Katie, We found active pain management to be one of the most important keys to getting my husband through treatment. We found that when he got at all behind the pain curve, it affected everything, including eating. If you pain is above a 3/4 level, ask the doc to bump up your pain meds. There are many on this board more qualified than I to advise on specific meds, but I would think Oxycodone/Oxycontine would be the next step, and if/once that no longer works, Fentanyl patches.

Re: mouth sores, I assume the rinse you are talking about is the pink/magic mouthwash. For what it's worth, my husband was just using the pink mouthwash early on, started to get mouth sores, and got aggressive with his mouthwash routine. He started with a 3:1 (water to hydrogen peroxide) solution, followed by pink mouthwash, then Mugard (a thick coating, acted as a preventative), and used Caphasol (artificial salivia) throughout the day. As well, he used a cpap chin strap to keep his mouth closed and moist while he slept. After he started using this combination, his mouth sores were greatly reduced.

Hope this helps in some way, Ana