Tonsillectomy as an adult

[Shortfatandangry]

Just wondering if anyone can share their experiences with me? I'm 34, recurrent infections since childhood, settled in my 20's then pretty severe again last 5 years. Getting progressively worse the older I get. Antibiotics still resolve. I am awaiting a date for surgery but in 2 minds as to whether to go ahead with.

Hi. Anything specific you want to know? I'll type out my story while I see if you ask any specifics.

I had tremendous support from mn when k has mine so.happy to pass that on

Personally if antibiotics work then I’d keep using them and not have the op

I had mine out at 26ish I think. I am 33 now. I had it recurrently and was horrendous affecting work etc. GP kept saying they won't take them out, I pushed for a referral and ENT said yes! It was my 2nd general so I was less anxious about that. Have you had a general before?

I woke up in no pain and just kept grinning and saying are they out? wow well done and clapping people.

We were told to drink and eat lots if we wanted to be discharged the next day, I drank 2 jugs of hosp water and promptly the vomited them up. So take it slowly! Prompting the nurse to say it was the most vomit she had ever seen from one person

It was painful but as I was in I could have some extra meds. AT home they send you with ibuprofen and cocod to alternate. (watch for constipation with cocod) You have to have a meds schedule and stick to it, even if it isn't sore take the meds at right time. Ice lollies are your friend. But you are encouraged to eat toast etc to scrape the scabs off - sorry rank but that is what they will tell you.

I got readmitted a couple of times as I had minor bleeds and an infection but that isn't typical. And each time I got admitted straight back onto the ent ward and got drips so was fine and they were fab.

It was sore I won't lie. But it was worth it. Next time you feel a bit run down and get a throat pain starting you won't need to think oh fuck it is the T word.

Within 4 weeks I felt pretty much normal. I had 2 weeks off work sick to recover and then had 2 weeks that were prebooked as hol so I 4 weeks but could manage after 2 depending on job. Need to stay away from big crowds of people at start to avoid infection

Are they actually swabbing it to see if it is bacterial each time? Having to wait for antibiotics is no fun and the fevers, general aches and exhaustion with tonsillitis is hell.

I would tell anyone who has it recurrently to get it out. The worst of my pain was on par with the worst bout of tonsillitis I ever had.

They won't agree to take them out if they don't think its a good idea, lots of people have to battle to get them to agree. I went with a list of reasons prepared but they agreed before I could say them as could see how enlarged they were.

Also do you get tonsil stones ? I started getting them a few years before they came out. Vile vile vile.

I had mine out at 18, it was horrendous (but totally worth it long term). Apparently they grow 'roots' the older you get.

They gave me painkillers afterwards that I had to drink with a pint of water - difficult when I couldn't swallow AT ALL for the first week. Not even saliva! My Mum's GP friend told me to take Calpol instead, which was manageable. Other than that, I didn't eat a thing bar ice cream for 6 days.

It was three weeks of hell but better than getting tonsillitis every 6 weeks, then severe allergic reactions to the different meds they tried to keep it at bay.

At my hosp they wouldn't let you home until you could drink and eat hard food!

Thanks for your replies. I do get stones and the last few bouts have been accompanied by uvilitis. Unable to eat/drink or swallow saliva so pretty nasty. I am not massively concerned about the pain post OP as have been well warned but have never had a general and also concerned about infection with 2 dc in the house. I haven't had a bout since Feb which is why I think am swithering but had one in Jan and then again in Feb both of which were awful.

In my experience, the stones just got bigger.

General is scary, totally appreciate that, but I quite enjoyed it - drift off to sleep and wake up all happy. Some people wake up emotional or something but I doubt you remember much.

I had my tonsils out in my early twenties, following about six years of persistent tonsillitis and painful and debilitating ear infections.
The operation itself was fine and was up and scoffing egg sandwiches and a cup of lukewarm tea courtesy of the hospital within a few hours (pain was there, but it was like having a bad sore throat). Had the op at about 10am and was discharged at 4pm, with a bag full of anti-inflammatories (dicloflenac, sp?) and co-codamol for the pain.
Was signed off work for two weeks. They encourage you to eat normally (albeit not very hot or spicy food) -the pain does get worse once the anaesthetic wears off but it's bearable with painkillers. I had to go to the GP one week in as I couldn't eat my dinner as it felt so uncomfortable-they checked it out and it wasn't infected, so they just advised me to up the anti-inflammatories dose. Was OK in about two weeks and fully healed within the month. It has made such a difference to my life -no awful ear and throat infections since
If I had any advice it might be that you may need some help post-op if at all possible, especially in the first week, as you will need to rest and get better, the painkillers might make you very sleepy and you shouldn't expose yourself to infection (colds etc) if you can help.

Good luck, OP, whether or not you decide to go for the op I hope you feel better.

I’ve had mine out as an adult, it was painful afterwards and you swallow a lot of blood (I threw it all up a few hours after and so had to stay in overnight). They gave me liquid morphine in hospital (god I loved that nurse for that) but the pain was so worth it not to keep getting tonsillitis. They sent me home with lots of painkillers and I found the general anaesthetic great and I slept a lot the following week, it was lovely!
It hurts to eat and hard to swallow afterwards, a recommendation I got from a friend who’d had it was to eat bread as it’s soft on your throat and I found it actually helped soothe it.
I’d recommend it if you suffer recurrent tonsillitis, it’s miserable having it and if you get them out you won’t have to worry about it again, yey!

Had mine out at 24 - best thing I’ve ever done. Was amazed at 3 /4 year olds running about pretty soon after. The worst aspect for me was the vomiting through swallowing blood. Apparently I kept demanding my tonsils in a jar in recovery but other than that, I just slept loads for a few days after the anaesthetic.

I had mine out during my mid 20's, best decision ever!
I would suffer at least twice a year, without fail; severe pain, unable to eat or sleep, it was unbearable.
The pain once the anesthetic wears off was BAD!!! but worth it as I haven't suffered since (4yrs)

pom I've wondered about my ears also, I get really bad vertigo and often itchy and weeping ears. I just sort of put up with it but wondered if that might be improved also. My son had the OP last year at 3yo and was playing 10 minutes after coming round, but the nurses weren't very happy about it.
I really appreciate everyone's comments, suffer anxiety and the thought of going under General properly scares me but you've all given me a bit perspective.

I’m so glad I had mine. Recovery was like the worst bout of tonsillitis ever, but also the last.

(I was in my 30s too)

I had mine out in my 20s and I honestly can’t remember much about it apart from eating a fry up in hospital the next day. I don’t remember any pain (although i’m Sure there must have been some) and i’m really glad I had it done.

I had mine out when I was 28 and I'd definitely advise you to get yours removed.

Please don't just keep taking antibiotics (as a PP suggested) - they mess you up over time and having your tonsils removed is a better option.

I wish I'd had mine removed sooner (unfortunately the docs kept telling me I'd grow out of it so they wouldn't agree to it until I ended up being on antibiotics for 6 months out of 9, then they finally agreed...)

I was diagnosed with IBS when I was 30 and I strongly suspect that this is related to the number of times I had to take antibiotics for my tonsils.

Recovery was fine, much quicker than when I had my wisdom teeth out under GA when I was 22