Sons huge tonsils, what to do

[Squirtgem]

Hi, I was wondering if any of you out there have got kiddies with very large tonsils. My son is 4 now and has large tonsils on both sides since birth. He doesn't get many infections on them but he is always tired, skinny and snores like his dad. I took him to the doctors when he was 2 and the GP said bring him back when he is 6 if they are still big. I went again a year ago to be referred to ENT but the GP said he will only reffer him if I want them taken out so we didn't. His tonsils are so big now that there is only about a 5mm gap between them now. Shall I take him back to GP and demand a refferal? any advice or experience would be great.

Thanks

worried Mum

OP, personally I would demand a referral, yes.

Being tired, skinny and snoring is not great for quality of life - and can have long term effects.

dd2 had huge tonsils, as well as huge adenoids and a floppy larynx - the combination (but mostly the tonsils) meant she was like a little spider, skinny as anything and tired all the time from not sleeping undisturbed. She had sleep apnoea.

After her op, aged 2, she became a different child....put on weight, slept well, and caught up in every way. Honestly recommend getting an ENT referral, its up to the ENT consultant to discuss with you whether your ds's tonsils should come out - NOT up to your GP! Am a bit by your GP, tbh.

DD is heaps happier than she was pre-op. Less inclined to fly off the handle. Enormous appetite. Sleeping well. Not worried about stinky breath. Generally healthier too.

Re: the appetite - she was alway so skinny that my mother and I would wonder where she got it from. We're slim, but healthy size 10. Much more beefy than dd who was all spindly and seemed to have a permanently bloated tummy (think she was swallowing heaps of air). Since the op, she has put on weight on her arms and legs for the first time, and looks much healthier, and also seems better able to fight off infection/not come down with every bug going.

DS1 has normal tonsils. DS2 has huge tonsils. He's 2 so we will be keeping an eye on him....

ok can I ask some stupid questions please?

Why would it make you tired? I am being geuine, I had horrific problems with mine and had them removed when i was 5. My mum said I never ate a thing then afterwards i never looked back

But DS is always pale, though healthy, very skinny, and atm constantly tired (not like him) he has been a little under the eweather, bit of a cough and complaing of sore throat last night, huge tonsils, but they alwasy seem to be that way - he often has smelly breath though!

It affects their breathing at night, in some cases causing sleep apnoea, meaning they never get a proper rest. The low oxygen levels can lead to slowed growth, and in severe cases heart problems.

I think they often outgrow the obstructive problems by age 7 or 8 but for us there was no way DS would be able to cope with school when he was as exhausted and hyper as he was, so we decided to go for the op.

I would definitely go back to the GP and ask for a referral - your ds will be fine!

My dd (4) had hers out in August, previous to this she had recurrent tonsilitis, complained every morning of a 'cacky' taste in her mouth, had constant ear infections, holding her breath at night whilst asleep (for up to a minute at a time - very scary!) and the snoring was like an old man who'd been drinking all night!!

The ENT Surgeon said her tonsils were huge and that she may also need her adenoids out (they could only see if she needed these out whilst operating). I said I wanted the op as soon as possible. This was April and she had them out in August.

It was only a day operation. The staff were lovely. The Anaesthetist came to visit us on the ward and explained everything. She was in theatre about an hour and a half in total and I was down there whilst they put her to sleep (gas mask). She went back to the ward and had an hours sleep and then woke up and ate a packet of Quavers!! - no more yoghurts and ice cream, it's rough stuff straightaway (they said to slough off the scabs on the back of the throat). She didn't need the adenoids out, they were fine.

The recovery at home was quite bad for about a week. More so because she is terrible at taking medicine and we had to literally force her to take the Nurofen. The hospital also advise to stay in the house for a week to avoid infection.

She is fantastic now - sleep is brilliant, appetite brilliant, no snoring, etc. Very glad she had the operation. Hope this helps a bit.

Is it unusual to have one enormous tonsil and one normal size?

I wouldn't have thought it would be unusual, I think one side could just be more infected than the other. I'd go to the GP and check it out.

thank you I will

What a coincidence! DS1 had bout of tonsilitis at the moment. He's rather poorly and has just been sick. He was only diagnosed in Oct of last year when he was hospitalised with it and has had frequent bouts of it this year but the GP has not mentioned removal of the tonsils. TBH I think he's had it on & off since he was a baby (he's now 6) and I too suffer from bouts of very bad throats for up to three weeks at a time. DS1 is constantly pale, skinny, tired, has bad breath and a coated tongue. Also his behaviour suffers both at home and in school.

I'll be taking him to the GP on Monday and will ask about referal for removal (tonsils not DS1 ).

I get the impression GP's don't like to offer routine tonsillectomies to children as a matter of course, I think because often children outgrow childhood tonsil infections. Though in your case, with your ds having been hospitalised with it, I am very surprised they have not mentioned it. Poor thing!! I would go to the GP on Monday and ask for a referral, really emphasise it is affecting his school work (even if it's not) being poorly all the time and taking days off, that it's making his quality of life miserable, etc. I think you have to really stress to the GP how it is affecting the whole family. Usually this would put a GP in a position where they would have to do something. Good luck

My tonsils were also consistently remarked upon by GPs and dentists as a child.

I don't think I ever had problems sleeping or putting on weight but between the ages of 3-7 had recurrent tonsillitis - 4 or 5 times a year I think.

My parents were given the option of having them whipped out but decided to see if I would grow out of it.

I did - I stopped getting tonsillitis and I can't think of any issues they have caused over the last 25 years or so.

I don't think they offer tonsillectomies as a matter of course because obviously tonsils have a purpose and if it is possible for the cause of the problems to be identified and possibly eliminated then it would be better to keep the tonsils there! :) I'm not really one for exaggerating things in order to get what could potentially be unnecessary treatment tbh. Ask for a referral certainly but be honest about it and explore other options too such as testing for allergies etc. It could be something really easy to change without having to go through an operation.

ENT will not remove tonsils unneccessarily, these days - and they will give an opinion that is worth having, IME.

Sleep apnoea is not worth messing about with, if your ds has it, OP - and no harm in getting an opinion.

Meant to say, they will take them out because of apnoea, more than because of infections - its changed from 20 years ago when I believe they whipped out tonsils because of recurring tonsillitis alone.

In my experience, we did have to really emphasise to the GP how ill my dd was with recurrent tonsillitis, otherwise we'd still be in the same situation as last winter. It was down to the ENT consultant to decide if the op is necessary, but if you don't get past the GP first....

Yes, I've heard that too.

Though in dd2's case, she sounded so scary when asleep that we had no trouble whatsoever. That said, the waiting times for ENT appointments were so awful, we ended up taking her privately as a one-off - after that the ENT consultant made sure we were booked in (on his NHS list) asap.