I averaged 30 episodes an hour during the sleep test. I went in last week for a fitting and it was awful. Worse than the original sleep test. I can't sleep with all those wires attached, and the mask was even worse. And just the thought of having to wear this big harness over my head with a face mask and an air tube connecting me to a machine almost gave me a panic attack.
Does it get better?
Is pillow talk dead for the rest of my life? I couldn't talk with that stupid thing blowing air down my nose and throat.
A "sales person" is coming out sometime in the next few weeks to fit me for a mask and select a machine. I am not sure how much leeway my insurance company gives me, but if they only authorize a crappy machine, can I pay for a better one? What should I look for in a cpap machine.
I have a lot of dry-mouth. I wake up several times a night and have to take a sip of water. Will the water tank/humidifier fix this? My only medication is a blood pressure pill that is not supposed to cause dry mouth.
RE: Panic attack - you very well might wake up in the middle of the night, tearing the mask off and fighting a feeling of suffocation. Many people will get that at the beginning. It happened to me, maybe 2-3 times. Your body has to adjust to getting pressurized air forced into it.
RE: masks and machines - Don't be shy about telling whoever is fitting you when a mask doesn't work. Everyone has different facial shapes and a mask that works for one person doesn't necessarily work for another. Try several if you have to. It took me 3(?) until I found one that works. The DME is a full service place that will exchange, within reason, until you get a good fit. After that, you can mail-order replacements from whatever online store has them on sale. Machines are a different story, you can buy your own as long as it meets whatever your needs are. When your insurance company pushes one on you through a durable medical equipment supplier (DME), the cost will be marked up. Sometimes it's double what you can get on your own. You will be paying for some personal service, setups, and adjustments, but you can do all those settings yourself once you download the service manual.
My suggestion: get the mask from the DME so you can make sure it fits, then order replacements online as needed. Once you know what kind of machine you need, you can purchase it online and turn it in towards your deductible. As far as the "first" machine goes, you might ask about renting it for a month or two until your own comes in. Minimum requirements - an SD card, and a name brand like Resmed or Philips, and get an "autoPAP". Your settings might be a fixed pressure and the "autoPAP" isn't necessary, but if you do require "auto" later, you will have it already. AutoPAPs can be used in fixed pressure mode, but fixed mode machines can't be set to auto adjust. Some of the other brands are hit and miss on proprietary data formats. The Big 2 have data that is easily imported into a s/w utility called Sleepyhead that can be used to generate FAA compliance reports. The others can require you to use a proprietary utility or email the data someplace to have the reports printed.
edit: getting back to the "renting for a month or two". If you do this, your first 30-60 days of data will be on the first machine. You will need to download the data from that machine before you turn it in. That way, for FAA, you will have a continuous report. It might span two machines and two pages, but it will not have gaps.