I'm really sorry to hear about your exhausting, frustrating and expensive pharmacy experience. :-( It sounds a lot like one of those days when it's hard not to conclude that the gods are just against you.

I do second selkie's recommendation of Chloraseptic, though. It's most commonly available as a spray here in the UK, and available in a range of flavours - they do include menthol, but I've seen cherry and blackcurrant as well. I found this page which gives the full medical details, including a list of ingredients so you can see if you think it would be OK for you.