Post Tonsillectomy pain

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I just had my tonsils out on Thursday and have to stay overnight. I am 30 and had a peritonsilar abcess. The recovery is nothing compared to that. Just keep eating popsicles, ice chips, gatorade and chew gum it really does help. Plus think of the bright side No more Tonsilitis!!!

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Hello all,

I just got mine done on Friday and the last couple days has been pretty bad. I'm glad I came across this post, makes me know that i'm not alone.

I only took this week off work, i hope that's enough. I hope everyone is doing well and keep updating here as it helps me know that there's an end ahead.

thanks again,

-D

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I am having my tonsils out on Monday, the 19th of May.

Correct me if I am wrong, but the reason everyone is bleeding and vomitting seems to be that they aren't drinking enough fluids? The reason I am having my tonsils out is not really bad, just get tonsilitis 3-4 times a year and it was annoying since I am a student, so my tonsils feel pretty good except 3-4 times a year of pretty bad pain. I don't know, if everyone feels fine the first 2 days I will prepare to eat and drink A LOT during that time to make up for what I may not be able to consume during the days of hell, what do you all think?

tonsilssuck · Newbie Joined: 19 May 2008 Posts: 4

Hi - I'm 21 and this is day 9 of my recovery from a coblation method tonsillectomy/adenoidectomy (couting surg day as day 1). let me tell you... this experience has been awful. the first day in the hospital/at home wasnt too bad.. very misleading! I was on morphine in the hospital and was able to eat popsicles with some ease, but spent a few hours in recovery because my blood pressure was too elevated.

i was able to talk that night and even eat some creamy milky mashed potatoes that night. the first 5 days were very painful, but they alternated good/bad. At some points I was crying from the pain (typically after sleeping - even though I continued with the pain meds every 2 hours - because i wasn't taking in any fluid while i was sleeping). But at some points I felt "fine" - ie, not in tears and able to swallow with relative ease. At some points I have been able to eat some milky mashed potatoes or creamy soup but that's it as far as non-liquid, non-jello food goes.

days 6-8 so far have been the worst, and progressively so. Yesterday seemed to get better by late last night, but this morning I woke up in intense pain unable to swallow - taking my meds was terrible. My throat is completely covered over in the white scab, which my mom says is looking great (shes a doc). I was able to talk the first few days (with mild pain) but then couldnt talk day 6 and could only talk in the evening of day 7. The past couple of days i have been experiencing a lot of stinging sensations when i swallow/talk. (sharp pains like being poked with needles) and the area where my sinuses hit the top of my throat are particularly sore/irritated because I have begun to breathe mainly through my nose instead of with an open-mouth. also my gums/teeth/tongue are still very very sore.

anyone else experience any of these things and have any suggestions?? i feel like i'm going crazy and my family doesnt believe i could possibly STILL be in this much pain from such a "small surgery"!!!!!!! i would be crying incessantly right now if it didnt hurt so badly to cry!

I take a percocet (oxycodone with acetaminophen) every 2 hours, which really doesnt seem to do anything except keep the edge off. I also take benadryl because the pain meds make me itchy, chloraseptic spray works a little right before having to take the dissolved pills because they tend to burn (acetaminophen in powder form really burns the scabs). I've tried both ice packs and heating pads on my neck, each have helped on seperate occassions. I also bought a cold mist humidifier but i question how much it's helped. Something that really has helped with the nausea (from the pain pills) is zofran oral disintegrating tablets. Your doc can prescribe them to you, they dissolve on your tongue, go down easy (no hard swallowing!) and really work. Theyre the only reason i havent thrown up, even though I've come extremely close on several occassions.

Anyways, this is long i'll cut it off... just thought i'd let people know how my experience has been. So far i'm not feeling glad i had this done, but it was necessary as i had tonsillitis 7 times in the past year andmissed tremendous amounts of school/work. I'll maybe update again later... but for now i'm going to try to work on getting this pain im in under control.

drpepper · Newbie Joined: 20 May 2008 Posts: 1

I'm 33. I had my walnut sized tonsils removed on 5/15/08 which makes this day 5.

The pain described and shared by all on this forum is intensly accurate. My throat pain seems to have peaked on day 4. The doctor gave me Tylenol ER to take after every meal. That didn't really help too much, so I started taking that before every meal. That made it easier to swallow the gelatinous foodstuffs consumed for healing. Water and Gatorade, as well as popsicles and ice packs are essential to resolving the pain. Coughing and sneezing should be avoided at all cost.

I never got hydrocodene or anything strong to deal with the burning in my throat, nor anything to help with the chronic ringing pain in the ears and forehead. However, I took the best over-the-counter alternative, which in my humble opinion, is Excedrin Extra Strength.

My recommendation is to take two of the Exedrin ES pills every 4-6 hours. It makes all the pain disappear during the day. The morning will still be difficult since the Excedrin will be at a low dose after sleeping, so take two of those in the morning immediately upon waking. If can't sleep because of the pain, take two of them as well.

I was told to sleep lying on my back or on a slight incline. This may have been helpful for days 1-4, but I now noticed that any mucous or phlegm stuck in your nasal or throat cavity is gently cleared if you lie on your stomache with your head gently to one side at about a 45 degree angle. Try this if you take a nap during the day. It really helped me get rid of those bothersome whatchamacallits stuck in the throat.

Throat area looks like a huge open sore that is grey and white. However, the Excedrin makes the pain unnoticeable, and eating cold and lukewarm foods has never been easier. Of course, you still should not eat anything abrasive, hot, acidic, or spicy. The medicine can only help you if you work with it.

Sore throat lozenges that are mild are helpful. I have yet to try Chloroseptic on this area yet, although that has been a favorite remedy of mine in the past when the throat was highly irritated.

Of course, all this could do a 180 tomorrow on day 6. However, I am grateful that the pain is now bearable and manageable after the horrendous experience of day 4.

Best wishes to all!

DietCokeAddict · Newbie Joined: 24 May 2008 Posts: 1

Hi I'm a 18 year old female and I got my tonsil out May 11,08 so today would make it day 13 and boy will I tell you the pain has just been getting worse and worse. I excpected to be somewhat better by now but nope only worse. I can't sleep for more than 2-3 hours at night due to intense severe pain. I can barely swallow water still and it feels like on the back left side of my tongue there is a web of skin getting pulled and it burns when ever I drink really cold water so I have to drink warm water. I have lost 15 pounds which I'm not complaining about. It's day 13 and today so far has been the worst. My throat,jaw and ears are killing me. And what is really making me mad is my doctor will not giv me any pain meds when I really need them. I end up crying all night and especially in the morning from severe pain. I haven't eaten in thirteen days and feel like I'm dying. Can someone please give me advise on how to deal with the pain and what I can eat? PLEASE HELP!!!!

Please e-mail me at calichick237@yahoo.com

thanks so much

gopangaea · Newbie Joined: 31 May 2008 Posts: 1

Got my tonsils out on May 22... today is May 31 and the pain is... well, you know. totally screwed. It seems to come in waves and for no reason. Sometimes it can be brought on my swallowing just about anything, or just spontaneously is there.

I was actually eating better, as I recall around day 5. What IS going on? Doc looked inside and said I was healing just fine yesterday. Easy for her to say.

thanks, erika

nlaf · Newbie Joined: 01 Jun 2008 Posts: 3

I guess I was extremely lucky. My worst pain was after either oversleeping or not setting my alarm. I begin to dread sleeping. Otherwise, as long as I took the pain med as prescribed it was - ok. No worse than a strep throat.

I am now 11 days post-op. I can eat anything I want. Just feels like I have the regular old sore throat we are all use to.

Day 2 - 4...lived off of sweet tea, water, and jello. Pudding and ice cream burned and cause mucous build up. Tried oatmeal...made me bleed a little. I added SOFT scrambled eggs on Day 3.

Day 5...worst pain for me...I finally slept about 5 1/2 hours...I woke in the worst pain.

Day 6...ate canned chicken noodle soup diluted with milk.

Day 7 - 8...ate chicken dumplings. Developed thrush aka yeast infection.

Day 9...eating any bland foods.

Make sure you DRINK, DRINK, DRINK...it helps with the pain so much and helps the scabs loosen with out bleeding. When I was in pain jello and sweet tea were very soothing.

Also, ask your doctor for some anti-nausea medicine...mine gave me cream that you rub on your wrist. I never threw-up.

32tonsillectomy · Newbie Joined: 29 May 2008 Posts: 2

This is in response to drpepper's posting on 5/20. There is a problem with taking Excedrin for pain. I would not recommend this and I suggest you talk to your doctor instead. Excedrin contains aspirin which can cause bleeding or increase your risk of bleeding especially if you start. Aspirin stays in your body until you regenerate new blood cells apprx 120d. It has an irreversible anticoagulation effect. You were probably told to stop taking any medication that affects bleeding prior to surgery and this should have been stated after as well, until you are well healed.
Anything that contains aspirin or has anticoagulation effects should be avoided...this includes ibuprofen, motrin, NSAID's.
I had my tonsils out on June 2 and the pain intensified on day 4-5 when it felt like someone ripped out my tongue, ran it over and shoved it back in. Thought then I was getting better, but then on the 6th night woke-up feeling like someone was digging at my back gumss treasure hunting for my wisdom teeth. The pain has been horrible. I was pacing the floors that night because nothing would soothe it.
The Roxicet is helping a bit for a few hours and taking prothazmine with it to fend off nausea. Vomited once last week because of Roxicet. I force myself to eat and drink throughout the day no matter what the pain...have to stay hydrated especially now in this heat wave 95F today and a hotter one on the way tomorrow.
Keep a glass of water with you at all times and when you wake up, take a swig, swish it around to wet your mouth and back of throat then swallow. This has helped me. I was eating popsicles and ice chips constantly, but now find they are becoming aggravating and room temp water and food items are best. Hoping this week gets better. Confused

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Okay, I am 25 just had my tonsils removed Thursday June 5th. The first day (day of surgery) i took my meds on time (codine) and was doing really well considering I had just had surgery in the morning...I had tons of energy, but not much of an appitite. On saturday I threw up everything (mostly just liquid & my liquid codine)...then i was nauseated beyond belief. I am on the end of day 6...tommorrow is day 7. Day's 4-6 have been the WORST...day 5 i threw up all day & couldn't eat & refused to take more codine due to vomiting (yes..I have also been religiously taking my promethezine too-I still got sick). Then today the pain was SO bad (i have a high tolerance for pain) I was on my kitchen floor crying because my ears and throat felt just AWFUL...this is not an easy recovery! I have had a lot of people at work tell me "why do you need 2weeks of recovery for THAT?" and kind of laughing at me...but that's what my ENT said 14 days to recover. Nobody understands how bad this recovery is unless they have seen or known someone who has gone through it or if they have personally. I would be TERRIFIED to have to go through this again. Someone actually said to me "with modern medicine it wont take you 14 days..you're young & healthy (25yrs) and you'll heal fast" WHATEVER--modern medicine doesn't help...this is AWFUL! I'm praying I will feel better soon....just want to feel normal again. I'm back on my codine today because after I cried from the pain I decided I'll deal with the vomiting vs. pain. The pain in throat/ears got so severe today that I WANTED to go to the hospital & be put on a morphine drip. I feel for anyone getting this done as an adult...or even as a kid...it's awful! (have i said awful enough?). Day 7 is tommorrow...and I'm scared to go to bed every night because pain gets very bad since Im not hydrating all night (read that message on here from someone--so true!!) Good luck to anyone doing this..

Post Tonsillectomy pain

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