My heart goes out to you all who need pain medication and can't swallow it. I had difficulty swallowing anything after my surgery, and we crushed all of my meds. I finally figured out that some of them were irritating my mouth, since they are not intended to be dissolved in the mouth. If you are extra irritated, consider that this might be a contributing cause. The fentanyl patch might be just the ticket for this problem. It is expensive (!!) and it does come in a generic form, which is just as effective as the brand-named one ("Duragesic.")