Whoa! You might question him/her again on that one! Are you being treated at a major cancer center? As far as I can see, IMRT seems to be becoming the standard for head & neck cancers to help salvage spit glands. Get another opinion. I had 37 IMRT treatments & as far as side effects, there is no avoiding them. The good news is they are mostly temporary. That being said however, XRT radiation will permanently affect your spit glands as anyone here that had that type of rad can tell you. As far as all your other symptoms, they seem pretty normal. Shaving? After a while you won't have to shave because the whiskers will stop growing & start falling out. A nice clean shave! The beard does come back mostly. Not trying to scare you but, I have recovered almost all of my saliva production to date & most here who wer'e treated with IMRT have had the same experience. Keep us posted, Erik