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Having tonsils out?

6 replies

lumpasmelly · 03/01/2010 10:08

DS1 is 5 and a half, and he has been having problems with mouth breathing, bad breath, snoring, and recently recurring throat infection. We took him to an ENT specialist last year as his paediatrician said his tonsils and adenoids were huge, but the ENT specialist said that it was best to leave them. Since then, he has develope all sorts of peculiar breathing habits (mouth breathing and struggling to take a satisfying breath - even though his heart and lungs are fine), and the snoring and bad breath has got worse (someone at school called him stinky breath and we know for a fact its not his teeth as I help him clean them twice a day and his dentist says they are fine). He's also developed a very strange nasal voice, that sounds persistently muffled, as if he has a blocked nose. He's also had a recurring throat infection that has lasted about 6 weeks, despite treatment with antibiotics.....his appetite is diminishing and he really is starting to get quite tired and skinny through lack of proper sleep (due to the snoring). Has anyone else had experience of this sort of thing, and do you think I should take him back to the ENT again for another opinion, or do you think it will just pass as he gets older? I don't want to subject him to unneccesary surgery, so part of me is reluctant to push it, but he really is not himself.

OP posts:
Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
purepurple · 03/01/2010 10:18

Take him back.
Sounds like he needs them taken out. They are affecting his eating, his sleeping and his quality of life.
The transformation in him afterwards will be amazing.
Though, one child I know, had a very squeaky voice afterwards. It took some getting used to.

Luvvies · 03/01/2010 10:22

You've just described my DS2, who is now 12. Same symptoms except not as many infections. He was at the point of not eating very much and we think it was because his tonsils were so big it was uncomfortable to swallow.

He had them, and adenoids out at 5. Since then he's visited the doctor twice (in 7 years and one of those was for an infected finger!) and probably had about cold a year, with approx 1 day off school a year.

So, he is a healthy boy. He tends to get swollen glands but no other symptoms.

BTW his older brother had his out too at the same age, but he had additional problems of glue ear, so it wasn't quite the same as your DS.

Who knows if it will pass - we won't know if we did the right thing, but effects here were immediate and definitely no ill effects. So I would go back and point out the impact on the rest of his health and wellbeing.

HTH

Helinher30s · 03/01/2010 10:53

My DS is just turned 4 and is having his tonsils out this Saturday.. He has been constantly ill for months and I am just hoping this will be the turning point for him. I would def take him back. Sometimes you have to push for things a bit if you think they are needed. If your instinct is that something needs to be done about it then go with it. I'm dreading putting him through the surgery but I know it needs to be done to improve his quality of life. Hope you get things sorted out.

thesecondcoming · 03/01/2010 10:54

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

lumpasmelly · 03/01/2010 12:26

All these stories sound just like DS1 - I am definitely going to take him back.......it is impacting his quality of life, so its the right thing to do.

Thanks for all the input!

OP posts:
strawberrycornetto · 03/01/2010 12:29

He sounds like my friend's DS. He had his tonsils out about 6 months ago and he is a different child. He has even grown a lot, he was short for his age and has now almost caught up my DD who is the same age and was a head taller than him. I would definitely go back.

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