Ouch. Sorry about the slow start. I find your post particularly interesting because I am on the verge of making the jump to $10NL myself. Ironically enough, when I first started $5NL, I dropped a couple of buy-ins early, too. Maybe it's a rule that the next level up you have to lose buy-ins :/

Quote Originally Posted by Micro2Macro
Final hand I played I flopped a set of 7's, my c-bet got shoved into, River brings villain a 2 outer to set/set me with QQ. What a wonderful end to a session lol. At least I ended on the worst beat. I want to point this hand out because I didn't bother waiting for the blinds to reach me - I just left. I was really happy that I was able to instantly get up and leave instead of play on tilt. This isn't the easiest thing to do when you see someone play like garbage take your money, but I think leaving the game when it just isn't working is one of the smartest things I've done recently with regards to poker.
It takes a disciplined player to walk away when they know they are on tilt and that is an admirable skill that will set you apart and save you money compared to many players, but remember, to climb to an even higher plateau and reach poker zen is to avoid tilt altogether and be able to continue playing in a game you consider profitable. The only exception to that is if you reach a 5% of your bankroll stop loss.

Quote Originally Posted by Micro2Macro
The way it works now though is it ends up leaving me second-guessing my game, which I doubt is very good. ... I'll see how things go for the next 5-10k hands and if I feel like things are going downhill perhaps I will consider a few coaching sessions.
I think any level jump is going to affect your game some because of the mental toll of blind size changes, better players, and less bad players, but don't let it get to you too much. Remember that you have plenty of buy-ins to weather the storm. Good luck turning the tide.