Carl, since you’re new to it just keep on your current mp at least for a few months.
meanwhile you’ll be learning how reeds work, then you can better decide on your mp.
yes, a cane reed will get better day by day…stay good for a while longer, then die out
you’ll feel it dying because it felt so perfect for that little time in between.
how long? they’re all different and it also depends on how much playing you do so
a good cane reed can last several week to several months.

One of the best things to do is take your sax into a repair shop, to check for leaks.
I recently had problems with high notes, and that was down to the little pad on the neck not sealing properly.
Another problem with reeds, is how they are positioned on the mouthpiece, miss-allign them and they don’t play properly in the full range of notes. What i do is slap a reed on the mouthpiece, and just play a complete scale of notes on the mouthpiece against a tuner, more often than not, i have to re-position the reed a tiny fraction on the mouthpiece, to get all the notes playing properly. Once i’ve done that i’m good to go and then i connect the mouthpiece to the sax. Otherwise, in my case, it’s just pot luck, sticking the reed on the mouthpiece. (call it fine tuning if you like)

yes, even the slightest pad leak can make it difficult to play.
also, a reed that’s on it’s last legs can do the same!
with experience we can tell which is which that’s why
making sure you have no leaks is a must.
when it’s the reeds fault you will notice other things other than that one note though.