Post Tonsillectomy pain

Dont Worry !!! You'll be fine around day 8 if your recovery is anything like mine !!.. I'm hoping your recovery goes smoothly.

As for food. Apple Sauce, Popsicles, Sherbert, Ice Cream (even though it builds up a lot of mucous), mashed potatoes, mac & cheese boiled to the maxxxxxx, Ramen Noodles (bang the bag around a little so the noodles break and get small).make sure you wait until the soup is warm not hott!!.. and plentyyyyy of fluids...cold water and gatorade got me by even though it was soo hard to swallow. Also, if you like oatmeal that would help. On top 6-7 my mom suggested Rice Krispy cereal in a lot of milk.. wait till it gets mushy. Basically anything that goes down smoothly works..

Wish you the best of luck !! and if you need anyone to talk 2 I'm here for ya =]. I'm on day 9 post op. ! and feeling much better ! yay!! My throat hurts on the left side when I swallow but it's getting there.

God Bless you and Good Luck !! :-D

Hey I totally agree with what JNELL said! Some other foods I liked were soft cakes with custard, any cereal that has been soaked in milk for a few mins (cereal will give you fibre if you're constipated from the meds), sandwiches with peanut butter/honey/jam/cream cheese.

I'm also on day 9 and I'm feeling waay better today than yesterday. I threw up twice from the meds! Today it still hurts a little when I eat but to be honest, the pain is not as bad as feeling nauseous all the time so I'm trying to cut back on the meds.

I think there are a few key things to how you will do post-tonsillectomy. (1) If you are sick or not going into the operation (2) What pain meds they give you (3) How you react to the pain meds.

These really make or break your recovery. It seems like everyone that has a rough time were either sick, had weak meds, and/or did not have a good reaction to the meds.

Just to put some hope out there, I read these boards prior to my operation and it created alot of anxiety. I was not sick when I had the operation, was put on a vicodine mix, and reacted perfectly to the meds. Aside from just the discomfort of swallowing and eating, I was in la la land all day and had a week vacation. I was off the meds and eating normally in about 10-12 days. Good luck!

Hello,

My wife just had her tonsillectomy 4 days ago and it has been the worst experience of her Life (and mine). We were in the ER last night as she hasn't been able to urniate or have a bowel movement since the surgery. They gave her some meds in the ER but that did not help her pain. They inserted a catheter and sent her home with it. The ER doctor said she would have to have it on for about 3 days, then she would need to see our doctor. This surgery has been about the worst Ive ever seen. Her uvula is so swollen, she cannot hardly eat or drink, although she has to drink. They pain my wife has been through cannot be described. The pain meds they give you dont even work, not even the morphine that was given in the ER. I don't think we were ever prepared for something like this. For someone considering this surgery, you will need to really prepare and take time off! It has been a week from HELL!

hey guys,
dont worry its not just you guys that are going through this. I am a teenager 18, and i just got my tonsils taken out and the pain is more intense than i ever thought it would be. And it seems like no medicine helps. I bascially just force myself to drink water and stuff.. and hopefully it will get better sometime soon

I am on day 5 if you count day of surgery which was April 4. The right side of my throat hurts the worst. It feels like there are things hanging down and its gross. Am I almost through this?????

I'm day 4 post-tonsillectomy and the pain really kicked in today. All I've been prescribed is soluable Solpadine (500mg paracetamol/30mg coedine mix) which I have to take every 4hrs. Problem is they only keep the pain at a bearable level for two hours tops. Surgeon also gave me 2nd degree burns to the side of my tongue and cheeks cos the diathermy wasn't properly insulated. I can't do anything and atm, when I eat I can't taste anything either. Has this happened to anybody else? Can anyone tell me when things might start to look up? By the looks of things I'm in for an upward struggle for the next 6days at least. Not sure I can cope with that...

I am a medical student second year transitioning to 3 year in 2 months, so I thought a tonsillectomy would be great, no more aching sore throats many times a year, or waking up with sore throats, or getting that nasty exudative type of psudo-processed food (tonsilliths) stuck in my throat,,,,, What a horrible idea. I am 28 and male so I naturally thought I was not going to experience that much pain, 1 hour post op vomitted. Well, I refuse to take anything but tyelonl becuase I feel that the pain meds make you sleep, leading to longer time drying your throat, leading to waking up with pleasant sensation of dining on glass and razors. day 1-3 was not bad, although pain was about a 6 and eating was not happening. I ate so many popsicles and ensure and gatorade and water. 4-5 by far was the worst pain (7-9), and had i known about these days, I may have not gone through the surgery, actually had I read some of these stories prior to surgery I may have not endured this pain-staking ordeal. On day 6 I said forget it, I am hungry and so my girlfriend went to taco bell and purchased 3 bean burritos. I managed to eat 1 but the pain and "graininess" of the food was still unbearable. day 7 has been marked with normal dreams, thank god as I know dreaming is what makes you wake up fresher, unfortunately I sleep for 1.45 hours at a time much better than the 30 minutes at a time i was getting for the first 5 days. My scabs are starting to come off and in a way I am happy but the taste is nasty and I have to scrape my tongue at least 4 times a day. Just make sure to take your Antibiotics, I was prescribed levaquin 500mg once a day. Any adults thinking of this tonsillectomy thing, don't be fooled about coblation, I guess the point is that bleeding is less but it still hurts like a ...... As of right now I wish I never did this but I haven't had post-op bleeding so I am still happy about that.
Expect:
to take off at least 10 days off from work or school as an adult,
to be in some serious pain, only to get worse post, op and then get better
to live off of popsicles, gatorade, ICE WATER, pain meds,
to think of the most peaceful and relaxing sleep.. THEN take the complete opposite of it
to wish you never had done this surgery

Other than that I am doing ok trying to prevent post op bleeding by really drinking cold water--> vasoconstriction of arteries back there and thus shunting blood away.

Good luck, these forums have kept me going during my "sleep" time
-Miserable Med student in NY

im an 18 year old female, got my tonsils out 6th march, 5 days before my birthday. got warned it was very sore but the first day i thought gee its sore but its not that bad and i ate 2 slices of toast that night, got out the next day. well 4 days after the op THEE WORST PAIN EVER!!!!!!! i was howling in pain, couldnt even swallow my painkillers wich i chopped down to the size of a grain of sand (wel not quite!!) cannot even describe how sore it was. by the way that night i had really light bleeding mixed in with my saliva that night, got me worried, as i had read about people bleeding to death, but i looked it up and only like 2% of people get severe bleeding so i thought itl never happen to me.
well.... went to my bed after the crappest 18th birthday ever woke up 4.45am blood POURING out my mouth, my heart was racing, i woke up my auntie n through the gargling of the blood told her to phone an ambulance. the blood was like a tap had been switched on it was flowing out. i ran downstairs again in a panic not knowing what the hell to do while the ambulance was comming, honestly thought i was gunna die. next thing i know i woke up in the ward with a bag of blood going into me. i had passed out from the blood loss, they recon i lossed around 2 pints. they kept me in for 3 days, gargling on this stuff n amazingly it gradually stopped, i had a huge blood clott stuck in my throat for a good 6 hours though.
almost 2 months later, coughing still hurts, yawning too but im soooooooooo glad its over, and good luck for anybody about to get them out ill be honest it aint easy!!!

Hi everyone, I'm right there with you. Had the T&A surgery on the 23rd so today is day 6. Have really had it pretty easy I thought, even though i have put my my mom, son and ex-husband through a lot of trouble helping me and my co-workers are having a terrible time too. Today I finally decided- who cares and got my leave extended.

I've started getting the thick mucous today and was trying to taper too quickly off the hydrocodone and realized I'm getting dehydrated and the worst feeling since waking up from surgery. I'm back on the narcotic cloud, drinking water, gatorade, sucking on ice chips, stuffing ziplock bags full of ice in a sock tied around my neck- whatever it takes. Best I have had with the constipation issue is buying "All Bran Extra Fiber" cereal- pour 1.5 c boiling water over 1.5 c. of the cereal and let turn to mush. I also add some chocolate or vanilla Ensure for flavor and have been having it since day 3. I actually have to stop having it so much because I'm too regular now.

Anyone else out there?? Please reply back. I'm a little lonely!! I love reading everyone's posts.

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!!!

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

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?

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.

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!