Tonsillitis

[yaboreme]

Just wondering what everyone else has done.

My DS (nearly 3 yo) had tonsillitis al the time. He has had it 4 times already this year and the doctor has referred him to ENT, only 2 weeks has passed since his last episode and he has a temp again and I can see that his throat is sore and one of his tonsils is swollen.

I've had a letter to say that there are no ENT appointments available and that they will be in touch at a later date?

What do I do? I don't want to keep giving him antibiotics?

Has anyone paid private? Will it help if the NHS can't offer an appointment?

TIA

Hello, my 16 year old dd has been having regular severe bouts of tonsillitis for years. She’s also been hospitalized with glandular fever.

The doctor has agreed to refer her to ENT but the waiting list is about 23 weeks where I live. I am going to pay to go private for the initial consultation - it costs about £200 and luckily I can claim £150 of that back from a work place health scheme I am in.

The doctors have done me a referral letter and once I have identified a suitable consultant (I have to find them myself, the GP will not recommend one) the doctor will send my referral letter to them. Once I have paid privately for the initial consultation we go back into the NHS system. So it just speeds up the initial consult. Hope this helps.

@Teenagekicksmyass thanks for your reply, it really does help.

My son is only small but since December has had tonsillitis 5 times, its getting ridiculous. I took him to the GP today who was really helpful, he did some other tests (swabs etc) as he said once my appointment comes through they will want to know if x, y & z has been done so did it all to make sure we are ready.

I think it is probably more genetic as both my husband and I suffered and eventually had tonsillectomies. The doctor today said he's heading that way and that makes me feel sad but I don't want him to be ill like this every month.

Feel awful that he has more antibiotics, and asked if I could manage at home, but as he has pus/ discharge from the tonsils he has to take them. It makes me feel so guilty.

Hopefully this lot of antibiotics will help, he was referred to ENT in April as its a recurring problem to ensure he is in the system. If I don't hear anything in the next 4 weeks I will take the same route as you and do the private consultation to see if we can speed it up. It's actually not as expensive as I thought so that's something.

Thank you for your help.

We have a similar issue with our 5yo. NHS referral but no appointments available. I think I have no choice but to use our private healthcare to see what the initial consultation says.

Your child will need to meet the criteria for tonsillectomy, which are quite stringent. Something like 7 times in 12 months/10 times in 24 months in order to qualify.

Unfortunately bacterial tonsillitis should be treated with antibiotics as sometimes, if untreated, the bacteria can travel to the heart and cause heart problems. You can self refer to a private consultant, just take any and all printouts of any test results and a written list of dates when he has been diagnosed for the last two years. It sounds like he is heading for a tonsillectomy, so a private assessment will really help you speed that process up (you can jump back onto the NHS for the surgery but will have skipped lots of the waiting)
Ask your GP if prophylactic low dose antibiotics might be worthwhile until you can see a ENT