The backslash problem in PHP code

I have lots of php coded files in my drupal site that I integrate with the theme. But when I attempt to use the backslash (as an escape character) and save, it gets omitted automatically. This is an example.

If ($n=="\n") do_stuff();

Then if I save the file, and open it again, I find this:

if ($n=="n") do_stuff();

which is quite frustrating because the script has lots of control characters (I know I could use PHP_EOL, but I use others) and I use the backslash a lot in the code. An alternative that I found to work is to use the chr() function, so something like this would work:

If ($n==chr(92)."n") do_stuff();

I would like to know if there is a way to overcome this problem (perhaps an option somewhere). I may attempt to do a hack and dig down in the system but I fear that this omission is for a reason and I don't want to screw things up.

Your help is appreciated.

Will