My story is different from any I've read so far.  First of all,  the problem I had was a constant irritation that caused me to cough without relief, and would feel like someone poked the back of my throat.  Sleep was impossible ~ as soon as I got comfortable and relaxed my tongue BOOM.  I was having to chew sugarless gum and eat cough drops all night *the fake sugar ended up making me bloat...

I finally got a CT scan and scope from my ENT.  He found HUGE stones in my tonsils that were calcified, and he said they'd grow back if he just took them out.  He suggested tonsillectomy.

I'm so grateful for  the posts here!  I tend to get anxious easily, and the info posted helped me immensely!  The one thing I would add, is that while YES it is a long and painful recovery, the pain isn't steady like a sore throat.  If you keep up on your pain meds and DRINK FLUIDS, it's mainly the tongue that hurts, and the pain is in the second you swallow, it doesn't continue to hurt.