Pain with Tonsillectomy

Here is my story so I hope it helps others that are scared. I think everyone's experience will be different. I'm only 8 hours post-op and wanted to add some good news for a change.

I just had my surgery at noon today. I was reading alot of these horror stories for the last 2 weeks and the Dr. told me to believe them and didn't sugar coat any of it. I respect him for that and helped me prepare myself mentally.

When I got to the hospital, I just kept thinking to myself I hope the pain and weeks of recovery will be worth it because there is no turning back now. I have a wonderful wife and awesome in-laws who were there to support me. My wife was more worried and nervous than I was LOL.

But I did get really worried after the nurse gave me the IV and said my blood was very thin so it made me worry about excess bleeding because I have been taking supplements for my workout regiment, but I stopped a week before surgery. I told the Dr. everything I took at that point before surgery so he was aware but he said it was ok and my lab results came back fine.

After the surgery, he said I did bleed more than expected due to some of the blood vessels but he took extra precautions and the surgery went great.

As I expected, my right tonsil was my chronic problem. I would pick at it because of food getting stuck and it would bleed. The Dr. said there was alot of debris and reason for the infections. My left tonsil was never a problem.

So, I went home 1 hour after surgery with no pain and I still have not experienced any bit of pain. I could talk and drink and just soft foods but I'm still being very cautious because I don't want to aggravate anything!

My right tonsil is just a little sore just like it usually was but I can't even tell my left one was taken out. I'm wondering if and when the pain is going to kick in but not looking forward to it.

So far no pain and I don't regret it yet! LOL.. Even if it gets worse...The Dr. told me I definitely needed it and will be much happier without them!

Ok, I just had my tonsils out yesterday and after a not so wonderful reaction to the anesthesia- I am doing better today. I have honestly probably had 8 or 9 glasses of ice cold water since yesterday and it's really the only thing I can hold down. I tried a jello but it was a little much for me, and the applesauce was okay- but I only had a little. Icee pops are probably the best thing that could have ever been invented at this point in my life! As for the pain, my doctor is awesome- she gave me liquid coadine and also a medicine (tastes like c**p but who cares) that is a thick pain killer- you gargle for a minute then swallow and its coats the throat in the meds! Then obv amoxicillin which tastes delish! So all in all it's pretty okay, it's just something you have to deal with. No biggie, but def. follow your Dr.'s orders! Mine told me not to even try solid food for 72-96 hours which I probably won't even try this week to be honest since I had my adenoids out too =(... but I hear it gets worse, so this cheery post could still be the anesthesia talking!!! :-D

i'm 23. i had my tonsils out 5 days ago (2-17-09) and i am in horrible pain every time i swallow. can't eat anything solid and even hurts to drink liquids. i'm on lortab and if it wasn't for it i think i'd die. the 2 and 3 day after surgery was great then it went to hell on the 4 day when i figured things would get better. i feel like my throat is swelling shut. yesterday it hurt so bad i didnt eat and ended up fainting that night. i am calling the dr first thing tomorrow and seeing what is wrong!!!!!!!!!

I am 26 years old and am 4 days post tonsillectomy. The reason for mine was a small growth called a papilloma on my left tonsil. The ENT decided he wanted to do a full tonsillectomy and I agreed. I, being a respiratory therapist, was most worried about being intubated for the procedure. The whole surgery went fine. I didn't even remember being intubated. After I woke up, I asked for ice chips and even asked the nurse why I wasn't hurting so bad. I really wasn't hurting as bad as I expected. They sent me home with Liquid Lortab and Liquid Amoxicillin. I was to take the Lortab every 3-4 hours 2 teaspoons. I did. The first night I managed to eat some soup and mashed potatoes. The second was about the same. The third day was by far the worst so far! I felt like death all day. I took my Lortab every 3-4 hours like I was supposed to... Only I decreased my dose to 1 teaspoon because I felt it was making me nauseated. That night I was severely nauseated, had a horrible migraine, and was in so much pain that all I could do was lay on the couch and moan out in pain. I couldn't move, I hurt so bad. I hadn't eaten anything all day. So of course the only thing in my stomach was the medication, which is not good. But I was so nauseated I couldn't bring myself to eat. I tried and tried. Finally, I started dry heaving and then after that vomiting. I told my husband to call the doctor. He did and they called in a prescription for suppositories. My mom and I decided I wasn't taking the Lortab anymore. I'm not a big medication taker to begin with... I think it was way too much and just caused me to be real dopey and nauseated. I started taking Children's Tylenol and it helped a little. By the very next night, I felt 110% better than the previous night. I am now taking Aleve Liquid Gels. THANK GOD FOR THOSE!!! They help with the pain so much! I'm still not back to my normal strength and I do still experience times where I'm in a moderate amount of pain. But not as much as when I was taking the Lortab. The Lortab really didn't touch the pain at all... and it taste like c**p, which added to the nausea. All it really did was dope me up. I read through my post op paperwork again and saw where it said not to gargle or use mouth wash. I don't know why I can't... But I have been. And my throat has felt better each time afterward. Since I have read that, I stopped gargling until I can ask my ENT. But I feel like I want to keep it clean back there and thought that would work.
Tonight is the first night I've really experienced ear pain. It mostly hurts when I swallow. I just increased my dosage of Aleve Liquid Gels from 1 220mg pill every 4-6 hours to 2 220mg pills every 8-12 hours (and I take them WITH food!) And I started researching and found this website. I saw where another post said the nerve in the back of the throat runs through the ear. That makes sense. I have a post op appointment in 2 days and will ask my ENT to make sure.
From the start I was worried about taking narcotics after the surgery. My ENT said he wasn't worried about it. He never told me what I should take in case the narcotic made me sick or didn't work. Everyone is different... I can tell you the Aleve is working for me and the Children's Liquid Tylenol worked too.

hi i just had my tonsils taken out i am on day 5 and the pain is stil really bad. I usually can deal with pain pretty good. This is a pretty bad pain its not so much that its bad pain its just constant. Ice pops, water, runny mac and cheese, buttery noodles, and more fluids are good. My throat looks awful its solid white in the back. idk how long it is going to take. If any body knows i would really like some help. hope you guys get to feeling better good luck. XD
p.s. im 13

I just had my tonsils and adenoids taken out last Monday. I went to the doctor today for my post-op appt and he said everything looks good. My jaw is still stiff and really hurts but I also have tmj so that doesn't make for too much fun. Did anyone else experience gum or tooth pain in the very back of their mouth. My throat hardly hurts anymore but the gum/teeth pain really hurts. And I still have ear pain. I hope it all goes away soon.

Well I'm 18 and had my tonsils removed (also the adenoids and even had nasal reconstruction all at the same time) on the 12th of March 09. Which makes today, day 8 or 9. I was fine the for like 8 hours after surgery, then I started throwing up every hour on the hour. This lasted for 27 hours until my mom called my ENT and woke him up after midnight. Then days 3-5 were fine, until I just wasn't able to eat anything at all. I've only had 3 servings of mac and cheese, a bowl of sherbert, 3 fruit popsicles, and 6 sips of tomatoe soup. It's been 9 days, so I'm very weak and tired and sick of the hunger pains. I also haven't deficated since the day before my surgery (i'm not so sure this is a good thing since I've never seen it mentioned). I am also suffering from a DISGUSTING taste in the back of my mouth everytime I swallow or drink my water. There is a lot of discoloration going on as well. I'm very low on pain medication and my doctor decided not to prescribe anymore. I'm worried about not being able to eat anything properly. I've read my share of horror stories and I'm afraid when the scabs start coming off, I will have extreme unbearable pain seeing as my pain meds are almost gone. If anyone has any advice, I'd appreciate any.

I am day 8 of post surgery,
My ears still hurt, one more then the other
I am still on antibotics and I have only been taking tylonal for pain ( fast release ) it numbs and helps me sleep
I find drinking oxo chicken broth ( Luke warm ) helps sooth the throat for about an hour or so enough so that I can eat something mushy ( perogies, mashed potatoes, french toast ext. )
Not only is the oxo helping easy the pain... to the point I forget about it
It has SOME... very little but some nutrients so I don't feel so dead at the end of the day
Because I am drinking the broth and paring it with my pain killers I've been working about 4 days now, so I didn't have much of a set back, though the pain is still there

It also seems that I cant eat anything to cold... ice cream is out of the question and popsicles are getting to be to much, even ice what seems to constrict my throat

I keep waiting for it to go away and slowly but surely it is, but this is redunkulious.
I had them lazered out, in the proses the nicked my tongue and little dangley thing so swallowing become extra "fun" and me being stubborn decided to eat a hot dog on day 2 which set me back... so lesson of it all is slow and steady wins the race

I'm 22 and got my tonsils out early last Monday morning. It is now early Sunday morning. I am not going to lie or sugar coat this procedure...it is absolutely miserable. So miserable in fact that I would not wish this on my worst enemy. Maybe it is due to the fact that I love eating and haven't eaten a morsel of solid food for almost 7 days. All I know this better be well worth it. If you have to get it done because of sleep apnea (which is why I got it) then by all means get it done, but just be prepared for the longest, most miserable 10 days of your life.

MY TONGUE IS KILLING ME TOOO!!! what the heck