’m pretty sure sheer exhaustion was a factor.
In December, I received a BIPAP (Resmed AirCurve 10 VAuto) with an F20 mask (note: I had panic attacks with some of the nasal pillow masks). I have tried to get use to the machine but I wake every night between 1 1/2 to 4 hours in with massive mask leakage and an inability to get it to reseal. So I shut it down for the night. Even with that, I wake up feeling more tired than when I went to bed with a dry throat, puffy eyes, bloating and aggravated gerd.
This weekend I decided to sleep without the Bipap and I feel more rested and with no puffy eyes or any other issues. I am struggling with how to get use to this, especially since I feel so much worse with it than without it. “Support” says I feel worse because my body is craving more of the “good sleep” I get while on the machine and just keep trying. That makes no sense to me as any “good sleep” seems like it should contribute to me feeling better.
Looking for some common sense suggestions to move forward. Thanks for listening.

1. What are your pressure settings?

Jpgrl wrote: ↑

Mon Jan 15, 2024 2:10 pm

massive mask leakage

2. Find your mask model on YouTube and watch some videos about fitting and adjusting.

Jpgrl wrote: ↑

Mon Jan 15, 2024 2:10 pm

I was diagnosed with severe sleep apnea
[...] I have tried to get use to the machine but I wake every night between 1 1/2 to 4 hours in with massive mask leakage and an inability to get it to reseal. So I shut it down for the night. Even with that, I wake up feeling more tired than when I went to bed with a dry throat, puffy eyes, bloating and aggravated gerd. This weekend I decided to sleep without the Bipap and I feel more rested and with no puffy eyes or any other issues.

Bloating and aggravated gerd are most probably the result of the pressure being too much for your body to handle at this point in time.
Sleeping with CPAP as learning situation for some of us, a situation that need training for both our bodies and our minds.
It means:

• Learning to sleep with a mask on
  Learning to put it on in a way that it doesn't leak, or at least doesn't leak so badly that in wakes you up
  Trying different masks if necessary
  Letting your body get used to breathing with pressure coming in

Practical tip number one was given by Chicago Granny above.
Further practical tips:
Take control of your own therapy by:

• knowing your machine (company and model)
  Making sure you have a machine that can give you detailed info about how you breathe during the night
  Tracking the machine's nightly info via OSCAR or SleepHQ
  Making systematic gradual changes to your machine setting in a way that will help your training, and using the results for feedback.

Please read the very first post on this forum viewtopic/t172378/Sticky--Newbies-PLEAS ... STING.html
We can help you in a way that "support" can't because we have the time an patience to look at your results whenever you want to post them, and the experience of having trained ourselves to sleep with CPAP despite the trouble we had when starting.

I am struggling with how to get use to this, especially since I feel so much worse with it than without it. “Support” says I feel worse because my body is craving more of the “good sleep” I get while on the machine and just keep trying. That makes no sense to me as any “good sleep” seems like it should contribute to me feeling better.

"Support" clearly never struggled through what the therapy is doing to you now.
We're here because we have.

Welcome to the forum

@Chicago Granny
1. Current pressure 12.0/8.0, down from original 14.0/9.0
2. Thanks for the YouTube suggestion. Honestly, the mask fits fine when I first go to sleep. It’s my inability to get it reseated when a leak wakes me in the middle of the night, probably partly because I am groggy at that point. Can my facial muscles relax so much that the mask no longer fits? Or maybe I shapeshift, lol. Any thoughts on a mask for a side sleeper? I tried the Resmed f30i but it was so loud. Maybe I’ll give that one another try.
Thanks for the comments.

@ozij
First, thanks for the welcome and the encouraging words.
I am looking into getting the data.