Tonsillectomy

[supersloth420]

I had a standard Tonsillectomy done last week, Thursday the 26th to be exact. I've had a lot of surgery done before, but damn this one has definatley been the most painful by far, and I'm not even close to the end of my recovery! I was prescribed vicodin for the pain, which got upped to oxycontin 10mg the next day, but it still hurts A LOT. I was just wondering when the pain of this whole ordeal is going to come to an end, I am currently on day 6 post op, was just wondering when i can expect some relief?

[Deleted]

You should always talk to your doctor about medical issues. Asking advice from people without medical training could get you bad advice.

That being said, it's your life and if you don't want to talk to doctors, a quick googling turned up lots of other people with similar problems.

[supersloth420]

I wasn't necessarily asking for any medical advice, i was just seeing if anyone else around the community who have had this preocedure done before could give a little insight into when the pain will start to subside. I've been all over google already and I'm just kinda looking for a way to kill time while I recover, just wondering how it went for other people, mostly because i'd rather be on this forum than on any random one right off of google.

[Greandal]

I had my tonsils remove years ago but it didn't hurt so that that i had to use all those pain killers. They just told me to eat lots of icecream (since it's cold) and other than that.. nothing special, tho i didn't want to talk for a week or two because my throat would still hurt :P

[koodledrum]

I had mine done in November 2009, the pain wasn't really all that bad (although i guess that's cos i get drowsy with co-codomol so slept for a while after taking them) but cleared up after 7 days to the point where i barely noticed it - 2 weeks off work right as Call of Duty was coming out, can't say that sucked! (the whole aftermath sucked though, tonsillectomy is nothing compared to the aftermath of radiation therapy in the area - OOOOOUCH)

[holyforce]

They gave me dielodin for mine, slightly over kill but i enjoyed it.

[Xeones]

For those who aren't aware adult Tonsillectomy is far more painful with a much longer recovery time than if the surgery was done in a child. I had it done last august. All in all I was out of work for about 3.5 weeks. The pain was terrible for 2 weeks at which point it began to subside to having practically no pain near the end of the third.

Also, don't become too afraid if your sense of taste is dulled. My sense of taste was messed up for about three months after the surgery but it did get better.

[Lenonis]

I had mine done when I was in my mid 20s. I was out of work for 2.5 weeks, probably should have been out longer but my boss was begging me to come back. The constant pain eased up after about 10 days, but it still hurt now and then for at least a month. It's not fun but it does heal up eventually.

[Daws001]

I didn't realize it was so rough for adults. Aren't you given free license to devour tubs of ice cream though? Doesn't that help relieve the pain (the cold)?

[Xeones]

I didn't realize it was so rough for adults. Aren't you given free license to devour tubs of ice cream though? Doesn't that help relieve the pain (the cold)?

I couldn't handle ice cream. Jello was far better.

[Lenonis]

I didn't realize it was so rough for adults. Aren't you given free license to devour tubs of ice cream though? Doesn't that help relieve the pain (the cold)?

It's an entirely different beast. When I had my surgery I was on liquid narcotics that turned me into a zombie for the first week. I couldn't lay down due to the potential for the surgery site to open and drown me in my own blood.

My folks came down to take care of me -- they blended bits of food and every couple hours tried to feed me. I could swallow maybe 3 bites before it was too painful. Swallowing anything was like gargling razor blades...didn't matter if it was popsicles, jello, ice cream -- it was just horrible.

[Daws001]

Yikes. There was talk of me getting my tonsils taking out because I was always getting throat infections growing up. My Mum was against it though so I still have them and haven't had an infection in years. Sucks that it's so rough for adults.

[Lenonis]

Yikes. There was talk of me getting my tonsils taking out because I was always getting throat infections growing up. My Mum was against it though so I still have them and haven't had an infection in years. Sucks that it's so rough for adults.

Hopefully you won't go through what I did. I had a lot of infections growing up too. They stopped when I was roughly a senior in high school. Didn't have any issues in college or grad school. When I was in my early 20s they came back with a vengence. We were talking 103 degree fevers for 3 days. (My record was 104.9 -- toasty!). The straw the broke the camel's back was when one of my tonsils swelled up so big it threatened to seal off my airway.

My advice -- if you do start getting throat infections have them give you antibiotics -- don't let them do a swab for strep and declare it viral and send you home. That's what they did to me time after time and it turns out it was bacterial after all.