Tony,

You are doing well to try a variety of tactics to overcome the side effects. Here are a few new ideas.

Ensure is nearly 100% sugar and since that is your primary oral intake, your oral cavity is a breeding ground for bacteria and such. So you use Peridex to overcome that issue. Then that causes staining and other issues. Ounce of ounce whey protein powder offers the same caloric value but far better nutrition to aid your body in cellular growth, giving your body fuel to fight and rebuild damage done by things like mucositis as well as all the other muscles lost due to treatments.

Try a few bottles of Essentia or other high pH water. The high alkalinity offsets the acidic condition in your mouth, the kind of condition bacteria love to grow. It is also highly buffered so it actually feels much smoother and easier to drink.

Try using a diluted solution of hydrogen peroxide and water to swish now and then rather than the Peridex. You can also put it on Q-tip and directly apply to sores. i used raw salt too. Hurt like hell temporarily but was quite effective. If anything you would want to use less Peridex rather than more.

Liquid lidocaine is to be used no more than three times a day. My oncology staff were quite vociferous about overdoing this. It has limited effectiveness, maybe 10 minutes or less. I used it just before eating to help get food down. Magic mouthwash often includes lidocaine as well.

Not sure if you subscribed to my blog but I recorded things I tried and reported their effectiveness every day for the duration. Feel free to join if you have not already. link in the sig.

Don