Dennis

I echo the recommendation for a Fentanyl patch (synthetic morphine)that is "...used to treat "breakthrough" cancer pain that is not controlled by other medicines." You are already taking enough hydrocodeine to qualify. I found the magic mouthwash basically worthless. Even though my mouth and tongue pain was nowhere near as bad or severe as you, I went to TWO patches every two days. It really made a big difference not to have to swallow so many pain pills plus since I also did not have a PEG, take in calories and nutrition. Yes, I did need to be weaned off of them. I just saw my radiation oncologist this week and when I was thanking him for going out of his way to limit the exposure of crucial swallowing muscles from the radiation field, he responded that in his experience, his very aggressive pain control approach (he regularly gets "audited" by the DEA and patiently explains that cancer patients are not junkies)contributes a lot by letting patients swallow throughout treatment. I ended up getting all my pain prescriptions filled at the hospital pharmacy after my local Safeway and other pharmacies would only fill part of each prescription (30 out of 200) due to "DEA" guidelines.
GOOD LUCK
PS the taste return timeline of 7 years does not comport with what my ENT, medical oncologist, and radiologist have told me. They say 18 months is average but some folks take three years. I still have zero taste six months out.