Larry,

I seem to have had as poor a reaction as anyone and was unable to swallow probably for a good 4-6 weeks. One thing that helped me was to take on a lot (and I mean a LOT) of fluids through my tube (especially Gatorade type things) and then rinse my mouth with seltzer water/ginger ale. Following that, I would brush my teeth with a mint toothpaste, rinse, and practice swallowing a few times -- just water. This did burn kind of crazily, but it helped me.

I know it sounds insane and maybe it was just my own little routine, but the extreme hydration through the tube combined with using the carbonation to thin the throat/mouth gunk seemed to make swallowing easier. Also, the mint in the toothpaste seemed to kind of numb my throat a bit.

I have no idea if this works for anyone else, but it helped me swallow a few times a day at least. I hope I'm not steering you wrong here.

Good luck and try to remember (from someone that really struggled as well) -- it never hurts as much in your memory as it seemed to at the time.

Hang tough!

The Hellion