recurrent tonsillitis

[Chell]

My six year old son has been suffering with tonsilitis for two years.he has had 12 bouts of it this year, and 30 days off school.he always gets conjunctvitis with it.my doctor will not refer him to a consultant as he says there is too much risk in removing them.what should i do?should i push it or hope he grows out of it?HELP!!

Robinw, he's well! Perfect timing, actually.. don't think I'd be doing too well myself with a sickie and a newborn.

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hi, well no he hasnt had his op yet. the waiting list is up to year long. i did think about having it done privetly but the cost is to much for me. the school have been really off with me, the dont seem to realise how poorly he gets, they are concerned with the amount of time he has off school (not as much as me!).i ahve tried to push his op forward with no luck.how are you all getting on? did you have a boy or a girl Jj?

sorry about the op. Didn't realise at the time you were in Australia so I guess wendy wouldn't have sent you a free sample but maybe she could tell you how to get some. The e-mail is [email protected]

I'm reviving this thread as my ds (30 months) has just been diagnosed with his first bout of tonsilitis and I'd like a bit of advice.

His doctor has prescribed antibiotics, but his case doesn't seem abnormally severe (I was plagued with tonsilitis for years as a child and eventually had my tonsils out when I was 16) and I'd like to avoid giving the antibiotics if I can in the hope he might build up his own immunity.

Given that ds has responded well to the fever relief medicine and that his doctor is something of an antibiotic freak (we live in Malaysia, where antibiotics are doled out ALL the time) can I pass on the antibiotics? Is there any logic in the thought he will build his own antibodies?

Thanks, Lorien

If he has been diagnosed with tonsilitis I would give him the antibiotics. That will not stop him from building up his own immunity, but will prevent him from becoming more ill. His body will still produce antibodies, but at his age he needs some medical assistance. Such a painful condition, best to get it cured.

Lorien, I've been plagued by tonsillitus ever since I started teaching (about 16 years ago!!), and have yet to build up an immunity to it! Am finally about to go and see a consultant on Monday about getting the damn things out (yippee!). I would say go down the anti-biotic route. I've tried everything, and nothing except anti-biotics ever gets rid of it - and it's SO painful. It also makes you feel dire. I'm on 2 anti-biotics a day at the moment, just to keep it at bay (forgot to re-fill the prescription at Easter and within 48 hours had raging tonsils again!). the hospital wrote and told me I wasn't an urgent case - what!!??

I had tonsilltis last week for the first time in years and it was wretched ! We were away from home,so I had it for 3 days before I could get to my doctor,and by then my throat was terribly swollen and I felt v poorly. Took a double dose of antibiotics straight away,plus lots of ibuprofen throughout the day and it soon cleared up - so from a grown-ups point of view - I would take 'em !

Hi there, don't know if this helps or not, but my son kept getting ear infections and tonislitis and had problems hearing and he was always being given antibiotics, and so he was referred immediately to an ENT doctor (we are in Germany, and the system here does seem much better). She took his adenoids out immediately (he was only 2 1/2) and also wanted to take out his tonsils but said that although they were huge, he was far too young and for every year that a child has their tonsils, it's a bonus, because without them there is much more risk of other infections reaching the chest ie. like bronchitis because the first line of defence has been removed. She also said that it is better not to always take antibiotics if possible and try and let nature do the healing. She suggested seeing a Homeopath and I have to say that I have several friends with children that instead of going the operation route have visited homeopaths and that miracles have been performed! Since the operation, my son still gets ear infections and tonsilitis and if this keeps recurring we will definitely go to a recommended homeopath. What about seeing a Homeopath whilst you are on the waiting list?

hi there, if it is bacterial tonsillitis yes antibiotics are beneficial, but if it is viral no antibiotics should be necessary, just relief of symptoms ie pain and fever relief, lots of fluids,- honey,lemon and cloves drink if they will have it, but in this you are reliant on your doctor making the correct dignoses, pus on the tonsils means bacterial. my 3yo had a couple of episodes of tonsillitis fairly close together I took him to the doctor initially for antibiotic treatment as he was really miserable couldn't eat, fever etc and then took him to my naturopath and she prescribed him something to stimulate his lymph system and he's been fine ever since, must go myself as I am on my second course of a/bs for tonsillitis and the doc is talking tonsillectomy if it doesn't clear up I don't think so at my age

Thanks for all the advice -- after much umming and ahhing, I didn't give ds the antibiotics, and he seems to be making a reasonably swift recovery on his own.
Still, Mears et al, thanks for your warnings about the necessity to take antibiotics. The reason why I was particularly unkeen to use the antibiotics is that the doctor in question first prescribed antibiotics for ds at 2 months and then prescribed them practically every time we went back. And then at 13 months ds had bronchiolotis and was hospitalised, which in retrospect, I think was a tad excessive. (We live in Malaysia, and use private healthcare, so there are no concerns from the doctor's side about costs). Anyway, I changed doctors after that and ds has been pretty healthy since, and hasn't had any more antibiotics. The new doctor (calmer and more experienced)is away at a paedeatrics conference at the moment, so thats why I had to resort to the former....

Lorien, glad it cleared up. Sorry for not posting earlier, but next time you can ask for a swab -- they'll send it away and come back with the results in a few days. There's a quick strep test, also, that comes back almost immediately. I think it's less reliable but can't remember if it gives false positives or negatives. If your son gets a rash with tonsillitis, it might be scarlet fever (much less scary than it sounds, although it does need antibiotics quickly). I would definitely go for antibiotics if he gets a rash even without the swab.

I know what you mean about the overprescribing of antibiotics.. the "superbug" is one of my nagging fears.