How Do I Wear a Mask When Oxygen Is an Issue?

How do you guys deal with wearing masks? I wore a mask for 2 or 3 hours when I went out a couple of months back actually, but it absolutely wrecked me. It was one of those disposable ones you get from hardware stores. At first, I didn't realize the problem was the mask. I got a piercing headache I couldn't shake, I was sweating bullets, and I couldn't breath at all. I was sure I was going to faint and I finally had to leave in a hurry. I assumed I was just having a rough day, but I eventually took the mask off and slowly started getting better. I've tried other face coverings and am sometimes okay, but I never know when it's going to become an issue.

I've had problems with not being able to catch my breath in the past and, on rare occasion, fainting — all long before ever putting a mask on my face. (Some of you may recall this from ITG Austin Nationals way back in '06, New Years a few years back, or other occasions.) I even sleep facing away from Sean (little spoon life!) most of the time due to feeling like I can't get air.

One time, Sean managed to catch me when I was ordering cheeseburgers at McDonald's, started sweating and spinning and losing my vision, tried to leave, and passed out. People were trying to call an ambulance and bring water. Overkill, but the point is that the reaction in such an instance may not be to worry about socially distancing.

Other times, it's been up to as crazy as actually having strangers call paramedics in to try and sort me out when I started seizing. (Sean's said it was like something you might see in a horror movie - eyes rolled back into my head, muscle contractions, fingers stiff and curled, convulsions, back arched, fainting, and falling. Luckily, it never caused me to pee myself. 😂)

Though some of these instances happened in exceptional circumstance, and it's very rare for things to escalate quite this dramatically, I've had several other close calls with regard to blacking out and have had to have Sean and others come to the rescue with water and seating and such. Additionally, each instance has stemmed, at least in part, from the exact difficulties caused by mask-wearing. Not being able to breath doesn't exactly help the odds of a repeat, and I doubt any similar sort of ordeal would help much with social distancing.

This is not normally something I think about at all as it's a very tiny part of my life that has rarely affected me in the past. In times such as these, however, it appears to be something crucial to at least consider. Some places absolutely require masks and just never using one isn't an option. Fortunately, I'm not part of that minority completely incapable of using one without immediately dying, and I don't go anywhere near humans outside my own house much these days anyway, so maybe I can just cross fingers and make do. If you have any better thoughts or ideas though — for me and for anyone with similar struggles, let's have them!