I was treated with Amifostine and I believe it helped. There is some additional monitoring during the treatment and I believe it did add to my nausea. I would highly recommend the treatment. In my case the nausea was barely controllable from day one and by the final week of treatment I could not wear my teeth guard during the radiation treatment because of this. It was miserable but at 1 1/2 years out -
-I still have my teeth
-My saliva glands though not perfect are still partially functional
-I am eating (mildly) spicy foods again.
Remember there are no do-overs and its not going to be easy! Thats why you get the nausea medicine and the pain-killers.

I also recommend drinking at least one cup of room temperature green tea a day. This will keep excersizing your throat muscles.