Tonsilectomy pain - in agony

[Ilikeviognier]

Just that. Am on day 5 and the pain is immense. I have ibuprofen and Cocodamol 30/500 but only meant to take 4 times a day so they don’t stretch far enough before the painkillers start to wear off.i did ask for better painkillers but the hospital wouldn’t give me any :( it’s “not bad enough” apparently. I beg to differ.

will the gp give me anything else? Also surely I’m at the peak here - this is unbearable. :(

Don’t you have difflam or other local anaesthetic spray ? Days 7-10 were the worst for DD, and the spray literally stopped her from becoming dehydrated. A few sprays would enable her to eat /drink something. And drinking out of bottles was easier than cups.

Sympathies, it was horrific seeing her suffer, really hope this is the worst for you and that things improve quickly

No spray. Only the mouthwash which has been ok. Maybe I need to get the spray.

Drink drink drink warm fluids not hot to heal up wound bed.. poor you sounds horrible

Difflam spray and sucking on ice helped me.

Can you get the spray without prescription?

Ice lollies.

It is awful. I remember it being ok, then awful, then better, and then slightly worse again. I actually took the full 2 weeks off work. I’ve had a few big operations before and never taken that long off. Keep taking the meds regularly. I was on paracetamol, diclofenac (stronger than Ibroprofen) and dihydracodine 30mg, so stronger pain killers than you. Def speak to your dr and ask for more.

Yes I bought some in the pharmacy this morning ( I have hand foot and mouth).

The protocol at my hospital is to be send home with 60mg dihydrocodeine for 7 days so theyve been massively stingy in the painkiller department op. Everyone experiences pain differently they can’t tell you it’s not bad enough. Im
sorry your so sore 😢

That’s a start - thanks all. But yes this is hideous! At least I know I’m not being a wimp :(

Ugh, yes. Hours after were totally fine, couple of days after were alright, days 4-7ish were awful, I really regretted it. But then it got better and I was back to work and fine after two weeks as expected. I now don't get tonsillitis three or four times a year and its great!

Sips of water, ice lollies, food when you can after painkillers (really helps with the scabs). But sympathies, it is unpleasant for a while.

When I had mine done I was told day 5 and 10 would be the worse. I had diclofenic too. Do keep an eye in case it's an infection, I was in agony and that was why.
DD gets tonsillitis a lot and she thinks Boots' own throat spray is better than Difflam.
Hope you feel better soon, its worth it in the end 💐

Had tonsillectomy as an adult, was on codeine afterwards. It was agony, my uvula had swollen so big I could hardly swallow, the Dr thought I was being a baby until he looked in my mouth and went 'oh yes! I see why'. It does get better 💐

I only got discharged with paracetamol and ibuprofen! I had some cocodamol luckily.

@KEG05 very interesting- it was a private hospital - maybe that matters I don’t know. If I get the drugs you mention - how much dif would it make?

I am not sure the gp would give you much more tbh, but are you staggering them ? If the pain is not waking you up then take either ibuprofen or co-codamol then two hours later take the other one so you’ve always got something in your system. If the pain is waking you up then take them 3 hours apart but you will need to set alarms to take in the night.

you can buy the sprays, or lozenges with anaesthetic in, over the counter. The GP added in the spray as kids can’t take codeine after tonsillectomy

@Sssudio yes I’m staggering - but you can only take 4 doses over 24 hours and it’s just not enough. The ibuprofen in particular is not even touching the sides and is barely worth bothering with.

Soak a facecloth in cold water, wring it out until not dripping wet, then place it over your throat obviously easier to hold in place if you're lying down. I sometimes secure it with a loosely tied scarf but wouldn't do this if I was going to sleep. It really helps with the pain

I had mine at a private hospital and they basically gave me whatever drugs I asked for, they were way less stingy than the NHS! See if you can phone them and they might be able to give you some stronger meds. I remember phoning the private hospital as my dihydracodine was running out at day 7 and I needed more, and they arranged a script for my hubby to collect.

Thanks everyone. X

19 year old DD had hers out privately a few months ago. She was prescribed diclofenac (a stronger version of ibuprofen) plus 30/500 co-codamol, her pain was quite well controlled, the diclofenac definitely made a big difference. Her consultant also told her that if pain was too bad on day 4/5/6 then to contact them and they’d prescribe a few days worth of steroids as that’s meant to really help - maybe something worth asking for?

Tonsillectomy is the worst pain I've ever experienced in my life, you have my sympathy.

My advice:
Check that wound hasn't become infected, because I caught an infection in the wound in the hospital which wasn't noticed, and it caused a lot of pain and prevented healing. The wound only started to heal once I went to my GP who noticed it (the hospital were useless) and prescribed liquid antibiotics.

Monitor your fluid intake, if the pain is so bad that it interferes with being able to drink, and you have any concerns about dehydration, please please seek medical attention. I wound up hospitalised with severe dehydration after mine.

Please don't be scared by the above, because it's very unlikely either of those two things will apply to you. Just something to be aware of.

I personally found that hot (hand hot, not boiling hot) drinks soothed my throat while cold things irritated it. I couldn't drink cold drinks for a couple of months. Everyone's different, but might be worth a try.

Despite everything I don't regret having them out.

A humidifier really helped OH.

Thanks. Waiting for call back as we speak from GP.

I had mine out privately and they prescribed me diclofenac and cocodamol, I think. Day 5 was definitely a tough day. It will get better.