Here's the OP:
Welcome! First thing you should know is that this group belongs to Nick Dunn, aka Uncle Nicko Dundai. The YT channel of the same name (CPAP Reviews) is where he shares his knowledge (most of it, anyway)... this is good stuff you don't get from your doctor or even most techs (Nick is a degreed tech).I have been following for a few weeks. Diagnosed end of January. I just got the referral for the DME on Friday. Still don’t have any equipment. Would love any advice for getting started, anything I should look out for from the DME. Recommendations on what seems to be the best tolerated, etc…. It’s been a painfully slow process, but seems to be coming to the end - very nervous to get started but hopeful that I will get relief from lack of consistent sleep.
Here's stuff I wished I'd known first thing:
a) Mask fit is *everything*... try *lots* of different masks, don't just take the first thing they give you... remember, you have to go to sleep with this thing on your face for the rest of your life.
b) Try your mask fit at the highest pressure you can stand... mask leaking is very hard to fix without changing mask styles/sizes, so getting the fit right involves both comfort *and* stopping leaks.... make them help you, this is your one chance.
c) take charge of your therapy... you have the absolute right to change settings on your machine... demand to know the pressures they're setting and how to change them (YT helps here too). If they're giving you a machine and leaving the pressures wide open (4or 5 to 20cm) that's not therapy... that's just laziness... the machine will treat you, but it will vary all over the place while doing it. If you didn't get an initial lab titration (prescription for therapeutic pressure(s)), say you had a home study, then you'll have to start with wide-open pressure hunting... the machine will try to sense problems, then treat them with raising the pressure. *After just a few nights* you should examine the graphs of pressure that are on your SD card and pick a more therapeutic range (e.g. 7-12cm) so the machine is not having to chase it's tail treating you.... eventually you want to be on a narrow range... I'm on 15cm, it climbs to 16.5 sometimes, that's decent.
I could go on and on... if they offer you an Airsense 10 get it... Airsense 11 is new and has several problems, the 10 is an industry work-horse that is proven... plus it's heavier and less tip-prone on the night-stand. Come back when you get your machine and we'll discuss what they told you... again, welcome... and good luck! Plenty of experience here.
♀️