To expect my tonsillectomy to be the most painful thing EVER?

[Goodbyetonsils]

Have posted on a few other boards about my nerves over my tonsillectomy- which was due to go ahead last Friday but has been moved to this Thursday. I have read hundreds of horror stories, "3rd most painful operation recovery as an adult" "I beg of you if you're over 18 don't get them out" "more painful than giving birth to 3 babies and a hysterectomy".

I am now in full panic mode, I have had a baby and my body surprised me by giving me a relatively painless birth so I was incredibly fortunate. I have, however had a paper cut in my eye which was by far the most painful thing I've ever been through! AIBU to think this is going to be the worst pain ever?! I know people say children have it so can't be that bad but as a child apparently their nerves aren't fully developed and it's much tougher for an adult. I'm terrified!

I got mine out when I was 21....3 days before my wedding! (Wtf was I thinking!?). But, like keth I was permanently feeling ill and having cold-like symptoms for months. I felt like the first 2 days were not fun, but manageable with frozen things. When day 3 hit, it was unbelievable. That's when the scabs start falling off and even thinking about swallowing was agony. Let's just say that I did not get to enjoy my reception dinner but man the painkillers were great .

Ah GBT - I haven't had them out meself, but have nursed people having them done in hosp, so my experience is coloured by the immediate care aspect.

Firstly re: the post op vomiting - do let your anaesthetist know - these days post op nausea and vomiting seems so much less common (I did surgery as part of my back to nursing course a year ago - so I was armed with vomit bowl etc - to find only two people out of the hundred or so I nursed were actually sick!) control of post op vomiting is so much better. It was quite common when I was nursing in the early 90's but far much less so now.

I never nursed anyone after this op, who woke up in recovery, or came back to the ward in pain - they were off their face (a clinical term) and when you get back to the ward, you will be prescribed loads of pain-relief - don't be a stoic - take em - you will be prescribed regular pain relief as a base, (they will come round with the trolley to give it to you) but you will also be prescribed 'as needed' different pain relief as a top up, cos sometimes, you may get pain inbetween times, or what you are having isn't quite enough. (like last thing at night, the first night you have the op, to help you settle)

Sometimes the pain killers, if codeine based, can make you feel queasy. when in hospital- if you feel queasy, ask for an anti-sickness tablet (or if you are really queasy, they can give it I.V, or an injection in your bottom- if that helps (and they usually do) ask for some anti-sickness tablets to take home along with your painkillers, if they are codeine based. A lot of people are fine with them, but some people are sensitive to this.

And - yeah! crunchy eats to get the slough off! you will be fine!

My issue with pills/medication when I feel sick if I try to swallow a capsule/drink medicine it makes me sick! The feeling of swallowing a capsule and taste of liquid medicine immediately make me vomit... psychological I think. The only thing I can think of to overcome this is mushing pills up in a chocolate yoghurt?

I had hypermesis when pregnant and the injections in my arse were amazing lol, but obviously when I get home I won't be able to get them...

I've read this thread with interest as I'm on the waiting list to have my tonsils out. I can't say I'm looking forward to it, but hopefully it will mean less sore throats. I'm on my third bout of tonsillitis since august and pretty fed up with it.

I also have pretty bad psoriasis. Someone has said this should clear up once I've had my tonsils removed. Has anyone else found this to be true? Or should I not get my hopes up?

Good luck for thurs Goodbye, I'm sure the pain will be worth it in the long run.

It hurts but it's worth it. I had mine out when I was 20 after squillions of throat infections. The morphine in the hospital helped a lot! (I didn't get made to eat toast...)
It's definitely not anywhere near as bad as my EMCS pain was!
On the plus side I lost a stone in 5 days after the op because I could only take in fluids. (Sadly thereafter I made up for it...!)
Try not to dwell on it - different people react differently and it depends on the state/size of your tonsils (mine were apparently quite long and went quite far down...). You need the op; you'll deal with and get over the pain.

I had mine out at 21; it was painful but like PP have said it was along the lines of a bad bout of tonsilitis (and I was given lovely painkillers to help). I went in one afternoon, had the op the next day and released the following morning.

There was an element of age shown in my recovery - I was still away with the fairies late afternoon of the day of my op but the 5 year old twins who had the op after me were causing hell on the ward with their running and playing .

The worst thing was being made to eat toast before being discharged which was hard work. I also drank pineapple juice too - the hospital said that I should avoid "soft" food and eat hard food like toast, cereal etc to stop the wound getting infected. They also advised citrussy fruit juice rather than milky tea or coffee for the same reason.

It was great, though, as I had tonsilitis every 6 weeks or so for a year and it was getting to the stage where antibiotics were taking longer to work so it felt really liberating to not go to the Drs for MONTHS afterwards!

Oh, and gargling with soluble paracetamol works brilliantly!

Good luck.

And just wanted to add - I was living alone at the time so went back to stay with my DM and DF after the op as they were concerned about me. Had the op on Wednesday, out Thursday then on the Saturday walked the mile or so back to my house as I was SO desperate to get back to my things (and away from fussy DM!) .

Felt knackered but it was fab to be in my own bed!

Aw goodbyetonsils I feel for you. I had mine out a couple of years ago in my late 30s and it really wasn't that bad. Make sure you have lots of painkillers afterwards. You may not want to swallow big tablets, so get the soluble type.

Get yourself some soft foods, otherwise you just end up not eating. I ate lots of advocado, banana, fruit purees, tuna mayo and jelly!

You need to be very watchful about post-op infections - particularly if you have tonsils that are normally infected. I had one a week post-op & haemorrhaged really badly (blue flashing lights & re-admitted back to hospital). Speak to your consultant about prophalactic anti-biotics to be taken post op to prevent this happening.

I was given soluble meds. Soluble paracetamol, and voltarol, which is soluble diclofenac, little purple pills of magic, they were amazing and made me pain free for 4 to 6 hours after each one. Try and get some if you can!

Oh & it was definitely the best thing I ever had done - despite the haemorrhage. My health improved immeasurably. I felt like a new woman. I hadn't realised how ill I had been with almost constant tonsillitus for about 5 years.
You'll be fine goodbyetonsils and you will be so glad you had the op.

I had mine out on my 18th birthday, I was the only one over the age of 12 having my tonsills out and was last to be taken down to theatre, I watched all the children go down and come back up wide awake and they were up and about within an hour, it took me 3 hours to even come round!

It didn't hurt at all for the first 2 days, thanks to the pain killers just felt like I was swallowing around a big ball.

Day 3 it felt like I was swallowing razor blades and was agony but by day 5 I felt fine and just had a slight sore throat for about a week.

I was quite sick after the op but generally am after a GA, I ate cornflakes and toast for the first couple of days but when the hospital painkillers had worn off I couldn't face them so stuck to soft food and found that ice lollies helped to soothe the pain.

My local hospital doesn't supply painkillers so I stocked up with solouble nurofen and paracetamol before hand.

To be honest I was in more pain when I had my wisdom teeth out last year so YANBU to be worried but YABU to think its the most painful thing ever.

I had mine out last January and it honestly wasn't as bad as the horror stories I read online. Get yourself a humidifier and use it every night. Wake up in the night to take pain killers and to drink water. Make sure you can get lots of rest. The first few days aren't too bad, the pain peaks after day five. Try to eat as normally as you can as quickly as poss (although still soft food) - things like mashed potato, scrambled eggs and take your painkillers and let them kick in before you eat. The difference the op made to my life far outweights the pain post op. Good luck you will be fine. After a month you will barely remember it - just a bit of a sore throat for a while x

I had mine out when I was 11. I recovered quite well and had pain for a week or two and lots of ice cream but I'll tell you on Friday what happened after having the op! I had a rough time of it thanks to shite surgeons!

Are you day case? On my unit we started doing tonsillectomy's as day case about 4 years ago. The minimum recovery period is 4 hours. So we would not discharge until at least 4 hours post op, and only if you had eaten toast, observations were fine etc. The first 48 hours you will feel tired and generally lethargic, due to the fact the GA can stay in your system for up to 48 hours, which is why you need someone with you for at least 24 hours, you should not drive, drink alcohol, take sleeping tablets, use a cooker/kettle etc etc for 48 hours.

Most people managed the oral painkillers fine, if we could give any on the ward, bearing in mind what you have had in surgery, but in general we would only give some soluble co codamol on the ward, very rare ppl needed more than that, occasionally we would have to get oramorph (liquid morphine) prescribed to give on the ward, but that is something we never sent them home with.

I never had to give im/iv morphine to a tonsillectomy patient (it had never been needed) but then we were day case and if you need im/iv morphine you are not going home that day. We also used to ring all GA patients after a few days to see how they were getting on. Again rarely had an issue, as long as they were taking the painkillers regularly as prescribed.

Mad I was given scrambled egg and advised not to eat toast. I did eat toast on around day four and it made my scab come off early and I had a bad bleed. I would stay away from the toast!

OP, also be prepared to be bunged up as the painkillers make you quite constipated. I got tramadol as well as codamol and they really helped.

On my ward you have to eat toast or they wont discharge you, there is a reason they say to eat "rough" foods.

After tonsillectomy you are left with an open wound, which fills with bacteria and slough which then leads to pain and inflammation. Rough foods debride this away from the healing site. It is more painful to eat rough foods such as toast or cornflakes but this results in fewer bacteria in the wound, hence quicker healing and recovery and less pain in between meals. The more traditional diet of ice cream and jelly, while feeling better to eat, results in a longer recovery and generally more pain in between meals. Rough foods actually reduces the chance of post op bleeding, as it is facilitating quicker healing.

So, yes eat rough food, while it is more painful while actually eating (and hence why you should try and take your pain relief about 30 minutes before a meal) it will lessen the pain in between meals and reduce the chance of post op complications such as infection and bleeding.

Also in general you want about 2 weeks off work, avoid smokers and those with cold/flu etc.

Why smokers? And that bit about open wound makes me feel sick! I am really, really starting to panic now as Thursday is so close. I am terrible with pain. A lady serving me in the canteen today took delight in telling me her awful experience as a 15 y/o tonsillectomy patient. Oh god is this really worth it?! The most annoying thing is I have just broken my record for longest amount of time tonsillitis free in a year, keep thinking maybe this is it... I've outgrown it!

Well, don't avoid smokers as such, just don't be standing right nest to them when they are smoking! It can increase the risk of bleeding.

I have looked after 4-5 post op tonsillectomy patients a week for about 4 years, I have only ever had to keep in maybe 2-3 in all that time as they were not well enough to go home. For uncontrolled pain or nausea or their temp being too high.

With regards to the wound, it is what it is, and one of the reason rough food is recommended, it will aid in healing and you will get over it so much quicker. They give you plenty of pain relief during the procedure, pretty much the full whack, morphine, diclofenac, pethidine etc..and they will send you home with plenty. Just make sure you take it before you eat, and even if you don't think you are in pain at that time. And drink plenty of fluids, not fizzy or fruit juices, but water, keep hydrated and keep your throat moist, hence why chewing gum is also good. It will be painful but use your painkillers and it will be bearable and after 1-2 weeks that is it...how long has your worst bout of tonsillitis lasted? And to suffer that again and again repeatedly, or, never suffer it again.

There is always someone who has had a terrible experience with anything, when you are pregnant you get the birth horror stories, you wait for a knee op you get the knee horror stories.

On the day you will be admitted by a nurse, seen the by surgeon and seen by the anaesthetist. explain to them how nervous you are, the surgeon can go through it all if you wish it as much or as little detail as you like, before you sign the consent form. You can even ask for a bit of something before hand, to help calm you down. Something like Temazepam.

I had mine out at 40. It was fine! :) I was dosed to the eyeballs with pain killers - worked like a charm! The worst bit was throwing up after the anaesthetic. I was told not to go out for at least a week and avoid crowds etc for 2 weeks - but they only gave me about 3/4 days of pain killers. This meant I had to go and sit in a surgery waiting room in December full of people coughing and spluttering! So much for avoiding crowds!
It was the best thing I ever did healthwise - I had got to the point where I was on permanent antibiotics just to keep the raging tonsillitus at bay. I was always appallingly ill with it too.
Don't worry, have the op and you won't look back :)

I've heard different things about when the pain peeks too, some say the first few days whilst others say these are the easiest. I have then heard days 3, 5 and 9 are the most painful- does this just change for different people?

I'm back to the constant nausea now from the panic, can't concentrate on anything, so tempted to ring and cancel! My guilty admission is I finished my first course of anti-b's after my last bout of tonsillitis. Before that they have always upset my tummy so much I stopped taking them. So now I'm wondering if the reason I have gone 9 weeks without tonsillitis is because I am cured after finally finishing my anti-bs

I haven't read all the posts but make sure you go the doctors if you have excessive pain, I ended up with an infection that caused the worse earache ever (the drops they give you help ease the pain) plus vomiting and a very very sore throat. Take all the painkillers you can get, I had 30mg of codiene x8 per day plus 8 diclofenac a day (plus anti sickness and antibiotics, I rattled!) and make sure you don't run out! It is well worth it though!!

I had mine out twice

Once at 15 and again at 19.

It didn't hurt either time. Just sore and drowsy afterwards

BTW the infection was possibly my fault as I smoked a couple of cigs after about a week