Tonsil Stones - My Tonsillectomy *21 Days After*

to the person getting them out on August 14th, it WILL be rough, BUT as long as you drink a lot of cold liquids, avoid dairy, and get plenty of rest it should make it a lot easier. I(18) had mine removed July 30th and honestly I went in thinking it was all a big joke. I thought that I would be healed by the second or third day, and didn't take any of it seriously. I thought that since I have already been through so much pain with previous kidney stones, appendix attacks,  that it would be nothing. BOY WAS I WRONG.
I'm on my 7th day, and the scabs have just now started to come off. as of right now, I'm not in hardly any throat pain, but I highly doubt it will last....and the pain will come back. I think I'm doing so horrible and than I look at everyone else and their stories and think ''gosh, mine isn't so bad after all!'' I haven't had any nausea or vomiting, something that apparently many people deal with. I will pray for you a good and speedy recovery! :-)

I am a 28 year old female, had tonsilectomy on monday, If i had read all of these posts i find on the internet before hand i probably wouldnt have gone through with it, i was scared enough as was. Maybe due to a lot of these stories people do not wish to rub it in that sometimes its not textbook horror. I am so confused by all the horror stories and so anxious that something is going to go badly wrong, I dont have a high pain threshhold and went through childbirth once only and vowed never to again.... so here is my tonsil story, doesnt really matter why i had them out fact is i did as an adult.  I woke in theatre and coughed a bit i assume from irritation of the tube that had been removed, coughed up a little blood but nothing major and even told the surgeons off for waking me telling them "i was dreaming" then the pain hit...... yes was really bad cant even put it on a scale, but within minutes i was in a recovery room being given morphine and something else through the cannula, what may have felt like a lifetime of burning agony probably only lasted 5 minutes and i kept reminding myself it could be worse.... at least this is being dealt with. i was shivering cold and had a headache but i was relieved at least i was awake. i had done it! 10 minutes in i gargled some water then gently sipped the rest and after all the morphine had been given i was monitored for 20 minutes before being sent to ward.  I slept a little and snored a lot, between 2pm (post op and recovery) and 8pm discharged, I didnt drink a lot of water just sipped when i felt thirsty. about 6pm was given a dry turkey sandwich to eat and boy did it feel good, it was slow going and small bites but gave such relief, i got dressed and i went to the toilet and was told in my notes it said i could go home , but my pain killers werent ready so they didnt want me to go, well my mum visited at 7 and by 8 i was sent home with 4xsoluble solpadol, 2 for the evening and 2 for the morning, i dont like soluble tablets at best of times but thought hey why not, and within the hour i was 8 like a light sleeping like a baby,.... until about 6am i awoke in a lot of pain, not eye watering pain though and really probably only a 6 i dissolved the solpadol to get down me, but met another problem, there was a thick syrup like saliva coating everything in my mouth and i was coughing all sorts of thick and bloody phlegm up but nothing to worry up, i gargled and spat out the saliva until i thought it would be possible to swallow the pain relief. by which point it was 8:25am and i took it soo slow probably was only about 3oz of water and dissolved painkiller, and it took some real courage to keep going with it but i knew i had to and 10 minutes later it was all down me, i went back up to bed and put a tyrozet lozenge in my mouth and fell asleep for a bit, I wasnt too fussed about drinking i just thought i will when it feels i can, and so a little later when pain relief had kicked in i sipped slowly, the hardest thing was learning to swallow differently and without sending it up my nose i only took small slow sips and didnt worry about it at all if i didnt feel thirsty i didnt drink and room temperature only couldnt be bothered with iced anything. Oh i forgot to mention the night before i ate a bag of crisps too.
so back to day 2 around 10:30 my mum came back from the hospital with my proper pain meds which was Kapake and diclofenaac or dicloflex, the kapake was to be taken every 4-6 hours as required and i set alarms for every 4 hours to take required or not! the dicloflex was 8 hourly so i took one straight away and wow did i sleep, only half hour before the kapake aka cocodamol was due a dull ache started setting into my jaw so took a little earlier as and when required ;) that evening i ate a small roast dinner and hat felt good too, day 3 i was expecting hurrendous pain but i woke in the morning and felt great, the only pain i had was moving muscles too much like when you try using your tongue to get something from teeth, i chose that morning to eat a banana while i could and to keep on top of meds i still slept as much as i could, i think rest has been key, day 4 was pretty similar to day 3 very little pain, maybe a bit more before going to bed but both id rate no more than a 2/10 10 being the worst, day for i even left an extra hour or so between taking painkillers and still felt no pain, i still took the painkiller though as it reduces swelling etc, so i am just past day 5 pain is probably just a constant 1 ive eaten all sorts of foods today and drank a lot of milk YES DAIRY :o oh yeh not so good in early stages i think day 2 i had a bowl of frosties and the mucus thickened and day 3 i attempted yoghurt to soothe my tongue, it just got stuck and made me look like i had cotton mouth at its worst, which also reminds me day 2 my tongue was pretty dry but didnt want to drink so just rubbed water as and when required to effected areas  (you can rehydrate without having to swallow) I have found relief in the mornings with zero pain and builds to a 1 or 2 through the day, oh funny thing this morning i got a kapake lodged in the side of throat, it did not taste good and tried gargling before dislodging it with finger instead and although it meant i had missed a tablet it was amazingly numb compared to the other so i figured crushing up and gargling with them could be a good thing if you can stand the taste, I have had a cough through this whole thing too but it doesnt hurt and it doesnt scare me i just get on with it and have adapted to cough the easiest way, today i have eaten chips and bolognese with plenty salt and vinegar, cheese and onion crisps, ice cream, yesterday i had pasta twirls with cheese tuna mayo and cherry tomatoes, the night before i qhad jacket potato with cheese, tuna and mayo and cherry tomatoes, it wasnt easy but i took my time, oh this morning i had jaffa cakes and loads of milk too was sooo nice but really fancied a curry, and everything i have eaten i have actually had cravings for so i guess its my body telling me what to have, even tonight i had some cockles doused in malt vinegar couldnt resist the craving further, i am hoping it has broken down the "scabs" in my throat but a never know, i have aalso eaten some gorgeous chocolates someone sent me oh how soothing they were, got me to thinking how id love some chocolate spread or praline right now to just coat my throat as it goes down then washed down with nice cool milk, anyway from day 2 it has been onwards and upwards and touch wood it will carry on, im going to stop worrying about the comments of scabs coming away and clots and bleeding and pain, if it happens it happens but everything i have eaten / done so far has contradicted what those with horror stories have done and im doing ok. looking forward to getting into day 6 i have a feeling these "scabs" are just healing/reducing with each day and although theyre uncomfortable they will go at there own pace and im not worried about clumps coming away or falling off i think as long as i stay hydrated and allow the rough foods to keep cleansing them they will shrink and heal like most other scabs i could be wrong but just going to follow what m own body tells me and ignore all the horror on here, everyone is different and i still have a way to go with recovery but one thing that is common is how worth it it is so for anyone worried, dont be just go with yourself stay strong and good luck

This is exactly what I needed. Thanks for sharing. I will have my tonsils out on 9/11 related to tonsil stones. I was having 2nd thoughts because my dentist, who also gets tonsil stones, said she will not have a tonsillectomy because they are a first defense system for our immune system. Even as I write this, I am having 2nd thoughts, but it would be nice to get rid of tonsil stones forever. Okay, I am still confused.

THANK YOU!!!!!!! I AM PLANNING TO HAVE MY TONSILS OUT FOR THE SAME REASONS. I AM 47 YR OLD AND I AM TIRE OF ALL THE ABOUT THINGS YOU MENTIONED. THANK YOU AGAIN FOR THE SUPPORT. LOVE YA JODI

i have had a really good experience, nothing like the horror stories on here, if you have any questions feel free to email me _[removed]_

im not sure how this forum works had an email saying someone had posted, so maybe it was a reply to mine, lol well im now on day 15 and couldnt be feeling better really, i think i must havee done everything right to get well asap which was basically ignoring a lot of the advice off these horror stories, i tried ice cream on day 8 oh that hurt, actually anything cold hurt especially the nerves to ears, and i stayed in for 2 whole weeks as boring as it was it kept me well, didnt pick up any infections and didnt do too much, slept a lot and took a lot of pain killers, my only real problems were bleeding gums while brushing from cocodamol, and stopped taking all pain killers day 8 as it was more discomfort than pain as the "scabs" came away on day 6 with a slight pain increase and self up on the medication dose to handle it better, so now its just the codeine withdrawal i have to deal with and its not so bad just been finding it hard to sleep, if you wanna ask anything feel free here or email _[removed]_ all the best

Hi I'm a 16 year old girl and I have tonsil balls too. Also the crease in my tonsils (not sure if everyone has these) are full off the same gunk. Its disgusting when you pull it back.
Doctors have dismissed me and told me to gargle but they can't see behind my tonsils like I can with a torch, mirror and lolly stick.
I am seriously considering tonsillectomy but all the pain is putting me off, I have a horribly low pain threshold and I moan at any pain.
I just want to get it gone and sorted. Its so stressful. I've literally just cleaned them out and I was crying and gagging everywhere.
Please could someone advise me as what to do!
Thank youuuxxx

Beth only your doctors know best really if you're not happy with what they have said, see another and tell them how you feel, sometimes gargling is a way to clear things but if its persistent then clearly you need more, try getting some "tyrozets" from chemist to help you with flare ups. And go back to the doctors every time and keep a diary yourself, a tonsilectomy does seem incredibly scary, and yes it does hurt but take pain killers properly and follow good advice it is fine, and worth it, I'm day 19 now and apart from itchy ears I'm all cleared up and so glad its all done,

you are soo right about the taste of rotting milk staying... and it is gross!

OMG! I am so thankfull for the 18 yr old male who originally posted this.. I'm only 21 and I started with this problem when I was 17. I cant stress enough how long Ive been looking to find a blog that answers my questions. I've been wanting to get a tonsillectomy for ever now ever since I diagnosed myself with tonsil stones (reason I say that) is because I once mentioned to my doctor when I first started getting tonsil stones (4 years ago)  I spit out this discusting little thing that tasted ans smelled so gross and my doctor said I had "adult allergies" she never told me what those things were she just said it was food and phlegm that caused this but never said they were tosil stones and gave me a nasal spray called "flaticausone'  (if I'm not misspelling it) until I googled and came across the actual name and forums that expalained what they were. I was so happy when I found out what they were  because in the beginning I thought something was terribly wrong with me then I thought If I know what it is I can then get rid of it NOOO WAY! These things just caused me bad breath something I've never had problems with... I tried everything from toothpaste to mouthwash tongue cleaners. Brushing my teeth more than 6 times a day to gargling salt water, even gum and mints dont really help. They only help for a little then the taste and smell is back. So basically nothing helps so I cam to the conclusion a tonsillectomy can only cure my discusting problem. Its not cool when youre boyfriend tells you youre breath smells like c**p and theres not much you can do about it. I plan on having a tonsillectomy as soon as I can except I have a 2 month old baby and I dont know that I could take care of him and deal with surgery let alone the healing process since it sounds pretty painful and my son needs me I cant afford to be in bed all day for 2 weeks. It really sounds like a tonsillectomy was the best decisicion for everyone in this forum so Im looking forward to mine not so much the pain but hey whatever gets rid of this problem will make me happy!

Guest! I just want to say that I wish I had read your' post before I had my surgery. It is the most blatant and to the point post I've read so far and the closest to my experience. I just graduated from Michigan State University and I am 23 years old. I had horrible tonsil stones since my teens but I did what you had done and just managed them as best as possible. Suffice to say, I WAS SICK OF IT. So I scheduled an appointment with my ENT specialist and she signed me up for surgery a week later... I didn't really look into it beforehand and I had had multiple surgeries before and figured I was used to recovery.... boy was I WRONG. I cannot convey how hell'ish this recovery was, and little the medical team did to prepare me for it. I won't say much else aside from how horrible the first 4 days were, I was accidentally be double dosed with my pain meds and it left me hugging the toilet for days. I decided the 5th days to give up the pain meds and quit them cold turkey. That night left me hallucinating and in the bathroom until 6 am. I would not wish this recovery upon my enemies. But after that it was so much better now it only hurts when I swallow and right now I'm terrified because it is day 6 (not including the day of operation.) I have a question for you though. How did your' scabs fall off? mine are int he process right now but i'm terrified I will break them off early and need to get my clots re-cauterized.
-Hope to hear from you soon!

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Hi I'm 20 and on day 8 post op and I am in so much pain. it is like being stabbed in the throat with knives. I can't eat anything but have found that warm drinks and chewing gum are the only things that do not cause me to be in agony.

the surgery day for me was actually ok. I had my surgery at 2pm, woke up st half 4 and was given extra morphine. I was walking around the hospital corridors pain free. by 6pm I was given toast. it was a struggle to eat even half a slice (took me 2 hours) so I was given more morphine. I felt fine and by 9 I was eating a sandwich. Then came 12am I was in agony. I had maxed out my medication so the nurses couldn't give me more. I cried all night until I finally fell asleep at 6am.

I woke up at 8am in agony. unfortunately for me I was put on codiene. it had no effect what so ever. I cried for hours until I was discharged at 4pm. I had another bad night without sleep.

for the next 2 days my pain level went down. I was on codiene 4 times a day and was able to eat toast with a little discomfort. I had no anti inflammatories as I am allergic to them. was able to eat ice cream, sandwiches, toast you name it.

day 5 post op I still had a lot of swelling and a lot of scabs at the back of my throat. I drank a glass of coke and suddenly all the scabs had disappeared??? pain level was not too bad I couldn't eat toast anymore but mashed potatoes was fine.

Day 6 - again agony in the morning but once I had pain meds I was ok. still was eating soft foods. trying to eat toast every now and again. Pain was a 5.

day 7 - woke up to pain I had experienced the night after the surgery. cannot drink room temp water with being in agony and eating soft foods, even mashed potatoes or soup is a nightmare. all I have done is drink warm drinks and chew chewing gum. that seems to be the only relief I can get. getting a full nights sleep seems impossible.

day 8 - pain level is a 10. again I cannot eat anything without being in agony. the doctor will not give me any strong medication. I am so hungry :( there are very little scabs on my throat apart from a few white patches. any scabs I cough up taste disgusting. Very nauseous but I think that's from the meds.

over the past few days I have had a little bleeding. mainly whenever I try to eat something. at this point I really regret getting the surgery done but I know it will be worth it once I am fully healed.

I just wish the pain will end soon so I can go back to normal :( although it seems it will take weeks not 10 days like the doctor said :(

keep at trying to eat it may hurt but you need to keep those muscles going, it hurts more when you havent done that, but it sounds like you are over the worst, it is a very depressing time getting to this point /i had mine out august 20th this year was discharged to go home a few hours later basically to deal with everything on my own, it wasnt easy but i got through it and you will to, stay with as much room temp water as you can and get to the chemist or ask someone else to bring you some tyrozets, they really do help for a long time after and in between pain meds . try and brush teeth 3 times a day too its awkward but helps the muscles but believe me you will be thankful you did because when you finally do feel a whole lot better and try and sort routine out yawning is the worst, as everything needs to stretch and readjust. but its manageable considering its not a patch on previous pain experiences

Hi there, I know it has been a while since you posted this, but i would really appreciate it if you replied to me. I have the same problem you did and lets just say that my social life has truly been hindered. I, too, have tried every mouthwash, toothbrush, toothpaste, tongue scraper out there. I also bought the nasal irrigation system. All of these products, however, proved to me minimally effective and so now i am still stuck with my problem and facing the possibility of going through depression. So, my first question is, did the relief of bad breath you experienced several weeks after the tonsillectomy continue even in the long run, meaning years after the surgery? Is it indeed an effective permanent treatment or short lived? Also, I feel that doctors only take out tonsils if they repeatedly get infected, I don't have that, and i live in Canada, so I am guessing not many doctors will be willing to take them out. I would appreciate if you can give me some more feedback about your encounter with the doctors and how receptive they were to the possibility of surgery. Is it enough to tell a doctor that i have tonsil stones and therefore I want my tonsils out? Can they refuse treatment? Any feedback will be very much appreciated

I'm currently a 22 year old senior sorority girl in college, and I'm on day 14 of post-tonsilectomy. I wish I saw this post before my surgery. This is the EXACT same thing that happened to me, minus the vomming, but plus a lot of tonsilitis before the surgery.

After my surgery, my surgeon also said tha he was shocked with how big my tonsils were, and he said he pulled out a tonsil stone the size of an orbit hard piece of gum (mind you, I'm only 5'1", so my tonsils should not have been building up stones that size). They had to cut so much of my throat out that they had to cauterize it to stop the bleeding and help fight against infection.

During recovery, the pain really doesn't hit you until day 3. Day 4 & 5 are like hell. There were 2 things that were the absolute WORST.
1. My entire body hurt. Not just my throat. When my anesthesiologist called to check up on me day 4, he said that because the anesthesia completely knocks out your whole body for about an hour, your muscles get so sore and stiff once the drugs are out of your system. I was not prepared for that kind of pain. It hurt so bad I just stayed still on the couch for 48 hours.
2. You're always hungry, and you can't eat. It's the most mentally draining thing that happens. Your stomach rumbles and begs for food, which you have all around you, but you can't swallow anything except applesauce and soup broth. It SUCKED! And then you start to notice how many commercials are advertising food, and that sucks worse.

Now that I'm 2 weeks out, my throat doesn't hurt very much. I'm starting to eat normally again, but still avoiding chips, hard stuff, soda and alcohol (it thins your blood). But I definitely have to agree with you, my breath even with the scabs is nowhere near as bad as it was with the stones. I can't wait until I'm fully healed and don't have to stick q-tips in the back to pop them out anymore!!