I don't know if wine will help, but for my first few treatments I put 1mg of ativan under my tongue to dissolve about 20-30 minutes before the treatment, and that definitely helped. Like many I had my head restrained by a rigid mask---very necessary but very distressing at first--and the ativan helped me get through those first tx's, along with positive imagery and relaxation exercise (slow, deep breathing especially; can help with nausea also).

Responses to tx are highly individualized. The thick mucous and taste changes seem pretty universal, but just when it happens, how bad it is, and how long it lasts does tend to vary. Do keep swallowing, and stretching your mouth--don't forget that no matter how bad you feel, as you will later end up not be able to open your mouth fully if you don't. Expect possible internal and external burns, like sunburns only scarier looking, but they get better; my neck looked awful, like the worst sunburn ever, the last week of treatment, peeled completely, but the aquaphor really helped and I have no scars. You really have to keep after the regimen your docs and therapists recommend, to be diligent about it. I would tend to forget these but my wife kept after me (I called her the Boost nazi due to her efforts to keep me drinking my damn Boost), and it's what I needed! Best of luck to you, and do you this forum--it's great for information and support. You are far from alone, there's a big club of oral cancer survivors out there.