Having tonsils removed as an adult

[LolaLadybird]

Have you had your tonsils removed as an adult? And if so, has it solved the prolem?

I've always been a bit prone to tonsilitis but it has got ridiculously frequent recently - last year I had three bouts between Jan to November which was bad enough but now I'm on my third bout in as many months. At the moment I'm trying the homeopathic route but if that doesn't work, I guess I'm going to have to seriously consider having tonsils removed. I just keep getting told what a horrible operation it is for adults and also hearing stories of people having them out to find they still suffer with throat problems.

Would be intersted to hear anyone's experiences ...

I had them removed when I was 26. It hurt. Children are far more resiliant then adults, the toast that they expect you to eat isn't nice. It did the trick though.

Yes, it did take a while to recover but it is one of the best things I ever did to get rid of my manky tonsils!

Did you try 6 months of antibiotics? Maybe they don't do that anymore...

I had mine out at 22, I was getting tonsilitis every 5 weeks, and having them out certainly removed that problem. However, it was a painful operation and the recovery was really long. Three weeks of quarantine. And they don't give you jelly and ice cream any more but scratchy toast and salty crisps (argh!)

I was told there was a risk I'd get laryngitis (sp?) or bronchitis more afterwards as the tonsils are there to block infections and stop them going further down the respiratory tract, but that never really happened for me. I didn't really get any more sore throats after that either.. though having said that, I've got as stinker of a cold now and my throat feels like I'm swallowing razor blades.

Never heard of the 6 months of antibiotics, Mimsy. I've not really had a serious discussion with a doctor about having them out yet. I saw a lovely out-of-hours doc when I had a bout of tonsilitis 2 months ago and he mentioned the possiblity of having them out. He said I may still get sore throats but woudn't be as ill with them as I am currently. I'm just getting to the stage now where I feel it's really starting to interfere with my life. I've missed numerous social events and now it looks like I'll have to miss doing my first triathlon which I was supposed to do next Sunday and have spent ages training for.

Not to mention the fact that I feel like I'm being a really crap mum once a month because of feeling really ill (perhaps that should have been top of my list of complaints .

I had them out last year, it was the best thing I ever did. It hurt like fuck really baaaaaad but I've not had more than a tickle since. A week of pain was really worth it.

did it at 19 and never looked back. hurt badly for about a week - gargling soluble aspirin really helped. but worth it cos no sore throats at all for at least ten years, and my voice stopped sounding thick and claggy - not that i turned into charlotte church or anything, but def sounded better!

Not me, but my DH. He had tonsil issues every 6 weeks for the last year of having tonsils, poor bloke. The recovery seemed pretty unpleasant (as Coco says its a week of pain really) but he hasn't looked back since - no probs at all. He says it was worth the pain in the long run.

I had mine out at 35!! Consultant said he'd never seen any so big or nasty! I should have had them out as a child but it went out of fashion and I was ok ish til my twenties when run down with young children I had constant bouts and endless antibiotics.

It was the BEST thing I could have done. I won't lie..the op was not nice and for the first week I was bringing up blood and counting the minutes until the next painkiller...but since then NOTHING and I'm now 42...

I had mine done at 18. I had been getting tonsilitis about every 6 weeks for a year.

It was blardy painful for a couple of weeks afterwards, but I haven't had any problems since at all.

I had mine out at 23, 3 years ago. I had been having bad tonsillitis about once every 6 weeks since I was 16, and it was getting progressively worse, and impacting my school and then uni work. The final straw came when I had a very severe attack, I went back to my GP 2 days in a row as, havign had it so frequently, I could tell this time was different. I was turned away both times, havign been told that it was not practice policy to prescribe antibiotics. I woke on the 3rd day unable to breathe, my tonsils were so large. Never been more scared in my life, I was alone with dd who was just 2. I had to call an ambulance and was panicking which made it worse. I had 3 days in hospital, my tonsils were lanced for suspected quinsey, but it was just an extremely bad infection.
It was only after all that they agreed to take my tonsils out, and even then the waitign list was a year.
It bloody hurts, make no mistake. I woke up after the op feeling quite smug that I was feeling ok. Give it a few days, I was back at hospital crying and begging for painkillers . They sent me home with just paracetamol and mouthwash, when really you need some pretty strong codine at the very least. Recovery hurt, mostly in my ears and mostly at night. The pain of the scabs falling off, about 2 hours apart, is still with me
But it was worth it. I still get sore throats, but knowing that I will not have a constricted airway makes them bearable. Fwiw, you will have to sign a legal form donating your tonsils to the government for BSE research and when they say to take 2 weeks off, take the full 2 weeks. A GA really does knock it out of you

I got codine, paracetamol, voltarol and ibruprofen from the hospital! I had to keep a chart of when I was taking what . The Dr said day 5 and 10 would be the most painful (he was right) but any serious pain after that would need to be looked at again. I got an infection on one side but the ABs cleared it up.

Thanks everyone for your posts. Some pretty gruesome stories of the recovery but a pretty unanimous feeling that it was all worth it.

You can pay and have them lazered out. Which I was looking at - I think its worth it as you can be fine within a few days around £2,500. however, I have several bouts that knock me out for days but my tonsils are not particularly swollen, yes swollen and spotty but not actually infected and when you google photos you can see what is bad! There is a difference between viral and bacterial and I would def say mine is viral.

I'm taking steriods at mo just to see if the swelling calms down including in my nose. My throat is so much better but it gets me down as I know I'll go down again but doc says that the tonsils stop any virus but there is weakness there.

I'm unsure where to go from here. Rhintius (non allergic) is affecting me bad, which in turn causes snoring and catarrh.