I am 14 years old and am on day 5 counting surgery day..so far it hasn’t been as bad as I expected. My throat pain has been annoying but not unbearable, I have been using this numbing mouthwash and its been a lifesaver. I actually think I’m recovering pretty well. I quit the pain meds yesterday after taking it on an empty stomach and later throwing up twice. I have been using a humidifier at night and sleeping through the night every single night, only waking up a couple times for like a minute. I’ve been making it a priority to stay hydrated, drinking a lot but unfortunately I haven’t had much of an appetite. For me the worst part has been my saliva and that awful taste in my mouth. I have been carrying around a cup to spit in, because my saliva is so thick and nasty. However I’m hoping to be recovered by day 7 (Tuesday) , and back to school the next day.
I am 32/f and had tubes put in my ears and my tonsils/adenoids taken out on March 5th 2015 (its March 11th right now). Basically as all of my friends call it – kid surgery all in one. This website has been an absolute godsend; I sincerely want to thank the creator! You have done a very very good thing here for many people. I looked at it before surgery and that’s when I decided even at 32 years of age I was going to take a medical leave and fly home to be with my parents for the surgery. I’m single and live alone and from some of the other postings that sounded like the worst situation. I’ve been very fortunate to have done so, it’s so much easier having people around that understand you. You won’t be able to talk and you need that person that isn’t afraid to push you to get more fluids down and food in your system even if you don’t want it at all. Not to mention the scary possibility of bleeding. Trust me, you won’t be able to call anyone so you’d have to pray that someone could see your txt in the middle of the night if you needed 911 or a ride to the hospital. You won’t want to drive yourself if you’re on the same meds I’ve been on. Then there’s the bad breath smell… (maybe my parents are kind but I think I got lucky there… they said it hasn’t been bad, but it does sound normal for others)
Since my surgery I have since been looking daily at this site to see how others felt during the same day of recovery I’m at. It’s amazing how comforting it can feel that you’re not the only one. This really is the worst surgery for such a seemingly simple thing. While I am most certainly not out of the woods yet (woke up and was miserable this morning a 7 on the pain scale at least!) I have learned a lot from here and wanted to pass on a few little gems that I found helpful:
– Numbing spray – I haven’t heard anyone talk about that here. But I used it for the first time yesterday. Not going to lie it stings for a minute, but then it’s amazing. My doctor and pharmacist recommended the over the counter sore throat spray with phenol/oral anesthetic. It helps me hate life a little less – and yes you will hate life, and you will definitely hate living life the most – I want to live it so badly right now! But back to the spray – you take it ever two hours – so if you plan it right – it helps you when the pain medication stops. (if anyone is like me, percocets take about 15 minutes to kick in, lasts for about 3 hours or so and then about a half hour before your next dose you watch the minutes go by hoping it’ll go faster so you can feel better again – usually I sleep until that half hour before mark and like clock-work I wake up and realize I still have another half hour before the next dose).
– Set your phone alarms for meds. It’ll help you stay on track. Just like the others said – worth it to wake up and take your meds on time every time then realize you missed a dose by 20 minutes. It really does make a huge difference in your recovery. Like I said this recovery SUCKS. so every little bit helps. this is one of the bigger ones. Do it for your own sanity and the others around you.
– humidifiers – my room may seem like the tropics (definitely going to have to wash everything to make sure there’s no mold growing later!) but the humidifiers have been everything. Invest in one pronto. Helps my throat be a little less dry and therefore painful when I wake up. I actually have two in my room currently. I’m not ashamed. I love it.
– I took non-acidic fruit and threw it in the freezer pre-surgery (ie. blueberries, bananas, etc do a google search for non-acidic fruit). This was amazing for quick smoothies that were nice and cold – like a milkshake that I actually could get down. in the beginning I just did the frozen fruit, protein powder, sorbet, water, and a touch of the Bolthouse Green Goddess in the blender (I knew id be too out of it to make it all from scratch and bolthouse is better then some of the other brands). Then when I was ready, I added Greek Gods Honey yogurt instead of sorbet. I didn’t actually find much issue with dairy/phlegm after all. But I had read enough postings that I was weary at first. I guess it depends on the person in the end. I prefer yogurt to sorbet personally. I still have lost a ton of weight, but at least I’m getting nutrition as much as possible. I’ve had at least 1 a day of those.
– Lots have already said this – but GATORADE. stock up. on the big ones. It’ll help you stay hydrated and is oddly easier to get down then ice water. My ENT nurse said that when her husband had them done she put the Gatorade in the freezer just before he’d want it and then it’d be nice and slushy. It was the only way he’d take it. I second that. I’m the same. Gatorade does freeze, so don’t just put it in the freezer, I learned that the harder way. but it’s nice when it’s slushy form. better than just Gatorade with ice.
– get the kids-style make your own popsicles, I bought one on amazon since it’s winter and I couldn’t find any in the stores. it was less than $5.00 with free shipping, 2 day delivery – then you can make whatever you like to keep up with nutrition and actually be able to get it down. Popsicles should be narrow – you won’t be able to open your mouth all the way the first few days. (still can’t completely actually). Just remember – nothing acidic.
– As all true veggies will be aware – most of the lists for food options aren’t truly veggie friendly so If anyone wants suggestions for a vegetarian friendly – non egg pre-surgery shopping list – please let me know by commenting – I have this thing set to notify me of follow up comments by email so I’ll be aware. I can also suggest non-dairy, but I personally do dairy, but definitely no eggs, fish, meat, etc.
– get a suggestions for shows that don’t require thinking – then watch the entire season/series/etc. you will get bored during this process.
– don’t just take a week off of work. take at minimum 2. you don’t know how your body will react. It’s more likely you’ll need 2.
Good luck! I’m still going through it so if I think of anything else I’ll post. most is covered here. I’d definitely suggest looking at day 1 on your day one, then day 2 on your day two, and so on. you’ll learn from everyone on this site and that will in turn help you.
Thank you Winter! and best of luck for a speedy recovery!
I’m 19 and this is my 7th day of recovery. For the past two nights, I’ve had these god awful earaches. Even my medicine doesn’t take care of it. I barely get any sleep. I can’t tolerate anything cold or too warm since the procedure. Room temp. seems to work for me. It stung to eat soup so I’ve been living of water since my procedure. I have lost weight, almost 15 pound. Today seems to be a little bit better, I can talk a little bit more but laughing or crying hurts like hell. I can swallow my spit just fine but anything else stings so bad. I tried warm pudding, it was more bearable than the soup. Tomorrow I have my first post op appointment and I’m really hoping it all goes uphill from here.
I’m on day 7 and feel awful. I have gotten progressively worse over the past three days. My doctor said I would be fine after a week and I feel worse than what I started.
I consistently fee like I have something dangling in my throat as if I’m going to choke on it.
Underneath my tongue is almost as painful as my ears.
No longer does eating cold things like ice cream and Popsicles help the pain – but actually makes it sting for longer.
I stopped taking perscription pain Meds because I began to to feel nauseous, hot (to the point where I would sweat), and lightheaded. I now take generic Tylenol which is only semi-helpful.
I drink so much water I pee at least twice an hour. This still hasn’t presented uouth from drying up – especially at night.
I started using a humidifier – I csnt tell any difference except my room being colder.
I’m feeling very defeated because I was hoping to get things done this week and I haven’t been able to and planned a vacation in 6 days because I was told this should only last 7-10 maximum.
I’m starting to get depressed and anxious about my lack of recovery. I welcome suggestions.
I really can’t stand another day of this. I think I had it so much rougher than you guys. I’m a 16 year old girl. Right now its about 3:32 am and I wake up every hour on the hour. I didnt drink liquid. Biggest mistake. PLEASE DRINK! get used to drinking a lot of water on the first day so that way you will always drink it. I never drank anything or ate anything. What I was doing was id spit my saliva into a tissue and throw it out.
it was my way of avoiding swallowing.
I’m insane for doing that because my throat wasnt getting any hydration so it was having,as my doctor calls it, throat spasms. At random moments i feel sharp pains in my throat and in my ears and my neck. I just sit on my bed with an ice pack crying waiting for the pain to go away. I thought this was normal. I thought this was what the recovery was supposed to be like. So yesterday I had to go to the emergency room because I was so dehydrated they had to hook me up to an IV to get fluids and medicine in me. When all of my blood tests and urine tests came back, my doctor told me I developed a urinary tract infection. My antibiotics havent been working because of this infection so I havent been getting better. im on new antibiotics. Also while I was at the hospital, I got my lovely perioD. it couldnt get much worse than this. Tonsillectomy recovery,throat spasms,extreme thirst, urnary treact infection, and now my period. I didnt know pain could get this bad. Im still having throat spasms. Nothings getting better. Im still avoiding swallowing but when I do I think i feel a scab coming off. But I dont know I dont wanna push it. I cant wait till it comes off because I think thats when it starts the quick recovery. Damn, its been a hard week.
Hang in there Mel. It WILL get better. Thanks for sharing your experience.
Day 7 and i cant believe i feel 30times better iv actually managed to get uo and function. Iv ate a quater of a sandwich which is amazing as i haven’t ate at all since leaving hospital. It did hurt but was bearable and beats being sick due to medication. I am taking paracetamol every 3 and half hours if needed and night time co codamol when i wake up. As co codamol does knock me out. My experience of this has been horrific and wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy. Finally feeling better
Hello, well it’s 7 days for me today! I’m 36 years old and man I didn’t expect this painful of a recovery. I keep reading forums of others saying pain is subsiding; mine is still just as painful and both ears have started to give me pain not constant but throughout the day. Decided to listen to someone’s advice about eating soft foods..big mistake for me. It was fine the 1st and 2nd swallow…then I don’t know what happened on the 3rd because when I swallowed I jumped in the air, felt pain in both my ears and just squeezed my ears for about a half hour. And the funniest thing is I was eatting extra soft cooked carrots(go figure)! Also, it feels like I have burnt my tongue when I swallow! But, haven’t had anything hot since before the surgery.!!! Must say I’m getting a bit more active the past two days. So, overall I guess I will just stick to my purée and really love the Special K protein vanilla cappuccino drink. It’s my way to get my cup of coffee in in the am..and been drinking clear nutrition peach flavored ensure for daily vitamins. Thinking positive. The worse is over, I survived surgery, and lost 10 lbs. what more can a women ask for!!!
Hi guys,
I am now going into day 7!! I have had 2 c-section with multiply back operations, and spinal fusions!!!! At age 28 this by far is the worst thing I have ever experienced!!!!
I wish I could have my tonsils back and carry on the life I had before!! I need that life I miss you tonsils!! Even just having them in a jar to look at and cry with might make this experience more manageable.
My husband is prob ready to ask for a divorce!! He’s a paramedic so is used to waking up in the middle of the night for silly things.. this man has zero sympathy!! Perhaps I thought that a tonsillectomy can’t be that bad!!! TILL I read all these posts!!
I have to admit I’m glad you guys also suffered and some are still!! It’s the only thing keeping me from hopping into my car and driving to the emergency room!!!
I just wish that the ear ache would go away.
Scabs 90% gone now, so not Really sure why there is still pain…
Let’s hope that tomorrow is better!! And hope this crying stage is now also over!!! I’m not that women!!
Hi, Your post made me chuckle which is quite a feat since most things make me cry at the moment!!! I also am pleasd to read about how other people are suffering too, gives me people I can empathise with and share my post tonsillectomy misery with too!!!
Night 6 and day 7 have to to be the worst so far. I’m a 19 year old female and have had my tonsils and adenoids done also. Today it seems I can’t sleep, the scabs are off on my left but nothing on my right side. I can’t stop producing spit. Which is uncomfortable and annoying to spit out ever 5 seconds. Milk seems so help sooth my throat even though that’ll produce more spit which sucks. Either way. Day 7 is the worst and I hope it doesn’t get much worse..
I’m not sure how to feel to be perfectly honest I’ve been reading stories all around and those that can eat and drink with little pain are the sources of my current envy.
Day One – It was the best day, the surgery took about 30 minutes longer than the surgeon expected apparently my tonsils were that large, recovery consisted of me drinking a bucket load of water, being doused with painkillers and mild nausea. The nurses were lovely and I was sent home with painkillers and antibiotics.
Day 2 – 6 With each day the pain has gained and on day five I was given a higher dose of painkillers and much to my dismay this gave me -little- relief. I’ve been drinking as much water as possible but sometimes it just dribbling from my mouth as I fail to swallow is hell.
Day 7 – It’s now day seven I haven’t eaten in a week I’m in the most agony I’ve ever been and I simply want to curl up and cease to exist. I hope the peak of the pain is today because I’m not sure I can handle worse. Ugh…
Thank you to all those sharing their stories, I now understand everyone has varying experiences. Perhaps it’s due to pain threshold or age or what procedure they had to remove the tonsils but it’s nice to know that I’m not the only one, who has had the procedure. I am 24 and had my tonsils, adenoids, syptoplasty and part of my bone chiseled as it had broken and reset in an awkward place causing breathing problems, all this has been removed for 7 days now. It is the 6/7th day that has been the most painful so far, I think this may also relate to running out of prescribed medicine and cutting down from two tablets every four hours to one because I realsied I was accidentally overdosing on my medicine, so be careful and read.
Day 1- I was mainly in hospital and was rolling in and out of consciousness due to anaesthetic and slept all day.
Day 2- 4 I slept constantly I had no pain and felt nothing and ate normally, I ate eggs on toast, fish pie, lasagne, cottage pie, soup with bread, I also drank around 2 litres a day. I am always eating solids, maybe that’s why I am in pain today? My family complain that I do to much and should stay in bed but I’ve read someone went shopping! I have to admit day 3 I was cooking my family a meal and felt everything was fine and didn’t get why it would be painful at all and my friend warned me it’s because of all the medication and once that is out of my body it will hit me.
Day 5- I struggled to sleep I thought it was because I had drank iced coffee and ate a lot of sugary foods but I can’t stand drinking tea and lots of the food I eat taste awful. I prepare you, food tastes strange but in the back of my mind eating makes you recover faster and they are only two fleshy lumps in the back of your throat so it shouldn’t hurt right? I still feel like a bit of a wimp of day 5 and that I should have done more, other than stay in bed and watch tv and that perhaps I slept too much? It seems to me that everyone hits a wall at different points of their recovery period, I read that a lady didn’t take any pain killers at all because she was allergic and felt like cheering her on, that I could not do.
Day 6- I’m still sleeping upright due to my nose but sleeping means waking up and waking up is the most painful part, it’s a strange sort of pain,move dislocated my leg and broken my hand but still the dislocation was more painful I think it’s the length of time the pain goes on for and its direct because it’s in your neck and head, you just want it out and gone. Your ears need to pop, your jaw aches and I have a constant migraine but thank goodness for pain killers. I had four hours sleep or less that night.
Day 7- is the worst. I can’t even talk today and I’ve been talking fine but with a strange voice, I’ve had two hours sleep and this was the first night I’ve cried in a few months and during the whole recovery process. The pain killers are not making me numb everything is sharp. I have no scaps falling off like other people but perhaps they go with the food, I ate very crusty garlic bread. I presume from reading that this is because the scaps are forming and are getting ready to form a new functioning throat? By this point, many people are feeling better but at the beginning they are feeling pain, am I going backwards? Luckily my boss has let me have the time off work to recover and I have lots of family members who keep popping in and telling me off, otherwise I would have been shopping too and been in more pain now. Don’t do too much even if you feel ok because it will come back later and yes it hurts but hopefully it will pass.
Day 7 today! It’s 2:30am and I can’t sleep due to my mouth getting dry. Oh, the pain. Days 1-2 not the best of situations due to the pain of swallowing and the swollen tongue. No one ever mentioned the tongue being painful too. Should of realized something like a clamp was needed to keep it still during surgery. Day 3-4 pretty much the same. Did I mention that darn tongue??!!. Tried eating jello with great difficulty. Day 5-6 was able to sleep better and refilled pain medication; Tylenol with codeine. Being that the pain from my mouth woke me up at this ungodly hour, it should be a great day! Liquid diet only do far. I don’t know how people are eating the meals they’re sharing. The silver lining is definitely the weight loss. Way to kick off the New Year’s resolution of losing weight! Tomorrow is my doctor post op checkup one week after surgery. Stay tuned
Day7: really the best I have felt! I ate toast with some wheat thin crackers today. Swallowing is getting much easier, although it have not strayed from Mac and cheese and soup. I have eaten a chipotle burrito, but that was more day 5. I’m 26 years old if that helps anyone. I’m still taking pain meds pretty much around the clock, mainly for the fear ingrained in me of not taking them and feeling feverish or in some horrible pain. My ears do radiate pain without the meds and regular Tylenol does not cut it at this point. I randomly feel extremely tired. Like I can go shopping or what not, but maybe an hour or two in I feel the need to go home and sleep for hours.
Also, zofran has been my savior…could not stomach pain meds without the zofran!!!
Today I am day 7. I am so frustrated and exhausted.
I get very little pain relief with my meds, I cannot eat even cream of wheat without feeling like I have knives in my throat..
I sleep about an hour at a time and I am exhausted.
I would have never believed this surgery was as bad as it is.
I don’t think my family and friends believe me about how difficult it is.
It’s encouraging to hear. Your experiences and know that what I am experiencing is normal.
Had my done 12/29 – hydrate the hell out of yourself. I’ve never peed so much in my life as I have the last two weeks. I wish you luck – it’s a tiring process. I know for me waking up with pain is something that I’m entirely over. During day it’s much more tolerable now. I jokingly say with the big three (sleep, eating, sex) out of commission as a guy, I’m getting pretty grumpy. I’m headed back to work for half day tomorrow – planned administrative projects that I can do without talking or collaborating but I have to get out of this house for a while before I lose it. Upside: flu season is a nightmare right now – and we’re all stuck home dodging it. ?
Day 7 has finally come!
From the minute I got my surgery I kept saying “I can’t wait until I have a week under my belt”. My dr. told me that I might have some ear pain and for the past few days I kept saying how lucky and excited I am that I did not experience any ear pain…I spoke too soon because day 7 and the ear pain starts Lately I have been waking up in the middle of the night swallowing to see if it hurts as bad and these past 2 nights have not hurt as much except when I wake up and thats when hell starts all over again! I am taking off of work tomorrow and hoping I am okay to return by Tues or Weds. I was able to eat a crab cake for dinner last night but had to mush it up like baby food =x I also tried some angel hair pasta on the side with olive oil and garlic and for some reason the garlic and olive oil hurt my throat and gave me a terrible stomach ache. I keep trying to push regular foods because I don’t want to get nauseous from the pain meds. I did have some very soft spiced pumpkin bread and it went down pretty well. I keep looking at the back of my throat and my scabs seem to be forming well and are still in tact. I still occasionally get the “razor blade” feeling in my throat, not as bad as the first few days though.
Emily – glad to hear you’re making some progress I know it’s been frustrating. I was up overnight with some minor bleeding, I unwisely opted out of using my humidifier because it makes me sweat a lot at night. I wanted to enjoy a nice dry full night’s sleep HOWEVER, ended up rising repeatedly. This sort of accelerated my scabs sloughing off which is not uncomfortable really but tastes gross and just feels weird. There’s been continued minor bleeding on and off as this occurs but salt water gargle has helped address that and hydrating a ton. The scabs coming off make it harder to eat again – today eating a soft tuna sandwich and a raspberry italian ice brought tears to my eyes from how sore it was to swallow the food and get it down. That being said still feel like progress is made each day. It’s funny how this process works, you make progress then backslide right around when you’re sick and tired of the whole damned thing. I went to the grocery store to pick stuff up (my help flew back yesterday) and I was so freakin’ tired afterward I had to take a nap after lunch. This healing is so mind over matter sometimes. Not for the faint of heart.
I totally agree! This is taking soo much out of me! Glad you are doing well though. I did pretty good during the day but my throat and ears are killing me right now to the point where it feels like the 2nd day all over again! I’m very lucky to not have bled. Is it normal that my scabs haven’t fallen off yet? I was able to eat another small crab cake and soup soup for dinner. Right now it hurts soo much to even swallow saliva. I’m getting nervous because it’s been 7 days and shouldn’t I be better by now?
per my understanding the longer your scabs stay on the better you are, trust me – mine came off quickly and I paid for it. The tissue behind those scabs is tender and about as “happy” with solid foods as is was on days 1-3. It takes a lot of folks til day 10-12 to really start seeing progress. Just keep doing what you’re doing. For me – trying a half day at work today, I’m losing my mind at home. I am sore but not throbbing. Being home by myself keeps me silent and I don’t feel like that helps much – if you don’t use it you lose it as the saying goes.
Slept like crap, kept waking up with a throat full of bloody mucus. Gross. Taste in my mouth is metallic and gross as well. The bleeding subsided with repeated salt water gargle – the humidifier has caused me to sweat a lot at night so I was excited for a “dry night” LOL, no longer – I will be using that humidifier for a while longer. The timing of this new occurrence is somewhat frustrating as you’re ready to be over and done with this stuff. I’m tired of nursing my throat and worrying about pain and managing symptoms. My recovery has been good all things considered, I could see how folks get very irritable, depressed and emotional.
I had my tonsils out via coblation on 12/26, and I must say this has been one of the worst times of my life. I’m drinking a lot and overall Ive had very few moments where pain exceeded a 5 on a scale of 10. Yesterday, my 6th day, I was starting to feel a bit better, by then my body hit me with a surprise sneeze and I blew a huge chunk of the left scab off which bled for about 10 minutes or so, twice! Since then I’ve been scared to eat and haven’t had any food for two days other than freeze pops. This sucks and I’m counting the days until I can eat real food again.
I also had a tonsillectomy on 12/22. I must say that this surgery is one of the things in life that I regret. I think the ENT’s should research different approaches rather than tonsillectomies because this is a very serious procedure. My pain has been horrible since day 2. I have barely eaten anything since 12/21 & losing alot of weight. Its very hard to drink/ eat because the pain is excruciating. I hope & pray it will get better in the next couple of days.
I had my tonsils removed exactly one week ago (12/22). Since then, each day has been progressively worse. I have been able to have a few bites of food here and there, including a dozen doughnut holes a couple days ago, which was my largest meal of the week. The worst part is that the prescription the doctor gave me had zero refills, and I ran out of it over the Christmas holiday while their offices were closed so I’ve been using over-the-counter pain reliever since. Was supposed to go to New Orleans for my 7-year wedding anniversary tomorrow, but I cancelled the trip because I knew I wouldn’t be able to eat anything, and that’s one of the main reasons to go. I just hope I’m able to eat by next weekend with relatively minor pain.
Hello everyone,
Also on my day 7 recovery.. Had my tonsils out last Wednesday.. All of these posts I’ve read these past few days have helped me get through just knowing I’m not the only one experiencing these horrible painful things. So I’ve decided to post myself.. My 7th day my big blackish scabs are gone, but when they came off they left exposed raw tissue which now burns every time I take my liquid pain medicine.
I still can only eat Italian wedding soup which is awesome, and ensure and water..my biggest concern is my uvula, it is still very swollen has scabs on it and it’s so long it touches my tongue. I went for my post op 2 days ago and my dr said not to worry, that it will return to its normal size. I just don’t know. Also what the heck is that burning sensation I get every now and again. It seriously feels like acid is coming out of my salivary glad and spreading through out my throat. Any one know about this??? I can’t wait to eat again, having a huge Christmas dinner tomorrow for my family and I will not be able to eat. I know most of you are in the same boat so I don’t feel as bad.
One more thing, someone said they are gargling with salt water?? My dr told me not go gargle so anyone else gargling?? Is it helping?
hi guys im on the 7th day now and it does pain still my scab come of think so not to sure some tips eat baked beans helps a lot noodle 1st 3 days it is normal and after that pains just come from ears to head i take mix off 2 paracetamol 500g 2 and 1 ibuprofen which helps alot for a bit gd luck any1 eles taking it out.
Day 7 what a bumpy road yesterday I felt great even went to visit family this morning woke up omg the pain my ears I feel a pulse in my throat when I stand up or do anything strenuous , anything I fancy to eat is then ruined by the bad taste in my mouth I’m put of maccies for life ! Looking after 2 kids under 4 is pretty hard too u can’t shout or do anything my one word of advise would be drink drink drink I ended up in a urgent care centre with dehydration I cannot wait for this experience to b over I had to big baby’s with no pain relief and for this I’m on tramadol and morphine sulphate
I’m just going into my day 6 myself and have started experiencing the dry throat = ON FIRE sensation.. in fact I’m awake @ 3:30am afraid to sleep as I know my throat will dry out!
I’m with you on the pain meds – I was using the extra strength over the counter stuff this morning – I went to my doc this afternoon and got two scripts for MUCH heavier meds… crazy how it still doesn’t stop the instant burning sensation when it happens though!
I have 1x 4 year old – I know exactly what you mean about not being able to yell etc… sometimes I can talk almost normal – other times…. all I can do is gesture dramatically!
Hang in there, Beth!
Starting @ Day 7, my scabs begged for a change. Foods and that I lived on:
scrambled eggs with no pepper and little salt, oatmeal, & chicken noodle soup (I added chopped up pasta).
I was so bummed to have to give up the foods I had especially purchased for this surgery. I could no longer eat orange sherbert, popsicles, applesauce, jello nor drink orange juice. Anything acidic or cold hurt.
Day 7 for me, the pain at night and in the morning is unbearable..I also have a huge ulcer on the side of my cheek by my bottom tooth, so the pain of that aswell is killing me, I’m thinking it’s were the instruments were keeping my mouth open I surgery. I woke up this morning in worse pain than yesterday, I’m drinking lots of water, and eating lists of soup with pasta, I did manage a piece of cake but I nibble at it as I can’t open my mouth wide…I think at night the pain is worse. My scabs havnt fell of, I’m dreading that as everyone says it makes u vomit. I’m 44 years old
I’m currently on day 7 and in really struggling to get through the nights with the pain. I can’t take any pain killers at night until about 8 in the morning, so when my last pills ware off at about 12ish I’m in agony and can’t sleep/keep waking up! I could handle it if I could take the painkillers but obviously they say you can’t take more than eight in 24hour period so I would have to miss out during the day if I were to have some at night :/ it’s got of the point that I can’t even eat anything at all. The first night, I slept right thought and ate biscuits and potato chips! And now a week later it’s much worse..and I’m losing my patience.
I’m on day 8 today, but just wanted to comment how some people can have toast. I had packets of chips on day 6 & 7. My dr recommended I eat toast, chips, cookies, etc. It trains the tongue & throat muscles and the jaw so they won’t get tight and that’s some of the pain in these days. I eat these when I’m high on medicines and feel no pain. Remember to keep chewing to shred and gurgle after eating so no food stuff remains in the wounds.
On my 7 th day postop, and I m starting to regret my decision to have the tonsillectomy !! My ears, tongue, throat everything hurts!! I drink all the time , can’t eat at all and thank god for my pain meds!! Everything back there is still white-ish and yellowish !! Is that normal !?? And what’s a scab look like?? When do you lose it and how do you know? Anybody ? Pleasee and thank you !!
Today is my 7th day. The hardest part of my day was (sorry if TMI) constipation. I hadn’t had a BM since the day of surgery despite all of the prunes and laxatives I had been ingesting. Immediately after using an enema, I felt better. The nausea and tiredness went away. I guess having full intestines can make a person feel pretty crappy (figuratively and literally.)
I’m trying to slowly wean off of the painkillers so I don’t have to experience that digestive issue again. I boiled and pureed prunes. I’ve been mixing the prunes into baby cereal with Rice Dream instead of dairy products. I’m continuing to avoid dairy so I don’t have any mucus to fight with. After this, I may continue to live without dairy, because my sinuses are so clear!
In addition to ice water and ice chips, I drink a cup of Earl Grey tea (room temperature) every morning, so I don’t get another caffeine withdrawal headache. I’ve also eaten baby food because it’s easiest to swallow. The fruit is a bit too sweet and hurts my throat yet. But the baby food sweet potatoes are just right. Chirldren’s Ibuprofen helps a lot.
Yesterday, I slept on and off all day. I slept a lot today as well. I tried going without the Roxicet this morning but ended up having to use it by noon. Things are still really tender, and I think I lost a scab. No bleeding though. Thank you everyone for sharing your experiences. I hope you heal quickly and comfortably.
I am still alive, !! No strong meds last night, woul have been a good night if not for the coughp and the bleding and the dry throat in the morning. Ice pack I love you.
I tried jello for breakfast throat almost fells not made of sand paper.
Today is 7 days since I had my tonsils removed and this is the first day I have woke up and not been in unbearable pain. Days 3-6 were the hardest days of my life. I couldn’t even take care of my baby from being in so much pain. My ears teeth tongue neck everything hurts!! I think I am finally starting to feel a little better though. I would have never made it without the pain meds. It has been very hard so I’m hoping in the end it will be worth it. I am starving to death I was only able to eat some mashed potatoes the second day so I have not eaten in 5 days now bc I just couldn’t. I have tried several different things and I just can’t eat yet. I see the doctor next week so hopefully he will tell be if I’m making any progress. I can’t wait to eat again and feel like I am human. This was harder than having a baby and that was hard!!
Just woke up and tried to swallow. If I were an animal I’d chew my ear off.,!! OUCH!!
Man up ladies. I’m 32yo and on day 8. I went to the beach this morning. I ate solid food for lunch. Shrimp mac-n-cheese with beacon!! Had tilapia and rice last night.
Day 4/5was the worst for me. Severe ear pain!!. I called my doc and they called me in a steroid that solved the problem. Also, my doc prescribed liquid roxicet for the pain from day one which is some good stuff. I was talking the second I left surgery lol.
The process hasn’t been nearly as bad as everyone said it would be.
Good luck guys!
Hi all well day 7 was good for me, as the day before had been horrendous with earache and the pain again, saw a tip about getting up in the middle of the night to take some painkillers and woke up feeling so much better, ate yogurt and my cuppa and managed toast twice and a bit of breadcrumb coated fish. Today feeling even better not so much sore but uncomfortable. Definitely trying to eat normally is better for you, and your recovery, although still enjoying a jelly as a treat
Kind of a silly question here considering I’m on day 8–
What are the ‘scabs’ everyone is talking about? There are obviously the white beds in the back of my throat where my tonsils were but do they turn red/crusty when they become scabs? I’m just a little confused as to what these scabs look like.
Think about what scabs do in the tub or pool. They get white/gray and soft. The scabs in your throat can’t get crusty or dry, so they will stay white and soft. Mine didn’t feel so soft back there, but our throats are pretty sensitive to anything back there, so I could feel what seemed like ridges as my scabs loosened. Almost like flaps of scab were hanging back there. I could never see anything, just the white.
The tissue back there will be red/pink as the scabs come off, just like any other place on your body you have new tissue under a scab that falls off. I think most of the scab just sloughs off and thins, with some parts seeming to pull off (it stings like a getting a shot or pinch, but the pain is short-lived and icy water helps).
17 years old. Holyyyy jcdladfla;kjfdfjsadljasdfkjeotwifjs. THE PAIN! The pain is like nothing I’ve ever felt before and it seems to get worse and worse as the days go on.
Today was day 7 for me and the morning was the worst–woke up to blood in my mouth and tears in my eyes (how poetic ? ) It definitely got better as the day went on though. Today my tongue really started to hurt right in the back on the where it connects to the bottom of my jaw. It’s a strange pinching/stinging sensation but ice water definitely helps. I napped a little bit today which was a relief since throughout this entire recovery I’ve gotten a total of 20ish hours of sleep. The worst part about this process is sleeping because waking up with a dry throat and cracked lips/tongue is a blow. Tonight I’m really anxious and nervous about going to sleep but I know I’m going to have to grin and bear it in the morning. Hopefully tomorrow I won’t be as much as of an emotional wreck as I was today. This feed has really helped me with all of the support and great tips Thanks a ton, Greg!
Sophia, that pinch/sting is a great way to describe how it felt when my scabs started pulling away (if you’re talking about the back of your tongue and not the underside). You’re right that a cool sip of water soothes it quickly. You’re probably having the worst of it (pain) right now. Hang in there! The frequent sting of scabs coming off lasted well over a week for me. I’m not sure if that’s typical, but at least the pain can be relieved quickly.
Try a humidifier for the dryness, the mornings of days 7 and 8 were the worst for me then days 9 and 10 got drastically better. You’re close, hang in there! Fruity gum is great for when it gets itchy soon.
Thanks Allison It’s so reliving to hear that days 9 and 10 were drastically better for you since I am on day 8 now. I’ll definitely have my mom head out to the store to pick up some fruity gum!
Day 7, no issues – eating since 2 hours after the op, normal diet from day 1. Here in the UK we are encouraged to eat a normal diet as this strengthens the muscles and speeds recovery.
I am in a bit of discomfort but I’m not sure what the fuss is all about? Day 3 I was out in town eating a three course meal with the main being a cheese burger.
Wow! Really???? unusual but awesome! What method did your surgeon use? What sort of diet did they put you on?
Was standard surgery. I was advised to start eating my normal diet as soon as I came round. My two main tips are 1. Set an alarm for half way through the night to drink water. 2. Eat toast first thing- drags all the sticky saliva and other bits down.
If I sleep more than an hour at a time I wake up with a searing pain in my ears and throat. A hot compress for the ears and a cold compress for the throat helps A LOT…almost as much as the pain meds. It’s easy to think you’re doing a lot better than you are after taking a dose of medicine (Roxicet). I kept thinking “oh, I must be getting better.” And then it starts all over again. Guess it’s just taking longer to recover than I thought.
Today was day 7 after a coblation tonsillectomy on 6/20. It followed the same pattern as the last few – I had a hard time sleeping because of the throat pain, thinking maybe I overdid it with eating during the day. I stopped the narcotic painkillers a couple of days ago, and maybe the Tylenol isn’t cutting it (but I feel much better/less nauseated overall). I tried to take it easier today and really just eat soft food, like applesauce, popsicles, scrambled eggs, and soup, but I’m still feeling rough/raw in the throat tonight. We’ll see how tonight goes. At least the bad taste in my mouth has been a bit better the last couple of days. I am ready to get out of the house but get tired very easily. I did do more around the house today, which isn’t saying much but was still noticeable. Hoping to more firmly turn the corner tomorrow, but we’ll see.
So I’ve been suffering through this whole recovery which I literally didn’t think would be as bad as it really is, yesterday I was an emotional reck, just exhausted and wanting to be normal again. I cried over chips, yes chips. Lol. But anyways today was the first day I got the energy and courage to step outside my house and I just was a passenger as my mom ran some errands but a half hour into it I was so drowsy and tired all I wanted to do was sleep. I’m getting terrible ear pains in my ears mostly my right side hurts the most and it might be because that tonsil was bigger than the other (so my ENT says) I’ve been able to eat pasta and broth but not very much because it starts to hurt. I’ve been basically drowning my body with water to keep hydrated and eating ice chips as often as I can. I coughed up a tiny piece of my scab tonight it was gross but I’m happy it’s healing because I just want to eat normally again
Coblation tonsillectomy 7 days later: I woke with terrible pain again, the same as every morning. That pain that makes me feel like this will never end! Yesterday I replaced a Percocet does with an ibuprofen dose and noticed nothing at that time or when the ibuprofen should have worn off, so I went to bed with no pain meds and was actually feeling okay. I was in a world of hurt after sleeping.
I felt hot and chilled, too, before I finally got it of bed. I was running a temp and took some ibuprofen to help that and help with pain. My bowels were trying to function again and I wasn’t going to start with the narcotics after calling it quits with them yesterday.
I called the ENT about the fever and was surprised to have the nurse tell me that a fever this late in the game is a sign that I need more fluids. I know my intake has been lower days 4-6. I upped the fluids today and have been keeping up on ibuprofen for pain and fever.
I needed a nap this morning since I was up at 4 with the pain and chills. After nap I felt amazing. Pain went down with medication and with use. I ate toast! I ate a brat and cookies! And more bread! I could have used an afternoon nap, but I was out of the house and enjoying the day with some cousins. I couldn’t pull myself away until I knew I had to. Early to bed for me tonight.
I have a scab hanging on and gagging me since last night. It’s repulsive. I want it gone, but I need to be patient. Too much activity back there and I get small tinges of blood reminding me to leave it be. I keep hoping the rougher (not liquified) foods will help slough that off. Maybe that’s why so many Brits and Europeans are told to eat chips and rougher foods. I wonder if pushing that down helps brush off the layers of scab as they form. Maybe there wouldn’t be a scab to fall off then. I was hoping to shed this flap hanging back there but I’ve had it all day, even on a normal diet. Maybe tomorrow.
I do get small twinges of pain when it pulls off a little more. It’s hard to describe. When you feel it, you’ll know it’s fresh bits of tissue getting exposed as the scab pulls off. It’s not that painful and a sip of something cool helps out. The pain goes away very quickly.
I’m setting alarms to take the ibuprofen during the night. I’m scared of waking up in pain for even one more day. I’m scared to wake up and wonder if it will ever stop hurting. It’s getting very tiring. But I will say that I go to bed with a hope, the first hope I’ve had in a week. Tonight I fall asleep with the hope that tomorrow will be as good as today. Maybe better…
It looks as if you’re turning a corner! I hope tomorrow is a great day and starts off with no pain. I’m eagerly reading your updates since I’m in the depths of the healing process right now and hoping for smoother days ahead.
My day 6 was my worst day and day 7 as been the same. Pain meds don’t touch the pain I’m feeling. I’ve looked at my throat and it looks like I have a scab on the left side but not on the right. And that is where all my pain is. I’m worried something is wrong. And I don’t think my doctor would want me in this much pain. So I’m calling the doctor office in the morning to see what he wants to do(stronger meds that ease the pain is what I want). As anyone else experienced pain just on one side? As anyone had their scab come off before day 6? I just want to be able to drink and eat without it killing me. I want to be able to eat and drink and not cry through it.
17 years old, 6 days and a few hours into recovery and I feel terrible! It’s hard to describe what it feels like, most people have been comparing it to swallowing knives or shards of glass, but I would say it feels more like a very hard blunt paint like someone is punching me in the throat, like a very bad bruised feeling… my jaw is in extreme pain and my tongue still feels very swollen, finally experiencing the ear pain and nausea is creeping up on me again. I started taking a 500mg capsule of Tylenol with oxycodone; worked great yesterday and is failing to work today, not sure what to do, I guess I’ll just have to sleep it off. I’ve been forcing myself to drink plenty of water and have been getting by from mashed potatoes, sweet bread, and melona bars. Chocolate ice cream and pudding has caused me to throw up (only chocolate for some reason). I’ve lost a total of 10 pounds since surgery. I just wish it would stop, I hope this is the worst of it, but I know it will be worth it in the end – having strep every month was worse… wishing everyone a speedy recovery
I’m day 7 now. Today, I started having a sharp pain in both sides of my throat. My boyfriend said maybe the scabs split a little bit but I’ve done nothing for that to occur. I’m 15, and it’s at times very painful. Although I feel MUCH better today, the pain is excruciating when I try to eat. It burns, and just feels like it wants to sit in the holes where the tonsils used to be. I haven’t eaten much today. I ate one pop sickle today & a LITTLE bit of mashed potatoes yesterday. I’m really hungry. Since the tonsillectomy, my stomach has decreased in size, and I no longer want to eat as much as usual. What could the sharp pains be? Is it the scabs coming off, or? Please get back to me ASAP! Thank you!
I’m on day 6 and have been on pills since day 1!
18 years old, Ending day 7! It’s been one week since my surgery and I am excited that the first seven days are behind me, I hear those are the worst. Today I had my follow-up appointment with my doctor. He told me most of my scabs had already came off and I was doing very well. I had to ask him for a pill form pain medicine because the liquid was burning to bad to bear. The doctor gave me pills and I started taking them as soon as possible. I feel way more energetic and today has been the first day I have actually gotten up out of bed and done small things. I highly recommend finding things to do to help keep your mind off the pain. Swallowing is still a struggle, though I have not had an intense amount of ear pain. I have drank a ton of water! Every few minutes I have to have a drink. I honestly don’t know how people say they eat some of the things they do.. Ramen Noodles and scrambled eggs are my main diet as of now. Doctor says it will only get better from here on out, I really hope so!
Day 6 here, trying to see what to look forward to tomorrow. Got some proper pain meds today- children’s Tylenol wasn’t cutting it. I’m blown away by the people that can eat, I’m drinking unsalted broth, water & power aide. Eggs didn’t go down well, I forced it for some protein and felt as though a cat was scratching my throat. I also cannot open my mouth wide enough to see much back there but can feel the scabs when I’m gargling. Oh the joys- I look forward to the fact they can’t grow back and I won’t be on antibiotic every third week for abscess tonsils any longer!
todays’s my 7th day & i feel like im dying . its almost impossible to swollow my own spit .. & drinking is unbearable. i cant open my mouth very wide, or move my tongue much. talking is almost out of the question. i really want this to end already ..
Hang in there Alex. This is as bad as it gets. Things will improve!
Day 7 and i think that i might have over done it yesterday.. I was able to eat food so i munched into some but felt like something was stuck on my throat. I done my salt gargle and was couging a lot trying to budge it. Now in told it might had been scabs that feel like food. Woked up in a lot of pain even water hurts!!!
Hi Laura- No fun! Probably was scabs. Be careful with them. Let them come off in there own time. Hang in there!~
Hi Laura! I find utilizing the chin to chest method great with swallowing food. Be careful with consistency, too! I thought I was ready for chicken noodle soup…too soon :/
POD #7 Feel like I’m turning the corner a bit. When I wake up it feel like a million shards of glass at the back of my tongue. Once I gurgle with warm water and a dash of salt, it feels better. Still can’t eat much, not that I have much of an appetite. I’m trying to do little things around the house but energy is nil. I’m off the oxycodone (thank God) and have been managing on extra-strength Tylenol (I can’t see how ppl like to take these pills). Keep your head up people! I see the light
P.S. I miss chewing.
You know things are rough when, “When I wake up it feel like a million shards of glass at the back of my tongue.” is, feeling like turning the corner a bit. Ouch! Hang in there. You are close to the end of this tunnel!
I’m on day 7 today, and this day and yesterday have been the most painful so far, I thought the pain was getting better but it is going the opposite way, I havent had any bleeding or anything so im lucky for that but getting food and drink down is almost impossible, im just wondering when the pain is going to end at the moment and the taste in my mouth is so strong and bad tasting, my breath has been horrible. Ive been trying to ease up on the pain meds so I just have panadol through the day then endone at night to help me through.
Jen day 7 is usually about the worst. Things should improve in the next couple days.
Is it really? I am already to call my doctor in the morning for stronger meds, cuz I’m on Tylenol with codine and its not touching the pain I’m having. Is it also normal to have the pain on one side? Of course that is the side I think the scab came off already. What day should the scab normally come off? I think I’m still gonna call my doctor tomorrow and see what he says. The worst he can tell me is that it will get better and I just have to live with it. I’ve been living with the worst pain for two days why not more. Just really ready for it to be over with and I can be back to my normal self. I want to be able to go to church and see my friends. All I feel I do is complain about the pain.
Happy Easter! Day 7 is coming to a close for me. I would say that when i eat the pain is a 5/6 but otherwise its not that bad just sitting and watching TV and sipping water its about a 2/3. When I drink water maybe a 4.. I am still taking tylenol every 6 hours, but I am sleeping better. I have been averaging a 1/2 dose about once a day of the oxycodone, usually around dinner time so i can eat without awful pain. Still taking anti-nausea meds twice a day as well. I took a very short walk today while my family went over to my in laws house with the kids for Easter(like a 1/4 mile) and when i got back I took a two hour nap! Morale of my story is I am still recovering. I have my post op appointment tomorrow. I have several questions written down to ask and am excited to see how I am recovering. Still nervous about bleeding but from what I understand I am about 2-3 days away from not having to worry anymore about it. Keeping fingers crossed for a good report tomorrow and no bleeding(knock on wood).
Thanks for the update Russ. Hope your appointment goes well!
Day 7 If I don’t move, or talk I think, I might make it through the day, so hungry, ran out of painkillers on day 4, tried to get more and was treated like an addict trying to get a fix, was aweful. Soooo Tylenol it is, sips of room temperature water is all I can get down for the last 2 days. Starting to feel very weak and tired. Going to try Boost today if I can get my hands on some suppose to taste better than ensure, no chalky feeling afterwards. We’ll see.
Ugh! Hang in there Rosa. You’re almost through the tunnel!
Thanks, gives me hope
Im on day 8 now and i can tell you that my ears are nearly about to pop. They hurt so bad, not to mention swallowing. This is crazy recovery. I barely eat or drink. It stings like crazy. I cant even swallow my pain meds either. All i can do is cry sometimes. I have 3 kids and its becoming a little frustrating trying to communicate wih them. I do hope this starts to subside quickly.
Hi Carla, try chewing gum to relieve the ear pain. Also, a warm compress can give some comfort. Hang in there. You’re nearing the end of the tunnel!
Omg I’m on day 6 and it hurts to eat anything hot or cold. I can only eat broth mashed potatoes and noodles when the meds have been I’m my system for 20 min. Over tolerable pain to ear a little. And I’ve eaten so.many pop sickles my tongue has not been pick.in 5 days But yesterday I couldn’t eat a thing but pain meds and i woke up at 4am feeling queezy with earn pain tongue pain and my TEETH Omg they HUUUURTTTTT. I drank water and it stung like needles going down so.image a pop sickle and it made it wort the freezing cold chill was like swallowing wood chips Idk if I’m healing at all…. and talking I can forget about it!
Hang in there Darrell. You are healing! Try to keep drinking, even though it hurts. Some opt for warm beverages. (Avoid hot)
Day 7 and it feels worse than day 1. Had a blood clot burst on saturday and was bleeding heavily. Went to the ER. Feel like im starting all over again. Cant eat swallow or even breathe easily. How much longer!? Im dying here
Hi Carla- Sorry you’re having a rough time. Ugh! Day seven is almost always worse than day 1. Most people have the worst time at about day 7 or 8. Even if you required re-cauterization, most people begin feeling better by day 9. I hope you get relief soon.
I know it’s hard, but really try to keep drinking and eating as you can.
Ice, ice, ice!!! Today is one week since my surgery. Wow what a ride it has been. My BEST friend has been the ice pack around my neck! I haven’t used much pain meds other than ibuprofen. However I have really struggle with nausea. … this taste in my mouth is awful. My scabs are coming off and my uvula is finally shrinking! I am pretty weak, but ate some normal food tonight! I definitely think today is a turning point!
Hooray Jean! Ice is NICE! Hope all goes well in the days ahead.
Day 7 – I’ve over the hump! Less pain (but it’s still there). Starting to feel more like a really bad sore throat as opposed to all the ear pain. Still difficult to eat.
Looking to any website/forum for reassurance that not the only 25 year old in this much pain. It’s gone through my head.. Are you just being a baby? But to my relief, although not others, everyone is in the same boat. This is making me feel more normal.
I’ve started to get quite nauseous the last few days. I’m putting that down to having medications on an empty stomach. But what am I to do? Im trying to eat.. I rely am!
I’ve had a fever for 48hrs to. Had the cold shakes but actually being hot to touch.
I’m going to call the hospital ward up to check that this is ok. I don’t rely want an infection as well!
Ears ache now and then.. Throat is just awfully sore. The mornings are awful. I’m just in a slope of depression at the moment. Feeling very sorry for myself indeed. I don’t think anyone understands this pain. It’s ‘only a tonsillectomy’ after all..
Most scabs have come away apart from one area that is still quite thick. The rest have a thin pale layer over them. I can actually see the pink of my skin under rather than that thick cheesy stuff!
I’m sure there’s a light.. I’ll just keep searching
Hi Leanne, You are not alone in this. Tonsillectomy recovery is tough and yes, it hurts! I think you are right about the nausea being from the pain med’s on an empty stomach. Keep trying to eat. You might also ask your doctor about anti-nausea medicines. They helped me!
As for the ear pain, try chewing gum. It’s weird, but it helps. Other report that a warm compress on the area helps.
Best of luck for a speedy recovery. It WILL get better!
I had surgery on the 27th and am still recovering. I found that slim fast shakes are the easiest for me to get in my stomach without too much pain. The vanilla and the strawberry hurt less than the chocolate for some reason. We are almost done just keep going!!
Day 7 post-op. I’ve lost 4.4 kilo. Havnt eaten anything in 6 days. Even water brings me to tears. I’m not feeling any better today. If I had my chance again I wouldnt have had the opp.
Hi Jacinta, I’m so sorry you’re having a rough time. Most people do at day 7. It’s often the worst. Try to remember that this is temporary. You WILL feel better- MUCH. MUCH better. -just not yet. I know it’s hard but please try to keep drinking fluids. It will make recovery better. Dehydration is your enemy- fight it!
Best of luck to you. Hang in there. I’m on the other side of the tunnel you are in and I can tell you, It’s wonderful! I sleep better and hardly ever get sick
Hello, I am a 42 year old man who had a tonsilectomy in 3/31/14.
I am on day six and this has been the most miserable experience of my life. Is anyone out there experiencing gum pain or very temperature sensitive teeth? I’ve pulled out the big guns for the rest of the way. I’ve got ice packs, ear drops, orajel, biotene, sucrets,chloraseptic spray water, humidifier, pain meds..am I forgetting anything?
Hey Kenyatta- Welcome! It sounds like you’re pretty well prepped for what might be the toughest day. I might suggest planning a little event to look forward to and get your mind off the discomfort- a short walk, a warm bath…anything. Good luck. I wish you all the best
33yo F Day 7:
I had a wonderful friend who got me a gift card to Panera Bread. So I sent my husband for some of their chicken noodle soup. Into the food processor it went until all veggies, noodles, and chicken were tiny slivers, and it was the best thing I’ve ever tasted!!! Completely made me feel human again! So I sent him back for 2 more orders to get through the weekend!
Before the surgery I had read so many people on here say that days 7 – 9 were the worst. For some dumb reason, when the pain eased up for me on days 5-6 I actually thought, “Woohoo! I am getting off easy!” I seriously started thinking that this wasn’t going to be as bad as everyone made it seem. Then day 7 came…and with it…the pain. So much pain. I have to give myself a pep talk before every swallow of every drink or bite of food. It is like a thousand knives stabbing my tongue, my gums, the back of my throat, my ears.
My husband went back to work today and fortunately my kids’ school district offered winter camp so they were taken care of all day. I just had to fend for myself all day long. I fell into a 3 hour rotation of: eat something, take meds, try to sleep, fail, check facebook, check words with friends, play sudoku.
I am still constantly spitting up little bits of scab. When people mentioned their scabs coming off, it always sounded like they came off all at one time in one big piece. I was totally unprepared for hours and hours of: small cough, oh crap, run to the bathroom sink!
Sounds familiar ! I got nasal spray (fluticasone propionate). I drench a q-tip and put one end in each ear. I also use the spray in my nose twice a day. I found this has helped with any radiating pain and swelling.
I have been eating ice cubes like crazy and trying to keep the scabs coming out safely. Maybe ask your doctor too about hurricane spray. Just got it yesterday. It’s 20% benzocaine and numbs the throat up without having to choke down pain meds every 4 hours! This stuff is freakin awesomeeee. I also constantly keep ice on each side of my neck too near where the tonsils were removed. I haven’t had horrible pain with swallowing (except morning) using the above things. I ate pudding today, soggy Rice Krispies, a creamsicle and cream of wheat.
I am over the fact that this sucks physically, but mentally I am caving in and getting impatient, irritable and frustrated. It’s probably in large part because of how malnourished I probably am but I’m hoping to see more light here soon!
Day 7 brought with it a bit of relief compared to the last few days. The pain still had it moments, but there were stretches of a few hours here and there that I noticed feeling remarkably better. I tried to enjoy every minute, as I have read here that this recovery is sometimes a step forward, two steps back. That has been the case this evening, as the pain has ramped back up–especially in between doses of medicine. The scabs are definitely thinning, which is promising, but they appear so deep on both sides–deeper than the many pics I have seen online. That makes me nervous. I had a breakthrough today in the eating department. I was so sick of the sweet, gooey medicine taste in my mouth and just wanted something salty. I decided to fry up two eggs and attempt to eat them over a buttered piece of bread. Surprisingly, the pain was not too bad, and I finished the entire plate. It tasted so good that I got a little emotional. I also felt much better after eating. However, I tried again later in the day with bread and could not manage more than two swallows. Ugh. Another complaint I have is that my butt and lower back are often numb/uncomfortable from too many hours sitting or laying down. I think it is related to my sciatic nerve, and today, my big toe on my right foot has been painfully numb. I went for a decent walk today, and that helped a little, but it is still there. Compared to my throat, though, it is a minor annoyance.
Day 7 for me…ugh. When will this finally be over? 40 yr old female. I have experienced severe stomach pain, cold sweating (through a thick sweatshirt and a down pillow in five minutes), pale clammy skin and near-fainting… which I’m attributing to the Tylenol with Codeine…I gave it 45 minutes because I couldn’t get a hold of a family member, but that was scary. I was a minute or two from calling an ambulance when the pain finally subsided. I have been writing down when I take medicine… But I think I missed one entry in my medicine log and double dosed on accident. Be careful everyone…don’t forget to do this like I did. It isn’t worth the additional pain! Other helpful tip: take a basic stool softener and just don’t assume constipation is for other people to worry about. ? My ENT suggested it but I didn’t start until Day 3…it took three days to finally work, but it was a relief when it finally did! Also, I’ve found diet drinks like vitamin water zero to be more drying than the regular ones, so don’t cut corners with G2 instead of regular Gatorade. It doesn’t help in the least. With the lack of calories you’re taking in, do the regular drinks. Also, get some Ensure and drink a few sips with your pain medicine to fight nausea.
Day 7! Great day! Throat felt a little raw and was uncomfortable when I swallowed but I ate more today than I have the previous days of recovery. I had heartburn all day which was a down fall and couldn’t get rid if it. Scabs fell off day 5 so I am feeling pretty good!
Today is my day 7. My God I thought the worst part was over! The pain today has been excruciating, the worst yet. My scabs have begun to fall off, leaving red raw patches that cannot come into contact with anything without immense pain. I tried to have some jello and almost threw up from the burning. A few hours later I attempted soup but I felt like I was swallowing knives. I have Aldo noticed big red bumps at the back of my tongue that are very painful to the touch. The back of my tongue is also coated in white. The swelling in my uvula seems to have finally gone down a tad. I wish I knew what was up with my tongue though. Any one have any ideas? My doctor is MIA and my post op is over a month away.
I am so hungry it’s ridiculous. I can’t even watch food commercials on tv anymore. Also, the fatigue is immense. I always seem to new nodding off but never actually able to sleep. I’ve been trying to cut down on the lortab because I was having extreme nausea, but I think I’m gonna have to go back to the 20ml every 4 hours. Hope you all feel better soon!
Day 7 ending and there is, after all, apparently, light shining at the end of this long, long tunnel.
This morning was the worst 30 minutes of my life, which bested yesterday morning (and am worried gets bested again tomorrow morning). That first swallow is horrendous. I was up all night, sipping water, preparing…inches from a humidifier. Still amazing pain.
Worked today out of my home office, overall tolerated the day well. Still have a very limited diet…anything too big is painful, including a big gulp of water. The opening in my throat for food seems abnormally small.
Have lost about 12lbs…that’s good
Tomorrow will be even better!!
My body and my mind feel great today! No pain meds taken at all! My throat on the other hand feels like a lava pit. Every swallow, saliva, water, food(pretending I could actually eat something) hurts worse than any sore throat I haver EVER had. I took a short trip to Target today and stopped at the Starbucks for a mocha peppermint frappacino. I was only able to get 4 sips down before I tossed it in the trash ….next I had an orange ICEE. …that was much better. Food wise I found that marshmallows are about the only thing I can tolerate….. My Uvula is back to normal, the site of my tonsils is an ugly thick white/yellow color. I had no stiches like so many others have had and my follow up appointment with my dr isn’t until 12/10.
Reading forward to the next week….it seems just so far away. I miss my Martinis
I know! Would love to have a nice thick dark beer and relax but I’m afraid of thinning my blood and bleeding.
This is day 7 and I have felt better since having them out! I read about setting the alarm clock every 2 hours when going to bed to take 2 tsp of pain meds, drink water and to sleep with the humidifier on worked! I did the same throughout the day (minus the humidifer) and it seem to help. I know that I had kind of pushed it when I went to the football game and acidentally yelled and got a soft pretzel stuck (which did feel like a knife going down), but I lived and enjoyed the football game! I wish I would have read that part sooner or that the doctors office would have recommended that. It can only get better from here I hope! Good luck to the rest of you!
my day 7 friday was another day to forget. I had stopped the oxycodone pain meds to relieve the constipation but now I was emptying my bowels too often and it was mostly liquid since I had barely eaten anything in the last 48 hrs. I dont know why but I simply havent been hungry since my haermorhage 2 days ago but I suspect the blood that spilled into my stomach messed with the balance in there and I’ve lose my sense of hunger. Also I developed oral thrush today as I see the white coating on my tongue and how it stings when I swallow or try to eat. The pain from the throat isnt so bad now only the sting from the thrush combined with constantly diarhea (had to go 6 times) and the lack of eating has crippled me. I noticed my throat is making more saliva than ever before which is why it doesnt hurt so much. By night time I stopped the diarhea with some immodium and tried to force down a protein shake and small jelly. It was the first food I ate since the post haermorhage surgery some 48hrs ago!
It is the end of my day 7, and I am grateful it wasn’t like yesterday. I wanted to die. I have some minor ear pain, and my saliva is extra gross tasting today. I spent the beginning of my morning gargling with salt water. I got the salt from my nasal rinse, surprisingly it didn’t burn. I also spent a lot of time scrubbing my tongue with my tooth brush. I refuse to allow my tongue to look as nasty as the back of my throat! After that, my day went by smoothly. I plan on returning to work Monday (day 10), but will go home as soon as it is uncomfortable. I’m chewing on a half piece of gum, and swallowing as much saliva as I can, but I tell you, the gum does not mask the taste! I am so hungry, and jealous of people in fast food commercials. Can’t wait to eat real food. One more thing, I put aloe vera gel in my water, to help my stomach, and it is working great. It also leaves a smooth coat on my throat. Good luck everyone, on to day 8.
DAY 7: 30 years old and had tonsillectomy (with adenoids removed too).
This weekend has been one of the worst times of my life. My throat is super swollen due to all the scabs and I have all these sores along the sides of my tongue. Swallowing anything, even water or ice chips, is a struggle. I just spent over an hour trying to get down some pudding and have decided to try again later.
I am still not sleeping well due to keeping up with the pain med schedule, which I don’t dare to deviate from at this point, even though I am still in pain all day with the pain meds. I tried a stronger pain med today and had a little bit of a panic attack so I don’t think I will use that one again. I am just really glad that I decided to take a full 2 weeks off of work to recover, that is one of the smartest things I did when preparing for surgery.
I am just so exhausted and frustrated and in so much pain…I’m just ready for this to be over.
First, thank you for this site. It has provided such a great idea of what’s to come and what’s to be expected. I was worried to have the surgery – both because of the anticipated recovery and that I have no spleen…very worried of infection.
Days 1-5 were a blur. Pain excruciating, almost non-stop vomiting. Husband called Dr. But closed for long weekend. Suspected pain meds making me ill; but in so much pain, couldn’t stop taking them. Temp 99-101.
Day 6 felt human enough to leavd my room, pain 7/10. Temp in the 99s. Ate 1/3 cup mashed oatmeal with banana and 1/2 cup mashed potatoes. Popscicles, ice cream, shakes…can’t get any of them down . Daughter sent home from school with suspected strep throat – can I get it?!!
Day 7 human enough to sit up in living room. Temp going between 99-100. Dr ofc called to follow up on my disability forms so I mentioned the vomiting, and that I’m down 10 pounds. Called in script for zofran. Just had to wait for hubby to pick it up. Tried 1 cup ice cream. Forced it down. Mistake – 1 hr later vomited for 10 minutes straight. Pain 9/10 now. Blisters on tongue and lips from vomiting only add to pain. Finally – zofran. Added in liquid Motrin to help stay on top of pain. Daughter’s preliminary strep test negative, symptoms more suggestive of mono. Don’t tonsils filter stuff like that? Can I get that now, too?! Lying awake, slept hour past pain med time and drink water time. Both add up to huge pain. Temp 99.5. Hoping day 8 is a day of tonsil miracles! I’m in pain, hungry, cranky from the not eating, unable to care for our 3 kids, and ready for the light at the end of the tunnel. Keep checking in with friends at work – boredom may kill me!
Day 7: the night sleep between day 6 and 7 is getting better. In stead of being a camel and spitting in a cup all night from scabs in saliva , I woke up every two hours with razer sharp pain around the out side of each tonsil hole. So back to the sink I went rinsing with warm salt water that helped. The reson why it is so painful is that the scabs are coming of and the newly exposed skin just wants to say hi! The warm salt water I find calms this sharp edge down. Then I apply cold compress to neck and back to bed.
I also find that I had not been able to eat or drink much between days 4-7. The scabs around the food entry to the belly fell of on day 6 which I was than able to eat a pudding snack and cry because I was so happy to eat something. But now I can’t eat again because of the newly exposed skin in the holes which burn when food touches it. I figure a few more non eatting days and I should be good to go. The bathroom sink has become my new friend. Thank goodness it isn’t ugly lookin!
Day 7 I am I’m pain this morning. Tried to skip my meds over night to give my body a rest from all the drugs, big mistake, it has taken a while today to get back on top of the pain. Had a weird experience last night, the swelling seemed to have gone down from the back of my throat and it felt like there was a huge hole at the back of my throat, which meant even swallowing water felt like it was dropping down the back of my mouth. I know it’s because my tonsils are no longer there ( and they were big) one of the reasons I had them removed, however the sensation was really disconcerting, and made me a bit panicky, I am a bit scared now that when I eat I will choke because I don’t have my tonsils to catch things. Not sure if my panicky feeling was due to the codeine I have been taking. I was almost a bit relieved when my mouth was swollen again this morning it felt less weird… Also my mouth smells awful today I keep brushing my teeth , perhaps I will gargle with a little salt water, but afraid it will sting like crazy.
Pretty much cried myself to sleep last night. Woke up this morning in excruciating pain at 7am. Got up. Managed to chew some ice enough to numb my throat to take my pain pill. Reduced the dose to half (Tylenol with codine) was, making me sick to my stomach, dizzy, and was giving me a headache. I ate an applesauce and a yogurt and passed or on the couch until noon. I woke up in pain, but it was tolerable enough. I took some liquid children’s Advil, 4tsp down from 8! I showered and could actually flip my head upside down to blow dry my hair! Ate a pudding and some luke-warm soup. Have barely had any pain since the liquid Advil. I’m doing a salt water rinse right now. It stings a little but all the blood is dark and almost brown so I’m not worried it’s fresh. This is exciting! Maybe I really am over the hurdle!!
It’s me again…. And I bring good news!!!! I did wake up today in pain due to the throat drying out In The night mornings are always the worst so I got up brushed my teeth as I could taste the terrible smell coming from my breath!!! I made a cuppa tea and some fruit loaf ( toasted) as I wanted to line my belly today I decided to double up on my ibropfen I was on 400 mg every 6 hours so today I googled was it safe to take 800 mg ( and it was) so I struggled so bad with the toast but new it was better for me if doubling up on meds…… OMG with in 20 mins the pain was so bearable I haven’t felt so relieved in days I’m not saying I was totally out of pain but the feeling of the brused tongue (right at the back) felt lose less swallen I was able to swallow with out being in such harsh pain… So six hours later I took another 800 mg and again in 20 mins the pain level dropped. It felt so much better when I bought the kids a Mc Donald’s I managed to eat a hamber happy meal!!!!!!!!!!! Woooooooo whooooooo I couldn’t manage it all as I felt full so quickly but I ate!!!! Now for tomorrow day 8 I will keep ya posted so was it the meds? Or the fact day 7 is the start of feeling less terrible I know we are all different and heal different but day six I was losing hope of feeling better any time soon…. Hope your all feeling better xx
Hi guys, you all seem to be having a worse time than me. I’m on day 7 of my recovery,and I feel so much better than days 3-6 they where my worse days so far, I am still in a little bit of pain but the pain relief (800mg ibuprofen) really seem, to helping me. Quick tip drink warm tea it really helps..
I hope all goes well for everyone and my experience of day 7 wasn’t all that bad..
Recover quickly (:
I don’t think my pain med is working. I’m only suppose to take it every 4-6 hours. . but the pain is back and I’m in agony within 2 -2 1/2 hours!
In so much pain today. It feels like I’ve swallowed glass. The pain is radiating up into my ears and into my jaw. It hurts to open my mouth even to drink water.
I have to brace myself every time I take a drink of water. When will the pain decrease!?
Honestly I don’t wanna jinx myself but with my liquid codeine I’m feeling pretty good I’m not sure if it supposed to switch off it by now but I’m 13 and it’s working just fine we’ll just want to say I’m feeling pretty good minus the dry throat I woke up with this morning my ears are what’s bothering me especially my right ear it’s killing me my throat leaks this nasty tasting fluid my scabs are still all there which I have no idea why but overall I think it was worth it in the end I had to get them because I had tonsil stones and I don’t get them now! Good luck please share your experience!
Day 7- Ouch! I ran quite a few errands today so I didn’t keep up with my Percocet, and I paid for it too! When I swallowed my pain was about 8/10. No fun.
Age 17 The morning of day seven started badly, but I decided to get in gear and force down warm tea because water seems to be bothering me lately by noon I was feeling better eating Lipton soup (which is the only thing I tend to enjoy during this whole experience) but the best thing I have come by are sport Popsicles! They give you the electrolytes you are missing and make your throat feel amazing, hoping to keep up the feel better attitude since my scabs are starting to fall off today( which stings) good luck to all of you! I think I’m seeing the light at the end of the tunnel FINGERS CROSSED !!
Thanks for sharing and best of luck!!!
Day 7: no more or less pain than day 6. I’m 31 and so far I’ve been able to manage the pain between Tylenol, squeezing cushions, slapping my forehead and making crazy faces. Al of the above helped me to go through the excruciating pain while (and 15 minutes after) I eat. I didn’t plan on it but I almost slept through the night, and this is the most sleep I have ever had since surgery. I tried to set alarm to wake up every hour and get some water to drink, thego back to sleep. I notice that I had a loooooot of mucus today, all clear stuff hat is gross. I did not see or feel more scabs coming off. I took a walk again tonight for about 30 minutes and it sure felt good. Not sure when my scabs will come off, but it’s only been 7 days right!
I’m on day 7 and thought something was wrong when I woke up,in more pain than ever… I’ve been alternating Lortab with 800mg ibuprofen and that seems to help…
Horrible day. I’d say the worst pain yet. And I’m starting to feel like the pain meds aren’t working. Also, a tip. For anyone who is having trouble swallowing pills (I sure am), pop the pills into a big spoonful of jello, and then treat the spoonful like a pill, swallowing it with water. It helps keep the pills from scratching the throat.
The dreaded day 7. Everyone spoke of how this is “peak day”, the day where my pain will get as excruciating as it’s going to get. To be honest, I really don’t feel much worse than I did yesterday…I would say it’s definitely worse, and this is definitely the worst I’ve felt this whole time, but still. I was expecting worse, not that I’m complaining.
I woke up with a little bit of bleeding this morning too. I think it was because I stupidly attempted to swallow my Percocet tablets with a dried up throat. Thankfully I’m not gushing blood, just two little scratches at the moment. My Doctor was nice enough to answer my text at 7am this morning (on a Sunday no less!) and he asked me to text him a picture of my throat so he could see how serious it was. Gotta say, best experience with a doctor I’ve ever had. Anyway, he said I should be fine, I shouldn’t worry unless blood is actually gushing out.
Looking forward to hopefully seeing improvements over the next few days =)
Ok, so today I decided I was going to tough it out. I concluded (on the basis of no evidence) that my vomiting on Day 6 was probably due to taking the oxycodone on an empty stomach. Today I’d fill the stomach AND stop the oxy. I could do it! I could conquer the WORLD!!!
This actually worked quite well during the day. I was able to eat some mashed vegetables with gravy and some scrambled eggs, AND keep them down! I even slept a little, in a very bizarre restful sleep.
Sometime late in the day I realised that anytime I tried to swallow (ANY TIME… saliva, water, anything!) was like pouring hot acid into an open wound. At first I thought it was just that I was due the soluble paracetamol (a GOD SEND, if you ask me). That only lasted about 30 mins
I went to bed and managed to fall asleep without any more pain killers. I was woken around midnight by some knives in my right ear and the acid bath in my throat (which is technically Day 8 I suppose). I’m sitting here in tears wondering whether to eat something and take the oxy or go straight to the hospital. (‘Go to Jail. Go directly to Jail. Do not pass Go. Do not collect $200.’)
I CAN’T TAKE THIS ANYMORE!!!!!!!
Take the oxy for 1 or 2 more days, the pain starts to subside day 8. Eat Jello or instant pudding before taking the oxy, and ask your doctor for an anti-nausea med. Also, if you feel up to it, taking a short light walk can help with stomach pain. I thought my mom was crazy when she made me walk to reduce my nausea, but it worked! Also make sure you’re taking a laxative since the oxy stops that all from working properly. If you really don’t wanna do the oxy anymore, extra strenght Tylenol worked pretty well. Good luck!
Also, put heat pads on your ears, it will help.
Thanks sweet_nothing. I took the oxy and the anti-nausea med, still threw up but the pain was a little less this afternoon. I am hoping like anything that means I’ve broken the worst of it. I tell you, if I knew it would be this bad, I’m not sure I’d have done it! Sigh.
Heat to the ears is a good tip, I’ve been doing that for a couple of days. Just pressing your hand to the ears works well, too. It’s only one ear, for me, funnily enough the one that gave me most grief when I still had the tonsils. :S
Thanks again for your advice. Fingers crossed for all of us struggling with this that we break it soon.
Well I was actually on here reading this when my tragedy struck. My day was starting out already kinda bad because it was a bad pain morning and I knew i’d have to take Roxicet every 6 hours versus every 8 or so. Well I took my dose at 11:30 and it made me cough, not even a lot, but the slight burn it gave still had me cough. Now i’d been slowly clearing my throat more and more each day with all the mucus that had started up, so it hurt a bit but I figured thats because i had coughed when there was a strange warmth at the back of my throat.
I was gushing blood heavily down my throat at this point so I called my dad and he hurried home, and we went to the closest ER, even though thats not where my ENT surgeon had rights because closer is better at least at first. Well the entire time home i’d swallowed the blood mostly and was spitting it up while in the ER with their little bucket for me. They eventually told me as long as it stopped and clotted itself, I was golden and wouldnt need it recauterized. Well it did stop, then 10 minutes later it started again, but only bled for like 5-10 minutes before stopping again. Thinking we could go home now the ER doctor was signing my stuff and saying after talking to my ENT surgeon that if there was anymore longer bleeding to go straight to a different hospital 20 minutes further south where he did have rights, and I started bleeding again only as hard as the first time. So we rushed towards the different hospital that was warned we were coming, and i had a clean bucket having filled 1 already. Finally arriving there about 2:30 i will still bleeding strong and the nurses got me in pretty quick, the only problem was now the decision came. Cauterize in the room without any anesthesia or go into full surgery whenever my ENT could get there to perform it. They ended up not giving me fluids because of the thought that I would be leaving for surgery any moment. only for my blood pressure to crash and my entire body to begin going downhill from no water since 11:30a.m. and losing blood pretty constantly since then too. So it ended with me crying on the bed laying back with huge stomach pains from the TON of my own blood i’d been swallowing between trying to spit it out, and that i’d lost a totally of 4 cups of blood they’d calculated, and never been on an IV. 4 nurses had to rush in and put two IV’s into me, each hooked up to two fluid bags, to make me feel good and finally get my blood pressure from 72/33 up to 115/65 which is much more normal for me.
Well they’ve gotten a hold of my ENT and he wants to try and just have the ENT specialist and his residents in the hospital cauterize it in my room IF they think the blood clot that formed when I crashed wont hold. They examine it and decide it’s not looking too strong so they get the things to cauterize me. The way they explained it to me the little sticks that had the chemicals on it to cauterize would sting, but they’d only use one or two so it would be quick and all would be good.
Everyone keeps thinking this is a small bleeding point until they go in and see it’s a good chunk of my throat thats needing tending to. I took twelve of those suckers, while their tongue depressors were pressing INTO my other scab/scar and causing pain, and choking me with the suction. They couldnt get it and everyone told me I was such a strong girl for dealing with this but they were just going to put me under and do the surgery again. Well just as I was about to go, the nausea started again real bad and they didn’t get me any nausea meds till I was in the OR waiting room where I could see my Dad again. But it did help a lot. My surgeon told me this is a 1 in 100 happenstance but to still be careful and such. Everyone thought i’d eaten something crunchy or hard to cause this, and when I told them they were shocked because they didnt know just how strong the coughs could be. Well surgery went fine and the angels above had them pump my stomach free of the blood so I wasn’t nauseous again until the car ride home but that was fine. I left finally at 8:15 that night and got home at 9:30.
It was such a crazy ride and i just was and am a bit terrified every time i have to clear my throat a bit, but it’s just as safe as before i took the scab off. Just be careful whenever you cough, try not to, but if you can try not to do it as hard and all should be good but this was really a terrifying experience.
Oh my goodness Saera! That’s awful. I’m so sorry to hear that you went through this. Glad you’re ok. Thank you for sharing.
Chewing gum helps to not cough. Sorry this happened to you!
thank you i havent started any gum afraid some of the flavor may burn, but i think i’ll take that advice
Mint gum burned. Watermelon gum was good and did not burn. I literally was chewing watermelon gum non-stop for like 4 days to stop the urge to cough, and it worked! I would recommend to start with half a piece and just see how that goes.
Hey Everyone! Let me just start off by saying that this site has been a HUGE help throughout my dark days! I am 17 years old and I got my tonsils removed on the 27th of July. So its officially one week today !!! I made finally made it! Before my tonsillectomy I had a lot of strep throat and tonsillitis. I also had huge tonsils and I would get tonsil stones ALL THE TIME ! talk about smelly… and I also had little “homes” in my tonsils. There were deep deep holes everywhere so the stones had a nice, warm, and comfy place to sleep….grrrrrrr.
Day 1 of surgery: So the surgery went great. I’m not sure what method was performed on mine. When I woke up from the anesthesia, all I could remember was the feeling of my tongue. It felt soooo swollen and it hurt worse than my tonsils. The nurse tried to get me to eat jello which hurt like heck and sip water which was like acid down my throat. (Note: surgery was performed at about 1pm and I got home around 6pm) When I got home the first thing I did was take my medicine 15ml of liquid hydrocodone every 4 hours. It made the pain tolerable which was nice. Woke up in the middle of the night like my throat was literally on fire. I wasn’t aware that I had to drink water throughout the night! I learned fast though!! I took my medicine and I was good. Pain was about a 6/10
Day 2: The pain started setting in. I couldn’t open my mouth for the life of me but I eventually got it to open wide enough to look in the back of my throat. White scabs and my uvula was about the size of my throat and it was longer than where my tongue was. Not comfortable whatsoever. My tongue was also pure white! I hated the way jello felt going down my throat. I stayed away from the dairy cause I definitely did not need anything else to block my throat (mucus). I resorted to apple sauce. I USED TO HATE APPLESAUCE WITH A PASSION. but now its like my best friend. That day pain was about a 6/10.
Day 3: This is when I researched and researched and researched. I needed to know of any home remedies or anything that could help me out with this recovery process ! this is where this site comes in to play (: . I bought a humidifier ASAP!!!!! and made sure I drunk water throughout the night about every hour. That helped SOOOOO MUCH! That day I ate more apple sauce but the nausea started to kick in. That hard medicine on an empty stomach is not okay. luckily my doctor prescribed me with some ant nausea tablets. I also started sucking on ice chips which helped the swelling go down. That night I managed to eat some mashed potatoes and gravy with a little meat loaf. MANN ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT GOOOOOOD! haha I love to eat so this experience has been very difficult. Pain was about a 5/10
Day 4: Woke up at about 3am in sooooo much pain!!!!! My earls felt like they were going to explode. They were pounding like drums ! And the medicine was starting to wear off in 2-3 hours. I was exhausted. I really just wanted to sleep and never wake up. I had mucus stuck in my throat from lord knows what. My throat didn’t hurt as bad as my ears and jaws. My tongue was still swollen. I did not want to eat that day but I forced my self to because I refused to throw up! I was not about to delay this recovery or make it even worse! Towards that afternoon it got better. I ate more mashed potatoes, gravy, and meatloaf. I also had my applesauce(: but I can only eat so much before my throat is uncomfortable.
Day 5: I SAAWWW THE LIGHT! It finally started to ease up a bit. I did not have to take my medicine every 4 hours. I could make it for about 5-6. That morning I managed to get down a little bit of hashbrown potatoes and scrambled eggs. The nausea was kind of messing with me so I stopped. Felt like I had to puke out my guts but the pills prevented that. I also looked at my throat and my scabs were falling off! I had a little left on the left side and a piece hanging on the right. For dinner I had some creamy chicken rice casserole. DELICIOUS!! and a little piece of fried chicken…which I know I should not have eaten but it was calling my name, I made sure I chewed up til it was really really really mushy. Pain that day was about a 4/10
Day 6: I woke up a little better. Still the same ear ache and dry throat. I did not eat much that morning besides applesauce so I could take my meds. But that night I ate two slices of cheeseburger deluxe pizza!!!! It felt soooo good to finally eat a little more! But it kind of started aching afterwards but it was worth it. I started talking too! Even though I sound really ridiculous! My friends couldn’t help but laugh at me. Pain was about a 3/10.
Day 7: Did not go to sleep til about 3:30 am on the 6th day and woke up at 7 for medicine. Yeah I was in pain but it wasn’t tooo bad. Today I didn’t eat or drink anything. I just felt yuuckkkkyyy. My throat was really dry but I didn’t care. Big mistake. I haven’t took my meds all day. not to mention the breath !!!! PEEEEEYYYUUUUU ! Swallowing is a little more tender today probably because my scabs are like all gone except this one that is hanging on its last limb! Pain today about a 2/10
I thought this was the worse experience of my life in the beginning! But now I see its worth it. I haven’t had any complications so far (knock on wood) . I miss food A LOT but I have a feeling that I wont eat as much as I used to . I also miss dance practice A LOT. its my life. My doctor told me I have to stay away for two weeks. I’ve been dancing since I was 3 and never have I ever stayed away from dance for TWO WEEKS . Im dying here ! My mother helped me a little through this recovery. She had her procedure when she was in her 20’s and she failed to mention to me all this CRAP I should have known. but she’s like Bio woman, nothing hurts her!!! My grandma has been the most help. She was like my own personal nurse from filling up my water to changing the humidifier to fixing me whatever she thought I could eat to waking me up every hour during the night to sip water. She even laid in the bed with me to make sure I was okay every night . Shes my super woman (: and I appreciate it. Comment if you have any questions about my recovery!
Thank you for sharing this! Best of luck to you!
Hey I’m a 17 year old who just had her tonsils taken out aug 7th and it is a week today. I woke up in the middle of the night with excruciating pain around 3 am and it was so bad I had to take some pain medicine. this afternoon it feels somewhat better but I don’t know about the whole scabbing thing. Does it hurt when it comes off? Do you feel it? When the scabs come off does it feel better then? I’m nervous. Please reply back with info. You are the only one close to my age that I’ve seen has had one of these surgeries.
Well I’m 25 and did *not* have an issue with the scabs, so I’m sure you will be just fine Around day 10 I could sense they were coming off after I was done eating. The sensation only lasted a few minutes and was not bad. It is nothing to worry about at all. It’s more itchy than anything else. I just drank a ton of water to stop the itch and they were gone in no time.
Day 7 of my coblation tonsillectomy started with a little more pain than I have been used to this week (5 out of 10), but only because I slept through my alarm for more drugs. Was bound to happen at some point I guess. Things are still well overall. My stomach hurt more than my throat. Getting anxious to be fully recovered. Lack of food and the duration of this recovery is the worst part. But, still happy I had it done of course.
So first off I have to say that your blog and all of your experiences have made this TORTUOUS experience much more bearable knowing that you have all felt or are feeling exactly what I am now….THANK YOU!!!!!!
I’m on day 7, my surgery was a week ago today, and today is by far the worst morning I’ve had :(. I didn’t sleep much as my ears felt like someone was taking a sledgehammer to them as of 3am this morning. I think this has been the worst part for me, and I’m not that good with pain as it is!! My tongue is still super swollen and when I do try to eat my new diet of mashed potatoes and matzoh ball soup my whole mouth hurts sooooo badly!!! Anyone know when my tongue will go back to normal??
I had a full on breakdown on Day 5, having had enough of the no sleep, no eating and constant pain, started stomping my feet like a 3 year old does when you take away his/her toy and yelling at my mom who has been taking such good care of me. The yelling wasn’t the smartest thing as I paid for that the rest of the day but I did feel better oddly after I was done.
I’m just hoping that this is the turning point, I have to go back to work next week and am not sure how I can do that giving I can’t function normally right now!!
I am also dreaming about food like I’ve never eaten!! I have a list in my head of all the things I want to gorge on and I’ve prepared my friends for an all out food binge when this is finally over…when will that be exactly??????
Day 7 started out rough for me, but was better by the end. I was in enough pain that I couldn’t really speak in the morning. I suffered for part of the day, then decided to take Advil along with my pain meds. They helped more than they pain meds! I got feeling better and could talk some again. And I made another decision. I was so hungry and run down from hunger, I just knew I had to eat something. So I made sloppy joes and ate the hamburger. It hurt a little, but tasted soooo good! And I think the protein gave me a little needed energy! So the night was better. Looking in my mouth I can see some pink shining through, so I know I am starting to heal. It just feels like it is going so slowly!!
35 years old and it’s Day 7 for me and it’s the first day I feel anything vaguely resembling human, that being said I’m still in a horrible amount of pain.
operation day – Coming out of the anesthetic I thought, “gee,I’m going to hurl”. Meanwhile, little did I know this would be the single most coherent thought I’d have for the next 7 days… I wasn’t breathing well and they put me on O2 – which was not great for the dry throat thing. I had a septoplasty/turbs done at the same time so All my airways were compromised. The nurses kept giving me worried looks. My mother, bless her was like a champion by my side literally feeding ice chips into my mouth. As predicted – I went to the toilet and hurled my guts out. Ate zero. Drank a little. I was just so dizzy. The only medication I could take was panadol and anti-nausea through IV. I barely slept a wink.
Day 1 – Accusing me of not eating, drinking and not breathing (!!!) the Drs kept me in the hospital for a second night. It was the best thing that could have happened as I was not in a good way. I decided to make an effort to eat and drink even if I wasn’t feeling like it. Plus I hadn’t been to the toilet for #2s yet.. I felt a little better today. The pain was pretty bearable and I was taking regular panadine forte and encode as well as my antibiotic. Slept maybe 2 hours total.
Day 2 – Home day! But I woke up nauseous. They kept feeding me anti-nausea meds through my IV until it was time for me to go home (about midday). Pain getting worse. At home I’m feeling constantly dizzy and sick. I keep trying to down my meds. I realise that I cannot swallow the panadine forte as it makes me gag. Switch to panadol soluble. This kicks pain up a notch. Sleep, I realise is overrated, when I wake up weeping from the pain from only 1/2 hour. This is despite my humidifier being on. I watch the clock waiting for med times. I need them an hour before they are due. In so much pain.
Day 3 – didn’t think the pain could get worse – it does! So does the dizziness and nausea. I’m trying hard to eat, knowing that eating keeps me as well as can be expected. My ears start chiming in with co-pain. I just sit and cry as it seems to me the most constructive thing I can do. Still no poo. At night, that waste of time between 8pm – 8am I just try to bide my time. Every so often I’ll fall into sweet sleep but wake up with razor blades down the back of my throat. To make matters worse at 4am – I throw up everywhere.
Day 4 – Realising that my meds are going to run out I ask my mum to place a call to the ENT about getting me some more meds. He seems reluctant. Also as it is the Queen’s birthday holiday weekend he’s about to head off on a holiday. Eventually he agrees to come and see me at home. He breezes in all dimples, running shoes and from what I can see in this deep delirium a picture of perfect health. I want to kill him. I can’t believe there are people doing normal things, while I wallow. I decide this is the last day of wallowing. He tells me that Day 5 is usually the worst and that while it may not get ‘better’ it won’t get too much worse after that. This does not sound comforting to my painful ears. I hear the song “My Sweet Lord” (Harrison) on the radio and cry my eyes out. It’s like I’ve discovered that I understand everything at a deeper level now. Everything is sad and everything is horrible. Oh right, I wasn’t going to wallow.
While I am so grateful to mum for looking after me (she is a champ) I look over at her meal tonight and have never felt so jealous. It’s crispy skin roasted chicken with crispy baked potatoes and yummy pumpkin. I have the same… blended into puree. I feel so sad. At 10pm I throw up – so dizzy. such pain. I decide I need a break from the meds because I am so ill. I know I can’t make it but I try… No poop.
Day 5 – I sleep a little (maybe 3 hours) and awake in agony. Dizzy – check, sick – check, stabbing pain in throat – check, miners in my ear canals with picks – check. Oh good, just wanted to check and see if the status quo was up and running…chhhhhheck.. Decide the ENT was right, definitely the most painful day. I can barely eat and I’ve decided to see how long I can survive without meds. That’s right. NO MEDS. NOOOOOOOOO MEDS. I’m still dizzy. I’m still sick. I’m in so much pain.. Feel like I have no choice though. This day is pure hell. Sleep about 30 minutes. Seriously, what’s the point? This no pooping thing is really getting me down.
Day 6 – Dizziness slowly going away. I’m hungry… But of course I’m in so much pain that I can’t eat what I want. Remember I’m on no meds at this stage so I’m just on survival. My nose keeps feeling funky. I try to ignore it most of the time because it clearly plays second fiddle to the star on stage – my tonsils. Sometimes though, it’ll chime in with a sympathy pain and sears through my head… juuuust letting me know it’s there. Yeah, thanks buddy. I know I’m not supposed to be doing any home operations but things are so crusty up there that I want to get at it. I carefully poke a cotton bud up there and with it comes out the most satisfying piece of booger, bloody, crusty thing ever…plus, I pooped. Maybe it was non Med stance that did it. I’m so happy that I gave birth to a poo baby, you have no idea.
My friend gives me the idea to eat aloe vera, known for it’s healing properties. I mash some up into a green juice. Now, before I went into this operation I thought to myself that I would stick to my normal healthy lifestyle… lots of green. Green juice daily. Organic, no sugar, no wheat, no refined carbs, no preservatives etc. That went out the window on day 1. It’s been jelly and ice blocks everyday. Today was the first day I had a green juice. I was so happy. The aloe was blended into it and tasted good. It was a bit “sour” (though I didn’t include any sour veggies – just alkaline ones). It took me a long time to drink but I was so proud of myself that I did. 2 hours sleep.
Day 7 (today) – No meds. Poo baby has a sister. Green juice again. My hunger is back but I’m still pureeing everything. I don’t know how you are doing things like toast. I can do soft bread and honey but that’s as far as I get. I still get occassional stabs of white hot poker pain as well as the normal horrible swallowing pain. I look at the back of my throat… it doesn’t look like my scabs are coming off… In fact it just looks white.. like a creepy snow cave in there. How do you know when you start scabbing – does your throat look different? Today is the first day I feel kind of human. I’m still crying at all the sad songs on the radio and tbh I weep when eating a bit too. Then I think – far out I am STRONG – I am doing the worst days on no pain meds watsoever. I am so amazing. I’m not proud of doing that but it was from necessity alone. I feel like it’s something I can remind myself it the darkest moments though. I hope day 8 will be better…
In comparison to the comments I’ve read from day 1 – 6 I’ve had a pretty easy journey for the first two days I was able to eat toast and normal foods, then it went downhill and everything stung a little bit. I’ve not thrown up at all and not had any post op bleeding, I was only given ibuprofen and paracetamol from the hospital and everything was going well… Until day 7, oh my god! I woke up with sharp pains in the right side of my throat and the driest mouth, I attempted drinking water which only made the pain worse. I took my tablets and this took the pain away quite quickly but after 3 hours it was back again, I actually wanted to cry. One of the scabs at the back of my throat is hanging off and I assume this is what is causing the pain but the other side doesn’t feel ready to come off which is why it is so sore.
Has anyone got any advice on how to get the rest of the scab off without crying in pain?
Right, UPDATE.
I have survived day 7.
Things that I am learning –
Food is for losers, I totally dont need to eat – its all in the mind. Also swallowing its also not really needed anymore, I can be a fully functioning adult without the need to swallow. Where does it say that ‘To survive Humans Beings must Swallow’. My heart is beating, the other organ things are doing their thing well (However gotta give a shout out to my liver (After surviving years of abuse via me binge drinking in order to cope with my social life, its now being treated to copious amount of strong pain killers – im going to (HAVE TO) give it a break once I am healed….DETOX baby!)
Also pain. Pain is a funny ol’ thing isn’t it. Its like my bodies natural way of getting attention, now as a trained social worker with children I live by the philosophy to only give a child positive attention, to ignore all negative attention. So by using this theory I i’m planning on ignoring my pain levels and just make myself believe that the burning hot acid feeling that in my throat is equivalent to a 3 year old poking me. So I just have to be strong and ignore the little s**t….i’ll ignore it by taking loads of strong pain meds and going into a drug induced coma.
The other thing that I think as a human I can live without, is sleep. Now sleep is something I adore, up there with food and Long Island Ice tea’s. However If I use a bit of Cognitive behavioural psychology I will be able to make myself believe that Sleep is no longer needed, just Drug induced comas.
So yeah, to sum it all up – in in lot of pain, the thought of eating makes me want to cry and sleeping is just a thing of the past. However I am alive….so pretty crap really.
Oh well bring it on day 8! How bad can you be compared to day 7? Lets get it on!
M
This was hilarious & made me laugh!!! I need that laugh tho.. I had T&A surgery last Friday and baby…let me tell ya…y’all ain’t lying about the pain!! Whew!! Today is day 6 for me and I woke up thinking I was going home to Jesus (wayyyyy too much pain!) and to make matters worse, some asshole stole 7 of my percocets (I had a fiend for a caretaker apparently) so imagine how l feel. Pray for me..this pain makes me feel weak!!
Today is day 7 and I feel terrible. My eyes hurt, I’m spitting up blood and it hurts to laugh. I hate my mom for not getting these damn things removed when I was little. Sheesh!
So…this is how I taste like when dead :(. Taste in mouth so gross even when I brush my teeth and gargle often ! Whole head is in burning pain, earache, toothache, painful jaw- everything. And my breath! Day 7 and i still do not want to look inside my mouth. Not that I can open it anyways. AAAAAARGH!
You’te not alone. Jaw, ear and throat pain is so intense for me today as well. You’re not alone. My Dr told me today that Fri pain should go down dramatically. I just keep saying Tomorrow’s Thursday and then Friday…
Oh my teeth hurt too btw.
I’m feeling really ill from the pain meds as well!!
This is not a good day, not a good day at all.
And for the pain meds to work best, we need food – so a huge challenge!!
Hey Vince, got operated on the 25th as well?
Yes. The 25th. I was eating low sodium chicken broth, vegetables and
chicken all ground up in the blender when I started bleeding again. It stopped in 5 mins. The whole bleeding thing just scared me…
Yes…Friday…now! Been sucking on one pancake for almost an hour now
At least when we are dead we won’t feel this pain!
It’s horrendous isn’t it?? tonsillectomy’s should come with some kind of health warning.
My ENT nurse told me to eat toast, muslie and crips (chips for the yanks that are out there!) at this point I’m giving myself praise if I manage water never mind the rest!!
I was warned. But not enough :(. They should say ‘Be afraid…be very afraid…’ .
It should have flashing neon lights as soon as you walk into the ENT dept.
Hahaha Mel but I agree!!!
You are making me feel better by laughing! It’s all true though. I’m so hungry…
Day 7- What can I say? Let’s do a short catch up. Surgery was Thursday, today is Wednesday. Thursday and Friday no pain at all. Did I really just have my tonsils out? Saturday- some pain and weak. In bed most of the day. Sunday- Mix of good and bad but better than Saturday. Monday- Ugh! Wham! Pain. Intense pain. In throat and ears. Pain meds helped although the last hour before my next dose was hell. Tuesday- Horrid. Pain in thraot and ears. Couldn’t swallow. Would chew the little food I ate, hold it in my mouth to make sure it was soft, count to 3, grab a pillow with both hands and swallow. Tuesday night was horrid as well. Pain meds weren’t even touching it. That brings me to today, Wednesday. Pain still bad, but not like last night. It is still present aftwr taking pain meds, which wasn’t the case in the past. Today was my checkup with the Dr and as we were leaving, I started bleeding. I kind of freaked and remembered to sit and chew ice. That’s what I did on the tide to his office. We called on the way and he said to come in and continue to chew on the ice. He sprayed the area with a numbing spray and then placed a styptic pen on the area. He was not concerned. He said it happens & may happen again (it did about 15 mins ago). If it doesn’t stop within 10-15 mins then that’s when it’s time to go to the ER. Overall he said I’m doing far better than most patients at this day. My throat looks great. He attributes it to me eating and drinking. I never stopped eating (except yesterday I did not eat as much). I have eaten tuna fish, toast, scrambled eggs, hard boiled eggs, sandwiches, oatmeal, tuna fish, crackers and even a hamburger. He said I should feel better by Friday. Sat/Sun at the latest. I may have slight pain when yawning or doing certain things up to 2 months, which is typical. He told me to take ibuprofren in addition to the the regular pain medication.
Upon conpleting this post I started bleeding again. It stopped in 5 mins by sucking on ice chips. I phoned the Dr since it now happened 3 times today. He said not to worry, scabs are falling off. Get some rest. If the bleeding happens again and stops within 10 mins there is not need to worry. It’s time for my pain meds. The pain is back. Hoping he’s right when he says I’ll be over the pain by the weekend.
Hang in there everyone! It willl be worth it in the end.
Day 7 began quite rough but ended up not so bad. I had gone to the hospital for a nerve blocker shot in the left side of my neck the afternoon before and that had my apain reduced a bit through that morning. But then when I woke up around 9, my left jaw / tongue / ear area was in MAJOR pain. Even after I took my oxycodone dose, it felt like someone was stabbing me in the ear with a screwdriver whenever I swallowed, talked or moved my tongue. I knew I needed to drink lots or I’d get dehydrated again, but it was so painful that I barely could. I was able to eat some barely-toasted toast cut into tiny pieces with a soft-boiled egg on top and just tried to sip iced tea, iced apple juice and iced water.
I called my doctor again and he said I could take a little extra of the hydrocodone to jumpstart it. I also found I need to take it about every 3 hours & 45 mins, rather than waiting the full 4 hours for the pain to set in again. He also prescribed me a steroid (Prednisone) to help with swelling and pain. One or both of those did the trick because I got my pain level down to a 5/6 out of 10 by evening.
I also gargled several times with warm salt water and was glad to see some mucus / scabbing rinsing out. My uvula is still hugely swollen and the sensation of it gagging me is really grossing me out, so I’m hoping the Prednisone will help with that soon.
It’s 05.48 here (I’m in Liverpool, UK) and i feel like I’m going to write my last will and testament.
Since 11pm yesterday night I have been experiencing pain that is like nothing else I’ve ever experianced. Sharp and stabbing pain in my ears and throat. My throat feels like it’s on fire, i can’t see any signs of it scabbing over, however it does feel different
I’ve not slept, drinking seems like tortute and eating is the last thing on my mind. I think im like a dying animal right now, oxygen will jusy have to do. Today is about surviving i think, surviving hour by hour.
One think i have been using is soluble paracetamol, it does seem to have some positive sideeffects for a short while, not sure if it’s cos it’s paracetamol or cos it’s hitting it locally, however I’m sticking to using it.
If I make it through the day I will update later
(Positive thought have gone, I’m being a realist now folks – if I do go to the pearly gates I leave all my stuff to my pet parrot Monty)
I had the same thing on Day 7. Call your doctor and see if they can increase your painkiller dose or prescribe something else, like a steroid. One or both of those ended up helping me. You may also be able to go in for a nerve blocker shot. Feel better!
Well just about to get over day 7 and today has been about as bad as it can get stinging throat pain ears are killing me can’t eat just a miserable day .some Lillte bits of scab starting to come off .Can’t wait for this nitemare to end . But I no when it’s over it will be worth it after being sick for the past 3 mos and at my age I’m not going to take any chances .Im so glad they did not find any cancer at 62 you never no what’s next
Hey,
Great news about the cancer!! I’m one day behind you and feeling just as miserable – give me the general anesthetic for the next 5 days please!!
Good luck!
Congrats on the non-cancerous results, that’s great! I am looking forward to better health in the long run, too — everyone I know who has has their tonsils out says they rarely (if ever) get sick. And I’ve basically been sick and tired nonstop from them.
This is day 7 after my surgery and I thought I was starting to feel a little better, however I tried eating some pasta with cheese and it felt as though I was eating razors. The left side of my throat definitely feels worse than the right- it has a strange sting/burn sensation even when I swallow my own saliva. Icey water just makes it worse.
I’m going to try Luke warm tea like somebody on here mentioned. I too have a strange ringing in my ears, plus tongue and jaw pain. I can only live in hope that the next day will be better!!
I’ve got the left thing too! How odd!! When I spoke to the ENT nurse today she said that was ‘normal’.
I’m starting to think if I could find away of no longer eating, drinking or swallowing I’ll be ok and there will be a future….dreading the alternative option :0
Good luck!
My left side has been much more painful but I think that’s ’cause my tonsil on that side was larger and had an infection behind it.
My left side is worse as wellZ my Dr said my left tonsil was larger and more infected and that he had to do more cutting.
Day 7 I hate you! Definitely my worse day so far after day 3. Woke up last night with really bad pains & had to take extra painkillers to get back to sleep but I kept on waking up every 3 hours or so. I think my scabs are starting to come off in little bits leaving newely healed parts exposed which I guess is progress but it doesn’t half hurt! Found this morning that ice water now makes these areas burn so I’ve moved on to lukewarm water & green tea which feels much more soothing.
Very hungry but have been too scared to eat as yet. I have found that 2 scrambled eggs in the morning is quite pleasent to eat & sets you up a little. Protein is also good for the healing.
Day 6 post pop terrible nights sleep last night went doctors yesterday day as pain was unbearable he gave me naproxen and co-codamol for pain but I could only take 1 tab at a time every 4 hours due to the other drugs I still had in my system before I went tithe docs and switch which was paracetamol and dicloflanic but when day 5 hit pain from nowhere in jaw and ears came to join the party hence to why I called doc for emergency appointment to see if I could get anything stronger, anyway…. Up most of the night in excruciating pain with my ears and jaw best way to explain is when you are on a plane and the is pressure on your ears and its so bad it aches your jaw that sorta pain maybe a lil harsher because the ulcers on side of the tongue and underneath at the back feel like with every swallow some1 is just pouring pure salt in the ulcer and nothing you can do about it apart from hold your head and pray for it to ease up and promise yourself you will not swallow again…. Day 6 now 1:12 in the afternoon and I have switched back to dicloflanic and paracetamol which has realllyyyyyyyy helped I can actually function without feeling like a a lorry is resting on my ears and jaw were I can take paracetamol every 4 hours it is way better then the co-codamol every 8 plus the diclaflanc is not only an anti inflammatory it’s got pain killer in it to so take that every 8 hours and the para I between, but I am aware that ibrofen and paracetamol are compatible together but is ibrofen compatible with dicloflanic also anyone know? Coz that way is really be able to eat something and it would really take the edge of even more! I can say this is the most painful thing I have ever been through I’m 24 with a 2 year old baby who weighed 9.2 at birth and I must say that wasn’t as sore and more bearable. This operation has to be the up most painful operation an adult can undergo I’m sure!!! ATM I can still feel my jaw and ears ache n ulcers burn n sting but it’s totally bearable from what it was yesterday but in saying that I haven’t tried to eat yet so fingers crossed! Advice I can give is do set your alarm to wake you for meds, this morning throat was so sore I was like ill suffer because I can’t think about swallowing tablets now but then I remembered the ear pain and swallowed my tablets quicker then you could say GO! It’s funny because e day 1 and day 2 even 3 to 4 was bearable I thought I’d hit the jackpot and I had mentally drummed it in my head that you can do its justine over look this pain and you will not suffer! Hahaha I was wrong coz day 5 got hold of me real good and all that mental brain training was over I was convinced death would be better then that pain my god! Straight after my opp my mum brant me jacket potato with beans ate all of that then I ate a sandwich egg I think it was bit to stoned to remember, then nurse come over said eat some crisp happily I said because I had starved night before and all morning I’m not a big girl but I can eat! So ate the crisps straight after jacket potato n sandwich then nurse said have some fizzy drink drank a bottle of dr pepper the personal sized ones I was on a roll…. Next 4 days I was eating pretty fine just yesterday and today I can bare to swallow my own saliva. If I’d have known I would have stuffed my face so much on day 4! All I had was some chips half a pancake roll n half sausage in batter day 4 wish I went all out lol greedy I only way 10 half stone but I’m 5’7 so normal for my height but by reading this I must sound really greedy anyway I am lol but what I really want to no is tomorrow is day 7 as I had my operation Saturday just gone so will I start to go up from here or will I get bad n good days I had loads of that white stuff come away yesterday maybe that’s why my pain was so unbearable literally had me in tears and I’m no wimp I can take pain! I can clearly say to anyone who’s thinking about getting this done please be prepared for the pain and don’t have it done unless u really can’t cope with tonsillitis or you get it literally all the time and require antibiotics if its really no that bad may I suggest doing a oral Heath plan that may prevent you having to go through this unless of course you are prone to infection and have encrypt tonsils like I did that was always collecting bacteria and creating tonsil stones erggggg!! So getting them testicle looking things at the back of your throat removed should be last option try anti bacterial mouth was day and night and of at home after meals n try gargle warm boiled salt water at the end of the day before bed and still see if you get reoccurring strep throat or tonsillitis, you never know this might be your key to avoiding this gruesome procedure …. I sorta freak myself out when looking back there so now I don’t bother good luck to everyone going to have this done and for all of my soldiers who are on day 67&8 of recovery how is it going.? X
I am on Day 7. Last night I felt better than I do today. I woke up with stabbing pain in my throat and both ears. Does anyone know why it would suddenly feel worse? Is it the scabs? This is just terrible. I had to drug myself up with pain medicine to help and now I am so tired.
I had my tonsils removed on April 17th 2013, so I am on recovery day 7. And amazingly I feel almost back to normal. Many people seem to have had difficult and painful recoveries, so I thought I would share my story. My doctor told me the best way to get better was to “eat, eat and eat!”, and i’m wondering if this is why I feel almost back to my normal self only a week later.
After the operation, I didn’t feel nearly as bad as I thought I would. I even managed 3 full meals, including TOAST! However, when I got home on day 2 i couldn’t stop vomiting, but anti-sickness tablets soon sorted that out. Day 3 the vomiting stopped, i was very lethargic and the pain was still bearable. However, I had a VILE taste in my mouth!! But by day 5 it was much improved. Day 4 was when i set out on my “eat, eat and eat” campaign! I was eating the foods i would normally, and making sure I had plenty of toast (as advised by my doctor). OK, it was at times a little painful to swallow, but I was determined to follow the advice. Day 6 was like a breakthrough, the dead animal taste was almost gone, i was no longer feeling sick or overly tired and the pain was mild. Today (day 7) I feel almost back to normal and I even went out shopping with a friend. I do have some pain (it’s more stinging today because I think my scabs are coming away) but it’s still bearable.
So maybe my doctor was right. He said eating lots would scrape away any bacteria to prevent infection, remove loose scabs to promote speedy healing, would stop my jaw from ceasing up and would stop throat spasms, which are all what contribute to the pain. I do also think that since I have had constant tonsillitis since October 2012 (yes, for 6 months!!!) then maybe I am used to pain in my throat. I already know it is the best thing I have ever done, so stick with it guys
I think you might be into something here. Before my surgery I had non stop chronic tonsillitis for 6 months as well. Maybe that’s why you and I are dealing with this a little better than some other poor people just because we were so used to that horrid pain anyway.
Day 7: 40 year old man
Last night was the worst night by far. Complete emotional breakdown from the pain (especially the ears), not eating, sleeping, etc. feel a little better this morning (why are nights SOOOO bad?). I live alone and can’t stress enough how hard this is to do by oneself.
I’m using humidifier, 7.5/325 Percoset every 4 hours, and ice packs around the neck. Trying to drink water but it hurts to swallow anything. Popsicles and Jello helped at first but now burn. Still have scabs, have lost 7 lbs, and really just praying that I don’t have another night like last night.
Wow good on you. If my partner hadn’t been here to help me through this I would have been utterly miserable. Hope things get better mate!!
Day 7 (including the day of op), still in as much pain as day 5&6. I feel like someone is pulling my tongue stretching out where my tonsils are…anyone else have that feeling?
Swallowing isn’t getting any easier..mom took away my pain meds after day 1…so ive had lots of tears from pain.
Can’t eat and can’t stress enough to my mom that it hurts too much to eat.
No one gets it. I just want to be better, this is by far the worst pain i have ever been in.
It is day seven for me today including the day of the tonsillectomy and this has been one of my worst days. I got barely any sleep last night waking up with the pain every 3 hours or so, I almost had to Force myself not to sleep. The pain is excruciating and I’m feeling very fed up as I got an infection on day 5 to make matters worse. The pain is very sharp and incomfortable and I have not tried to eat today yet as I am scared (I am starving!!!)I am very snappy with everyone around me this is probably due to the fact that I’ve been sitting in my house for a week. I’ve heard the last few days are the worst and I’m hoping this is true as I cannot take it any longer it’s horrendous. Good luck to anybody getting them out I’m trying to tell myself it’s worth it!!
We must have had ours done on the same day! I’m on day 7, too. Sorry to hear you’ve been having a rough time. Hang in there, we are so close to being healed! I woke up in so much pain this morning, after a rather restless night. Took my meds as soon as I managed to roll out of bed. Now I’m drinking ice water, and eating ice chips. Liquid benedryl helps me fall asleep at night, but I consistently wake up every four hours or so for meds. Lately, I’ve been unable to fall back asleep. My ears hurt like crazy, and it still hurts to swallow. I’m hoping that this will be the worst of it. I want real food! My dr. told me that days 5-7 will be the worst. Just keep swimming, right?
day7-
pain is better this morning. not shaking from the pain so thats an improvement , i’m hoping it stays that way. throat is very dry no matter how much water i drink and i’m using a humidifier. but my throat feels swollen, hard to swallow. still attached to my ice machine. the bummer out of everything is that i only have lost 5 pounds, how is that possible?? not making regular bowel movements but nobody else is either and it seems everyone is dropping 10-12 pounds!
They say do thorough research before deciding on tonsillectomy…bottom line if your health depends highly on it then you have no choice as with me 6 days ago.The on and off unexplainable pain has been constant since day 2!!!! What more can I say but hang in there folks it is a definate painfull experience that unfortunately in some cases has to take place.Oh and I am 28yrs old by the way..STRONGS people hahaha!
oh dear god, it hurts! It feels like it gets worse each day. I ran out of hydrocodone I definatly inter on refilling it ASAP. I bled for the first time, only lasted for about 30 minutes. The pain is bearable during the day I just take my lidocaine and hydrocodone. It’s at night, ugh! The nights are horrid. I haven’t been using any special gismos some of you have and I’m finding drinking difficult. Every night is less and less sleep. at this point I’m fighting myself from sleeping. When I do I get anywhere from an hour and a half to maybe three hours max. It’s the pain after waking up I’m so afraid of. I speculating that I’m snoring in my sleep and that’s just tearing me up. I feel like I’m making slow progress I couldn’t even get ravioli down.
I am on day 7 today (I count day of operation as day 1). I have noticed the past 2 days that as I try to do more work around the house I just become extremely exhausted. I made pancakes for the kid this morning, and I felt like I had been out exercising all morning or something. My recovery so far hasn’t been terribly bad. The pain I feel now is probably from trying to go longer in between doses of pain medicine. I am on Lortab and I’m trying to stretch it out to every 5-6 hours instead of every 4. Although it seems harder to do that during the night. I’ve been getting up when the medicine starts to wear off, right around the 4 hour mark. Hope everyone is doing well in their recovery. Thanks for the website Greg!
Hey Lora. Sounds like typical recovery stuff. You’re getting close to that light at the end of the tunnel. Hang in there and God bless!
Day 7. Best day for me so far, although when I woke up I wasn’t expecting it to be. I was in extreme pain as always, and last night I had decided to let myself sleep instead if waking up with the timer to take my pain meds. I slept almost 12 hours straight. So needless to say my throat hurt a lot when I finally got up. Took my pain meds and suprisingly to me I was able to drink iced water, without it killing me! I drank it literally all day long and I felt well enough to do some housework and baking. When evening came I fell asleep quickly. Guess i wore myself out. I still can’t eat anything. I ate one bite of a burrito, and a few bites of soup. That’s all I could handle. I can’t wait to be able to eat again. I’m so hungry. Even when I eat popcicles it hurts. I’m guessing its the dye in them? I’m not sure… But something about the flavoring, because jello has the same effect on my throat. Just stings when I eat it. Anyway, hopefully tomorrow will be better. Oh and my scabs are off. They fell off yesterday.
Im 33 and i also had nasal surgery at the same time as my tonsillectomy, big mistake!
7th day, very bad day. Very similar to day 6 but i do not get up. i did poop today so that was something. Can’t tolerate anything cold. I’m a jerk to people around me. Pain meds every 6 hours at 15mL, trying to cut back. Sleeping ok. Eat nothing but a small amount of rice and gravy. Doze a lot of the day and feel really miserable like I have a fever but no fever. Pain is really bad, pops and meds help but I’m trying to cut back. Realize the humidifier has it been being utilized, I’m an idiot.
Ps I am writing all this on my 9th day
Day 7 also, and so glad to read someone else had water in ears sensation I’d confinced myself there was some sort of hole and water was leaking into my ear!! Tongue pain has calmed down a lot swallowing is not so much razor blade ish as more something stuck/ blocking my throat
Morning of day 7 (counting surgery day).
I am kind of yo-yo-ing with pain and weird experiences.
I feel like I have a rock in my throat, making it hard for me to swallow anything more than liquids, which is actually a huge step back from yesterday.
The mucus is still present (sigh…) and my chest is hurting slightly, as if I have a mucus-filled chest. So that’s pretty annoying… No coughing really though… Just uncomfortable…
Anyone else feeling this???
Day 7 for me too…. Thankfully my coughing has stopped even tho it was just. During the night I felt as if my throat was going to burst!i still have bits of phlegm but my chest isn’t as sore now,I was told by the nurses my chest was sore from the tube inserted in my lungs during the op nice :/ I’m still really uncomfortable and the pain in my ears is probably as bad as my throat constant ringing buzzing sound does any1 else have this?also pins and needles feeling in my tongue at the back??all in all not a happy bunny but sure il be glad of it when I don’t get tonsillitis again!!
Really did not know what to expect following a tonsillectomy! Day7: I was ready to go to A&E at 3am!! I could not cope with the pain slightly worried I’ve overdosed on meds also but surely if they’ve worn off they must be due again?
I have most pain at night and I think it’s because I take my meds through the day! I am guessing when everyone refers to scabs they are referring to the white bits? Mine are yellow and my breathe smells so I worry I have an infection has anyone had anything similar?
I am reading this website at 2:40am on the morning of my 7th post op day. I am scared, alone, and worried this pain will never go away. That sounds crazy, I realize, but I feel my rational self disappearing more each day after this hellish surgery. I currently take 2 percocets every 4 hours around the clock. This sounds like more than adequate dosing but believe it or not, I would still rate my pain a 7 on the 1-10 scale.
I can’t eat. I can’t drink even water without searing pain. I have canker sores thru out my entire mouth. I can’t sleep. I can’t talk. My surgeon has blown off my request for an oral rinse to help calm these canker sores…but I won’t let that stop me anymore. If he won’t see me today, I will go to the ER and get help. I probably need some IV fluids anyway. I have only been prescribed an antibiotic and pain killer. No regime to rinse or clean my mouth and I’m wondering if that is standard. Does anyone have any other experience with this?
I’m a stay at home mother of 2 and this has completely turned my world on its end. My kids are scared b/c I’m so sick. I keep trying to reassure them I’ll be ok but I starting to wonder myself. Is this more of a chronic, long drawn out recovery process? When should I worry I might become addicted to all these pain meds?
I know I’m sounding lost right now, but this website and being able to connect with others going thru this is a God-send. It helps just to write this all out…and I look forward to the day I look back and read this and laugh at myself.
Hang in there. You are not alone and things WILL get better. (just not yet-:( sorry)
I feel the same exact way!!!. My ear pain is through the roof too. I just want to know if this is normal. My pain has been a 8 almost everyday. When does it end.
Is anyone having problems exhaling through your nose when you lay down? I still cant sleep on my back, even if I am elevated. It is like something closes over my airway. I can get air in but I can’t get it out. Strange.The pain is still bad, not as bad today as yesterday, well until I tried the banana. I have more ear and jaw pain but overall I think I feel a little better. YEA. Hope it sticks.
I see alot of people are starving. Try making fresh mashed potatoes and then add milk until they are a bit runny, like a thick soup. I also add cheese for some flavor because I still can do much salt or pepper. When I started that my energy picked up and my scabs started to come off.
Also, I eat a little pudding, then take my meds and wait about 10 to 15 minutes, then I eat my solid foods. I don’t get a tummy ache and it is much easier to eat right after the pain meds kick in. It hurts less and I care alot less! =-)
~Amanda
I still haven’t tried sleeping laying down yet, but I have trouble breathing out my nose too. Breath in through nose and out through mouth. I am 46 and had surgery one week ago today, and today is the first day where I can say I hurt a little less than I did the prevous day. Maybe we got this thing beat
Day 7. I just tried to eat a banana…..WHAT IN THE NAME OF SWEET JESUS? Burned Like nothing else I have eaten since the removal. Scary, I thought I was going back to day 2 for a minute. Anyone had this problem?
~Amanda
Yeah- Day 7 was my worst day. It’s amazing how many foods are painful. Banana popsicles- THOSE are good!
My medical sheets from my doctor says to not eat bananas! I’d avoid them all together, and stick to rough salty foods because it speeds healing! Like I’m on day 6 and I’m almost better, majority of my scabs are gone.
Nights are the worst. I am going to have to call md because I am just about out of pain meds, but my pain continues. I have trouble projecting my voice loud enough to be heard well over the phone, so I guess I will just go to MD office in the morning.
Day 7 has just started. I have an army of midgets with hammers running all over my jaws and ears and beating the hell out of them.
My scabs haven’t started coming off yet.
Kill me.
I can’t even open my mouth wide enough to see if my scabs are coming off yet. My tongue still feels like it doesn’t even fit in my mouth and I can’t see anything past my giant tongue.
Same here! My tongue is so swollen I don’t know how anybody knows what their throat looks like! Thankfully I knew to stay away from bananas so thank you for warning me everyone! I’ve stayed really hydrated since coming home up until about yesterday. I have a stabbing pain in the back of my mouth that started after I yawned. I’ve had this for the last two days so that’s why my water intake has decreased. I’m definitely paying for it right now because I woke up in so much pain from what I think is a dry throat. I sat for 4 hours in pain until I could take my pain meds and get some water, I’m using the little time I have to drink as much water as I can before the strongest part of the pain meds wear off. Other than tonight, my recovery has been pretty good considering all the stories I’ve read. Best advice I can give anyone is DRINK WATER and TAKE YOUR MEDICATION REGULARLY wether you think you need it or not. The best thing I’ve eaten is frozen jello. Sugar free jello doesn’t work with this but if u make jello just like it says on the package and put it straight into the freezer instead of the fridge it feels great on your throat. I ate some Pillsbury crescent roll dough today because I wanted bread so bad. The crescent roll dough doesn’t rise as much as other bread dough so it’s safer to eat raw. Hope this helps somebody!
Well yesterday evening I thought I had found light at the end of the tunnel. I ventured into the living room and tried a couple of chips that my family were eating. I even ate ice cream!!! I felt normal. Then night time came and I realised that light at the end if the tunnel was in fact a train! Now I am 28 and this is my 5th operation in 3 years. I am no stranger to pain. I have had injections into my jaw bone, hernia fixed, cavity wall fixed, gall bladder removed and experienced a nasty dog bite that got severely infected and required 2 operations to flush it out. I also have had 2 children on no more then paracetamol and gas and air for pain relief. (I’m allergic to local anaesthetic and most pain relief!) But this is the worst operation I have ever been through!its day 7 post op and the pain through the night was so unbearable I was covered in sweat and barely got an hour sleep. I had taken all the pain relief and for the first time it didn’t eleviate it.mornings are always bad but today it’s worse. I am on antibiotics as well as the 2nd day post op I was extremely ill with none stop vomiting and doc saw me and said I already had an infection!!! I use a medicated mouthwash 3hourly, suck on benzocaine tabs 3 hourly and take ibuprofen, codeine and paracetamol. All in tablet form (ouch) because the liquid makes me sick. Still have all scabs. Suppose to be going to a charity ball in 16 days does anyone think I will be better for this??? For everyone that is suffering, your not wimps this is stupid painful. I’m hoping on the turnaround I’ve read about by day 10. This site is keeping me sane. Thank you Greg!
You bet! Hang in there Shanna!
I’m amazed at all the different types of foods many of you are able to eat. “back there” is still really swollen and hurts a bit, but I’m getting down some mashed potatoes. The only thing is, my taste buds are completely off so everything tastes horrible. This has been going on for about two days. Even though I’m starving and really want something substantial to eat, everything I put in my mouth (minus broth) tastes so yucky. I think I’m going to try the salt water rinse just to see if that helps remove anything. I run out of pain meds tonight…yippee. Can open my mouth a bit more, but still hurts. Can still feel scabbing when I swallow, which is gross. The haven’t felt nauseous at all until the past couple of days, and I assume that is just from not eating in a week with the combination of pain medication and the gross taste in my mouth. I’ve been sleeping a lot more. I didn’t get up until 11 this morning…and I probably could have slept later. I can go on longer stretches without pain medication, but I try not to do that much. I keep hoping that I’m going to wake up and everything will magically be back to normal. This is proving to be an extremely difficult experience.
Hi Nicole. You may want to call in for a refill. Day 7 is no time to run out of pain Med’s! Hang in there!
Yes Nicole please get ur refill ASAP it gets worse before it gets better believe me I’m on day 7 & I do good through the day then it hits me hard in the evening & night. I’m having to takeIbprofen 2hrs after liquid loratab just to keep the pain under control. Good luck
I am 17 years old and before I got the tonsillectomy I was excited for the procedure. Now its Day 7 and I am so done with this experience now. The pain today is terrible. I no longer can bare it anymore. I haven’t had food at all and im starving. I thought by now some scabs would come off but nothing has happened yet. My tongue also hurts but brushing it helps for a bit. When I drink water it feels like some litterally goes inside my ear!! Is this normal at all??
Day 7 here…I feel miserable. When does this get better? The ears hurt, my throat hurts, Im starving, and I just feel like complaining. You all understand. I heard days 7-10 its gets so much better so I woke up this morning like “Yeah! Im gonna feel awesome!” and I swallowed and my dreams just shattered. Will it get better soon? Any tips? I just wanna eat a hamburger..
I couldnt agree more! Thanks for the laugh though I feel the same way (on day 9).
I am 16 today is my 7th day after my tonsillectomy I was in severe pain yesterday I didn’t take my medication prescribed for pain because I had throwed up (5 times) in 24 hours the day before and have not took them my medication today since im not in pain I can talk without it hurting im trying to eat but it is hard to swallow my earache is on and off Im hungry I sleep a lot just to feel better hoping when I wake up it will be all over if the swelling goes away and the soreness I’ll be just fine I think I have scaps forming if they not already there Im scared to look back there Im going to the doctor tomorrow I just want to eat normally again if I knew I was gone go thru all of this I would have never got my tonsils and my adenoids removed I hope it was worth it
It is worth it! I had been asking for years to have mine removed and am now 37 doing it. Just think.. At my age you’ll have avoided all the complications that comes with huge tonsils… Years of sleep apnea! Yes it feels like no other pain but even during this pain and swollen everything… I already feel the difference in my airways! The pain is temporary… Our quality of life is improving everyday. Like the rest of you, I am ready to be done with all this pain but I think there is a light at the end of the VERY long tunnel. Never will we have tonsillitis ?
My son is 8 and is on day 7 of his recovery right now. The last two nights have been HORRIBLE for him. He’s always been the kind of kid who never tells you he’s sick or hurting because his pain tolerance is so high. He just cries and says ‘it hurts’, but when we try to get it narrowed down so we know where to put the ice pack or heat pack, he just says it all hurts. The poor kid has woken up screaming in pain the last two nights in a row…and we’re staying on top of the pain med schedule. We’re overlapping Lortab and children’s advil. We’re going to get a humidifier to see if it helps, but I have no idea how to help get him more comfortable. He’s trying to drink often, but his appetite has been shot for the last two days as well. I’m grateful I saw this website, though – I can see that he’s not the only one to have this type of recovery. Thank you for all the stories and ideas – hopefully some of them will help him get through the next few days with less pain.
My daughter is 7 on day 7 and refuses to take the pain meds. (I’ve been able to sneak it into liquid yogurts, but the pain to swallow.) The 3 am wake up screaming is no joke… Tomorrow to the store for a humidifier. Hope it helps, cuz I can only figure her pain comes at night cuz her throat dries out… During the day very little pain and she’s bee eating everything.
Hi, I had my tonsils out 7 days ago. I am 12. Well, as i was saying, i had them out them out 7 days ago and the first day i was in an awfull lot of pain as well as the second.The third i was able to go home. So. When i got home i had some fruit juices. The doctor told me that fruit is very healthy and will be very good to help clear things up in the back of my throat. Day 4. Wasn’t as painful so i has some soup with some over-cooked pasta ( Very soft pasta) . That did me good. On day five i had excactly the same but on the night i felt something in my mouth. I took it out and i thought it was a bit of the scab but after that nothing else came out. When i woke up on day 6. Well….. that was VERY painful. I read up about it and it said that it is completely normal to feel worse before you feel better. Is this true? I had the same (some soup, fruit juices and a yogurt drink). On that day my mum had taken a look down my throat and said it had turned pink again and it looked very clean. I this normal on the 6th day of recovery? On the seventh day i woke up in more pain than ever. I felt like i was dying.I had my medicine and a lovely cold yogurt drink this morning and i was wondering if on day 7 there could be something else for me to eat and drink. Help?
At night i take my medicine and then go to sleep because if not, i have the trouble of waking up in pain. Hope this helps everybody and i hope you all get well soon. Please answer to my post to try and help me out. Thanks.
I was here back in December of 2012. I had a tonsillectomy and biopsies of the back of my tongue and nasopharynx as well as a laryngoscopy in an effort to determine the primary site of Squamous Cell Carcinoma head and neck. Unfortunately, we did not find the primary. Coming here to write and vent helped make the healing a little better. Most everything I read was spot on. In a word. It SUCKED! ~lol~
I was going through the process of getting the cancer treatment started and was feeling very insecure about the doctors and cancer program locally. I sought a 2nd opinion at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore and decided to get treated there. Long story short. You have to have confidence in your “team” and were I was at previously didn’t even have a coach!
I thought the initial tonsil surgery was brutal but let me tell you! I had additional surgery on Feb 7th. There was a suspicious area on the back of my tongue that warranted further examination. They also wanted to do another laryngoscopy and remove the cancerous tumors that had taken over the lymph nodes on the left side of my neck.
They end result after over 5 hours under the knife was a bi-lateral Lingual Tonsillectomy, more biopsies of the back of my tongue, the laryngoscopy (all done with the DaVinci Robot) and a selective neck dissection in which they removed two tumors that were over 4+cm in size. The tumors had grown and intertwined in the nerves, muscles and veins/arteries in my neck making the procedure delicate, complicated and time consuming.
I was in overnight and sent home the next day with the usual assortment of narcotic pain killers and such.If you think getting your palatine tonsils out is no picnic, try getting your linguals out along with a neck dissection! Holy )#$^!!!
I’ve been barely able to swallow at all. Food?.. are you kidding? The linguals involve more nerves and a result is that my tongue is numb. I can taste and it does what it’s supposed to but I can’t feel it. It’s like trying to eat after the dentist gives you Novocaine. I can’t take my meds orally. I have to crush them and mix with something. So far, warm Cream of Wheat is all I can handle. If I try something like cold pudding or apple sauce my ear pain goes from a 3-4 to an 8-9 and it literally brings me to involuntary tears.
There are other issues due to the surgery on top of it. Numbness on the left side of my face. I can hear but my ear feels like an alien piece of flesh attached to my body. There’s been some nerve issues causing pain and weakness in my left shoulder and arm.
Anyway… I just want to warn you all… Be prepared to basically be incapacitated for well over a week, forget about sleep. The neck dissection and the incision are easy compared to the lingual tonsils!
“T”
Mark, I’m sorry- I just read this post. Some Valentine’s day. I am so sorry for all that you have been through. I’m glad you came here to vest- That’s why we are here! It sounds like you have a tonsillectomy recovery extraordinaire! A dubious distinction indeed. I am thinking of you and praying that your recovery gets a little beeter each day, until you are completely healthy. I wish I could do more my friend. Take care and KEEP DRINKING!!
Day 7 post Op: KILL ME NOW…THIS IS CRAZINESS AND I AM AT THE POINT OF HAVING A COMPLETE MELTDOWN. I CANT EVEN SWALLOW A LITTLE SIP OF WATER WITHOUT GETTING SHARP SHOOTING PAINS THRU MY WHOLE FACE!!! WHAT IS GOING ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I completely understand where you are coming from…I woke my husband up asking for the gun at 230a. I was in excruciating pain — the Percocet had already worn Off since taking it at 1AM. My throat is on fire. The old fail-safe: slushies, have now become the enemy. Anything cold feels as if it removes 2-3 layers of tissue. Room temp koolaid is now my bestie for the day. I had a complete break down around 330. I am not sure how much longer I can take it!!!!! The inability to eat, the increasd intracranial pressure from balw
Day 7, having woken up to pain so bad I could barely bring myself to swallow my pills, the rest of the day was really not too bad, and I was able to drop my codeine dose slightly. Throughout this experience, aside from some periods of dull continuous aching in my tongue, jaw and ears (not throat), all the pain has been in trying to swallow, and that has been tough. Sipping at water tends to involve taking a small mouthful and then bracing myself until I can do the deed and swallow it. Sometimes it’s fine. Other times I find I’m banging the table or punching my leg as I swallow – no idea what the psychological reason for that is, but it seems to help. Others have reported that their humidifier is a lifesaver, and until today I wondered how they knew. Having been in the same room as the humidifier all week, carting it around from living room to bedroom, I went into another room for about 45 minutes without it. The entire back of my throat went dry and tightened up. Very unpleasant, and I can confirm that the humidifier really does help. I happen to have a digital thermometer/hygrometer which reports about 47-50% when the humidifier has been running for a while. Without it the house is about 40% or a bit lower. Night 7 the pain set in again. I’m definitely at the daggers phase that everyone talks about. Swallowing is so painful that I’ve got a sleep strategy of lying on my side with the corner of the pillow folded over to make a hard platform for my head , with my mouth overhanging the edge. That way my saliva dribbles out rather than making me swallow. A bit gross, but it works. Woke for the 1am drugs in some pain and completely drenched in sweat. I put the dose back up again and stayed up for over an hour waiting for the drugs to kick in. For the first time they didn’t, and trying to get to sleep resulted in involuntary swallowing every few minutes and an attack of daggers. The rest of the night was spent mostly awake. At the end of the night, a few hours shy of the one week mark, my weight loss stands at 6lbs.
Hallelujah for this site, it turns out I’m not the only one in excruciating pain here!
I’m a 17 y/o female who had my tonsils (and adenoids) removed 2/5/13. Haah! I thought it was gonna be flying colors the day I got my surgery. I was talking, in little pain and hungry as hell.
Now it’s day seven and I feel like a horse that needs to be put down due to all the pain. Every day has escalated worse for me in some way and the pains moving all around, my throat, my head, my tongue and NOW it’s my jaw, ears, and tongue.
Unfortunately I was allergic to the codeine they prescribed me so I’ve been living off alternating between children’s liquid Tylenol and ibuprofen, but now it’s 3 1/2 normal ibuprofen, crushed up and added to food. (Either way it tastes like crap)
Eating is SUCH a joy.. (Not). Every meal is a little time consuming project. I can’t chew with a swollen, bruised and thrush covered tongue or more or less swallow with it. And Im a pretty skinny girl, weighing in at 115lbs but am now 108lbs and losing thanks to this.
If my swollen tongue would go down, and this killer jaw pain would ease up I’d be fine. I can’t even speak like this. When I do my tongue feels like its rubbing against a scab and I gag a little.
By the way, how can you tell/notice/feel if a scab comes loose/off?
That’s one of the things I’m scared of.
I didn’t feel the scabs come off but you can definitely feel them when you swollow them. If your Like me they will come off in big sheet and it will feel more or less like your trying to swollen food. I’m on day six after my surgery and I lost most my scabs yesterday. As soon as the scabs came off the pain tripled. It feels like touching fresh skin after a burn. Swill owing is very hard and I still have really bad thrush but sippin on chicken broth just warmer then room temp is amazing.
About the thrush
Today was Day 6. I have been pretty textbook, but on the lucky side of textbook. Anyhow, I wanted to say that today I wanted to eat something soft, and since I was making cookie from scratch, I hit the soft cookie dough. Seriously… minutes after eating the cookie dough, my tongue puffed up… with yeast! It just got thick and white.
It makes sense if you think about it – when you are baking bread, you sprinkle the yeast into water, add a little sugar and blammo! You have an eruption of yeast in minutes. I don’t know why I didn’t see that coming. Anyhoo, I happened to have gentian violet on hand, so I used a q-tip to swab some on my tongue and then brushed it in good (and then off). It seemed to truly nip it in the bud.
@Andrea –
Are you on antibiotics? I just wonder if you might have thrush since you said you have a coating in your whole mouth. Is it white and thick? Or just goop from your mouth being so dry? I have dry mouth and mucus in the very back of my windpipe (not the wet scabs – way behind those), but nothing on my tongue or inside of my cheeks. If you do have white stuff on your tongue and inside your mouth, call your doc to find out if you do have thrush (it goes away with medication really easily).
BTW – we had our surgeries on the same day!! So I guess we can commiserate together :).
Post Op Day 7:
I am doing a bit better today – I can actually SPEAK a little. I am sleeping longer stretches, which means I wake up dry and in excruciating pain, but I have been able to get it under control with the liquid Lortab and the numbing lollipop prescribed by my doctor. Those first few minutes are BAD – but after I get the meds in me and some sips of ice water, it becomes tolerable. I have not left the house since I got home from the hospital and really have no intention of doing so if I can help it – there is about two feet of new snow here and with the wind chill, it is ungodly cold. But even if it were nice out, I don’t think I have the energy yet to really do anything – I go from the bed, to the bathroom, to the couch, to the fridge, and back to bed…and that wears me out. My husband and kids are still pretty much taking care of me…bringing me my broth (my husband has been making me homemade broth which I drink through a straw – it’s like a warm hug for my throat!!), ice water, red Jello, and vanilla Special K Protein drinks (they are sooooo soothing and make me feel like there is something in my stomach!!). I can’t drink the flavored, carbonated water that I usually drink or any kind of pop – the carbonation is like nails in my throat. My ears are still hurting really bad, but I have found relief in lying on the heating pad. I had a new issue last night – HEARTBURN! I was scared to take my usual Zantac, but I guess the doctor told my husband I needed to quell heartburn quickly so no acid ends up in my throat. Wish I had been awake for the post-op discussion with the doctor {sigh}. Anyway, the Zantac worked as quickly as usual and didn’t cause any adverse effects to my throat.
I am also dealing with the recovery from my sinuplasty and turbinate reduction. I have a lot of mucus draining into my throat from that surgery which exacerbates the pain in my throat. So it is hard to tell if all the pain in my throat is from the tonsillectomy.
STACIE’S RECOMMENDATION:
Do NOT wait until you are 38 years old to have your tonsils removed if you have chronic strep or other tonsil issues! If your child has problems, seek out an ENT NOW! My 12 year old niece had her tonsils out two months ago – she came to visit me today and just clucked, “Oh, Aunt Stacie – getting your tonsils out as a kid is way easier!”. Truer words have never been spoken.
@Stacie. I am 26 years old and had my tonsils out Feb 1st, Today is day 7 Post OP, yesterday I had a great day and today I am right back to pain in my ear and throat. I am just curious how you are feeling now? When were you able to start eating normal again? I am still unable to eat other than pudding and applesauce, My tongue was cut during surgery which makes it very hard to eat as well. I am out of pain medication and will be going to my doctor today for a check up and to request more. My daughters Birthday is on Sunday and I am praying to feel well enough to enjoy her Birthday with her. any suggestions wold be great as I found this webiste very helpful.
Hi Stacie,
I had the same surgery Feb. 27. I guess that makes me Day 8. I thought I was doing fairly well today and even ate some turkey, mashed potatoes and stuffing from Bob Evans. Not a lot, but the most I’ve eaten since surgery. I thought I would try my bed tonight, but that was quickly cancelled due to phlegm in my throat. I have Lortab and a liquid Lydocain that I swish and swallow, but had to ask for Percocet and my post op check Tuesday when he took the splints out of my nose. All of it wears off in less than 3 hours. I am curious as to how the rest of your recovery went since you are about 3 weeks ahead of me. I am so exhausted from not being able to sleep. I have a humidifier which has helped a lot, and I take a drink of water every time I wake up from dozing. It’s ironic that I did this for sleep apnea and I can’t sleep! Oh, I am 43 years old by the way. I have always had a high threshold for pain, but this is awful.
Hope you are doing better.
Becki
I had my tonsillectomy on 1/25/13. It’s the night of day 7 for me and today has been more painful than all others. Actually, things weren’t too bad right after the surgery, but things have progressively become worse with each day. I’ve been able to eat pretty well. Lots of jello and popsicles the first 3 days. Then began eating more regular foods like soup, cream of wheat, and scrambled eggs (once). KFC mashed potatoes tasted like heaven and felt awesome too. The advice I found on here about rinsing with salt water is a God Send. I wish I had started doing that much earlier on. It’s great at getting all the gross gunk out of the back of my throat. I have had the typical severe throat pain and ear pain. What surprised me were the headaches and the disgusting feeling I constantly have in my mouth – a film that coats the entire inside of my mouth. My pain meds wear off after 2 hours, now, making the 2nd two hours pretty excrutiating. I spend it with an ice pack held to my throat. White scabs are finally starting to come off, but only on one side and very slowly. Hoping day 10 is the miracle turning point I’ve been told it is.
Day 7 was definitely the worst for me. I woke up around four in the morning with extreme pain. When I swallowed, I felt something break off and suddenly blood came pouring out of my mouth and down my throat. I spit up about a half a cup of blood in just a few minutes and ended up throwing up from the large amount of blood that had accumulated in my stomach. Even though the bleeding had stopped not long after, my mom rushed me to urgent care. I spent a few hours there while waiting for the ENT office to open. My pain level at that point was a 9. Once the ENT office opened at 8 am, my doctor looked at me and said I needed to be cauterized or I would continue to bleed. They squeezed me into the OR for later that day and I was on the table by 10 am. While in pre-op, they stuck 50 ccs of some pain meds into my IV, which helped a lot with the pain, but made me extremely woozy (so much I had to be wheeled into the OR). The effects after my second surgery weren’t as bad as on the original (1/17), but that’s because not nearly as much was done. I got home around 1 pm and tried to sleep the rest of the day off. Up until my second surgery, I was on Roxicet, which did absolutely nothing for me and was completely disgusting. My mom managed to convince my doctor to give me the pill version, which made a big difference. I take them ground up and mixed into a couple spoonfuls of pudding.
I hope I am one of the positive posts you read tonight, and am hope for you all. I also hope that I do not jinx myself here as well. Im a 25 year old male. I had my surgery Friday 1/18 in the am. The first few days were absolute hell. I followed instructions and tried to keep a hydrated and put something down. Those Naked smoothies are thick but when you cut them with coconut milk it makes it easier to put down. I stuck to those for the first few days. coconut milk is a non dairy milk. It still leaves mucus but isn’t as bad as regular milk. It actually has a lot more nutrients. In the end of my shake I had basically all the nutrients from entire meal. I was getting hella sick from the Roxicet so I tried something new. I woke up yesterday and I felt like I had turned a corner. The pain was clearly there but it was easier to swallow. I decided to quit the pain killers and stick to Tylenol. Ballsie move but the pain meds made me feel like I was on crack. Which I kind of was. I still feel the pain but today I feel really good. I even went to the store. yesterday I ate solid foods for all 3 meals. Mac and cheese, soup, and some there soft things. After every meal I am rinsing out my throat with salt water. it helps clear out the mucus from all the foods. I am drinkng and Tall glass of water every hour. staying hydrated has been the KEY!!! drink as much water as you can. it helps with the pain. and with the healing. Ive been reading a lot that it may get worse just cause thats the nature of the beast but the way I have been going I don’t see how that can happen. everyday it’s getting better. I am now waking up tomorrow day 7. I even has sushi tonight. I make sure I chew everything 100 times more then I usually would cause I am not risking anything. I do not recommend thinking you are ready for something. test it out. I have read a lot and heard a lot of stories about people busting open the scabs. I wish you all the best. RINSE WITH SALT WATER!!! and rink lots of water. Naked Smooties mixedd with coconut milk!!
i also chew gum a lot to keep the jaw pain down. that helps tooo!! Any question feel free to let me know I feel like i’ve done well here. my surgeon is known as one of the best in the world so that may be part of the reason. but maybe not!! GOOD LUCK
Day 1-6. Had to be one of the most painful experiences i’ve had. Unrelenting pain, no sleep, barely no food and the worse of it was trying to remain focused at work (being self employed). Think I was easily 50% below par and few instances where i made crap judgement calls – but there you go. Am on the evening of day 7. Went to bed as normal (ended up taking sleeping tabs to knock me out) unfortunately 1.5 hours later i’ve been coughing up lots and lots of sticky fluid from my mouth. I believe it to be a a mixture of the scabs and saliva. Pain is actually less intense but still stings when I swallow. Hopefully I sleep well tonight and back to normal soon. This has been a very very difficult experience and one I wouldn’t go through again :(.
Night seven it’s 3 am and im in a little pain. Just took my meds so waiting for them to kick in. I had a little sleep at about 9 o clock this evening after i took my meds because i had some pain and i usually wake up a lot when i go to bed at night so i decided to try get as much sleep during the day as i could. I have a feeling tonight is going to be a bad one, sleep wise. I’m absolutely exhausted but my throat is really sore and i just keep coughing, so it keeps me up at night and i have a feeling tonight is going to be one of those nights. Tomorrow will be day 8 and i’m just counting down the days till i’m better. I cannot wait to eat a proper dinner, a chinese take away a pizza, crisps chocolate and to have a cigarette. A lot of people keep telling me to give up because i haven’t smoked since the op but thats easier said than done. There’s been a few things keeping me going through this whole experience. This site, my birthday which is the 29th and i’ll be the big 18, my next tattoo for my bday and knowing i’ll get to have a smoke and enjoy it when this is all over. Although now i know i will be able to give them up when i’m good and ready not when everyone else wants me to. I know it would be best if i stayed off them but i really cannot wait to just have a smoke and just forget about this whole thing. Reading some of the posts i realize how lucky i am because some of you have had horrible experiences, although then i look at others and i envy them, they’re able to eat whatever they want and some of them are even able to smoke which i truly envy. Hopefully the next few days will come and go fast enough and i’ll be all better in time for my birthday
today is day seven and this is the worst pain I’ve felt this whole time . haven’t really eaten the whole time besides last night I ate a can of sliced peaches . waking up every hour to the feeling of razor blades in my throat ! I’m prescribed percs & it’s bad enough if I take them on a full stomach I get sick but now with my stomach completely empty I feel nauseous allot – I wish this would go away ! I pray every night to hurry this up so I can eat a cheese burger ! this was my first surgery and this is the worst experience ever -__-
Mines too . Every hour on the hour i wake up coughing dryly . It would hurt less if my thoat didnt feel as if it had been torched on fire. And the annoying exsessive development of saliva… Just so painful. Just so you know im 14.
Day 7: Last night i had a horrible nights sleep i kept waking up coughing and in pain with my ears. This morning i woke up at 9 am took my pain meds and went back to sleep for an hour. I woke up ate and took more meds on schedule and then ate some dinner, it was going great at first but then i think a scab came off while i was eating and it stung like hell trying to eat the rest of it. I had more pain killers on time and it really hurt me trying to swallow it. I’m so hungry and i wanna try eat something soon because i’ve lost a bit of weight since i had my tonsils out and that was the last thing i needed. I’ll be back later, before i go to bed to give you all another update. Can someone please tell me aswel how long it usually takes the scabs to completely fall off? I hate this feeling and the smell is making me sick too.
I thought my recovery was going to be so easy. Day of the operation I was talking and having fun with the family. Day 1 post-op was a breeze. I went shopping with my mother. Day 2 I took it easy, but it was nothing special. Day 3, I ate pizza. Pizza! Day 4 I started classes again at university. Day 5 I had pain worse than ever before, and since then it’s only gotten worse. Day 6 I stopped eating. It felt like a hot wire was in my throat whenever anything solid or semisolid touched. Day 7 is today and I actually had to leave class I was so nauseated. The taste in my throat is so disgusting. The only thing that helps is to eat peppermints. Not to mention the constipation. I’ve only had a single laxative-induced bowel movement since the day before surgery. I decided that the laxatives probably were doing me more harm than good, though, so after that BM I stopped. I want this to end! I am pre-med and I CANNOT miss school.
Day 7 I woke up wasn’t able to eat or drink anything. It hurts so bad! I’m on the same amount of pain pills too and nothing. So I was desperate. I got some cold water and put a lot of salt in it and would take a swig and gargle it for 10 sec and then spit it out. I just kept repeating that and it honestly made it 60 to 70% better!!!!!
Day 7 December 27th:
This started off rather well for me. Having read so many horror stories, I felt I was getting off easy compared to some. Boy was I wrong! My surgery was the 21st. I’m 53.
I’ll preface this by saying my tonsillectomy was done to help determine the source of Metastatic Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Head and Neck with an occult primary. The PET scan showed the tumor on my left lymph node and my right tonsil lit up a little as well. So, it’s tonsils out for a biopsy along with samples of the back of my tongue and naspharynx and a laryngoscopy.
The first three days were quite tolerable. On Christmas Eve I had some severe pain upon awakening and then off and on that day. I awoke Christmas morning in agony! The pain in the ears, jaw and tongue was almost unbearable.
I went to work on Wednesday and stayed about 6 hours. I was feeling pretty run down and tired. I wasn’t in terrible pain but just felt ill. I went to bed early and slept solid for about 6 hours. It was the pain that woke me up at 4am. Blinding.. excruciating! After the pain meds I was able to sleep a couple more hours.
I called the ENT as I was concerned about the level of pain. He said that due to the biopsies (“we took lots of little pieces of you. From your jaw to your sinuses”) , I was experiencing more pain than usual. The wounds were healing and scabbing (thus the razor blades in every part of my mouth, throat and sinuses feeling). He renewed my pain meds and has me taking it every 3-4 hours (good stuff too!). I barely make it to 3.5 hours without extreme pain. I took my last dose at 8:30 and just took another dose after toughing it out for 30 minutes. This is NOT fun!
He said I should start to see some relief in the next 3-4 days. Lord I hope so! On the bright side, the laryngoscopy didn’t show anything unusual. He seems to think it started in my tonsils. I’ll know January 4th when I get all the results. I’m thinking treatment will be a walk in the park compared to this
Ok… writing while the meds kicked in was a welcome distraction. I’m feeling some relief and I think I’ll be off to bed. I’ll keep you posted…..
Day 7 I woke up wasn’t able to eat or drink anything. It hurts so bad! I’m on the same amount of pain pills too and nothing. So I was desperate. I got some cold water and put a lot of salt in it and would take a swig and gargle it for 10 sec and then spit it out. I just kept repeating that and it honestly made it 60 to 70% better!!!!!
Day 7:
One week! I made it!
Overall, I think my recovery has been a lot nicer to me than a lot of other people’s, so I guess I really can’t complain. I only threw up one night (day 2) and I haven’t had ear pain at all. I’ve also been able to eat relatively solid foods since day four (even though it was probably a bad idea to do so), so I only had to go without eating anything substantial for four days. Yeah, my throat has been full of flames and knives all week, but I think we all knew that was gonna happen. No shocker there.
Today was really boring. Spent all day on the couch reading and watching TV. My throat still hurts, and I can definitely feel some stinging when I swallow or talk, but it’s nothing compared to what it was before. And my voice is coming back! Before it was weird because my thoughts would sound normal in my head, but when I tried to voice them I came out sounding like a third grader. Not so much anymore!
The only thing is that I’m always hungry now. I always want to be munching on something. I think I’m afraid that my throat will somehow digress and I’ll have to go without eating again.
I’m not sure if my scabs have come off or not. Yesterday I could literally feel something move when I swallowed, and I don’t feel that anymore… But the white patches where my tonsils used to be are still visible. Are those the scabs?
Day 7 I woke up wasn’t able to eat or drink anything. It hurts so bad! I’m on the same amount of pain pills too and nothing. So I was desperate. I got some cold water and put a lot of salt in it and would take a swig and gargle it for 10 sec and then spit it out. I just kept repeating that and it honestly made it 60 to 70% better!!!!!
My day 7 has mixed reviews. Woke up at 7 this morning and took my 5 ml of pain meds. Went back to sleep and successfully slept until 1230, my longest sleep so far. However, i woke up with pain 9/10. Once I managed to get my meds and morning smoothie down things improved slightly.
Since I was getting low on meds and have developed a wet chesty but non-productive cough, I had hubby call my dr. He increased my meds to 10 ml every 4 hours( I was on 10 ml every 6). I’m a happy camper about that, but he wants metro be able to cough. I am very hesitant to cough and have been doing everything I can not to!
I have noticed with great effort and pain, I am able to talk quietly for a short time. Im still not eating much more than liquids, hoping the increase in meds helps that!!
Lots of ice cold water, apple juice slushies, cepocal and chloroseptic have been my favorite. Hubby has been nice enough to let me take over the tv, and my dogs are all enjoying the extra cuddle time.
Hoping I feel up to eating soon and the pain gets better in the next few days.
Ending of my day 7 isn’t so hot. I made an attempt at food tonight (only the 2nd time) and although it went down well and felt ok with pain meds, a piece of deviled egg got stuck in my right side. I attempted to lightly rinse with the netti pot packet diluted in water. The egg was still there and beginning to cause pain, so I got a little more aggressive and brought out my squeeze bottle for my sinus rinse. The thought was maybe a gentle spray of water would dislodge this little piece of egg. On my final attempt I got it! The only problem was I also dislodged a large piece of scab from that side, no bleeding happened thankfully. Now there is a large hole in the scab, and that side is extremely sensitive! This hole is big enough one of my evening pills went into it and had no way out. All I could do was keep drinking water. The way I see it, this should make the next few days interesting.
I have also developed a nasty cough. It’s in my chest, which now has a tight feeling when I breathe. It’s non productive, but sounds wet and doesn’t feel to hot on my tender throat.
Here’s to hoping tomorrow is a better day!
Day 7. Merry Christmas. !Still pain, like awful sore throat . Cooked breakfast; eggs, biscuits, grits. Tried eggs and biscuit ; not ready yet. Hurts Save myself for dinner. Had sweet potato casserole, dressing, kale,yeast rolls, mac & cheese, ham very small servings It hurt, but its Christmas Now in pin, sucked on Cepacol sensations hydra, some relief . Great fun with fam.
Day 7, so far days 6-7 have been by far the most painfull. I am able to eat applesauce, cream of wheat, soup, eggs and pancakes with some pain. Anything else is extremely painfull. I have to take 1.5tsp of liquid lortab every 2 hrs. My stomach is getting upset with the meds. Also started getting constant pain under my left jaw, by my lymph node (I think). Days 1-3 were pretty easy compared ti now. I really hope this is the peak of the pain. Another thing is my throat is getting really itchy. Almost like a scab is trying to come off. It kind of makes you feel like gagging. I have to drink iced water and swallow applesauce to keep from chocking. Hang in there everyone…before we know it the worst will be over.
Had tonsillectomy on 12/18/2012.
Day 4 – still painful, tongue swollen & painful, neck pain,hurts to swallow, talk, and still feel like back of tongue has a buildup of something. So continue with meds, tylenol with codeine & antibiotics, and lots of cool water. Can’t wait for tongue to no longer feel swollen &head feeling as though I’ve been hit upside with a sledgehammer .
Day 5 – worse pain, days 1 & 2 not bad. Tried eating. Feels like food is stuck under tongue, which I can’t move. For me, the colder the beverage the more pain. Wake up a couple times during the night, throat on fire!
Day 6 – each day the pain is getting worse. Waiting for the downhill ride. Still can’t eat. Tried boxed mashed potatoes, and pastina & broth. I think it`s still lodged in my throat. Tongue swollen, hurts if I talk too much, and wake up a couple times at night with dry on fire throat. Ice cold not soothing. Lots and lots and lots of cool water
Day 8 – woke up this morning around 3:30, throat extremely dry with excruciating pain. Took some meds and stayed up for awhile trying to moisten throat by drinking water and sucking on Cepacol. I guess I finally dozed off. Slept until 10 am, again waking with a dry throat. The pain is lessening some, but still hurts to swallow. I have peeked at my throat from day #2, still looks the same; no sight of uvula. Back to jello/water diet since the water burns; feels like I have mouth sores. Although yesterday’s dinner, painful going down, was a big change from the norm.
Just finished day 7 and everyday I think today was the worse day but somehow they keep getting worse! I found this blog pretty early on but it is the first time I have posted, however, it has been a lifesaver! The pain was so bad today, I kept having to take my vicodin every 3-3.5 hours and slept most of the day. Don’t know if that was good or bad since sleeping feels great but then I wake up with knives in my throat. I had a follow up with the ENT and he said I’m right on schedule for healing and I’m in the worst part right now until my scabs fall off. One question I have is does anyone else have more one sided pain? FOr the most part, my left ear/ throat is more sore than my right but sometimes it will switch. It never seems to be equal on both sides.
I just finished day 5 and it feels like in swallowing knives, pain med (liquid Vicodin/acetaminophen) is almost out, called the doctor left a message but no call back yet. My pain seems to he more on my left ear and throat too so ready for this pain to be over
I’m 6 days post op. Early on my pain was primarily on the left side. Over the last few days it has charged to mainly the right
I am a 34 y/o f and I had my tonsils out one week ago today. (13 Dec) I am on day seven of recovery and it seems like I am getting worse not better. The pain is so excrutiating it takes me over 30 minutes just to swallow my medicine down. I can’t sleep, can’t swallow, and can barely open my mouth. I can’t open it far enough to see what’s going on back there healing wise. I am losing sympathy from spouse and getting very little support. Cannot comprehend how unbearable this is even though I have bouts of energy here and there. Is this normal for day 7? I pray to God for strength to get through this and I hope it will be over soon.
I’m on day 8 and what,you’re experiencing is exactly what I experienced. As a matter of fact days 5, 6 and 7 were nightmarish. I lost it a few times on my husband – the men just want to fix it and when they can’t I think they shut down. It’s not a criticism, but they’re just wired differently when it comes to nurturing. Just rest and keep up with meds. Also try some children’s IB profen with your pain meds or inbetween doses to keep the edge off. it worked wonders for me yesterday. I also found chewing sugar free watermelon extra gum helps, even though i can only chew for 5 minutes. Sorry for all the pain and drop in support at home, but your over the hump……hang in there!
When I said children’s in profen, I meant the liquid kind….just to clarify. The Tylenol might work well too ( take both with the liquid lortab) but its thicker and makes me gag
I have been reading posts on here for the past week…a little longer really, I read in advance to prepare. I cannot believe with all the advances in medicine and technology that this is seriously the best we can do for those of us who have this procedure, WHEN will I start feeling better?! I am so tired of being cooped up in my house, but The flu is rampant right now in my neck of the woods and I am terrified of getting that on top of this. My throat is excruciating and my EARS! I can’t eat anything…pudding, jello, soup, water without my ears starting to pound at me. I was doing really well on drinking water until yesterday. It hurts so badly to swallow, I have resorted to eating ice chips for hydration. I did not sleep at all last night and it looks like tomight will be the same. I hoped the day before yesterday when my pain became so terrible that my scabs were falling off – but I don’t see them doing so! It looks like maybe they’re a little thinner? Is it possible for them to sort of melt off instead of falling off in chunks? I am so tired of this. I keep thinking tomorow will be better and then it isn’t. I am starving, tired, hurting awful, depressed, and I miss playing with my girls! It’s Christmastime and I can’t do any of the fun things we had planned! My tonsils were the largest my doctor had ever seen and were filled with tunnels and white crap that had to be cleaned but I think I would rather have them back. This is awful. I am so sad. 27/F
Also…why is my uvula still so swollen and covered in scabs? Is this normal?
Megan- I am on day six and in the same boat. I have found 2 things that have helped a bit, first Cepacol Ultra spray. I spray it in the back of my throat and it burns for a few minutes and then numbs my throat. Second, once my throat is numb I drink a 7-11 slurpee. It is cold and refreshing and helps with hydration.
Good luck!
Stacy
Hallelujah! I felt soooo much better today! I was able to get out of the house and ride along to pick my daughter up from school AND got to go to her Christmas concert tonight! Thank you Lord! Also, I finally got to eat something besides pudding and jello…I had some finely chopped spaghetti noodles coated in butter & olive oil and some chopped up salmon! It was DELICIOUS! And NO EAR PAIN today! My scabs are gone in a few small spots but are still hanging in there for the most part…they look thinner though? I am just praying that every day gets better now and I don’t digress! I am just so glad to be able to be a mommy again! I was so worried I would miss out on all the things my daughters have going on! Thank you Jesus and thank you tonsillectomy recovery.com for the nights of company!
Stacy, I used cepacol extra strength drops..they did help some! I hope you are starting to feel some better today!
I know I had mine out 7 days ago and it feels like its just getting worse, if I would have known it was this painful I would have dealt with that little pain in my throat ever once an awhile:/ I hope you get better soon -Brian
Hi there. I am 37 and I had my tonsils removed last Tuesday, so one week ago today. I feel that I may have turned a corner and just wanted to let others know that it does get better. I have been eating solid foods since day one and would recommend this to everyone. I am in Australia and my specialist told me to do and eat everything I would normally. So I have. Days 3-5 were quite challenging and I had a couple of serves of soup during this time but other than that I have been eating toast with poached eggs, crackers with dips (yes really!), fruit including mangoes, blueberries and cold puréed apples, roast pork and veggies, fish and veggies. When painful I have eaten lots of ice poles and sucked on ice, this has helped lots. I was told to keep my pain meds up even if I did not feel too much pain and I have done this. Just paracetamol during the day and a stronger tablet at night. Will try to cut this one out tonight. It has been a long hard road to this point however I believe that by eating, drinking and talking straight away I have done all I can to make the experience as comfortable as possible. I have stopped looking in my mouth and I am now just trusting in my bodies ability to heal itself! I do have a numb tongue on the left hand side, anyone else experience this?
I am 28 years old and I’m am exactly one week (7 days) from my surgery that was on Nov. 27, 2012. The first 3 days were fine and I thought this isn’t fun but its not the agonizing pain I had feared. I was so afraid to have this surgery that I almost cancelled the morning of.
Yesterday was day 6 and around 11pm I woke up with blood in my mouth. Now after reading everyone on here saying to “stay calm” I did my best and drank a lot of ice ice water. It was still horrifying and really so scary. It eventually stopped after about and hr or so. But I couldn’t tell the difference between the blood and the new skin. Everything tasted like blood at that point. I was so scared is throw up from the blood in my stomach and around 2:30am I was able to take anti nausea medecine. (Zofran – it saves your life when you feel sick!) finally at 3:30am I woke up, after going 9 hours with out a pain killer (my longest stretch of no pain killers to date.), and my throat hurt so bad. It hurts worse than any other day. I guess a huge chunk I scab came off bc it felt like the whole too half of my throat on both sides were so sure and bleeding. I’ll have to look today. Tongue finally went down a little. I had tremendous sores on both sides of my tongue and that pain, at times, was more painful that my throat.
Anyway, all that to say… Everyone on here saying it gets worse before it gets better is right on. I felt okay and then last night was such a set back for me. This mornings pain was awful and I’m hoping this is the beginning of the end of pain for me.
If anyone has any info for me or similar experiences, please post so I can know what to expect. I would really appreciate it. This site has been amazing for me. Thank you Greg!! I hope you know how many people needed this site!! I know I’m so grateful and check daily and nightly.
Hi Gina- Ouch! Sounds like you’re hanging in there though. Gargling with cold water can help stop minor bleeds- in case it happens again. You are in the thick of it now, then it will start getting better. Keep drinking!
Take care, Greg
Thanks Greg. This site really brings me a lot of comfort. Especially bc I can’t communicate and it’s frustrating that no one understands what I’m going through. Thank you for doing this. I can’t tell you how calming it is knowing you actually read and post back. It’s good to know someone understands what I’m going through. You think this will only last another two days maybe?
I don’t know how much more I can handle.
Gina
Hi Gina- Thanks for saying such nice things. I try to keep up on the comments, but I can’t always. If you want to find e more quickly, try the facebook page.
Yes, I think you’re getting close. For me day 10 was a HUGE turning point. It’s probably as bad as it will get today. (I hope:( )
Take care- message me any time
Can you give me a link to the fb page? I can’t find it anywhere on this sure. Thank you Greg.
Hi Gina,
I had my tonsils out about a week after yours(Dec 3) and am around the same age(26). Read your post and find it very similar to what I am going through. I am just wondering as to how you have progressed since? Was that the worst and if so, when was the turn around? What wre the signs of the end? I am at wits end and really unsure how much longer I can go. Hope you have recovered. Please respond.
Hi Greg! I had my surgery the same day you did. I wish I could say my scabs were falling off. I was doing so well up until Sunday. I no longer can try to eat anything solid, I’m so hungry! I have weird choking/cough attacks. My tongue is red and raw but it previously had a white cottage cheese appearance, it really grossed me out. I’m down to one pain pill and I have the rest of this week off of work. I really really hope my scans fall off before I return to work!!!
I meant Gina not Greg
I am also on the end of day 7 post op
DISCOVERY!!! Every single time I take the hydrocodone I sit there psyching myself up to take it forever because it burns like acid going down and the pain is unbearable. After trying a few things the best thing it chocolate milk!! Mix about three times the amount of hydrocod and drink it down and It goes down MUCH less painfully, takes it down from a 10 on the pain scale to a 3 or 4. Cream of wheat also works but you have to be committed to eating and sometimes you just need to get the pain med down first. I used chocalate almond milk which I think is the best because its slightly creamier. I wish so badly I had know this all 6 days!
Day 7. And the pain worsens!!! So far in my adventure, this is now the new worst day, pain-wise. I would say it is a 9/10. Scabs don’t really look any different than yesterday. Forced down about 1/2 cup of soggy cornflakes in fat-free milk. It went down a little bit easier than yesterday, but not much. So, every day it does get a little bit easier to swallow, but still hurts very much when eating, even though the uvula is a little smaller today. Switched pain meds (because of stomach problems/diarrhea) from the liquid Tylenol to the Jr. Rapid Melt tabs, bubblegum flavor (awesome!). These just melt in your mouth and slide down so much easier than anything I’ve tried so far! If you are having problems with liquid pain meds irritating your stomach, definitely try these!!! For dinner, Panera Macaroni & Cheese went down pretty well, taken in small pieces. Yum! It feels so good just to eat something normal for dinner. After dinner we went to So Fun Yogurt, and I had some pumpkin frozen yogurt, although I did not realize it was considered “spicy”, and my throat burned for some time after that (should have stuck with vanilla).
I’m only 14, on post-op day 7 and doing pretty well… They’re keeping me in the hospital (for other health reasons/likely complications from weakness) and the pain is slowly getting better… Of course I haven’t tackled going out yet but I’m not that bothered by that since it’s the 7th month I spend in the hospital this year and I’m quite used to it by now. I do experience pain in my ears and throat when I swallow and without the painkillers I wouldn’t survive but they make the pain bearable… I feed on liquid supplements (but because of malnutrition unconnected to the surgery I have no other choice) but I am slowly managing to eat yogurts, apple sauce, pudding, mashed potatoes and cream cheese. They don’t give me any ice cream cause they say it’s too cold and I have to eat everything at room temperature.
All in all I’m surviving and I’m looking forward to leaving the hospital on friday ? I’m finally going to be free!
Ps. I’m going to try nutella today, I’m craving sweets ? and I just got over anorexia so not eating is agony, I already starved for 2 years
Hi Izzy- Wow! 7 months in the hospital! You really have a great attitude. It shows in what you write. That is your best weapon in all of this! I’m sorry to hear that the doctors won’t allow cold items. (Although ice cream isn’t that good anyway because it can leave a gross film on your throat) I found that ice cold water or Gatorade really helped with inflammation. You might try chewing gum for that ear pain. It usually helps.
I wish you all the best in your recovery from BOTH tonsillectomy and anorexia. Take care, Greg
I almost had some peanut butter today but was terrified it would get stuck in my throat…… shudder.
EXTRA STRENGTH TYLENOL HELPS!!!
Hello, I am 40 years old and this is Day 6 of my post op tonsillectomy. This procedure has been more painful than what people told me. This morning I opened my mouth and checked to see if I had the white stuff in there. It is still here. So I guess the scabs have not fallen off. The pain is intense, but manageable when I take the hydroco liquid pain medicine. I also seem to notice that there is a layer of white stuff at the end of my tongue. Is this like thrush or built up of saliva and ice cream? Last night I was able to sleep a little better than before. As I read everybody’s postings, most of it matches to what I am going through. I am glad that I read all this a few days after the surgery. Otherwise, I would have probably had second thoughts about the tonsillectomy. I have been eating more and more different types of food. Last night, I had soup and small pieces of chicken. How much will this pain continue. I am planning on going to work tomorrow and I hope this doesn’t hinder my recovery.
I was told by day 7 would be back to my semi-normal diet …. not true at all! I’ve been living off of ensure and jello for 3 days in a row now. I’ve lost 10 lbs in less than a week. I’m so hungry! If the pain in my throat and ears doesn’t wake me at night, the loud growling from my stomach does. I don’t see the light at the end of the tunnel yet. The liquid pain medication burns so I have to psych myself up to it every time. I’m starting to think strep every other month wasn’t so bad. I go for my post op visit later today … I just hope he doesnt try to scrape everything off, I feel like I’m not healing fast enough. This blows.
Sorry it’s not better- Day seven is usually about the worst. I tell people to count on at LEAST 10 days before getting back to anything “normal” Hang in there.
Had a rough morning after a few hours sleep; throat was dry despite humidifier, pain intense. Managed to get down pain meds, put an ice pack around my neck and nodded off. After I formally got up I pounded some water then drank 3 cups of tea. Tea really seems to cut the mucus and loosen things up back there. Otherwise today has been decent re: pain. My mom took me out for some dinner and I was amazed at how totally cranky I was in public. She didn’t mind, seemed to think it was the lack of sleep and the pain. It was good to get out but only for a bit. Able to eat warm soup and some of the bread bowl. I’m not sure about this scab thing; all I have back there is like this yellow coating that looks gooey not scabby. So I don’t know whether that is good or bad. I talked more today than I have in several days and it hurts! Good thing I have no plans for another week. Light at the end of the tunnel – are you there?
I would think after 3,000 years of tonsilitomies being performed there would be some progress in the procedure and pain management.
I hope I just experienced this day’s low point as I just cried over a bowl of luke warm porridge because it hurt so much to swallow. Crying only makes it worse of course, so my husband rescued me with a towel wrung in cold water and finally I feel like I can breathe again.
I have been very good at sticking with my painmed regime of Paracetamol/Tylenol up until now, but it hurt so much I had to take an extra, hoping that my liver can handle it.
Last night was CRAP. I couldn’t sleep, I tossed an turned on the couch, didn’t dare to go lay in my bed and experienced awful pain involving my ears around 5 am last night on the left side when I think my scab fell off and swallowed it. That really grossed me out and I almost vomited, but at least the pain got better. My morning was painful and blurry from the lack of sleep (not pain meds,) but I felt a little bit better throughout the day. So good in fact that I thought I could eat porridge 30 minutes ago. That proved to be a very bad idea so I stopped eating and will just vegetate on the couch for the rest of the night. God please god, let this pain stop!!!!
(I’m a 37 year old female who is allergic to pain meds btw.)
Day 7 for me I am glad to know there are others going through what I am .I woke this morning after falling asleep and my throat felt like I had swallowed razors and glass like I had drunk hydrochloric acid. I am trying to come off the pain medications and the pain in my ears is just terrible feels like someone is shoving a sword in my ears .Looks like the scabs are still there This is not what everyone says it is eat ice cream ice pops.This friggin hurts really bad! probabally the worst pain I have ever had in my life tonsillectomy ay my age of 42 has been the most challenging thing I have ever had to endure .I hope my family knows this I mean I can handle pain to but this is just terrible> Praying that God heals me quick because I need to get back to my old self .I know I will just really frustrated days before this were not as bad but bad this yesterday day 6 and now day 7 have been the worse hope it gets better will be praying that we all get better Amen!
Today is day 7 post surgery, day 6 of healing. My throat is still sore – like swallowing bits of glass – but overall, I’m much better that I was on days 2,3,4,5…I’m hoping the worst days are behind me.
Do yourself a favor and follow the advice from folks above…keep well hydrated. As soon as your throat dries up – it’s a mess again. My doc told me to keep a child’s medicine dropper near my beverage…and that every 15 minutes (or more) I should fill the syringe with liquid and squeeze it in to my mouth. WHAT A LIFE SAVING piece of advice. The juice/water/etc. was gently delivered and flowed down my throat so nicely!
So, today’s new symptom – I’m kind of choking…I’ve felt like something is in my throat (duh?!) It’s made me cough (which is sore) and also gag (also not comfy). I had my DH look in my throat and the scabs are intact, but the one on the left side of my throat is larger and the area is still quite swollen. He seems to feel the swelling may be causing a ‘pushing’ sensation when I swallow, making me cough and gag. It’s not great, but I am feeling better.
I actually ate some VERY soggy cereal today! YIPPEE!!
I had read on some post to keep a spray bottle of water nearby. I have that and put distilled water in the sprayer just to be on the safe side.
OK. Day Seven is finally here. This morning I can swallow a little easier. I want to talk about something I did not see in previous posts. On day five My throat hurt so bad I could not swallow water or anything else. I took a flashlight & looked in my mouth to find everything had turned white & I had like white bumps on my gums & tongue it looked like milk white no red anywhere. You see liquid antibiotics can cause Thrush mouth (yeast infection of the mouth) This caused more throat pain then the tonsillectomy ever could, I was doing pretty well until I got this which led me back to the doctor for another medicine to be added to what I am already taking. The good thing is once you start using this mouth wash that you swallow it does not take long to see & feel that it is working. I have been using this mouth wash for two days my tongue & gums are nice & red again, I still have my scabs not sure how long before they come out. I wanted to alert you to this possibility so you can get it taken care of quickly as I truly feel this was a set back for me & that the sooner you know & get it treated the sooner you can get back on the road to recovery! Good Luck to all of you hope your recovery goes well without any little white bumps in the road, on your tongue or in your mouth.
I’m on day 7. Though it has been painful, certainly bearable. My goal was to follow ALL the advice.
1. Took pain medications on time. Had an alarm clock by my bed and woke up right on time.
2. Ice, ice, ice. My husband found a cooler–a round one my daughter used for soccer.. He “shaves” the ice by putting it in our blend tec blender–turned out kind of like snow. It stays for almost 12 hours in the cooler. Then we refill. The more I suck on ice the better. The minute it starts hurting, if I suck on ice it feels better.
3. Slept up. I slept in a recliner chair the whole week. Not sure whether this is important or not, but I was following advice.
4. Ate or drank as much as possible–but NOT anything nearly solid. Tried eggs the third day, but they got stuck in the tonsil hole. Best things: ramen noodles with eggs whipped up and thrown in. Pumpkin pie–cooked without crust. Popsicles, of course. Homemade applesauce. Green smoothie–with spinach and melon. Best to eat 20 minutes after medicine. Stuff will get stuck–drink a full cup of water while medicine still strong to rinse out tonsils.
5. Kept humidifier on by head all the time.
6. Continued allergy medicine, including nasonex.
7. Sprayed sinuses with saline nasal spray regularly.
8. Ice, ice, ice–did I say that?
9. Rest!
10. Keep log of medications–you’re so foggy on them, that you need something so you don’t wonder if you just took them 1/2 an hour ago.
What a great post- Thank you! and good luck in your recovery. -Greg
Chicken noodle and potato soup is the best so far. I also agree Slurpees are wonderful. Sonic has really good favors and are delish.
In response to -September 2, 2012 at 2:43 pm Craig:
I have been taking meds and not missed any. But even with that the pain has been the worst ever. One thing you will notice is that people here have varying experiences. I would count yourself very blessed if you have not had it extremely bad.
The only thing that’s getting me down is the ear ache and the constant fatigue! The pain from my throat isn’t really that bad, it just feels like a mild case of tonsilitus but when I eat the pain is obviously worse. I’ve been eating solids since the op and I think this has helped with my recovery. I’m meant to be back at work tomorrow, hope the ear aches gone by then!
I am 14 years old and am on day 5 counting surgery day..so far it hasn’t been as bad as I expected. My throat pain has been annoying but not unbearable, I have been using this numbing mouthwash and its been a lifesaver. I actually think I’m recovering pretty well. I quit the pain meds yesterday after taking it on an empty stomach and later throwing up twice. I have been using a humidifier at night and sleeping through the night every single night, only waking up a couple times for like a minute. I’ve been making it a priority to stay hydrated, drinking a lot but unfortunately I haven’t had much of an appetite. For me the worst part has been my saliva and that awful taste in my mouth. I have been carrying around a cup to spit in, because my saliva is so thick and nasty. However I’m hoping to be recovered by day 7 (Tuesday) , and back to school the next day.
I am 32/f and had tubes put in my ears and my tonsils/adenoids taken out on March 5th 2015 (its March 11th right now). Basically as all of my friends call it – kid surgery all in one. This website has been an absolute godsend; I sincerely want to thank the creator! You have done a very very good thing here for many people. I looked at it before surgery and that’s when I decided even at 32 years of age I was going to take a medical leave and fly home to be with my parents for the surgery. I’m single and live alone and from some of the other postings that sounded like the worst situation. I’ve been very fortunate to have done so, it’s so much easier having people around that understand you. You won’t be able to talk and you need that person that isn’t afraid to push you to get more fluids down and food in your system even if you don’t want it at all. Not to mention the scary possibility of bleeding. Trust me, you won’t be able to call anyone so you’d have to pray that someone could see your txt in the middle of the night if you needed 911 or a ride to the hospital. You won’t want to drive yourself if you’re on the same meds I’ve been on. Then there’s the bad breath smell… (maybe my parents are kind but I think I got lucky there… they said it hasn’t been bad, but it does sound normal for others)
Since my surgery I have since been looking daily at this site to see how others felt during the same day of recovery I’m at. It’s amazing how comforting it can feel that you’re not the only one. This really is the worst surgery for such a seemingly simple thing. While I am most certainly not out of the woods yet (woke up and was miserable this morning a 7 on the pain scale at least!) I have learned a lot from here and wanted to pass on a few little gems that I found helpful:
– Numbing spray – I haven’t heard anyone talk about that here. But I used it for the first time yesterday. Not going to lie it stings for a minute, but then it’s amazing. My doctor and pharmacist recommended the over the counter sore throat spray with phenol/oral anesthetic. It helps me hate life a little less – and yes you will hate life, and you will definitely hate living life the most – I want to live it so badly right now! But back to the spray – you take it ever two hours – so if you plan it right – it helps you when the pain medication stops. (if anyone is like me, percocets take about 15 minutes to kick in, lasts for about 3 hours or so and then about a half hour before your next dose you watch the minutes go by hoping it’ll go faster so you can feel better again – usually I sleep until that half hour before mark and like clock-work I wake up and realize I still have another half hour before the next dose).
– Set your phone alarms for meds. It’ll help you stay on track. Just like the others said – worth it to wake up and take your meds on time every time then realize you missed a dose by 20 minutes. It really does make a huge difference in your recovery. Like I said this recovery SUCKS. so every little bit helps. this is one of the bigger ones. Do it for your own sanity and the others around you.
– humidifiers – my room may seem like the tropics (definitely going to have to wash everything to make sure there’s no mold growing later!) but the humidifiers have been everything. Invest in one pronto. Helps my throat be a little less dry and therefore painful when I wake up. I actually have two in my room currently. I’m not ashamed. I love it.
– I took non-acidic fruit and threw it in the freezer pre-surgery (ie. blueberries, bananas, etc do a google search for non-acidic fruit). This was amazing for quick smoothies that were nice and cold – like a milkshake that I actually could get down. in the beginning I just did the frozen fruit, protein powder, sorbet, water, and a touch of the Bolthouse Green Goddess in the blender (I knew id be too out of it to make it all from scratch and bolthouse is better then some of the other brands). Then when I was ready, I added Greek Gods Honey yogurt instead of sorbet. I didn’t actually find much issue with dairy/phlegm after all. But I had read enough postings that I was weary at first. I guess it depends on the person in the end. I prefer yogurt to sorbet personally. I still have lost a ton of weight, but at least I’m getting nutrition as much as possible. I’ve had at least 1 a day of those.
– Lots have already said this – but GATORADE. stock up. on the big ones. It’ll help you stay hydrated and is oddly easier to get down then ice water. My ENT nurse said that when her husband had them done she put the Gatorade in the freezer just before he’d want it and then it’d be nice and slushy. It was the only way he’d take it. I second that. I’m the same. Gatorade does freeze, so don’t just put it in the freezer, I learned that the harder way. but it’s nice when it’s slushy form. better than just Gatorade with ice.
– get the kids-style make your own popsicles, I bought one on amazon since it’s winter and I couldn’t find any in the stores. it was less than $5.00 with free shipping, 2 day delivery – then you can make whatever you like to keep up with nutrition and actually be able to get it down. Popsicles should be narrow – you won’t be able to open your mouth all the way the first few days. (still can’t completely actually). Just remember – nothing acidic.
– As all true veggies will be aware – most of the lists for food options aren’t truly veggie friendly so If anyone wants suggestions for a vegetarian friendly – non egg pre-surgery shopping list – please let me know by commenting – I have this thing set to notify me of follow up comments by email so I’ll be aware. I can also suggest non-dairy, but I personally do dairy, but definitely no eggs, fish, meat, etc.
– get a suggestions for shows that don’t require thinking – then watch the entire season/series/etc. you will get bored during this process.
– don’t just take a week off of work. take at minimum 2. you don’t know how your body will react. It’s more likely you’ll need 2.
Good luck! I’m still going through it so if I think of anything else I’ll post. most is covered here. I’d definitely suggest looking at day 1 on your day one, then day 2 on your day two, and so on. you’ll learn from everyone on this site and that will in turn help you.
Thank you Winter! and best of luck for a speedy recovery!
I’m 19 and this is my 7th day of recovery. For the past two nights, I’ve had these god awful earaches. Even my medicine doesn’t take care of it. I barely get any sleep. I can’t tolerate anything cold or too warm since the procedure. Room temp. seems to work for me. It stung to eat soup so I’ve been living of water since my procedure. I have lost weight, almost 15 pound. Today seems to be a little bit better, I can talk a little bit more but laughing or crying hurts like hell. I can swallow my spit just fine but anything else stings so bad. I tried warm pudding, it was more bearable than the soup. Tomorrow I have my first post op appointment and I’m really hoping it all goes uphill from here.
I’m on day 7 and feel awful. I have gotten progressively worse over the past three days. My doctor said I would be fine after a week and I feel worse than what I started.
I consistently fee like I have something dangling in my throat as if I’m going to choke on it.
Underneath my tongue is almost as painful as my ears.
No longer does eating cold things like ice cream and Popsicles help the pain – but actually makes it sting for longer.
I stopped taking perscription pain Meds because I began to to feel nauseous, hot (to the point where I would sweat), and lightheaded. I now take generic Tylenol which is only semi-helpful.
I drink so much water I pee at least twice an hour. This still hasn’t presented uouth from drying up – especially at night.
I started using a humidifier – I csnt tell any difference except my room being colder.
I’m feeling very defeated because I was hoping to get things done this week and I haven’t been able to and planned a vacation in 6 days because I was told this should only last 7-10 maximum.
I’m starting to get depressed and anxious about my lack of recovery. I welcome suggestions.
I really can’t stand another day of this. I think I had it so much rougher than you guys. I’m a 16 year old girl. Right now its about 3:32 am and I wake up every hour on the hour. I didnt drink liquid. Biggest mistake. PLEASE DRINK! get used to drinking a lot of water on the first day so that way you will always drink it. I never drank anything or ate anything. What I was doing was id spit my saliva into a tissue and throw it out.
it couldnt get much worse than this. Tonsillectomy recovery,throat spasms,extreme thirst, urnary treact infection, and now my period. I didnt know pain could get this bad. Im still having throat spasms. Nothings getting better. Im still avoiding swallowing but when I do I think i feel a scab coming off. But I dont know I dont wanna push it. I cant wait till it comes off because I think thats when it starts the quick recovery. Damn, its been a hard week.
it was my way of avoiding swallowing.
I’m insane for doing that because my throat wasnt getting any hydration so it was having,as my doctor calls it, throat spasms. At random moments i feel sharp pains in my throat and in my ears and my neck. I just sit on my bed with an ice pack crying waiting for the pain to go away. I thought this was normal. I thought this was what the recovery was supposed to be like. So yesterday I had to go to the emergency room because I was so dehydrated they had to hook me up to an IV to get fluids and medicine in me. When all of my blood tests and urine tests came back, my doctor told me I developed a urinary tract infection. My antibiotics havent been working because of this infection so I havent been getting better. im on new antibiotics. Also while I was at the hospital, I got my lovely perioD.
Hang in there Mel. It WILL get better. Thanks for sharing your experience.
Day 7 and i cant believe i feel 30times better iv actually managed to get uo and function. Iv ate a quater of a sandwich which is amazing as i haven’t ate at all since leaving hospital. It did hurt but was bearable and beats being sick due to medication. I am taking paracetamol every 3 and half hours if needed and night time co codamol when i wake up. As co codamol does knock me out. My experience of this has been horrific and wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy. Finally feeling better
Hello, well it’s 7 days for me today! I’m 36 years old and man I didn’t expect this painful of a recovery. I keep reading forums of others saying pain is subsiding; mine is still just as painful and both ears have started to give me pain not constant but throughout the day. Decided to listen to someone’s advice about eating soft foods..big mistake for me. It was fine the 1st and 2nd swallow…then I don’t know what happened on the 3rd because when I swallowed I jumped in the air, felt pain in both my ears and just squeezed my ears for about a half hour. And the funniest thing is I was eatting extra soft cooked carrots(go figure)! Also, it feels like I have burnt my tongue when I swallow! But, haven’t had anything hot since before the surgery.!!! Must say I’m getting a bit more active the past two days. So, overall I guess I will just stick to my purée and really love the Special K protein vanilla cappuccino drink. It’s my way to get my cup of coffee in in the am..and been drinking clear nutrition peach flavored ensure for daily vitamins. Thinking positive. The worse is over, I survived surgery, and lost 10 lbs. what more can a women ask for!!!
Hi guys,
I am now going into day 7!! I have had 2 c-section with multiply back operations, and spinal fusions!!!! At age 28 this by far is the worst thing I have ever experienced!!!!
I wish I could have my tonsils back and carry on the life I had before!! I need that life
I miss you tonsils!! Even just having them in a jar to look at and cry with might make this experience more manageable.
My husband is prob ready to ask for a divorce!! He’s a paramedic so is used to waking up in the middle of the night for silly things.. this man has zero sympathy!! Perhaps I thought that a tonsillectomy can’t be that bad!!! TILL I read all these posts!!
I have to admit I’m glad you guys also suffered and some are still!! It’s the only thing keeping me from hopping into my car and driving to the emergency room!!!
I just wish that the ear ache would go away.
Scabs 90% gone now, so not Really sure why there is still pain…
Let’s hope that tomorrow is better!! And hope this crying stage is now also over!!! I’m not that women!!
Hi, Your post made me chuckle which is quite a feat since most things make me cry at the moment!!! I also am pleasd to read about how other people are suffering too, gives me people I can empathise with and share my post tonsillectomy misery with too!!!
Night 6 and day 7 have to to be the worst so far. I’m a 19 year old female and have had my tonsils and adenoids done also. Today it seems I can’t sleep, the scabs are off on my left but nothing on my right side. I can’t stop producing spit. Which is uncomfortable and annoying to spit out ever 5 seconds. Milk seems so help sooth my throat even though that’ll produce more spit which sucks. Either way. Day 7 is the worst and I hope it doesn’t get much worse..
I’m not sure how to feel to be perfectly honest I’ve been reading stories all around and those that can eat and drink with little pain are the sources of my current envy.
Day One – It was the best day, the surgery took about 30 minutes longer than the surgeon expected apparently my tonsils were that large, recovery consisted of me drinking a bucket load of water, being doused with painkillers and mild nausea. The nurses were lovely and I was sent home with painkillers and antibiotics.
Day 2 – 6 With each day the pain has gained and on day five I was given a higher dose of painkillers and much to my dismay this gave me -little- relief. I’ve been drinking as much water as possible but sometimes it just dribbling from my mouth as I fail to swallow is hell.
Day 7 – It’s now day seven I haven’t eaten in a week I’m in the most agony I’ve ever been and I simply want to curl up and cease to exist. I hope the peak of the pain is today because I’m not sure I can handle worse. Ugh…
Thank you to all those sharing their stories, I now understand everyone has varying experiences. Perhaps it’s due to pain threshold or age or what procedure they had to remove the tonsils but it’s nice to know that I’m not the only one, who has had the procedure. I am 24 and had my tonsils, adenoids, syptoplasty and part of my bone chiseled as it had broken and reset in an awkward place causing breathing problems, all this has been removed for 7 days now. It is the 6/7th day that has been the most painful so far, I think this may also relate to running out of prescribed medicine and cutting down from two tablets every four hours to one because I realsied I was accidentally overdosing on my medicine, so be careful and read.
Day 1- I was mainly in hospital and was rolling in and out of consciousness due to anaesthetic and slept all day.
Day 2- 4 I slept constantly I had no pain and felt nothing and ate normally, I ate eggs on toast, fish pie, lasagne, cottage pie, soup with bread, I also drank around 2 litres a day. I am always eating solids, maybe that’s why I am in pain today? My family complain that I do to much and should stay in bed but I’ve read someone went shopping! I have to admit day 3 I was cooking my family a meal and felt everything was fine and didn’t get why it would be painful at all and my friend warned me it’s because of all the medication and once that is out of my body it will hit me.
Day 5- I struggled to sleep I thought it was because I had drank iced coffee and ate a lot of sugary foods but I can’t stand drinking tea and lots of the food I eat taste awful. I prepare you, food tastes strange but in the back of my mind eating makes you recover faster and they are only two fleshy lumps in the back of your throat so it shouldn’t hurt right? I still feel like a bit of a wimp of day 5 and that I should have done more, other than stay in bed and watch tv and that perhaps I slept too much? It seems to me that everyone hits a wall at different points of their recovery period, I read that a lady didn’t take any pain killers at all because she was allergic and felt like cheering her on, that I could not do.
Day 6- I’m still sleeping upright due to my nose but sleeping means waking up and waking up is the most painful part, it’s a strange sort of pain,move dislocated my leg and broken my hand but still the dislocation was more painful I think it’s the length of time the pain goes on for and its direct because it’s in your neck and head, you just want it out and gone. Your ears need to pop, your jaw aches and I have a constant migraine but thank goodness for pain killers. I had four hours sleep or less that night.
Day 7- is the worst. I can’t even talk today and I’ve been talking fine but with a strange voice, I’ve had two hours sleep and this was the first night I’ve cried in a few months and during the whole recovery process. The pain killers are not making me numb everything is sharp. I have no scaps falling off like other people but perhaps they go with the food, I ate very crusty garlic bread. I presume from reading that this is because the scaps are forming and are getting ready to form a new functioning throat? By this point, many people are feeling better but at the beginning they are feeling pain, am I going backwards? Luckily my boss has let me have the time off work to recover and I have lots of family members who keep popping in and telling me off, otherwise I would have been shopping too and been in more pain now. Don’t do too much even if you feel ok because it will come back later and yes it hurts but hopefully it will pass.
Day 7 today! It’s 2:30am and I can’t sleep due to my mouth getting dry. Oh, the pain. Days 1-2 not the best of situations due to the pain of swallowing and the swollen tongue. No one ever mentioned the tongue being painful too. Should of realized something like a clamp was needed to keep it still during surgery. Day 3-4 pretty much the same. Did I mention that darn tongue??!!. Tried eating jello with great difficulty. Day 5-6 was able to sleep better and refilled pain medication; Tylenol with codeine. Being that the pain from my mouth woke me up at this ungodly hour, it should be a great day! Liquid diet only do far. I don’t know how people are eating the meals they’re sharing. The silver lining is definitely the weight loss. Way to kick off the New Year’s resolution of losing weight! Tomorrow is my doctor post op checkup one week after surgery. Stay tuned
Day7: really the best I have felt! I ate toast with some wheat thin crackers today. Swallowing is getting much easier, although it have not strayed from Mac and cheese and soup. I have eaten a chipotle burrito, but that was more day 5. I’m 26 years old if that helps anyone. I’m still taking pain meds pretty much around the clock, mainly for the fear ingrained in me of not taking them and feeling feverish or in some horrible pain. My ears do radiate pain without the meds and regular Tylenol does not cut it at this point. I randomly feel extremely tired. Like I can go shopping or what not, but maybe an hour or two in I feel the need to go home and sleep for hours.
Also, zofran has been my savior…could not stomach pain meds without the zofran!!!
Today I am day 7. I am so frustrated and exhausted.
I get very little pain relief with my meds, I cannot eat even cream of wheat without feeling like I have knives in my throat..
I sleep about an hour at a time and I am exhausted.
I would have never believed this surgery was as bad as it is.
I don’t think my family and friends believe me about how difficult it is.
It’s encouraging to hear. Your experiences and know that what I am experiencing is normal.
Had my done 12/29 – hydrate the hell out of yourself. I’ve never peed so much in my life as I have the last two weeks. I wish you luck – it’s a tiring process. I know for me waking up with pain is something that I’m entirely over. During day it’s much more tolerable now. I jokingly say with the big three (sleep, eating, sex) out of commission as a guy, I’m getting pretty grumpy. I’m headed back to work for half day tomorrow – planned administrative projects that I can do without talking or collaborating but I have to get out of this house for a while before I lose it. Upside: flu season is a nightmare right now – and we’re all stuck home dodging it. ?
Day 7 has finally come!
From the minute I got my surgery I kept saying “I can’t wait until I have a week under my belt”. My dr. told me that I might have some ear pain and for the past few days I kept saying how lucky and excited I am that I did not experience any ear pain…I spoke too soon because day 7 and the ear pain starts
Lately I have been waking up in the middle of the night swallowing to see if it hurts as bad and these past 2 nights have not hurt as much except when I wake up and thats when hell starts all over again! I am taking off of work tomorrow and hoping I am okay to return by Tues or Weds. I was able to eat a crab cake for dinner last night but had to mush it up like baby food =x I also tried some angel hair pasta on the side with olive oil and garlic and for some reason the garlic and olive oil hurt my throat and gave me a terrible stomach ache. I keep trying to push regular foods because I don’t want to get nauseous from the pain meds. I did have some very soft spiced pumpkin bread and it went down pretty well. I keep looking at the back of my throat and my scabs seem to be forming well and are still in tact. I still occasionally get the “razor blade” feeling in my throat, not as bad as the first few days though.
Emily – glad to hear you’re making some progress I know it’s been frustrating. I was up overnight with some minor bleeding, I unwisely opted out of using my humidifier because it makes me sweat a lot at night. I wanted to enjoy a nice dry full night’s sleep HOWEVER, ended up rising repeatedly. This sort of accelerated my scabs sloughing off which is not uncomfortable really but tastes gross and just feels weird. There’s been continued minor bleeding on and off as this occurs but salt water gargle has helped address that and hydrating a ton. The scabs coming off make it harder to eat again – today eating a soft tuna sandwich and a raspberry italian ice brought tears to my eyes from how sore it was to swallow the food and get it down. That being said still feel like progress is made each day. It’s funny how this process works, you make progress then backslide right around when you’re sick and tired of the whole damned thing. I went to the grocery store to pick stuff up (my help flew back yesterday) and I was so freakin’ tired afterward I had to take a nap after lunch. This healing is so mind over matter sometimes. Not for the faint of heart.
I totally agree! This is taking soo much out of me! Glad you are doing well though. I did pretty good during the day but my throat and ears are killing me right now to the point where it feels like the 2nd day all over again! I’m very lucky to not have bled. Is it normal that my scabs haven’t fallen off yet? I was able to eat another small crab cake and soup soup for dinner. Right now it hurts soo much to even swallow saliva. I’m getting nervous because it’s been 7 days and shouldn’t I be better by now?
per my understanding the longer your scabs stay on the better you are, trust me – mine came off quickly and I paid for it. The tissue behind those scabs is tender and about as “happy” with solid foods as is was on days 1-3. It takes a lot of folks til day 10-12 to really start seeing progress. Just keep doing what you’re doing. For me – trying a half day at work today, I’m losing my mind at home. I am sore but not throbbing. Being home by myself keeps me silent and I don’t feel like that helps much – if you don’t use it you lose it as the saying goes.
Slept like crap, kept waking up with a throat full of bloody mucus. Gross. Taste in my mouth is metallic and gross as well. The bleeding subsided with repeated salt water gargle – the humidifier has caused me to sweat a lot at night so I was excited for a “dry night” LOL, no longer – I will be using that humidifier for a while longer. The timing of this new occurrence is somewhat frustrating as you’re ready to be over and done with this stuff. I’m tired of nursing my throat and worrying about pain and managing symptoms. My recovery has been good all things considered, I could see how folks get very irritable, depressed and emotional.
I had my tonsils out via coblation on 12/26, and I must say this has been one of the worst times of my life. I’m drinking a lot and overall Ive had very few moments where pain exceeded a 5 on a scale of 10. Yesterday, my 6th day, I was starting to feel a bit better, by then my body hit me with a surprise sneeze and I blew a huge chunk of the left scab off which bled for about 10 minutes or so, twice! Since then I’ve been scared to eat and haven’t had any food for two days other than freeze pops. This sucks and I’m counting the days until I can eat real food again.
I also had a tonsillectomy on 12/22. I must say that this surgery is one of the things in life that I regret. I think the ENT’s should research different approaches rather than tonsillectomies because this is a very serious procedure. My pain has been horrible since day 2. I have barely eaten anything since 12/21 & losing alot of weight. Its very hard to drink/ eat because the pain is excruciating. I hope & pray it will get better in the next couple of days.
I had my tonsils removed exactly one week ago (12/22). Since then, each day has been progressively worse. I have been able to have a few bites of food here and there, including a dozen doughnut holes a couple days ago, which was my largest meal of the week. The worst part is that the prescription the doctor gave me had zero refills, and I ran out of it over the Christmas holiday while their offices were closed so I’ve been using over-the-counter pain reliever since. Was supposed to go to New Orleans for my 7-year wedding anniversary tomorrow, but I cancelled the trip because I knew I wouldn’t be able to eat anything, and that’s one of the main reasons to go. I just hope I’m able to eat by next weekend with relatively minor pain.
Hello everyone,
Also on my day 7 recovery.. Had my tonsils out last Wednesday.. All of these posts I’ve read these past few days have helped me get through just knowing I’m not the only one experiencing these horrible painful things. So I’ve decided to post myself.. My 7th day my big blackish scabs are gone, but when they came off they left exposed raw tissue which now burns every time I take my liquid pain medicine.
I still can only eat Italian wedding soup which is awesome, and ensure and water..my biggest concern is my uvula, it is still very swollen has scabs on it and it’s so long it touches my tongue. I went for my post op 2 days ago and my dr said not to worry, that it will return to its normal size. I just don’t know. Also what the heck is that burning sensation I get every now and again. It seriously feels like acid is coming out of my salivary glad and spreading through out my throat. Any one know about this??? I can’t wait to eat again, having a huge Christmas dinner tomorrow for my family and I will not be able to eat. I know most of you are in the same boat so I don’t feel as bad.
One more thing, someone said they are gargling with salt water?? My dr told me not go gargle so anyone else gargling?? Is it helping?
hi guys im on the 7th day now and it does pain still my scab come of think so not to sure some tips eat baked beans helps a lot noodle 1st 3 days it is normal and after that pains just come from ears to head i take mix off 2 paracetamol 500g 2 and 1 ibuprofen which helps alot for a bit gd luck any1 eles taking it out.
Day 7 what a bumpy road yesterday I felt great even went to visit family this morning woke up omg the pain my ears I feel a pulse in my throat when I stand up or do anything strenuous , anything I fancy to eat is then ruined by the bad taste in my mouth I’m put of maccies for life ! Looking after 2 kids under 4 is pretty hard too u can’t shout or do anything my one word of advise would be drink drink drink I ended up in a urgent care centre with dehydration I cannot wait for this experience to b over I had to big baby’s with no pain relief and for this I’m on tramadol and morphine sulphate
I’m just going into my day 6 myself and have started experiencing the dry throat = ON FIRE sensation.. in fact I’m awake @ 3:30am afraid to sleep as I know my throat will dry out!
I’m with you on the pain meds – I was using the extra strength over the counter stuff this morning – I went to my doc this afternoon and got two scripts for MUCH heavier meds… crazy how it still doesn’t stop the instant burning sensation when it happens though!
I have 1x 4 year old – I know exactly what you mean about not being able to yell etc… sometimes I can talk almost normal – other times…. all I can do is gesture dramatically!
Hang in there, Beth!
Starting @ Day 7, my scabs begged for a change. Foods and that I lived on:
scrambled eggs with no pepper and little salt, oatmeal, & chicken noodle soup (I added chopped up pasta).
I was so bummed to have to give up the foods I had especially purchased for this surgery. I could no longer eat orange sherbert, popsicles, applesauce, jello nor drink orange juice. Anything acidic or cold hurt.
Day 7 for me, the pain at night and in the morning is unbearable..I also have a huge ulcer on the side of my cheek by my bottom tooth, so the pain of that aswell is killing me, I’m thinking it’s were the instruments were keeping my mouth open I surgery. I woke up this morning in worse pain than yesterday, I’m drinking lots of water, and eating lists of soup with pasta, I did manage a piece of cake but I nibble at it as I can’t open my mouth wide…I think at night the pain is worse. My scabs havnt fell of, I’m dreading that as everyone says it makes u vomit. I’m 44 years old
I’m currently on day 7 and in really struggling to get through the nights with the pain. I can’t take any pain killers at night until about 8 in the morning, so when my last pills ware off at about 12ish I’m in agony and can’t sleep/keep waking up! I could handle it if I could take the painkillers but obviously they say you can’t take more than eight in 24hour period so I would have to miss out during the day if I were to have some at night :/ it’s got of the point that I can’t even eat anything at all. The first night, I slept right thought and ate biscuits and potato chips! And now a week later it’s much worse..and I’m losing my patience.
I’m on day 8 today, but just wanted to comment how some people can have toast. I had packets of chips on day 6 & 7. My dr recommended I eat toast, chips, cookies, etc. It trains the tongue & throat muscles and the jaw so they won’t get tight and that’s some of the pain in these days. I eat these when I’m high on medicines and feel no pain. Remember to keep chewing to shred and gurgle after eating so no food stuff remains in the wounds.
On my 7 th day postop, and I m starting to regret my decision to have the tonsillectomy !! My ears, tongue, throat everything hurts!! I drink all the time , can’t eat at all and thank god for my pain meds!! Everything back there is still white-ish and yellowish !! Is that normal !?? And what’s a scab look like?? When do you lose it and how do you know? Anybody ? Pleasee and thank you !!
Today is my 7th day. The hardest part of my day was (sorry if TMI) constipation. I hadn’t had a BM since the day of surgery despite all of the prunes and laxatives I had been ingesting. Immediately after using an enema, I felt better. The nausea and tiredness went away. I guess having full intestines can make a person feel pretty crappy (figuratively and literally.)
I’m trying to slowly wean off of the painkillers so I don’t have to experience that digestive issue again. I boiled and pureed prunes. I’ve been mixing the prunes into baby cereal with Rice Dream instead of dairy products. I’m continuing to avoid dairy so I don’t have any mucus to fight with. After this, I may continue to live without dairy, because my sinuses are so clear!
In addition to ice water and ice chips, I drink a cup of Earl Grey tea (room temperature) every morning, so I don’t get another caffeine withdrawal headache. I’ve also eaten baby food because it’s easiest to swallow. The fruit is a bit too sweet and hurts my throat yet. But the baby food sweet potatoes are just right. Chirldren’s Ibuprofen helps a lot.
Yesterday, I slept on and off all day. I slept a lot today as well. I tried going without the Roxicet this morning but ended up having to use it by noon. Things are still really tender, and I think I lost a scab. No bleeding though. Thank you everyone for sharing your experiences. I hope you heal quickly and comfortably.
I am still alive, !! No strong meds last night, woul have been a good night if not for the coughp and the bleding and the dry throat in the morning. Ice pack I love you.
I tried jello for breakfast throat almost fells not made of sand paper.
Today is 7 days since I had my tonsils removed and this is the first day I have woke up and not been in unbearable pain. Days 3-6 were the hardest days of my life. I couldn’t even take care of my baby from being in so much pain. My ears teeth tongue neck everything hurts!! I think I am finally starting to feel a little better though. I would have never made it without the pain meds. It has been very hard so I’m hoping in the end it will be worth it. I am starving to death I was only able to eat some mashed potatoes the second day so I have not eaten in 5 days now bc I just couldn’t. I have tried several different things and I just can’t eat yet. I see the doctor next week so hopefully he will tell be if I’m making any progress. I can’t wait to eat again and feel like I am human. This was harder than having a baby and that was hard!!
Just woke up and tried to swallow. If I were an animal I’d chew my ear off.,!! OUCH!!
Man up ladies. I’m 32yo and on day 8. I went to the beach this morning. I ate solid food for lunch. Shrimp mac-n-cheese with beacon!! Had tilapia and rice last night.
Day 4/5was the worst for me. Severe ear pain!!. I called my doc and they called me in a steroid that solved the problem. Also, my doc prescribed liquid roxicet for the pain from day one which is some good stuff. I was talking the second I left surgery lol.
The process hasn’t been nearly as bad as everyone said it would be.
Good luck guys!
Hi all well day 7 was good for me, as the day before had been horrendous with earache and the pain again, saw a tip about getting up in the middle of the night to take some painkillers and woke up feeling so much better, ate yogurt and my cuppa and managed toast twice and a bit of breadcrumb coated fish. Today feeling even better not so much sore but uncomfortable. Definitely trying to eat normally is better for you, and your recovery, although still enjoying a jelly as a treat
Kind of a silly question here considering I’m on day 8–
What are the ‘scabs’ everyone is talking about? There are obviously the white beds in the back of my throat where my tonsils were but do they turn red/crusty when they become scabs? I’m just a little confused as to what these scabs look like.
Think about what scabs do in the tub or pool. They get white/gray and soft. The scabs in your throat can’t get crusty or dry, so they will stay white and soft. Mine didn’t feel so soft back there, but our throats are pretty sensitive to anything back there, so I could feel what seemed like ridges as my scabs loosened. Almost like flaps of scab were hanging back there. I could never see anything, just the white.
The tissue back there will be red/pink as the scabs come off, just like any other place on your body you have new tissue under a scab that falls off. I think most of the scab just sloughs off and thins, with some parts seeming to pull off (it stings like a getting a shot or pinch, but the pain is short-lived and icy water helps).
17 years old. Holyyyy jcdladfla;kjfdfjsadljasdfkjeotwifjs. THE PAIN! The pain is like nothing I’ve ever felt before and it seems to get worse and worse as the days go on.
Today was day 7 for me and the morning was the worst–woke up to blood in my mouth and tears in my eyes (how poetic ? ) It definitely got better as the day went on though. Today my tongue really started to hurt right in the back on the where it connects to the bottom of my jaw. It’s a strange pinching/stinging sensation but ice water definitely helps. I napped a little bit today which was a relief since throughout this entire recovery I’ve gotten a total of 20ish hours of sleep. The worst part about this process is sleeping because waking up with a dry throat and cracked lips/tongue is a blow. Tonight I’m really anxious and nervous about going to sleep but I know I’m going to have to grin and bear it in the morning. Hopefully tomorrow I won’t be as much as of an emotional wreck as I was today. This feed has really helped me with all of the support and great tips
Thanks a ton, Greg!
Sophia, that pinch/sting is a great way to describe how it felt when my scabs started pulling away (if you’re talking about the back of your tongue and not the underside). You’re right that a cool sip of water soothes it quickly. You’re probably having the worst of it (pain) right now. Hang in there! The frequent sting of scabs coming off lasted well over a week for me. I’m not sure if that’s typical, but at least the pain can be relieved quickly.
Try a humidifier for the dryness, the mornings of days 7 and 8 were the worst for me then days 9 and 10 got drastically better. You’re close, hang in there! Fruity gum is great for when it gets itchy soon.
Thanks Allison
It’s so reliving to hear that days 9 and 10 were drastically better for you since I am on day 8 now. I’ll definitely have my mom head out to the store to pick up some fruity gum!
Day 7, no issues – eating since 2 hours after the op, normal diet from day 1. Here in the UK we are encouraged to eat a normal diet as this strengthens the muscles and speeds recovery.
I am in a bit of discomfort but I’m not sure what the fuss is all about? Day 3 I was out in town eating a three course meal with the main being a cheese burger.
Wow! Really???? unusual but awesome! What method did your surgeon use? What sort of diet did they put you on?
Was standard surgery. I was advised to start eating my normal diet as soon as I came round. My two main tips are 1. Set an alarm for half way through the night to drink water. 2. Eat toast first thing- drags all the sticky saliva and other bits down.
If I sleep more than an hour at a time I wake up with a searing pain in my ears and throat. A hot compress for the ears and a cold compress for the throat helps A LOT…almost as much as the pain meds. It’s easy to think you’re doing a lot better than you are after taking a dose of medicine (Roxicet). I kept thinking “oh, I must be getting better.” And then it starts all over again. Guess it’s just taking longer to recover than I thought.
Today was day 7 after a coblation tonsillectomy on 6/20. It followed the same pattern as the last few – I had a hard time sleeping because of the throat pain, thinking maybe I overdid it with eating during the day. I stopped the narcotic painkillers a couple of days ago, and maybe the Tylenol isn’t cutting it (but I feel much better/less nauseated overall). I tried to take it easier today and really just eat soft food, like applesauce, popsicles, scrambled eggs, and soup, but I’m still feeling rough/raw in the throat tonight. We’ll see how tonight goes. At least the bad taste in my mouth has been a bit better the last couple of days. I am ready to get out of the house but get tired very easily. I did do more around the house today, which isn’t saying much but was still noticeable. Hoping to more firmly turn the corner tomorrow, but we’ll see.
So I’ve been suffering through this whole recovery which I literally didn’t think would be as bad as it really is, yesterday I was an emotional reck, just exhausted and wanting to be normal again. I cried over chips, yes chips. Lol. But anyways today was the first day I got the energy and courage to step outside my house and I just was a passenger as my mom ran some errands but a half hour into it I was so drowsy and tired all I wanted to do was sleep. I’m getting terrible ear pains in my ears mostly my right side hurts the most and it might be because that tonsil was bigger than the other (so my ENT says) I’ve been able to eat pasta and broth but not very much because it starts to hurt. I’ve been basically drowning my body with water to keep hydrated and eating ice chips as often as I can. I coughed up a tiny piece of my scab tonight it was gross but I’m happy it’s healing because I just want to eat normally again
Coblation tonsillectomy 7 days later: I woke with terrible pain again, the same as every morning. That pain that makes me feel like this will never end! Yesterday I replaced a Percocet does with an ibuprofen dose and noticed nothing at that time or when the ibuprofen should have worn off, so I went to bed with no pain meds and was actually feeling okay. I was in a world of hurt after sleeping.
I felt hot and chilled, too, before I finally got it of bed. I was running a temp and took some ibuprofen to help that and help with pain. My bowels were trying to function again and I wasn’t going to start with the narcotics after calling it quits with them yesterday.
I called the ENT about the fever and was surprised to have the nurse tell me that a fever this late in the game is a sign that I need more fluids. I know my intake has been lower days 4-6. I upped the fluids today and have been keeping up on ibuprofen for pain and fever.
I needed a nap this morning since I was up at 4 with the pain and chills. After nap I felt amazing. Pain went down with medication and with use. I ate toast! I ate a brat and cookies! And more bread! I could have used an afternoon nap, but I was out of the house and enjoying the day with some cousins. I couldn’t pull myself away until I knew I had to. Early to bed for me tonight.
I have a scab hanging on and gagging me since last night. It’s repulsive. I want it gone, but I need to be patient. Too much activity back there and I get small tinges of blood reminding me to leave it be. I keep hoping the rougher (not liquified) foods will help slough that off. Maybe that’s why so many Brits and Europeans are told to eat chips and rougher foods. I wonder if pushing that down helps brush off the layers of scab as they form. Maybe there wouldn’t be a scab to fall off then. I was hoping to shed this flap hanging back there but I’ve had it all day, even on a normal diet. Maybe tomorrow.
I do get small twinges of pain when it pulls off a little more. It’s hard to describe. When you feel it, you’ll know it’s fresh bits of tissue getting exposed as the scab pulls off. It’s not that painful and a sip of something cool helps out. The pain goes away very quickly.
I’m setting alarms to take the ibuprofen during the night. I’m scared of waking up in pain for even one more day. I’m scared to wake up and wonder if it will ever stop hurting. It’s getting very tiring. But I will say that I go to bed with a hope, the first hope I’ve had in a week. Tonight I fall asleep with the hope that tomorrow will be as good as today. Maybe better…
It looks as if you’re turning a corner! I hope tomorrow is a great day and starts off with no pain. I’m eagerly reading your updates since I’m in the depths of the healing process right now and hoping for smoother days ahead.
My day 6 was my worst day and day 7 as been the same. Pain meds don’t touch the pain I’m feeling. I’ve looked at my throat and it looks like I have a scab on the left side but not on the right. And that is where all my pain is. I’m worried something is wrong. And I don’t think my doctor would want me in this much pain. So I’m calling the doctor office in the morning to see what he wants to do(stronger meds that ease the pain is what I want). As anyone else experienced pain just on one side? As anyone had their scab come off before day 6? I just want to be able to drink and eat without it killing me. I want to be able to eat and drink and not cry through it.
17 years old, 6 days and a few hours into recovery and I feel terrible! It’s hard to describe what it feels like, most people have been comparing it to swallowing knives or shards of glass, but I would say it feels more like a very hard blunt paint like someone is punching me in the throat, like a very bad bruised feeling… my jaw is in extreme pain and my tongue still feels very swollen, finally experiencing the ear pain and nausea is creeping up on me again. I started taking a 500mg capsule of Tylenol with oxycodone; worked great yesterday and is failing to work today, not sure what to do, I guess I’ll just have to sleep it off. I’ve been forcing myself to drink plenty of water and have been getting by from mashed potatoes, sweet bread, and melona bars. Chocolate ice cream and pudding has caused me to throw up (only chocolate for some reason). I’ve lost a total of 10 pounds since surgery. I just wish it would stop, I hope this is the worst of it, but I know it will be worth it in the end – having strep every month was worse… wishing everyone a speedy recovery
I’m day 7 now. Today, I started having a sharp pain in both sides of my throat. My boyfriend said maybe the scabs split a little bit but I’ve done nothing for that to occur. I’m 15, and it’s at times very painful. Although I feel MUCH better today, the pain is excruciating when I try to eat. It burns, and just feels like it wants to sit in the holes where the tonsils used to be. I haven’t eaten much today. I ate one pop sickle today & a LITTLE bit of mashed potatoes yesterday. I’m really hungry. Since the tonsillectomy, my stomach has decreased in size, and I no longer want to eat as much as usual. What could the sharp pains be? Is it the scabs coming off, or? Please get back to me ASAP! Thank you!
I’m on day 6 and have been on pills since day 1!
18 years old, Ending day 7! It’s been one week since my surgery and I am excited that the first seven days are behind me, I hear those are the worst. Today I had my follow-up appointment with my doctor. He told me most of my scabs had already came off and I was doing very well. I had to ask him for a pill form pain medicine because the liquid was burning to bad to bear. The doctor gave me pills and I started taking them as soon as possible. I feel way more energetic and today has been the first day I have actually gotten up out of bed and done small things. I highly recommend finding things to do to help keep your mind off the pain. Swallowing is still a struggle, though I have not had an intense amount of ear pain. I have drank a ton of water! Every few minutes I have to have a drink. I honestly don’t know how people say they eat some of the things they do.. Ramen Noodles and scrambled eggs are my main diet as of now. Doctor says it will only get better from here on out, I really hope so!
Day 6 here, trying to see what to look forward to tomorrow. Got some proper pain meds today- children’s Tylenol wasn’t cutting it. I’m blown away by the people that can eat, I’m drinking unsalted broth, water & power aide. Eggs didn’t go down well, I forced it for some protein and felt as though a cat was scratching my throat. I also cannot open my mouth wide enough to see much back there but can feel the scabs when I’m gargling. Oh the joys- I look forward to the fact they can’t grow back and I won’t be on antibiotic every third week for abscess tonsils any longer!
todays’s my 7th day & i feel like im dying . its almost impossible to swollow my own spit .. & drinking is unbearable. i cant open my mouth very wide, or move my tongue much. talking is almost out of the question. i really want this to end already ..
Hang in there Alex. This is as bad as it gets. Things will improve!
Day 7 and i think that i might have over done it yesterday.. I was able to eat food so i munched into some but felt like something was stuck on my throat. I done my salt gargle and was couging a lot trying to budge it. Now in told it might had been scabs that feel like food. Woked up in a lot of pain even water hurts!!!
Hi Laura- No fun! Probably was scabs. Be careful with them. Let them come off in there own time. Hang in there!~
Hi Laura! I find utilizing the chin to chest method great with swallowing food. Be careful with consistency, too! I thought I was ready for chicken noodle soup…too soon :/
POD #7 Feel like I’m turning the corner a bit. When I wake up it feel like a million shards of glass at the back of my tongue. Once I gurgle with warm water and a dash of salt, it feels better. Still can’t eat much, not that I have much of an appetite. I’m trying to do little things around the house but energy is nil. I’m off the oxycodone (thank God) and have been managing on extra-strength Tylenol (I can’t see how ppl like to take these pills). Keep your head up people! I see the light
P.S. I miss chewing.
You know things are rough when, “When I wake up it feel like a million shards of glass at the back of my tongue.” is, feeling like turning the corner a bit. Ouch! Hang in there. You are close to the end of this tunnel!
I’m on day 7 today, and this day and yesterday have been the most painful so far, I thought the pain was getting better but it is going the opposite way, I havent had any bleeding or anything so im lucky for that but getting food and drink down is almost impossible, im just wondering when the pain is going to end at the moment and the taste in my mouth is so strong and bad tasting, my breath has been horrible. Ive been trying to ease up on the pain meds so I just have panadol through the day then endone at night to help me through.
Jen day 7 is usually about the worst. Things should improve in the next couple days.
Is it really? I am already to call my doctor in the morning for stronger meds, cuz I’m on Tylenol with codine and its not touching the pain I’m having. Is it also normal to have the pain on one side? Of course that is the side I think the scab came off already. What day should the scab normally come off? I think I’m still gonna call my doctor tomorrow and see what he says. The worst he can tell me is that it will get better and I just have to live with it. I’ve been living with the worst pain for two days why not more. Just really ready for it to be over with and I can be back to my normal self. I want to be able to go to church and see my friends. All I feel I do is complain about the pain.
Happy Easter! Day 7 is coming to a close for me. I would say that when i eat the pain is a 5/6 but otherwise its not that bad just sitting and watching TV and sipping water its about a 2/3. When I drink water maybe a 4.. I am still taking tylenol every 6 hours, but I am sleeping better. I have been averaging a 1/2 dose about once a day of the oxycodone, usually around dinner time so i can eat without awful pain. Still taking anti-nausea meds twice a day as well. I took a very short walk today while my family went over to my in laws house with the kids for Easter(like a 1/4 mile) and when i got back I took a two hour nap! Morale of my story is I am still recovering. I have my post op appointment tomorrow. I have several questions written down to ask and am excited to see how I am recovering. Still nervous about bleeding but from what I understand I am about 2-3 days away from not having to worry anymore about it. Keeping fingers crossed for a good report tomorrow and no bleeding(knock on wood).
Thanks for the update Russ. Hope your appointment goes well!
Day 7 If I don’t move, or talk I think, I might make it through the day, so hungry, ran out of painkillers on day 4, tried to get more and was treated like an addict trying to get a fix, was aweful. Soooo Tylenol it is, sips of room temperature water is all I can get down for the last 2 days. Starting to feel very weak and tired. Going to try Boost today if I can get my hands on some suppose to taste better than ensure, no chalky feeling afterwards. We’ll see.
Ugh! Hang in there Rosa. You’re almost through the tunnel!
Thanks, gives me hope
Im on day 8 now and i can tell you that my ears are nearly about to pop. They hurt so bad, not to mention swallowing. This is crazy recovery. I barely eat or drink. It stings like crazy. I cant even swallow my pain meds either. All i can do is cry sometimes. I have 3 kids and its becoming a little frustrating trying to communicate wih them. I do hope this starts to subside quickly.
Hi Carla, try chewing gum to relieve the ear pain. Also, a warm compress can give some comfort. Hang in there. You’re nearing the end of the tunnel!
Omg I’m on day 6 and it hurts to eat anything hot or cold. I can only eat broth mashed potatoes and noodles when the meds have been I’m my system for 20 min. Over tolerable pain to ear a little. And I’ve eaten so.many pop sickles my tongue has not been pick.in 5 days But yesterday I couldn’t eat a thing but pain meds and i woke up at 4am feeling queezy with earn pain tongue pain and my TEETH Omg they HUUUURTTTTT. I drank water and it stung like needles going down so.image a pop sickle and it made it wort the freezing cold chill was like swallowing wood chips Idk if I’m healing at all…. and talking I can forget about it!
Hang in there Darrell. You are healing! Try to keep drinking, even though it hurts. Some opt for warm beverages. (Avoid hot)
Day 7 and it feels worse than day 1. Had a blood clot burst on saturday and was bleeding heavily. Went to the ER. Feel like im starting all over again. Cant eat swallow or even breathe easily. How much longer!? Im dying here
Hi Carla- Sorry you’re having a rough time. Ugh! Day seven is almost always worse than day 1. Most people have the worst time at about day 7 or 8. Even if you required re-cauterization, most people begin feeling better by day 9. I hope you get relief soon.
I know it’s hard, but really try to keep drinking and eating as you can.
Ice, ice, ice!!! Today is one week since my surgery. Wow what a ride it has been. My BEST friend has been the ice pack around my neck! I haven’t used much pain meds other than ibuprofen. However I have really struggle with nausea. … this taste in my mouth is awful. My scabs are coming off and my uvula is finally shrinking! I am pretty weak, but ate some normal food tonight! I definitely think today is a turning point!
Hooray Jean! Ice is NICE! Hope all goes well in the days ahead.
Day 7 – I’ve over the hump! Less pain (but it’s still there). Starting to feel more like a really bad sore throat as opposed to all the ear pain. Still difficult to eat.
Looking to any website/forum for reassurance that not the only 25 year old in this much pain. It’s gone through my head.. Are you just being a baby? But to my relief, although not others, everyone is in the same boat. This is making me feel more normal.
I’ve started to get quite nauseous the last few days. I’m putting that down to having medications on an empty stomach. But what am I to do? Im trying to eat.. I rely am!
I’ve had a fever for 48hrs to. Had the cold shakes but actually being hot to touch.
I’m going to call the hospital ward up to check that this is ok. I don’t rely want an infection as well!
Ears ache now and then.. Throat is just awfully sore. The mornings are awful. I’m just in a slope of depression at the moment. Feeling very sorry for myself indeed. I don’t think anyone understands this pain. It’s ‘only a tonsillectomy’ after all..
Most scabs have come away apart from one area that is still quite thick. The rest have a thin pale layer over them. I can actually see the pink of my skin under rather than that thick cheesy stuff!
I’m sure there’s a light.. I’ll just keep searching
Hi Leanne, You are not alone in this. Tonsillectomy recovery is tough and yes, it hurts! I think you are right about the nausea being from the pain med’s on an empty stomach. Keep trying to eat. You might also ask your doctor about anti-nausea medicines. They helped me!
As for the ear pain, try chewing gum. It’s weird, but it helps. Other report that a warm compress on the area helps.
Best of luck for a speedy recovery. It WILL get better!
I had surgery on the 27th and am still recovering. I found that slim fast shakes are the easiest for me to get in my stomach without too much pain. The vanilla and the strawberry hurt less than the chocolate for some reason. We are almost done just keep going!!
Day 7 post-op. I’ve lost 4.4 kilo. Havnt eaten anything in 6 days. Even water brings me to tears. I’m not feeling any better today. If I had my chance again I wouldnt have had the opp.
Hi Jacinta, I’m so sorry you’re having a rough time. Most people do at day 7. It’s often the worst. Try to remember that this is temporary. You WILL feel better- MUCH. MUCH better. -just not yet. I know it’s hard but please try to keep drinking fluids. It will make recovery better. Dehydration is your enemy- fight it!
Best of luck to you. Hang in there. I’m on the other side of the tunnel you are in and I can tell you, It’s wonderful! I sleep better and hardly ever get sick
Hello, I am a 42 year old man who had a tonsilectomy in 3/31/14.
I am on day six and this has been the most miserable experience of my life. Is anyone out there experiencing gum pain or very temperature sensitive teeth? I’ve pulled out the big guns for the rest of the way. I’ve got ice packs, ear drops, orajel, biotene, sucrets,chloraseptic spray water, humidifier, pain meds..am I forgetting anything?
Hey Kenyatta- Welcome! It sounds like you’re pretty well prepped for what might be the toughest day. I might suggest planning a little event to look forward to and get your mind off the discomfort- a short walk, a warm bath…anything. Good luck. I wish you all the best
33yo F Day 7:
I had a wonderful friend who got me a gift card to Panera Bread. So I sent my husband for some of their chicken noodle soup. Into the food processor it went until all veggies, noodles, and chicken were tiny slivers, and it was the best thing I’ve ever tasted!!! Completely made me feel human again! So I sent him back for 2 more orders to get through the weekend!
Before the surgery I had read so many people on here say that days 7 – 9 were the worst. For some dumb reason, when the pain eased up for me on days 5-6 I actually thought, “Woohoo! I am getting off easy!” I seriously started thinking that this wasn’t going to be as bad as everyone made it seem. Then day 7 came…and with it…the pain. So much pain. I have to give myself a pep talk before every swallow of every drink or bite of food. It is like a thousand knives stabbing my tongue, my gums, the back of my throat, my ears.
My husband went back to work today and fortunately my kids’ school district offered winter camp so they were taken care of all day. I just had to fend for myself all day long. I fell into a 3 hour rotation of: eat something, take meds, try to sleep, fail, check facebook, check words with friends, play sudoku.
I am still constantly spitting up little bits of scab. When people mentioned their scabs coming off, it always sounded like they came off all at one time in one big piece. I was totally unprepared for hours and hours of: small cough, oh crap, run to the bathroom sink!
Sounds familiar ! I got nasal spray (fluticasone propionate). I drench a q-tip and put one end in each ear. I also use the spray in my nose twice a day. I found this has helped with any radiating pain and swelling.
I have been eating ice cubes like crazy and trying to keep the scabs coming out safely. Maybe ask your doctor too about hurricane spray. Just got it yesterday. It’s 20% benzocaine and numbs the throat up without having to choke down pain meds every 4 hours! This stuff is freakin awesomeeee. I also constantly keep ice on each side of my neck too near where the tonsils were removed. I haven’t had horrible pain with swallowing (except morning) using the above things. I ate pudding today, soggy Rice Krispies, a creamsicle and cream of wheat.
I am over the fact that this sucks physically, but mentally I am caving in and getting impatient, irritable and frustrated. It’s probably in large part because of how malnourished I probably am but I’m hoping to see more light here soon!
Day 7 brought with it a bit of relief compared to the last few days. The pain still had it moments, but there were stretches of a few hours here and there that I noticed feeling remarkably better. I tried to enjoy every minute, as I have read here that this recovery is sometimes a step forward, two steps back. That has been the case this evening, as the pain has ramped back up–especially in between doses of medicine. The scabs are definitely thinning, which is promising, but they appear so deep on both sides–deeper than the many pics I have seen online. That makes me nervous. I had a breakthrough today in the eating department. I was so sick of the sweet, gooey medicine taste in my mouth and just wanted something salty. I decided to fry up two eggs and attempt to eat them over a buttered piece of bread. Surprisingly, the pain was not too bad, and I finished the entire plate. It tasted so good that I got a little emotional. I also felt much better after eating. However, I tried again later in the day with bread and could not manage more than two swallows. Ugh. Another complaint I have is that my butt and lower back are often numb/uncomfortable from too many hours sitting or laying down. I think it is related to my sciatic nerve, and today, my big toe on my right foot has been painfully numb. I went for a decent walk today, and that helped a little, but it is still there. Compared to my throat, though, it is a minor annoyance.
Day 7 for me…ugh. When will this finally be over? 40 yr old female. I have experienced severe stomach pain, cold sweating (through a thick sweatshirt and a down pillow in five minutes), pale clammy skin and near-fainting… which I’m attributing to the Tylenol with Codeine…I gave it 45 minutes because I couldn’t get a hold of a family member, but that was scary. I was a minute or two from calling an ambulance when the pain finally subsided. I have been writing down when I take medicine… But I think I missed one entry in my medicine log and double dosed on accident. Be careful everyone…don’t forget to do this like I did. It isn’t worth the additional pain! Other helpful tip: take a basic stool softener and just don’t assume constipation is for other people to worry about. ? My ENT suggested it but I didn’t start until Day 3…it took three days to finally work, but it was a relief when it finally did! Also, I’ve found diet drinks like vitamin water zero to be more drying than the regular ones, so don’t cut corners with G2 instead of regular Gatorade. It doesn’t help in the least. With the lack of calories you’re taking in, do the regular drinks. Also, get some Ensure and drink a few sips with your pain medicine to fight nausea.
Day 7! Great day! Throat felt a little raw and was uncomfortable when I swallowed but I ate more today than I have the previous days of recovery. I had heartburn all day which was a down fall and couldn’t get rid if it. Scabs fell off day 5 so I am feeling pretty good!
Today is my day 7. My God I thought the worst part was over! The pain today has been excruciating, the worst yet. My scabs have begun to fall off, leaving red raw patches that cannot come into contact with anything without immense pain. I tried to have some jello and almost threw up from the burning. A few hours later I attempted soup but I felt like I was swallowing knives. I have Aldo noticed big red bumps at the back of my tongue that are very painful to the touch. The back of my tongue is also coated in white. The swelling in my uvula seems to have finally gone down a tad. I wish I knew what was up with my tongue though. Any one have any ideas? My doctor is MIA and my post op is over a month away.
I am so hungry it’s ridiculous. I can’t even watch food commercials on tv anymore. Also, the fatigue is immense. I always seem to new nodding off but never actually able to sleep. I’ve been trying to cut down on the lortab because I was having extreme nausea, but I think I’m gonna have to go back to the 20ml every 4 hours. Hope you all feel better soon!
Day 7 ending and there is, after all, apparently, light shining at the end of this long, long tunnel.
This morning was the worst 30 minutes of my life, which bested yesterday morning (and am worried gets bested again tomorrow morning). That first swallow is horrendous. I was up all night, sipping water, preparing…inches from a humidifier. Still amazing pain.
Worked today out of my home office, overall tolerated the day well. Still have a very limited diet…anything too big is painful, including a big gulp of water. The opening in my throat for food seems abnormally small.
Have lost about 12lbs…that’s good
Tomorrow will be even better!!
My body and my mind feel great today! No pain meds taken at all! My throat on the other hand feels like a lava pit. Every swallow, saliva, water, food(pretending I could actually eat something) hurts worse than any sore throat I haver EVER had. I took a short trip to Target today and stopped at the Starbucks for a mocha peppermint frappacino. I was only able to get 4 sips down before I tossed it in the trash ….next I had an orange ICEE. …that was much better. Food wise I found that marshmallows are about the only thing I can tolerate….. My Uvula is back to normal, the site of my tonsils is an ugly thick white/yellow color. I had no stiches like so many others have had and my follow up appointment with my dr isn’t until 12/10.
Reading forward to the next week….it seems just so far away. I miss my Martinis
I know! Would love to have a nice thick dark beer and relax but I’m afraid of thinning my blood and bleeding.
This is day 7 and I have felt better since having them out! I read about setting the alarm clock every 2 hours when going to bed to take 2 tsp of pain meds, drink water and to sleep with the humidifier on worked! I did the same throughout the day (minus the humidifer) and it seem to help. I know that I had kind of pushed it when I went to the football game and acidentally yelled and got a soft pretzel stuck (which did feel like a knife going down), but I lived and enjoyed the football game! I wish I would have read that part sooner or that the doctors office would have recommended that. It can only get better from here I hope! Good luck to the rest of you!
my day 7 friday was another day to forget. I had stopped the oxycodone pain meds to relieve the constipation but now I was emptying my bowels too often and it was mostly liquid since I had barely eaten anything in the last 48 hrs. I dont know why but I simply havent been hungry since my haermorhage 2 days ago but I suspect the blood that spilled into my stomach messed with the balance in there and I’ve lose my sense of hunger. Also I developed oral thrush today as I see the white coating on my tongue and how it stings when I swallow or try to eat. The pain from the throat isnt so bad now only the sting from the thrush combined with constantly diarhea (had to go 6 times) and the lack of eating has crippled me. I noticed my throat is making more saliva than ever before which is why it doesnt hurt so much. By night time I stopped the diarhea with some immodium and tried to force down a protein shake and small jelly. It was the first food I ate since the post haermorhage surgery some 48hrs ago!
It is the end of my day 7, and I am grateful it wasn’t like yesterday. I wanted to die. I have some minor ear pain, and my saliva is extra gross tasting today. I spent the beginning of my morning gargling with salt water. I got the salt from my nasal rinse, surprisingly it didn’t burn. I also spent a lot of time scrubbing my tongue with my tooth brush. I refuse to allow my tongue to look as nasty as the back of my throat! After that, my day went by smoothly. I plan on returning to work Monday (day 10), but will go home as soon as it is uncomfortable. I’m chewing on a half piece of gum, and swallowing as much saliva as I can, but I tell you, the gum does not mask the taste! I am so hungry, and jealous of people in fast food commercials. Can’t wait to eat real food. One more thing, I put aloe vera gel in my water, to help my stomach, and it is working great. It also leaves a smooth coat on my throat. Good luck everyone, on to day 8.
DAY 7: 30 years old and had tonsillectomy (with adenoids removed too).
This weekend has been one of the worst times of my life. My throat is super swollen due to all the scabs and I have all these sores along the sides of my tongue. Swallowing anything, even water or ice chips, is a struggle. I just spent over an hour trying to get down some pudding and have decided to try again later.
I am still not sleeping well due to keeping up with the pain med schedule, which I don’t dare to deviate from at this point, even though I am still in pain all day with the pain meds. I tried a stronger pain med today and had a little bit of a panic attack so I don’t think I will use that one again. I am just really glad that I decided to take a full 2 weeks off of work to recover, that is one of the smartest things I did when preparing for surgery.
I am just so exhausted and frustrated and in so much pain…I’m just ready for this to be over.
First, thank you for this site. It has provided such a great idea of what’s to come and what’s to be expected. I was worried to have the surgery – both because of the anticipated recovery and that I have no spleen…very worried of infection.
Days 1-5 were a blur. Pain excruciating, almost non-stop vomiting. Husband called Dr. But closed for long weekend. Suspected pain meds making me ill; but in so much pain, couldn’t stop taking them. Temp 99-101.
Day 6 felt human enough to leavd my room, pain 7/10. Temp in the 99s. Ate 1/3 cup mashed oatmeal with banana and 1/2 cup mashed potatoes. Popscicles, ice cream, shakes…can’t get any of them down . Daughter sent home from school with suspected strep throat – can I get it?!!
Day 7 human enough to sit up in living room. Temp going between 99-100. Dr ofc called to follow up on my disability forms so I mentioned the vomiting, and that I’m down 10 pounds. Called in script for zofran. Just had to wait for hubby to pick it up. Tried 1 cup ice cream. Forced it down. Mistake – 1 hr later vomited for 10 minutes straight. Pain 9/10 now. Blisters on tongue and lips from vomiting only add to pain. Finally – zofran. Added in liquid Motrin to help stay on top of pain. Daughter’s preliminary strep test negative, symptoms more suggestive of mono. Don’t tonsils filter stuff like that? Can I get that now, too?! Lying awake, slept hour past pain med time and drink water time. Both add up to huge pain. Temp 99.5. Hoping day 8 is a day of tonsil miracles! I’m in pain, hungry, cranky from the not eating, unable to care for our 3 kids, and ready for the light at the end of the tunnel. Keep checking in with friends at work – boredom may kill me!
Day 7: the night sleep between day 6 and 7 is getting better. In stead of being a camel and spitting in a cup all night from scabs in saliva , I woke up every two hours with razer sharp pain around the out side of each tonsil hole. So back to the sink I went rinsing with warm salt water that helped. The reson why it is so painful is that the scabs are coming of and the newly exposed skin just wants to say hi! The warm salt water I find calms this sharp edge down. Then I apply cold compress to neck and back to bed.
I also find that I had not been able to eat or drink much between days 4-7. The scabs around the food entry to the belly fell of on day 6 which I was than able to eat a pudding snack and cry because I was so happy to eat something. But now I can’t eat again because of the newly exposed skin in the holes which burn when food touches it. I figure a few more non eatting days and I should be good to go. The bathroom sink has become my new friend. Thank goodness it isn’t ugly lookin!
Day 7 I am I’m pain this morning. Tried to skip my meds over night to give my body a rest from all the drugs, big mistake, it has taken a while today to get back on top of the pain. Had a weird experience last night, the swelling seemed to have gone down from the back of my throat and it felt like there was a huge hole at the back of my throat, which meant even swallowing water felt like it was dropping down the back of my mouth. I know it’s because my tonsils are no longer there ( and they were big) one of the reasons I had them removed, however the sensation was really disconcerting, and made me a bit panicky, I am a bit scared now that when I eat I will choke because I don’t have my tonsils to catch things. Not sure if my panicky feeling was due to the codeine I have been taking. I was almost a bit relieved when my mouth was swollen again this morning it felt less weird… Also my mouth smells awful today I keep brushing my teeth , perhaps I will gargle with a little salt water, but afraid it will sting like crazy.
Pretty much cried myself to sleep last night. Woke up this morning in excruciating pain at 7am. Got up. Managed to chew some ice enough to numb my throat to take my pain pill. Reduced the dose to half (Tylenol with codine) was, making me sick to my stomach, dizzy, and was giving me a headache. I ate an applesauce and a yogurt and passed or on the couch until noon. I woke up in pain, but it was tolerable enough. I took some liquid children’s Advil, 4tsp down from 8! I showered and could actually flip my head upside down to blow dry my hair! Ate a pudding and some luke-warm soup. Have barely had any pain since the liquid Advil. I’m doing a salt water rinse right now. It stings a little but all the blood is dark and almost brown so I’m not worried it’s fresh. This is exciting! Maybe I really am over the hurdle!!
It’s me again…. And I bring good news!!!! I did wake up today in pain due to the throat drying out In The night mornings are always the worst so I got up brushed my teeth as I could taste the terrible smell coming from my breath!!! I made a cuppa tea and some fruit loaf ( toasted) as I wanted to line my belly today I decided to double up on my ibropfen I was on 400 mg every 6 hours so today I googled was it safe to take 800 mg ( and it was) so I struggled so bad with the toast but new it was better for me if doubling up on meds…… OMG with in 20 mins the pain was so bearable I haven’t felt so relieved in days I’m not saying I was totally out of pain but the feeling of the brused tongue (right at the back) felt lose less swallen I was able to swallow with out being in such harsh pain… So six hours later I took another 800 mg and again in 20 mins the pain level dropped. It felt so much better when I bought the kids a Mc Donald’s I managed to eat a hamber happy meal!!!!!!!!!!! Woooooooo whooooooo I couldn’t manage it all as I felt full so quickly but I ate!!!! Now for tomorrow day 8 I will keep ya posted so was it the meds? Or the fact day 7 is the start of feeling less terrible I know we are all different and heal different but day six I was losing hope of feeling better any time soon…. Hope your all feeling better xx
Hi guys, you all seem to be having a worse time than me. I’m on day 7 of my recovery,and I feel so much better than days 3-6 they where my worse days so far, I am still in a little bit of pain but the pain relief (800mg ibuprofen) really seem, to helping me. Quick tip drink warm tea it really helps..
I hope all goes well for everyone and my experience of day 7 wasn’t all that bad..
Recover quickly (:
I don’t think my pain med is working. I’m only suppose to take it every 4-6 hours. . but the pain is back and I’m in agony within 2 -2 1/2 hours!
In so much pain today. It feels like I’ve swallowed glass. The pain is radiating up into my ears and into my jaw. It hurts to open my mouth even to drink water.
I have to brace myself every time I take a drink of water. When will the pain decrease!?
Honestly I don’t wanna jinx myself but with my liquid codeine I’m feeling pretty good I’m not sure if it supposed to switch off it by now but I’m 13 and it’s working just fine we’ll just want to say I’m feeling pretty good minus the dry throat I woke up with this morning my ears are what’s bothering me especially my right ear it’s killing me my throat leaks this nasty tasting fluid my scabs are still all there which I have no idea why but overall I think it was worth it in the end I had to get them because I had tonsil stones and I don’t get them now! Good luck please share your experience!
Day 7- Ouch! I ran quite a few errands today so I didn’t keep up with my Percocet, and I paid for it too! When I swallowed my pain was about 8/10. No fun.
Age 17 The morning of day seven started badly, but I decided to get in gear and force down warm tea because water seems to be bothering me lately by noon I was feeling better eating Lipton soup (which is the only thing I tend to enjoy during this whole experience) but the best thing I have come by are sport Popsicles! They give you the electrolytes you are missing and make your throat feel amazing, hoping to keep up the feel better attitude since my scabs are starting to fall off today( which stings) good luck to all of you! I think I’m seeing the light at the end of the tunnel FINGERS CROSSED !!
Thanks for sharing and best of luck!!!
Day 7: no more or less pain than day 6. I’m 31 and so far I’ve been able to manage the pain between Tylenol, squeezing cushions, slapping my forehead and making crazy faces. Al of the above helped me to go through the excruciating pain while (and 15 minutes after) I eat. I didn’t plan on it but I almost slept through the night, and this is the most sleep I have ever had since surgery. I tried to set alarm to wake up every hour and get some water to drink, thego back to sleep. I notice that I had a loooooot of mucus today, all clear stuff hat is gross. I did not see or feel more scabs coming off. I took a walk again tonight for about 30 minutes and it sure felt good. Not sure when my scabs will come off, but it’s only been 7 days right!
I’m on day 7 and thought something was wrong when I woke up,in more pain than ever… I’ve been alternating Lortab with 800mg ibuprofen and that seems to help…
Horrible day. I’d say the worst pain yet. And I’m starting to feel like the pain meds aren’t working. Also, a tip. For anyone who is having trouble swallowing pills (I sure am), pop the pills into a big spoonful of jello, and then treat the spoonful like a pill, swallowing it with water. It helps keep the pills from scratching the throat.
The dreaded day 7. Everyone spoke of how this is “peak day”, the day where my pain will get as excruciating as it’s going to get. To be honest, I really don’t feel much worse than I did yesterday…I would say it’s definitely worse, and this is definitely the worst I’ve felt this whole time, but still. I was expecting worse, not that I’m complaining.
I woke up with a little bit of bleeding this morning too. I think it was because I stupidly attempted to swallow my Percocet tablets with a dried up throat. Thankfully I’m not gushing blood, just two little scratches at the moment. My Doctor was nice enough to answer my text at 7am this morning (on a Sunday no less!) and he asked me to text him a picture of my throat so he could see how serious it was. Gotta say, best experience with a doctor I’ve ever had. Anyway, he said I should be fine, I shouldn’t worry unless blood is actually gushing out.
Looking forward to hopefully seeing improvements over the next few days =)
Ok, so today I decided I was going to tough it out. I concluded (on the basis of no evidence) that my vomiting on Day 6 was probably due to taking the oxycodone on an empty stomach. Today I’d fill the stomach AND stop the oxy. I could do it! I could conquer the WORLD!!!
This actually worked quite well during the day. I was able to eat some mashed vegetables with gravy and some scrambled eggs, AND keep them down! I even slept a little, in a very bizarre restful sleep.
Sometime late in the day I realised that anytime I tried to swallow (ANY TIME… saliva, water, anything!) was like pouring hot acid into an open wound.
At first I thought it was just that I was due the soluble paracetamol (a GOD SEND, if you ask me). That only lasted about 30 mins 
I went to bed and managed to fall asleep without any more pain killers. I was woken around midnight by some knives in my right ear and the acid bath in my throat (which is technically Day 8 I suppose). I’m sitting here in tears wondering whether to eat something and take the oxy or go straight to the hospital. (‘Go to Jail. Go directly to Jail. Do not pass Go. Do not collect $200.’)
I CAN’T TAKE THIS ANYMORE!!!!!!!
Take the oxy for 1 or 2 more days, the pain starts to subside day 8. Eat Jello or instant pudding before taking the oxy, and ask your doctor for an anti-nausea med. Also, if you feel up to it, taking a short light walk can help with stomach pain. I thought my mom was crazy when she made me walk to reduce my nausea, but it worked! Also make sure you’re taking a laxative since the oxy stops that all from working properly. If you really don’t wanna do the oxy anymore, extra strenght Tylenol worked pretty well. Good luck!
Also, put heat pads on your ears, it will help.
Thanks sweet_nothing. I took the oxy and the anti-nausea med, still threw up but the pain was a little less this afternoon. I am hoping like anything that means I’ve broken the worst of it. I tell you, if I knew it would be this bad, I’m not sure I’d have done it! Sigh.
Heat to the ears is a good tip, I’ve been doing that for a couple of days. Just pressing your hand to the ears works well, too. It’s only one ear, for me, funnily enough the one that gave me most grief when I still had the tonsils. :S
Thanks again for your advice. Fingers crossed for all of us struggling with this that we break it soon.
Well I was actually on here reading this when my tragedy struck. My day was starting out already kinda bad because it was a bad pain morning and I knew i’d have to take Roxicet every 6 hours versus every 8 or so. Well I took my dose at 11:30 and it made me cough, not even a lot, but the slight burn it gave still had me cough. Now i’d been slowly clearing my throat more and more each day with all the mucus that had started up, so it hurt a bit but I figured thats because i had coughed when there was a strange warmth at the back of my throat.
I was gushing blood heavily down my throat at this point so I called my dad and he hurried home, and we went to the closest ER, even though thats not where my ENT surgeon had rights because closer is better at least at first. Well the entire time home i’d swallowed the blood mostly and was spitting it up while in the ER with their little bucket for me. They eventually told me as long as it stopped and clotted itself, I was golden and wouldnt need it recauterized. Well it did stop, then 10 minutes later it started again, but only bled for like 5-10 minutes before stopping again. Thinking we could go home now the ER doctor was signing my stuff and saying after talking to my ENT surgeon that if there was anymore longer bleeding to go straight to a different hospital 20 minutes further south where he did have rights, and I started bleeding again only as hard as the first time. So we rushed towards the different hospital that was warned we were coming, and i had a clean bucket having filled 1 already. Finally arriving there about 2:30 i will still bleeding strong and the nurses got me in pretty quick, the only problem was now the decision came. Cauterize in the room without any anesthesia or go into full surgery whenever my ENT could get there to perform it. They ended up not giving me fluids because of the thought that I would be leaving for surgery any moment. only for my blood pressure to crash and my entire body to begin going downhill from no water since 11:30a.m. and losing blood pretty constantly since then too. So it ended with me crying on the bed laying back with huge stomach pains from the TON of my own blood i’d been swallowing between trying to spit it out, and that i’d lost a totally of 4 cups of blood they’d calculated, and never been on an IV. 4 nurses had to rush in and put two IV’s into me, each hooked up to two fluid bags, to make me feel good and finally get my blood pressure from 72/33 up to 115/65 which is much more normal for me.
Well they’ve gotten a hold of my ENT and he wants to try and just have the ENT specialist and his residents in the hospital cauterize it in my room IF they think the blood clot that formed when I crashed wont hold. They examine it and decide it’s not looking too strong so they get the things to cauterize me. The way they explained it to me the little sticks that had the chemicals on it to cauterize would sting, but they’d only use one or two so it would be quick and all would be good.
Everyone keeps thinking this is a small bleeding point until they go in and see it’s a good chunk of my throat thats needing tending to. I took twelve of those suckers, while their tongue depressors were pressing INTO my other scab/scar and causing pain, and choking me with the suction. They couldnt get it and everyone told me I was such a strong girl for dealing with this but they were just going to put me under and do the surgery again. Well just as I was about to go, the nausea started again real bad and they didn’t get me any nausea meds till I was in the OR waiting room where I could see my Dad again. But it did help a lot. My surgeon told me this is a 1 in 100 happenstance but to still be careful and such. Everyone thought i’d eaten something crunchy or hard to cause this, and when I told them they were shocked because they didnt know just how strong the coughs could be. Well surgery went fine and the angels above had them pump my stomach free of the blood so I wasn’t nauseous again until the car ride home but that was fine. I left finally at 8:15 that night and got home at 9:30.
It was such a crazy ride and i just was and am a bit terrified every time i have to clear my throat a bit, but it’s just as safe as before i took the scab off. Just be careful whenever you cough, try not to, but if you can try not to do it as hard and all should be good but this was really a terrifying experience.
Oh my goodness Saera! That’s awful. I’m so sorry to hear that you went through this. Glad you’re ok. Thank you for sharing.
Chewing gum helps to not cough. Sorry this happened to you!
thank you i havent started any gum afraid some of the flavor may burn, but i think i’ll take that advice
Mint gum burned. Watermelon gum was good and did not burn. I literally was chewing watermelon gum non-stop for like 4 days to stop the urge to cough, and it worked! I would recommend to start with half a piece and just see how that goes.
Hey Everyone! Let me just start off by saying that this site has been a HUGE help throughout my dark days! I am 17 years old and I got my tonsils removed on the 27th of July. So its officially one week today !!! I made finally made it! Before my tonsillectomy I had a lot of strep throat and tonsillitis. I also had huge tonsils and I would get tonsil stones ALL THE TIME ! talk about smelly… and I also had little “homes” in my tonsils. There were deep deep holes everywhere so the stones had a nice, warm, and comfy place to sleep….grrrrrrr.
Day 1 of surgery: So the surgery went great. I’m not sure what method was performed on mine. When I woke up from the anesthesia, all I could remember was the feeling of my tongue. It felt soooo swollen and it hurt worse than my tonsils. The nurse tried to get me to eat jello which hurt like heck and sip water which was like acid down my throat. (Note: surgery was performed at about 1pm and I got home around 6pm) When I got home the first thing I did was take my medicine 15ml of liquid hydrocodone every 4 hours. It made the pain tolerable which was nice. Woke up in the middle of the night like my throat was literally on fire. I wasn’t aware that I had to drink water throughout the night! I learned fast though!! I took my medicine and I was good. Pain was about a 6/10
Day 2: The pain started setting in. I couldn’t open my mouth for the life of me but I eventually got it to open wide enough to look in the back of my throat. White scabs and my uvula was about the size of my throat and it was longer than where my tongue was. Not comfortable whatsoever. My tongue was also pure white! I hated the way jello felt going down my throat. I stayed away from the dairy cause I definitely did not need anything else to block my throat (mucus). I resorted to apple sauce. I USED TO HATE APPLESAUCE WITH A PASSION. but now its like my best friend. That day pain was about a 6/10.
Day 3: This is when I researched and researched and researched. I needed to know of any home remedies or anything that could help me out with this recovery process ! this is where this site comes in to play (: . I bought a humidifier ASAP!!!!! and made sure I drunk water throughout the night about every hour. That helped SOOOOO MUCH! That day I ate more apple sauce but the nausea started to kick in. That hard medicine on an empty stomach is not okay. luckily my doctor prescribed me with some ant nausea tablets. I also started sucking on ice chips which helped the swelling go down. That night I managed to eat some mashed potatoes and gravy with a little meat loaf. MANN ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT GOOOOOOD! haha I love to eat so this experience has been very difficult. Pain was about a 5/10
Day 4: Woke up at about 3am in sooooo much pain!!!!! My earls felt like they were going to explode. They were pounding like drums ! And the medicine was starting to wear off in 2-3 hours. I was exhausted. I really just wanted to sleep and never wake up. I had mucus stuck in my throat from lord knows what. My throat didn’t hurt as bad as my ears and jaws. My tongue was still swollen. I did not want to eat that day but I forced my self to because I refused to throw up! I was not about to delay this recovery or make it even worse! Towards that afternoon it got better. I ate more mashed potatoes, gravy, and meatloaf. I also had my applesauce(: but I can only eat so much before my throat is uncomfortable.
Day 5: I SAAWWW THE LIGHT! It finally started to ease up a bit. I did not have to take my medicine every 4 hours. I could make it for about 5-6. That morning I managed to get down a little bit of hashbrown potatoes and scrambled eggs. The nausea was kind of messing with me so I stopped. Felt like I had to puke out my guts but the pills prevented that. I also looked at my throat and my scabs were falling off! I had a little left on the left side and a piece hanging on the right. For dinner I had some creamy chicken rice casserole. DELICIOUS!! and a little piece of fried chicken…which I know I should not have eaten but it was calling my name, I made sure I chewed up til it was really really really mushy. Pain that day was about a 4/10
Day 6: I woke up a little better. Still the same ear ache and dry throat. I did not eat much that morning besides applesauce so I could take my meds. But that night I ate two slices of cheeseburger deluxe pizza!!!! It felt soooo good to finally eat a little more! But it kind of started aching afterwards but it was worth it. I started talking too! Even though I sound really ridiculous! My friends couldn’t help but laugh at me. Pain was about a 3/10.
Day 7: Did not go to sleep til about 3:30 am on the 6th day and woke up at 7 for medicine. Yeah I was in pain but it wasn’t tooo bad. Today I didn’t eat or drink anything. I just felt yuuckkkkyyy. My throat was really dry but I didn’t care. Big mistake. I haven’t took my meds all day. not to mention the breath !!!! PEEEEEYYYUUUUU ! Swallowing is a little more tender today probably because my scabs are like all gone except this one that is hanging on its last limb! Pain today about a 2/10
I thought this was the worse experience of my life in the beginning! But now I see its worth it. I haven’t had any complications so far (knock on wood) . I miss food A LOT but I have a feeling that I wont eat as much as I used to . I also miss dance practice A LOT. its my life. My doctor told me I have to stay away for two weeks. I’ve been dancing since I was 3 and never have I ever stayed away from dance for TWO WEEKS . Im dying here ! My mother helped me a little through this recovery. She had her procedure when she was in her 20’s and she failed to mention to me all this CRAP I should have known. but she’s like Bio woman, nothing hurts her!!! My grandma has been the most help. She was like my own personal nurse from filling up my water to changing the humidifier to fixing me whatever she thought I could eat to waking me up every hour during the night to sip water. She even laid in the bed with me to make sure I was okay every night . Shes my super woman (: and I appreciate it. Comment if you have any questions about my recovery!
Thank you for sharing this! Best of luck to you!
Hey I’m a 17 year old who just had her tonsils taken out aug 7th and it is a week today. I woke up in the middle of the night with excruciating pain around 3 am and it was so bad I had to take some pain medicine. this afternoon it feels somewhat better but I don’t know about the whole scabbing thing. Does it hurt when it comes off? Do you feel it? When the scabs come off does it feel better then? I’m nervous. Please reply back with info. You are the only one close to my age that I’ve seen has had one of these surgeries.
Well I’m 25 and did *not* have an issue with the scabs, so I’m sure you will be just fine
Around day 10 I could sense they were coming off after I was done eating. The sensation only lasted a few minutes and was not bad. It is nothing to worry about at all. It’s more itchy than anything else. I just drank a ton of water to stop the itch and they were gone in no time.
Day 7 of my coblation tonsillectomy started with a little more pain than I have been used to this week (5 out of 10), but only because I slept through my alarm for more drugs. Was bound to happen at some point I guess. Things are still well overall. My stomach hurt more than my throat. Getting anxious to be fully recovered. Lack of food and the duration of this recovery is the worst part. But, still happy I had it done of course.
So first off I have to say that your blog and all of your experiences have made this TORTUOUS experience much more bearable knowing that you have all felt or are feeling exactly what I am now….THANK YOU!!!!!!
I’m on day 7, my surgery was a week ago today, and today is by far the worst morning I’ve had :(. I didn’t sleep much as my ears felt like someone was taking a sledgehammer to them as of 3am this morning. I think this has been the worst part for me, and I’m not that good with pain as it is!! My tongue is still super swollen and when I do try to eat my new diet of mashed potatoes and matzoh ball soup my whole mouth hurts sooooo badly!!! Anyone know when my tongue will go back to normal??
I had a full on breakdown on Day 5, having had enough of the no sleep, no eating and constant pain, started stomping my feet like a 3 year old does when you take away his/her toy and yelling at my mom who has been taking such good care of me. The yelling wasn’t the smartest thing as I paid for that the rest of the day but I did feel better oddly after I was done.
I’m just hoping that this is the turning point, I have to go back to work next week and am not sure how I can do that giving I can’t function normally right now!!
I am also dreaming about food like I’ve never eaten!! I have a list in my head of all the things I want to gorge on and I’ve prepared my friends for an all out food binge when this is finally over…when will that be exactly??????
Day 7 started out rough for me, but was better by the end. I was in enough pain that I couldn’t really speak in the morning. I suffered for part of the day, then decided to take Advil along with my pain meds. They helped more than they pain meds! I got feeling better and could talk some again. And I made another decision. I was so hungry and run down from hunger, I just knew I had to eat something. So I made sloppy joes and ate the hamburger. It hurt a little, but tasted soooo good! And I think the protein gave me a little needed energy! So the night was better. Looking in my mouth I can see some pink shining through, so I know I am starting to heal. It just feels like it is going so slowly!!
35 years old and it’s Day 7 for me and it’s the first day I feel anything vaguely resembling human, that being said I’m still in a horrible amount of pain.
operation day – Coming out of the anesthetic I thought, “gee,I’m going to hurl”. Meanwhile, little did I know this would be the single most coherent thought I’d have for the next 7 days… I wasn’t breathing well and they put me on O2 – which was not great for the dry throat thing. I had a septoplasty/turbs done at the same time so All my airways were compromised. The nurses kept giving me worried looks. My mother, bless her was like a champion by my side literally feeding ice chips into my mouth. As predicted – I went to the toilet and hurled my guts out. Ate zero. Drank a little. I was just so dizzy. The only medication I could take was panadol and anti-nausea through IV. I barely slept a wink.
Day 1 – Accusing me of not eating, drinking and not breathing (!!!) the Drs kept me in the hospital for a second night. It was the best thing that could have happened as I was not in a good way. I decided to make an effort to eat and drink even if I wasn’t feeling like it. Plus I hadn’t been to the toilet for #2s yet.. I felt a little better today. The pain was pretty bearable and I was taking regular panadine forte and encode as well as my antibiotic. Slept maybe 2 hours total.
Day 2 – Home day! But I woke up nauseous. They kept feeding me anti-nausea meds through my IV until it was time for me to go home (about midday). Pain getting worse. At home I’m feeling constantly dizzy and sick. I keep trying to down my meds. I realise that I cannot swallow the panadine forte as it makes me gag. Switch to panadol soluble. This kicks pain up a notch. Sleep, I realise is overrated, when I wake up weeping from the pain from only 1/2 hour. This is despite my humidifier being on. I watch the clock waiting for med times. I need them an hour before they are due. In so much pain.
Day 3 – didn’t think the pain could get worse – it does! So does the dizziness and nausea. I’m trying hard to eat, knowing that eating keeps me as well as can be expected. My ears start chiming in with co-pain. I just sit and cry as it seems to me the most constructive thing I can do. Still no poo. At night, that waste of time between 8pm – 8am I just try to bide my time. Every so often I’ll fall into sweet sleep but wake up with razor blades down the back of my throat. To make matters worse at 4am – I throw up everywhere.
Day 4 – Realising that my meds are going to run out I ask my mum to place a call to the ENT about getting me some more meds. He seems reluctant. Also as it is the Queen’s birthday holiday weekend he’s about to head off on a holiday. Eventually he agrees to come and see me at home. He breezes in all dimples, running shoes and from what I can see in this deep delirium a picture of perfect health. I want to kill him. I can’t believe there are people doing normal things, while I wallow. I decide this is the last day of wallowing. He tells me that Day 5 is usually the worst and that while it may not get ‘better’ it won’t get too much worse after that. This does not sound comforting to my painful ears. I hear the song “My Sweet Lord” (Harrison) on the radio and cry my eyes out. It’s like I’ve discovered that I understand everything at a deeper level now. Everything is sad and everything is horrible. Oh right, I wasn’t going to wallow.
While I am so grateful to mum for looking after me (she is a champ) I look over at her meal tonight and have never felt so jealous. It’s crispy skin roasted chicken with crispy baked potatoes and yummy pumpkin. I have the same… blended into puree. I feel so sad. At 10pm I throw up – so dizzy. such pain. I decide I need a break from the meds because I am so ill. I know I can’t make it but I try… No poop.
Day 5 – I sleep a little (maybe 3 hours) and awake in agony. Dizzy – check, sick – check, stabbing pain in throat – check, miners in my ear canals with picks – check. Oh good, just wanted to check and see if the status quo was up and running…chhhhhheck.. Decide the ENT was right, definitely the most painful day. I can barely eat and I’ve decided to see how long I can survive without meds. That’s right. NO MEDS. NOOOOOOOOO MEDS. I’m still dizzy. I’m still sick. I’m in so much pain.. Feel like I have no choice though. This day is pure hell. Sleep about 30 minutes. Seriously, what’s the point? This no pooping thing is really getting me down.
Day 6 – Dizziness slowly going away. I’m hungry… But of course I’m in so much pain that I can’t eat what I want. Remember I’m on no meds at this stage so I’m just on survival. My nose keeps feeling funky. I try to ignore it most of the time because it clearly plays second fiddle to the star on stage – my tonsils. Sometimes though, it’ll chime in with a sympathy pain and sears through my head… juuuust letting me know it’s there. Yeah, thanks buddy. I know I’m not supposed to be doing any home operations but things are so crusty up there that I want to get at it. I carefully poke a cotton bud up there and with it comes out the most satisfying piece of booger, bloody, crusty thing ever…plus, I pooped. Maybe it was non Med stance that did it. I’m so happy that I gave birth to a poo baby, you have no idea.
My friend gives me the idea to eat aloe vera, known for it’s healing properties. I mash some up into a green juice. Now, before I went into this operation I thought to myself that I would stick to my normal healthy lifestyle… lots of green. Green juice daily. Organic, no sugar, no wheat, no refined carbs, no preservatives etc. That went out the window on day 1. It’s been jelly and ice blocks everyday. Today was the first day I had a green juice. I was so happy. The aloe was blended into it and tasted good. It was a bit “sour” (though I didn’t include any sour veggies – just alkaline ones). It took me a long time to drink but I was so proud of myself that I did. 2 hours sleep.
Day 7 (today) – No meds. Poo baby has a sister. Green juice again. My hunger is back but I’m still pureeing everything. I don’t know how you are doing things like toast. I can do soft bread and honey but that’s as far as I get. I still get occassional stabs of white hot poker pain as well as the normal horrible swallowing pain. I look at the back of my throat… it doesn’t look like my scabs are coming off… In fact it just looks white.. like a creepy snow cave in there. How do you know when you start scabbing – does your throat look different? Today is the first day I feel kind of human. I’m still crying at all the sad songs on the radio and tbh I weep when eating a bit too. Then I think – far out I am STRONG – I am doing the worst days on no pain meds watsoever. I am so amazing. I’m not proud of doing that but it was from necessity alone. I feel like it’s something I can remind myself it the darkest moments though. I hope day 8 will be better…
In comparison to the comments I’ve read from day 1 – 6 I’ve had a pretty easy journey for the first two days I was able to eat toast and normal foods, then it went downhill and everything stung a little bit. I’ve not thrown up at all and not had any post op bleeding, I was only given ibuprofen and paracetamol from the hospital and everything was going well… Until day 7, oh my god! I woke up with sharp pains in the right side of my throat and the driest mouth, I attempted drinking water which only made the pain worse. I took my tablets and this took the pain away quite quickly but after 3 hours it was back again, I actually wanted to cry. One of the scabs at the back of my throat is hanging off and I assume this is what is causing the pain but the other side doesn’t feel ready to come off which is why it is so sore.
Has anyone got any advice on how to get the rest of the scab off without crying in pain?
Right, UPDATE.
I have survived day 7.
Things that I am learning –
Food is for losers, I totally dont need to eat – its all in the mind. Also swallowing its also not really needed anymore, I can be a fully functioning adult without the need to swallow. Where does it say that ‘To survive Humans Beings must Swallow’. My heart is beating, the other organ things are doing their thing well (However gotta give a shout out to my liver (After surviving years of abuse via me binge drinking in order to cope with my social life, its now being treated to copious amount of strong pain killers – im going to (HAVE TO) give it a break once I am healed….DETOX baby!)
Also pain. Pain is a funny ol’ thing isn’t it. Its like my bodies natural way of getting attention, now as a trained social worker with children I live by the philosophy to only give a child positive attention, to ignore all negative attention. So by using this theory I i’m planning on ignoring my pain levels and just make myself believe that the burning hot acid feeling that in my throat is equivalent to a 3 year old poking me. So I just have to be strong and ignore the little s**t….i’ll ignore it by taking loads of strong pain meds and going into a drug induced coma.
The other thing that I think as a human I can live without, is sleep. Now sleep is something I adore, up there with food and Long Island Ice tea’s. However If I use a bit of Cognitive behavioural psychology I will be able to make myself believe that Sleep is no longer needed, just Drug induced comas.
So yeah, to sum it all up – in in lot of pain, the thought of eating makes me want to cry and sleeping is just a thing of the past. However I am alive….so pretty crap really.
Oh well bring it on day 8! How bad can you be compared to day 7? Lets get it on!
M
This was hilarious & made me laugh!!! I need that laugh tho.. I had T&A surgery last Friday and baby…let me tell ya…y’all ain’t lying about the pain!! Whew!! Today is day 6 for me and I woke up thinking I was going home to Jesus (wayyyyy too much pain!) and to make matters worse, some asshole stole 7 of my percocets (I had a fiend for a caretaker apparently) so imagine how l feel. Pray for me..this pain makes me feel weak!!
Today is day 7 and I feel terrible. My eyes hurt, I’m spitting up blood and it hurts to laugh. I hate my mom for not getting these damn things removed when I was little. Sheesh!
So…this is how I taste like when dead :(. Taste in mouth so gross even when I brush my teeth and gargle often ! Whole head is in burning pain, earache, toothache, painful jaw- everything. And my breath! Day 7 and i still do not want to look inside my mouth. Not that I can open it anyways. AAAAAARGH!
You’te not alone. Jaw, ear and throat pain is so intense for me today as well. You’re not alone. My Dr told me today that Fri pain should go down dramatically. I just keep saying Tomorrow’s Thursday and then Friday…
Oh my teeth hurt too btw.
I’m feeling really ill from the pain meds as well!!
This is not a good day, not a good day at all.
And for the pain meds to work best, we need food – so a huge challenge!!
Hey Vince, got operated on the 25th as well?
Yes. The 25th. I was eating low sodium chicken broth, vegetables and
chicken all ground up in the blender when I started bleeding again. It stopped in 5 mins. The whole bleeding thing just scared me…
Yes…Friday…now! Been sucking on one pancake for almost an hour now
At least when we are dead we won’t feel this pain!
It’s horrendous isn’t it?? tonsillectomy’s should come with some kind of health warning.
My ENT nurse told me to eat toast, muslie and crips (chips for the yanks that are out there!) at this point I’m giving myself praise if I manage water never mind the rest!!
I was warned. But not enough :(. They should say ‘Be afraid…be very afraid…’ .
It should have flashing neon lights as soon as you walk into the ENT dept.
Hahaha Mel
but I agree!!!
You are making me feel better by laughing! It’s all true though. I’m so hungry…
Day 7- What can I say? Let’s do a short catch up. Surgery was Thursday, today is Wednesday. Thursday and Friday no pain at all. Did I really just have my tonsils out? Saturday- some pain and weak. In bed most of the day. Sunday- Mix of good and bad but better than Saturday. Monday- Ugh! Wham! Pain. Intense pain. In throat and ears. Pain meds helped although the last hour before my next dose was hell. Tuesday- Horrid. Pain in thraot and ears. Couldn’t swallow. Would chew the little food I ate, hold it in my mouth to make sure it was soft, count to 3, grab a pillow with both hands and swallow. Tuesday night was horrid as well. Pain meds weren’t even touching it. That brings me to today, Wednesday. Pain still bad, but not like last night. It is still present aftwr taking pain meds, which wasn’t the case in the past. Today was my checkup with the Dr and as we were leaving, I started bleeding. I kind of freaked and remembered to sit and chew ice. That’s what I did on the tide to his office. We called on the way and he said to come in and continue to chew on the ice. He sprayed the area with a numbing spray and then placed a styptic pen on the area. He was not concerned. He said it happens & may happen again (it did about 15 mins ago). If it doesn’t stop within 10-15 mins then that’s when it’s time to go to the ER. Overall he said I’m doing far better than most patients at this day. My throat looks great. He attributes it to me eating and drinking. I never stopped eating (except yesterday I did not eat as much). I have eaten tuna fish, toast, scrambled eggs, hard boiled eggs, sandwiches, oatmeal, tuna fish, crackers and even a hamburger. He said I should feel better by Friday. Sat/Sun at the latest. I may have slight pain when yawning or doing certain things up to 2 months, which is typical. He told me to take ibuprofren in addition to the the regular pain medication.
Upon conpleting this post I started bleeding again. It stopped in 5 mins by sucking on ice chips. I phoned the Dr since it now happened 3 times today. He said not to worry, scabs are falling off. Get some rest. If the bleeding happens again and stops within 10 mins there is not need to worry. It’s time for my pain meds. The pain is back. Hoping he’s right when he says I’ll be over the pain by the weekend.
Hang in there everyone! It willl be worth it in the end.
Day 7 began quite rough but ended up not so bad. I had gone to the hospital for a nerve blocker shot in the left side of my neck the afternoon before and that had my apain reduced a bit through that morning. But then when I woke up around 9, my left jaw / tongue / ear area was in MAJOR pain. Even after I took my oxycodone dose, it felt like someone was stabbing me in the ear with a screwdriver whenever I swallowed, talked or moved my tongue. I knew I needed to drink lots or I’d get dehydrated again, but it was so painful that I barely could. I was able to eat some barely-toasted toast cut into tiny pieces with a soft-boiled egg on top and just tried to sip iced tea, iced apple juice and iced water.
I called my doctor again and he said I could take a little extra of the hydrocodone to jumpstart it. I also found I need to take it about every 3 hours & 45 mins, rather than waiting the full 4 hours for the pain to set in again. He also prescribed me a steroid (Prednisone) to help with swelling and pain. One or both of those did the trick because I got my pain level down to a 5/6 out of 10 by evening.
I also gargled several times with warm salt water and was glad to see some mucus / scabbing rinsing out. My uvula is still hugely swollen and the sensation of it gagging me is really grossing me out, so I’m hoping the Prednisone will help with that soon.
It’s 05.48 here (I’m in Liverpool, UK) and i feel like I’m going to write my last will and testament.
Since 11pm yesterday night I have been experiencing pain that is like nothing else I’ve ever experianced. Sharp and stabbing pain in my ears and throat. My throat feels like it’s on fire, i can’t see any signs of it scabbing over, however it does feel different
I’ve not slept, drinking seems like tortute and eating is the last thing on my mind. I think im like a dying animal right now, oxygen will jusy have to do. Today is about surviving i think, surviving hour by hour.
One think i have been using is soluble paracetamol, it does seem to have some positive sideeffects for a short while, not sure if it’s cos it’s paracetamol or cos it’s hitting it locally, however I’m sticking to using it.
If I make it through the day I will update later
(Positive thought have gone, I’m being a realist now folks – if I do go to the pearly gates I leave all my stuff to my pet parrot Monty)
I had the same thing on Day 7. Call your doctor and see if they can increase your painkiller dose or prescribe something else, like a steroid. One or both of those ended up helping me. You may also be able to go in for a nerve blocker shot. Feel better!
Well just about to get over day 7 and today has been about as bad as it can get stinging throat pain ears are killing me can’t eat just a miserable day .some Lillte bits of scab starting to come off .Can’t wait for this nitemare to end . But I no when it’s over it will be worth it after being sick for the past 3 mos and at my age I’m not going to take any chances .Im so glad they did not find any cancer at 62 you never no what’s next
Hey,
Great news about the cancer!! I’m one day behind you and feeling just as miserable – give me the general anesthetic for the next 5 days please!!
Good luck!
Congrats on the non-cancerous results, that’s great! I am looking forward to better health in the long run, too — everyone I know who has has their tonsils out says they rarely (if ever) get sick. And I’ve basically been sick and tired nonstop from them.
This is day 7 after my surgery and I thought I was starting to feel a little better, however I tried eating some pasta with cheese and it felt as though I was eating razors. The left side of my throat definitely feels worse than the right- it has a strange sting/burn sensation even when I swallow my own saliva. Icey water just makes it worse.
I’m going to try Luke warm tea like somebody on here mentioned. I too have a strange ringing in my ears, plus tongue and jaw pain. I can only live in hope that the next day will be better!!
I’ve got the left thing too! How odd!! When I spoke to the ENT nurse today she said that was ‘normal’.
I’m starting to think if I could find away of no longer eating, drinking or swallowing I’ll be ok and there will be a future….dreading the alternative option :0
Good luck!
My left side has been much more painful but I think that’s ’cause my tonsil on that side was larger and had an infection behind it.
My left side is worse as wellZ my Dr said my left tonsil was larger and more infected and that he had to do more cutting.
Day 7 I hate you! Definitely my worse day so far after day 3. Woke up last night with really bad pains & had to take extra painkillers to get back to sleep but I kept on waking up every 3 hours or so. I think my scabs are starting to come off in little bits leaving newely healed parts exposed which I guess is progress but it doesn’t half hurt! Found this morning that ice water now makes these areas burn so I’ve moved on to lukewarm water & green tea which feels much more soothing.
Very hungry but have been too scared to eat as yet. I have found that 2 scrambled eggs in the morning is quite pleasent to eat & sets you up a little. Protein is also good for the healing.
Day 6 post pop terrible nights sleep last night went doctors yesterday day as pain was unbearable he gave me naproxen and co-codamol for pain but I could only take 1 tab at a time every 4 hours due to the other drugs I still had in my system before I went tithe docs and switch which was paracetamol and dicloflanic but when day 5 hit pain from nowhere in jaw and ears came to join the party hence to why I called doc for emergency appointment to see if I could get anything stronger, anyway…. Up most of the night in excruciating pain with my ears and jaw best way to explain is when you are on a plane and the is pressure on your ears and its so bad it aches your jaw that sorta pain maybe a lil harsher because the ulcers on side of the tongue and underneath at the back feel like with every swallow some1 is just pouring pure salt in the ulcer and nothing you can do about it apart from hold your head and pray for it to ease up and promise yourself you will not swallow again…. Day 6 now 1:12 in the afternoon and I have switched back to dicloflanic and paracetamol which has realllyyyyyyyy helped I can actually function without feeling like a a lorry is resting on my ears and jaw were I can take paracetamol every 4 hours it is way better then the co-codamol every 8 plus the diclaflanc is not only an anti inflammatory it’s got pain killer in it to so take that every 8 hours and the para I between, but I am aware that ibrofen and paracetamol are compatible together but is ibrofen compatible with dicloflanic also anyone know? Coz that way is really be able to eat something and it would really take the edge of even more! I can say this is the most painful thing I have ever been through I’m 24 with a 2 year old baby who weighed 9.2 at birth and I must say that wasn’t as sore and more bearable. This operation has to be the up most painful operation an adult can undergo I’m sure!!! ATM I can still feel my jaw and ears ache n ulcers burn n sting but it’s totally bearable from what it was yesterday but in saying that I haven’t tried to eat yet so fingers crossed! Advice I can give is do set your alarm to wake you for meds, this morning throat was so sore I was like ill suffer because I can’t think about swallowing tablets now but then I remembered the ear pain and swallowed my tablets quicker then you could say GO! It’s funny because e day 1 and day 2 even 3 to 4 was bearable I thought I’d hit the jackpot and I had mentally drummed it in my head that you can do its justine over look this pain and you will not suffer! Hahaha I was wrong coz day 5 got hold of me real good and all that mental brain training was over I was convinced death would be better then that pain my god! Straight after my opp my mum brant me jacket potato with beans ate all of that then I ate a sandwich egg I think it was bit to stoned to remember, then nurse come over said eat some crisp happily I said because I had starved night before and all morning I’m not a big girl but I can eat! So ate the crisps straight after jacket potato n sandwich then nurse said have some fizzy drink drank a bottle of dr pepper the personal sized ones I was on a roll…. Next 4 days I was eating pretty fine just yesterday and today I can bare to swallow my own saliva. If I’d have known I would have stuffed my face so much on day 4! All I had was some chips half a pancake roll n half sausage in batter day 4 wish I went all out lol greedy I only way 10 half stone but I’m 5’7 so normal for my height but by reading this I must sound really greedy anyway I am lol but what I really want to no is tomorrow is day 7 as I had my operation Saturday just gone so will I start to go up from here or will I get bad n good days I had loads of that white stuff come away yesterday maybe that’s why my pain was so unbearable literally had me in tears and I’m no wimp I can take pain! I can clearly say to anyone who’s thinking about getting this done please be prepared for the pain and don’t have it done unless u really can’t cope with tonsillitis or you get it literally all the time and require antibiotics if its really no that bad may I suggest doing a oral Heath plan that may prevent you having to go through this unless of course you are prone to infection and have encrypt tonsils like I did that was always collecting bacteria and creating tonsil stones erggggg!! So getting them testicle looking things at the back of your throat removed should be last option try anti bacterial mouth was day and night and of at home after meals n try gargle warm boiled salt water at the end of the day before bed and still see if you get reoccurring strep throat or tonsillitis, you never know this might be your key to avoiding this gruesome procedure …. I sorta freak myself out when looking back there so now I don’t bother good luck to everyone going to have this done and for all of my soldiers who are on day 67&8 of recovery how is it going.? X
I am on Day 7. Last night I felt better than I do today. I woke up with stabbing pain in my throat and both ears. Does anyone know why it would suddenly feel worse? Is it the scabs? This is just terrible. I had to drug myself up with pain medicine to help and now I am so tired.
I had my tonsils removed on April 17th 2013, so I am on recovery day 7. And amazingly I feel almost back to normal. Many people seem to have had difficult and painful recoveries, so I thought I would share my story. My doctor told me the best way to get better was to “eat, eat and eat!”, and i’m wondering if this is why I feel almost back to my normal self only a week later.
After the operation, I didn’t feel nearly as bad as I thought I would. I even managed 3 full meals, including TOAST! However, when I got home on day 2 i couldn’t stop vomiting, but anti-sickness tablets soon sorted that out. Day 3 the vomiting stopped, i was very lethargic and the pain was still bearable. However, I had a VILE taste in my mouth!! But by day 5 it was much improved. Day 4 was when i set out on my “eat, eat and eat” campaign! I was eating the foods i would normally, and making sure I had plenty of toast (as advised by my doctor). OK, it was at times a little painful to swallow, but I was determined to follow the advice. Day 6 was like a breakthrough, the dead animal taste was almost gone, i was no longer feeling sick or overly tired and the pain was mild. Today (day 7) I feel almost back to normal and I even went out shopping with a friend. I do have some pain (it’s more stinging today because I think my scabs are coming away) but it’s still bearable.
So maybe my doctor was right. He said eating lots would scrape away any bacteria to prevent infection, remove loose scabs to promote speedy healing, would stop my jaw from ceasing up and would stop throat spasms, which are all what contribute to the pain. I do also think that since I have had constant tonsillitis since October 2012 (yes, for 6 months!!!) then maybe I am used to pain in my throat. I already know it is the best thing I have ever done, so stick with it guys
I think you might be into something here. Before my surgery I had non stop chronic tonsillitis for 6 months as well. Maybe that’s why you and I are dealing with this a little better than some other poor people just because we were so used to that horrid pain anyway.
Day 7: 40 year old man
Last night was the worst night by far. Complete emotional breakdown from the pain (especially the ears), not eating, sleeping, etc. feel a little better this morning (why are nights SOOOO bad?). I live alone and can’t stress enough how hard this is to do by oneself.
I’m using humidifier, 7.5/325 Percoset every 4 hours, and ice packs around the neck. Trying to drink water but it hurts to swallow anything. Popsicles and Jello helped at first but now burn. Still have scabs, have lost 7 lbs, and really just praying that I don’t have another night like last night.
Wow good on you. If my partner hadn’t been here to help me through this I would have been utterly miserable. Hope things get better mate!!
Day 7 (including the day of op), still in as much pain as day 5&6. I feel like someone is pulling my tongue stretching out where my tonsils are…anyone else have that feeling?
Swallowing isn’t getting any easier..mom took away my pain meds after day 1…so ive had lots of tears from pain.
Can’t eat and can’t stress enough to my mom that it hurts too much to eat.
No one gets it. I just want to be better, this is by far the worst pain i have ever been in.
It is day seven for me today including the day of the tonsillectomy and this has been one of my worst days. I got barely any sleep last night waking up with the pain every 3 hours or so, I almost had to Force myself not to sleep. The pain is excruciating and I’m feeling very fed up as I got an infection on day 5 to make matters worse. The pain is very sharp and incomfortable and I have not tried to eat today yet as I am scared (I am starving!!!)I am very snappy with everyone around me this is probably due to the fact that I’ve been sitting in my house for a week. I’ve heard the last few days are the worst and I’m hoping this is true as I cannot take it any longer it’s horrendous. Good luck to anybody getting them out I’m trying to tell myself it’s worth it!!
We must have had ours done on the same day! I’m on day 7, too. Sorry to hear you’ve been having a rough time. Hang in there, we are so close to being healed! I woke up in so much pain this morning, after a rather restless night. Took my meds as soon as I managed to roll out of bed. Now I’m drinking ice water, and eating ice chips. Liquid benedryl helps me fall asleep at night, but I consistently wake up every four hours or so for meds. Lately, I’ve been unable to fall back asleep. My ears hurt like crazy, and it still hurts to swallow. I’m hoping that this will be the worst of it. I want real food! My dr. told me that days 5-7 will be the worst. Just keep swimming, right?
day7-
pain is better this morning. not shaking from the pain so thats an improvement , i’m hoping it stays that way. throat is very dry no matter how much water i drink and i’m using a humidifier. but my throat feels swollen, hard to swallow. still attached to my ice machine. the bummer out of everything is that i only have lost 5 pounds, how is that possible?? not making regular bowel movements but nobody else is either and it seems everyone is dropping 10-12 pounds!
They say do thorough research before deciding on tonsillectomy…bottom line if your health depends highly on it then you have no choice as with me 6 days ago.The on and off unexplainable pain has been constant since day 2!!!! What more can I say but hang in there folks it is a definate painfull experience that unfortunately in some cases has to take place.Oh and I am 28yrs old by the way..STRONGS people hahaha!
oh dear god, it hurts! It feels like it gets worse each day. I ran out of hydrocodone I definatly inter on refilling it ASAP. I bled for the first time, only lasted for about 30 minutes. The pain is bearable during the day I just take my lidocaine and hydrocodone. It’s at night, ugh! The nights are horrid. I haven’t been using any special gismos some of you have and I’m finding drinking difficult. Every night is less and less sleep. at this point I’m fighting myself from sleeping. When I do I get anywhere from an hour and a half to maybe three hours max. It’s the pain after waking up I’m so afraid of. I speculating that I’m snoring in my sleep and that’s just tearing me up. I feel like I’m making slow progress I couldn’t even get ravioli down.
I am on day 7 today (I count day of operation as day 1). I have noticed the past 2 days that as I try to do more work around the house I just become extremely exhausted. I made pancakes for the kid this morning, and I felt like I had been out exercising all morning or something. My recovery so far hasn’t been terribly bad. The pain I feel now is probably from trying to go longer in between doses of pain medicine. I am on Lortab and I’m trying to stretch it out to every 5-6 hours instead of every 4. Although it seems harder to do that during the night. I’ve been getting up when the medicine starts to wear off, right around the 4 hour mark. Hope everyone is doing well in their recovery. Thanks for the website Greg!
Hey Lora. Sounds like typical recovery stuff. You’re getting close to that light at the end of the tunnel. Hang in there and God bless!
Day 7. Best day for me so far, although when I woke up I wasn’t expecting it to be. I was in extreme pain as always, and last night I had decided to let myself sleep instead if waking up with the timer to take my pain meds. I slept almost 12 hours straight. So needless to say my throat hurt a lot when I finally got up. Took my pain meds and suprisingly to me I was able to drink iced water, without it killing me! I drank it literally all day long and I felt well enough to do some housework and baking. When evening came I fell asleep quickly. Guess i wore myself out. I still can’t eat anything. I ate one bite of a burrito, and a few bites of soup. That’s all I could handle. I can’t wait to be able to eat again. I’m so hungry. Even when I eat popcicles it hurts. I’m guessing its the dye in them? I’m not sure… But something about the flavoring, because jello has the same effect on my throat. Just stings when I eat it. Anyway, hopefully tomorrow will be better. Oh and my scabs are off. They fell off yesterday.
Im 33 and i also had nasal surgery at the same time as my tonsillectomy, big mistake!
7th day, very bad day. Very similar to day 6 but i do not get up. i did poop today so that was something. Can’t tolerate anything cold. I’m a jerk to people around me. Pain meds every 6 hours at 15mL, trying to cut back. Sleeping ok. Eat nothing but a small amount of rice and gravy. Doze a lot of the day and feel really miserable like I have a fever but no fever. Pain is really bad, pops and meds help but I’m trying to cut back. Realize the humidifier has it been being utilized, I’m an idiot.
Ps I am writing all this on my 9th day
Day 7 also, and so glad to read someone else had water in ears sensation I’d confinced myself there was some sort of hole and water was leaking into my ear!! Tongue pain has calmed down a lot swallowing is not so much razor blade ish as more something stuck/ blocking my throat
Morning of day 7 (counting surgery day).
I am kind of yo-yo-ing with pain and weird experiences.
I feel like I have a rock in my throat, making it hard for me to swallow anything more than liquids, which is actually a huge step back from yesterday.
The mucus is still present (sigh…) and my chest is hurting slightly, as if I have a mucus-filled chest. So that’s pretty annoying… No coughing really though… Just uncomfortable…
Anyone else feeling this???
Day 7 for me too…. Thankfully my coughing has stopped even tho it was just. During the night I felt as if my throat was going to burst!i still have bits of phlegm but my chest isn’t as sore now,I was told by the nurses my chest was sore from the tube inserted in my lungs during the op nice :/ I’m still really uncomfortable and the pain in my ears is probably as bad as my throat constant ringing buzzing sound does any1 else have this?also pins and needles feeling in my tongue at the back??all in all not a happy bunny but sure il be glad of it when I don’t get tonsillitis again!!
Really did not know what to expect following a tonsillectomy! Day7: I was ready to go to A&E at 3am!! I could not cope with the pain slightly worried I’ve overdosed on meds also but surely if they’ve worn off they must be due again?
I have most pain at night and I think it’s because I take my meds through the day! I am guessing when everyone refers to scabs they are referring to the white bits? Mine are yellow and my breathe smells so I worry I have an infection has anyone had anything similar?
I am reading this website at 2:40am on the morning of my 7th post op day. I am scared, alone, and worried this pain will never go away. That sounds crazy, I realize, but I feel my rational self disappearing more each day after this hellish surgery. I currently take 2 percocets every 4 hours around the clock. This sounds like more than adequate dosing but believe it or not, I would still rate my pain a 7 on the 1-10 scale.
I can’t eat. I can’t drink even water without searing pain. I have canker sores thru out my entire mouth. I can’t sleep. I can’t talk. My surgeon has blown off my request for an oral rinse to help calm these canker sores…but I won’t let that stop me anymore. If he won’t see me today, I will go to the ER and get help. I probably need some IV fluids anyway. I have only been prescribed an antibiotic and pain killer. No regime to rinse or clean my mouth and I’m wondering if that is standard. Does anyone have any other experience with this?
I’m a stay at home mother of 2 and this has completely turned my world on its end. My kids are scared b/c I’m so sick. I keep trying to reassure them I’ll be ok but I starting to wonder myself. Is this more of a chronic, long drawn out recovery process? When should I worry I might become addicted to all these pain meds?
I know I’m sounding lost right now, but this website and being able to connect with others going thru this is a God-send. It helps just to write this all out…and I look forward to the day I look back and read this and laugh at myself.
Hang in there. You are not alone and things WILL get better. (just not yet-:( sorry)
I feel the same exact way!!!. My ear pain is through the roof too. I just want to know if this is normal. My pain has been a 8 almost everyday. When does it end.
Is anyone having problems exhaling through your nose when you lay down? I still cant sleep on my back, even if I am elevated. It is like something closes over my airway. I can get air in but I can’t get it out. Strange.The pain is still bad, not as bad today as yesterday, well until I tried the banana. I have more ear and jaw pain but overall I think I feel a little better. YEA. Hope it sticks.
I see alot of people are starving. Try making fresh mashed potatoes and then add milk until they are a bit runny, like a thick soup. I also add cheese for some flavor because I still can do much salt or pepper. When I started that my energy picked up and my scabs started to come off.
Also, I eat a little pudding, then take my meds and wait about 10 to 15 minutes, then I eat my solid foods. I don’t get a tummy ache and it is much easier to eat right after the pain meds kick in. It hurts less and I care alot less! =-)
~Amanda
I still haven’t tried sleeping laying down yet, but I have trouble breathing out my nose too. Breath in through nose and out through mouth. I am 46 and had surgery one week ago today, and today is the first day where I can say I hurt a little less than I did the prevous day. Maybe we got this thing beat
Day 7. I just tried to eat a banana…..WHAT IN THE NAME OF SWEET JESUS? Burned Like nothing else I have eaten since the removal. Scary, I thought I was going back to day 2 for a minute. Anyone had this problem?
~Amanda
Yeah- Day 7 was my worst day. It’s amazing how many foods are painful. Banana popsicles- THOSE are good!
My medical sheets from my doctor says to not eat bananas! I’d avoid them all together, and stick to rough salty foods because it speeds healing! Like I’m on day 6 and I’m almost better, majority of my scabs are gone.
Nights are the worst. I am going to have to call md because I am just about out of pain meds, but my pain continues. I have trouble projecting my voice loud enough to be heard well over the phone, so I guess I will just go to MD office in the morning.
Day 7 has just started. I have an army of midgets with hammers running all over my jaws and ears and beating the hell out of them.
My scabs haven’t started coming off yet.
Kill me.
I can’t even open my mouth wide enough to see if my scabs are coming off yet. My tongue still feels like it doesn’t even fit in my mouth and I can’t see anything past my giant tongue.
Same here! My tongue is so swollen I don’t know how anybody knows what their throat looks like! Thankfully I knew to stay away from bananas so thank you for warning me everyone! I’ve stayed really hydrated since coming home up until about yesterday. I have a stabbing pain in the back of my mouth that started after I yawned. I’ve had this for the last two days so that’s why my water intake has decreased. I’m definitely paying for it right now because I woke up in so much pain from what I think is a dry throat. I sat for 4 hours in pain until I could take my pain meds and get some water, I’m using the little time I have to drink as much water as I can before the strongest part of the pain meds wear off. Other than tonight, my recovery has been pretty good considering all the stories I’ve read. Best advice I can give anyone is DRINK WATER and TAKE YOUR MEDICATION REGULARLY wether you think you need it or not. The best thing I’ve eaten is frozen jello. Sugar free jello doesn’t work with this but if u make jello just like it says on the package and put it straight into the freezer instead of the fridge it feels great on your throat. I ate some Pillsbury crescent roll dough today because I wanted bread so bad. The crescent roll dough doesn’t rise as much as other bread dough so it’s safer to eat raw. Hope this helps somebody!
Well yesterday evening I thought I had found light at the end of the tunnel. I ventured into the living room and tried a couple of chips that my family were eating. I even ate ice cream!!! I felt normal. Then night time came and I realised that light at the end if the tunnel was in fact a train! Now I am 28 and this is my 5th operation in 3 years. I am no stranger to pain. I have had injections into my jaw bone, hernia fixed, cavity wall fixed, gall bladder removed and experienced a nasty dog bite that got severely infected and required 2 operations to flush it out. I also have had 2 children on no more then paracetamol and gas and air for pain relief. (I’m allergic to local anaesthetic and most pain relief!) But this is the worst operation I have ever been through!its day 7 post op and the pain through the night was so unbearable I was covered in sweat and barely got an hour sleep. I had taken all the pain relief and for the first time it didn’t eleviate it.mornings are always bad but today it’s worse. I am on antibiotics as well as the 2nd day post op I was extremely ill with none stop vomiting and doc saw me and said I already had an infection!!! I use a medicated mouthwash 3hourly, suck on benzocaine tabs 3 hourly and take ibuprofen, codeine and paracetamol. All in tablet form (ouch) because the liquid makes me sick. Still have all scabs. Suppose to be going to a charity ball in 16 days does anyone think I will be better for this??? For everyone that is suffering, your not wimps this is stupid painful. I’m hoping on the turnaround I’ve read about by day 10. This site is keeping me sane. Thank you Greg!
You bet! Hang in there Shanna!
I’m amazed at all the different types of foods many of you are able to eat. “back there” is still really swollen and hurts a bit, but I’m getting down some mashed potatoes. The only thing is, my taste buds are completely off so everything tastes horrible. This has been going on for about two days. Even though I’m starving and really want something substantial to eat, everything I put in my mouth (minus broth) tastes so yucky. I think I’m going to try the salt water rinse just to see if that helps remove anything. I run out of pain meds tonight…yippee. Can open my mouth a bit more, but still hurts. Can still feel scabbing when I swallow, which is gross. The haven’t felt nauseous at all until the past couple of days, and I assume that is just from not eating in a week with the combination of pain medication and the gross taste in my mouth. I’ve been sleeping a lot more. I didn’t get up until 11 this morning…and I probably could have slept later. I can go on longer stretches without pain medication, but I try not to do that much. I keep hoping that I’m going to wake up and everything will magically be back to normal. This is proving to be an extremely difficult experience.
Hi Nicole. You may want to call in for a refill. Day 7 is no time to run out of pain Med’s! Hang in there!
Yes Nicole please get ur refill ASAP it gets worse before it gets better believe me I’m on day 7 & I do good through the day then it hits me hard in the evening & night. I’m having to takeIbprofen 2hrs after liquid loratab just to keep the pain under control. Good luck
I am 17 years old and before I got the tonsillectomy I was excited for the procedure. Now its Day 7 and I am so done with this experience now. The pain today is terrible. I no longer can bare it anymore. I haven’t had food at all and im starving. I thought by now some scabs would come off but nothing has happened yet.
My tongue also hurts but brushing it helps for a bit. When I drink water it feels like some litterally goes inside my ear!! Is this normal at all??
Day 7 here…I feel miserable. When does this get better? The ears hurt, my throat hurts, Im starving, and I just feel like complaining. You all understand. I heard days 7-10 its gets so much better so I woke up this morning like “Yeah! Im gonna feel awesome!” and I swallowed and my dreams just shattered. Will it get better soon? Any tips? I just wanna eat a hamburger..
I couldnt agree more! Thanks for the laugh though I feel the same way (on day 9).
I am 16 today is my 7th day after my tonsillectomy I was in severe pain yesterday I didn’t take my medication prescribed for pain because I had throwed up (5 times) in 24 hours the day before and have not took them my medication today since im not in pain I can talk without it hurting im trying to eat but it is hard to swallow my earache is on and off Im hungry I sleep a lot just to feel better hoping when I wake up it will be all over if the swelling goes away and the soreness I’ll be just fine I think I have scaps forming if they not already there Im scared to look back there Im going to the doctor tomorrow I just want to eat normally again if I knew I was gone go thru all of this I would have never got my tonsils and my adenoids removed I hope it was worth it
It is worth it! I had been asking for years to have mine removed and am now 37 doing it. Just think.. At my age you’ll have avoided all the complications that comes with huge tonsils… Years of sleep apnea! Yes it feels like no other pain but even during this pain and swollen everything… I already feel the difference in my airways! The pain is temporary… Our quality of life is improving everyday. Like the rest of you, I am ready to be done with all this pain but I think there is a light at the end of the VERY long tunnel. Never will we have tonsillitis ?
My son is 8 and is on day 7 of his recovery right now. The last two nights have been HORRIBLE for him. He’s always been the kind of kid who never tells you he’s sick or hurting because his pain tolerance is so high. He just cries and says ‘it hurts’, but when we try to get it narrowed down so we know where to put the ice pack or heat pack, he just says it all hurts. The poor kid has woken up screaming in pain the last two nights in a row…and we’re staying on top of the pain med schedule. We’re overlapping Lortab and children’s advil. We’re going to get a humidifier to see if it helps, but I have no idea how to help get him more comfortable. He’s trying to drink often, but his appetite has been shot for the last two days as well. I’m grateful I saw this website, though – I can see that he’s not the only one to have this type of recovery. Thank you for all the stories and ideas – hopefully some of them will help him get through the next few days with less pain.
My daughter is 7 on day 7 and refuses to take the pain meds. (I’ve been able to sneak it into liquid yogurts, but the pain to swallow.) The 3 am wake up screaming is no joke… Tomorrow to the store for a humidifier. Hope it helps, cuz I can only figure her pain comes at night cuz her throat dries out… During the day very little pain and she’s bee eating everything.
Hi, I had my tonsils out 7 days ago. I am 12. Well, as i was saying, i had them out them out 7 days ago and the first day i was in an awfull lot of pain as well as the second.The third i was able to go home. So. When i got home i had some fruit juices. The doctor told me that fruit is very healthy and will be very good to help clear things up in the back of my throat. Day 4. Wasn’t as painful so i has some soup with some over-cooked pasta ( Very soft pasta) . That did me good. On day five i had excactly the same but on the night i felt something in my mouth. I took it out and i thought it was a bit of the scab but after that nothing else came out. When i woke up on day 6. Well….. that was VERY painful. I read up about it and it said that it is completely normal to feel worse before you feel better. Is this true? I had the same (some soup, fruit juices and a yogurt drink). On that day my mum had taken a look down my throat and said it had turned pink again and it looked very clean. I this normal on the 6th day of recovery? On the seventh day i woke up in more pain than ever. I felt like i was dying.I had my medicine and a lovely cold yogurt drink this morning and i was wondering if on day 7 there could be something else for me to eat and drink. Help?
At night i take my medicine and then go to sleep because if not, i have the trouble of waking up in pain. Hope this helps everybody and i hope you all get well soon. Please answer to my post to try and help me out. Thanks.
I was here back in December of 2012. I had a tonsillectomy and biopsies of the back of my tongue and nasopharynx as well as a laryngoscopy in an effort to determine the primary site of Squamous Cell Carcinoma head and neck. Unfortunately, we did not find the primary. Coming here to write and vent helped make the healing a little better. Most everything I read was spot on. In a word. It SUCKED! ~lol~
I was going through the process of getting the cancer treatment started and was feeling very insecure about the doctors and cancer program locally. I sought a 2nd opinion at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore and decided to get treated there. Long story short. You have to have confidence in your “team” and were I was at previously didn’t even have a coach!
I thought the initial tonsil surgery was brutal but let me tell you! I had additional surgery on Feb 7th. There was a suspicious area on the back of my tongue that warranted further examination. They also wanted to do another laryngoscopy and remove the cancerous tumors that had taken over the lymph nodes on the left side of my neck.
They end result after over 5 hours under the knife was a bi-lateral Lingual Tonsillectomy, more biopsies of the back of my tongue, the laryngoscopy (all done with the DaVinci Robot) and a selective neck dissection in which they removed two tumors that were over 4+cm in size. The tumors had grown and intertwined in the nerves, muscles and veins/arteries in my neck making the procedure delicate, complicated and time consuming.
I was in overnight and sent home the next day with the usual assortment of narcotic pain killers and such.If you think getting your palatine tonsils out is no picnic, try getting your linguals out along with a neck dissection! Holy )#$^!!!
I’ve been barely able to swallow at all. Food?.. are you kidding? The linguals involve more nerves and a result is that my tongue is numb. I can taste and it does what it’s supposed to but I can’t feel it. It’s like trying to eat after the dentist gives you Novocaine. I can’t take my meds orally. I have to crush them and mix with something. So far, warm Cream of Wheat is all I can handle. If I try something like cold pudding or apple sauce my ear pain goes from a 3-4 to an 8-9 and it literally brings me to involuntary tears.
There are other issues due to the surgery on top of it. Numbness on the left side of my face. I can hear but my ear feels like an alien piece of flesh attached to my body. There’s been some nerve issues causing pain and weakness in my left shoulder and arm.
Anyway… I just want to warn you all… Be prepared to basically be incapacitated for well over a week, forget about sleep. The neck dissection and the incision are easy compared to the lingual tonsils!
“T”
Mark, I’m sorry- I just read this post. Some Valentine’s day. I am so sorry for all that you have been through. I’m glad you came here to vest- That’s why we are here! It sounds like you have a tonsillectomy recovery extraordinaire! A dubious distinction indeed. I am thinking of you and praying that your recovery gets a little beeter each day, until you are completely healthy. I wish I could do more my friend. Take care and KEEP DRINKING!!
Day 7 post Op: KILL ME NOW…THIS IS CRAZINESS AND I AM AT THE POINT OF HAVING A COMPLETE MELTDOWN. I CANT EVEN SWALLOW A LITTLE SIP OF WATER WITHOUT GETTING SHARP SHOOTING PAINS THRU MY WHOLE FACE!!! WHAT IS GOING ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I completely understand where you are coming from…I woke my husband up asking for the gun at 230a. I was in excruciating pain — the Percocet had already worn Off since taking it at 1AM. My throat is on fire. The old fail-safe: slushies, have now become the enemy. Anything cold feels as if it removes 2-3 layers of tissue. Room temp koolaid is now my bestie for the day. I had a complete break down around 330. I am not sure how much longer I can take it!!!!! The inability to eat, the increasd intracranial pressure from balw
Day 7, having woken up to pain so bad I could barely bring myself to swallow my pills, the rest of the day was really not too bad, and I was able to drop my codeine dose slightly. Throughout this experience, aside from some periods of dull continuous aching in my tongue, jaw and ears (not throat), all the pain has been in trying to swallow, and that has been tough. Sipping at water tends to involve taking a small mouthful and then bracing myself until I can do the deed and swallow it. Sometimes it’s fine. Other times I find I’m banging the table or punching my leg as I swallow – no idea what the psychological reason for that is, but it seems to help. Others have reported that their humidifier is a lifesaver, and until today I wondered how they knew. Having been in the same room as the humidifier all week, carting it around from living room to bedroom, I went into another room for about 45 minutes without it. The entire back of my throat went dry and tightened up. Very unpleasant, and I can confirm that the humidifier really does help. I happen to have a digital thermometer/hygrometer which reports about 47-50% when the humidifier has been running for a while. Without it the house is about 40% or a bit lower. Night 7 the pain set in again. I’m definitely at the daggers phase that everyone talks about. Swallowing is so painful that I’ve got a sleep strategy of lying on my side with the corner of the pillow folded over to make a hard platform for my head , with my mouth overhanging the edge. That way my saliva dribbles out rather than making me swallow. A bit gross, but it works. Woke for the 1am drugs in some pain and completely drenched in sweat. I put the dose back up again and stayed up for over an hour waiting for the drugs to kick in. For the first time they didn’t, and trying to get to sleep resulted in involuntary swallowing every few minutes and an attack of daggers. The rest of the night was spent mostly awake. At the end of the night, a few hours shy of the one week mark, my weight loss stands at 6lbs.
Hallelujah for this site, it turns out I’m not the only one in excruciating pain here!
I’m a 17 y/o female who had my tonsils (and adenoids) removed 2/5/13. Haah! I thought it was gonna be flying colors the day I got my surgery. I was talking, in little pain and hungry as hell.
Now it’s day seven and I feel like a horse that needs to be put down due to all the pain. Every day has escalated worse for me in some way and the pains moving all around, my throat, my head, my tongue and NOW it’s my jaw, ears, and tongue.
Unfortunately I was allergic to the codeine they prescribed me so I’ve been living off alternating between children’s liquid Tylenol and ibuprofen, but now it’s 3 1/2 normal ibuprofen, crushed up and added to food. (Either way it tastes like crap)
Eating is SUCH a joy.. (Not). Every meal is a little time consuming project. I can’t chew with a swollen, bruised and thrush covered tongue or more or less swallow with it. And Im a pretty skinny girl, weighing in at 115lbs but am now 108lbs and losing thanks to this.
If my swollen tongue would go down, and this killer jaw pain would ease up I’d be fine. I can’t even speak like this. When I do my tongue feels like its rubbing against a scab and I gag a little.
By the way, how can you tell/notice/feel if a scab comes loose/off?
That’s one of the things I’m scared of.
I didn’t feel the scabs come off but you can definitely feel them when you swollow them. If your Like me they will come off in big sheet and it will feel more or less like your trying to swollen food. I’m on day six after my surgery and I lost most my scabs yesterday. As soon as the scabs came off the pain tripled. It feels like touching fresh skin after a burn. Swill owing is very hard and I still have really bad thrush but sippin on chicken broth just warmer then room temp is amazing.
About the thrush
Today was Day 6. I have been pretty textbook, but on the lucky side of textbook. Anyhow, I wanted to say that today I wanted to eat something soft, and since I was making cookie from scratch, I hit the soft cookie dough. Seriously… minutes after eating the cookie dough, my tongue puffed up… with yeast! It just got thick and white.
It makes sense if you think about it – when you are baking bread, you sprinkle the yeast into water, add a little sugar and blammo! You have an eruption of yeast in minutes. I don’t know why I didn’t see that coming. Anyhoo, I happened to have gentian violet on hand, so I used a q-tip to swab some on my tongue and then brushed it in good (and then off). It seemed to truly nip it in the bud.
@Andrea –
Are you on antibiotics? I just wonder if you might have thrush since you said you have a coating in your whole mouth. Is it white and thick? Or just goop from your mouth being so dry? I have dry mouth and mucus in the very back of my windpipe (not the wet scabs – way behind those), but nothing on my tongue or inside of my cheeks. If you do have white stuff on your tongue and inside your mouth, call your doc to find out if you do have thrush (it goes away with medication really easily).
BTW – we had our surgeries on the same day!! So I guess we can commiserate together :).
Post Op Day 7:
I am doing a bit better today – I can actually SPEAK a little. I am sleeping longer stretches, which means I wake up dry and in excruciating pain, but I have been able to get it under control with the liquid Lortab and the numbing lollipop prescribed by my doctor. Those first few minutes are BAD – but after I get the meds in me and some sips of ice water, it becomes tolerable. I have not left the house since I got home from the hospital and really have no intention of doing so if I can help it – there is about two feet of new snow here and with the wind chill, it is ungodly cold. But even if it were nice out, I don’t think I have the energy yet to really do anything – I go from the bed, to the bathroom, to the couch, to the fridge, and back to bed…and that wears me out. My husband and kids are still pretty much taking care of me…bringing me my broth (my husband has been making me homemade broth which I drink through a straw – it’s like a warm hug for my throat!!), ice water, red Jello, and vanilla Special K Protein drinks (they are sooooo soothing and make me feel like there is something in my stomach!!). I can’t drink the flavored, carbonated water that I usually drink or any kind of pop – the carbonation is like nails in my throat. My ears are still hurting really bad, but I have found relief in lying on the heating pad. I had a new issue last night – HEARTBURN! I was scared to take my usual Zantac, but I guess the doctor told my husband I needed to quell heartburn quickly so no acid ends up in my throat. Wish I had been awake for the post-op discussion with the doctor {sigh}. Anyway, the Zantac worked as quickly as usual and didn’t cause any adverse effects to my throat.
I am also dealing with the recovery from my sinuplasty and turbinate reduction. I have a lot of mucus draining into my throat from that surgery which exacerbates the pain in my throat. So it is hard to tell if all the pain in my throat is from the tonsillectomy.
STACIE’S RECOMMENDATION:
Do NOT wait until you are 38 years old to have your tonsils removed if you have chronic strep or other tonsil issues! If your child has problems, seek out an ENT NOW! My 12 year old niece had her tonsils out two months ago – she came to visit me today and just clucked, “Oh, Aunt Stacie – getting your tonsils out as a kid is way easier!”. Truer words have never been spoken.
@Stacie. I am 26 years old and had my tonsils out Feb 1st, Today is day 7 Post OP, yesterday I had a great day and today I am right back to pain in my ear and throat. I am just curious how you are feeling now? When were you able to start eating normal again? I am still unable to eat other than pudding and applesauce, My tongue was cut during surgery which makes it very hard to eat as well. I am out of pain medication and will be going to my doctor today for a check up and to request more. My daughters Birthday is on Sunday and I am praying to feel well enough to enjoy her Birthday with her. any suggestions wold be great as I found this webiste very helpful.
Hi Stacie,
I had the same surgery Feb. 27. I guess that makes me Day 8. I thought I was doing fairly well today and even ate some turkey, mashed potatoes and stuffing from Bob Evans. Not a lot, but the most I’ve eaten since surgery. I thought I would try my bed tonight, but that was quickly cancelled due to phlegm in my throat. I have Lortab and a liquid Lydocain that I swish and swallow, but had to ask for Percocet and my post op check Tuesday when he took the splints out of my nose. All of it wears off in less than 3 hours. I am curious as to how the rest of your recovery went since you are about 3 weeks ahead of me. I am so exhausted from not being able to sleep. I have a humidifier which has helped a lot, and I take a drink of water every time I wake up from dozing. It’s ironic that I did this for sleep apnea and I can’t sleep! Oh, I am 43 years old by the way. I have always had a high threshold for pain, but this is awful.
Hope you are doing better.
Becki
I had my tonsillectomy on 1/25/13. It’s the night of day 7 for me and today has been more painful than all others. Actually, things weren’t too bad right after the surgery, but things have progressively become worse with each day. I’ve been able to eat pretty well. Lots of jello and popsicles the first 3 days. Then began eating more regular foods like soup, cream of wheat, and scrambled eggs (once). KFC mashed potatoes tasted like heaven and felt awesome too. The advice I found on here about rinsing with salt water is a God Send. I wish I had started doing that much earlier on. It’s great at getting all the gross gunk out of the back of my throat. I have had the typical severe throat pain and ear pain. What surprised me were the headaches and the disgusting feeling I constantly have in my mouth – a film that coats the entire inside of my mouth. My pain meds wear off after 2 hours, now, making the 2nd two hours pretty excrutiating. I spend it with an ice pack held to my throat. White scabs are finally starting to come off, but only on one side and very slowly. Hoping day 10 is the miracle turning point I’ve been told it is.
Day 7 was definitely the worst for me. I woke up around four in the morning with extreme pain. When I swallowed, I felt something break off and suddenly blood came pouring out of my mouth and down my throat. I spit up about a half a cup of blood in just a few minutes and ended up throwing up from the large amount of blood that had accumulated in my stomach. Even though the bleeding had stopped not long after, my mom rushed me to urgent care. I spent a few hours there while waiting for the ENT office to open. My pain level at that point was a 9. Once the ENT office opened at 8 am, my doctor looked at me and said I needed to be cauterized or I would continue to bleed. They squeezed me into the OR for later that day and I was on the table by 10 am. While in pre-op, they stuck 50 ccs of some pain meds into my IV, which helped a lot with the pain, but made me extremely woozy (so much I had to be wheeled into the OR). The effects after my second surgery weren’t as bad as on the original (1/17), but that’s because not nearly as much was done. I got home around 1 pm and tried to sleep the rest of the day off. Up until my second surgery, I was on Roxicet, which did absolutely nothing for me and was completely disgusting. My mom managed to convince my doctor to give me the pill version, which made a big difference. I take them ground up and mixed into a couple spoonfuls of pudding.
I hope I am one of the positive posts you read tonight, and am hope for you all. I also hope that I do not jinx myself here as well. Im a 25 year old male. I had my surgery Friday 1/18 in the am. The first few days were absolute hell. I followed instructions and tried to keep a hydrated and put something down. Those Naked smoothies are thick but when you cut them with coconut milk it makes it easier to put down. I stuck to those for the first few days. coconut milk is a non dairy milk. It still leaves mucus but isn’t as bad as regular milk. It actually has a lot more nutrients. In the end of my shake I had basically all the nutrients from entire meal. I was getting hella sick from the Roxicet so I tried something new. I woke up yesterday and I felt like I had turned a corner. The pain was clearly there but it was easier to swallow. I decided to quit the pain killers and stick to Tylenol. Ballsie move but the pain meds made me feel like I was on crack. Which I kind of was. I still feel the pain but today I feel really good. I even went to the store. yesterday I ate solid foods for all 3 meals. Mac and cheese, soup, and some there soft things. After every meal I am rinsing out my throat with salt water. it helps clear out the mucus from all the foods. I am drinkng and Tall glass of water every hour. staying hydrated has been the KEY!!! drink as much water as you can. it helps with the pain. and with the healing. Ive been reading a lot that it may get worse just cause thats the nature of the beast but the way I have been going I don’t see how that can happen. everyday it’s getting better. I am now waking up tomorrow day 7. I even has sushi tonight. I make sure I chew everything 100 times more then I usually would cause I am not risking anything. I do not recommend thinking you are ready for something. test it out. I have read a lot and heard a lot of stories about people busting open the scabs. I wish you all the best. RINSE WITH SALT WATER!!! and rink lots of water. Naked Smooties mixedd with coconut milk!!
i also chew gum a lot to keep the jaw pain down. that helps tooo!! Any question feel free to let me know I feel like i’ve done well here. my surgeon is known as one of the best in the world so that may be part of the reason. but maybe not!! GOOD LUCK
Day 1-6. Had to be one of the most painful experiences i’ve had. Unrelenting pain, no sleep, barely no food and the worse of it was trying to remain focused at work (being self employed). Think I was easily 50% below par and few instances where i made crap judgement calls – but there you go. Am on the evening of day 7. Went to bed as normal (ended up taking sleeping tabs to knock me out) unfortunately 1.5 hours later i’ve been coughing up lots and lots of sticky fluid from my mouth. I believe it to be a a mixture of the scabs and saliva. Pain is actually less intense but still stings when I swallow. Hopefully I sleep well tonight and back to normal soon. This has been a very very difficult experience and one I wouldn’t go through again :(.
Night seven it’s 3 am and im in a little pain. Just took my meds so waiting for them to kick in. I had a little sleep at about 9 o clock this evening after i took my meds because i had some pain and i usually wake up a lot when i go to bed at night so i decided to try get as much sleep during the day as i could. I have a feeling tonight is going to be a bad one, sleep wise. I’m absolutely exhausted but my throat is really sore and i just keep coughing, so it keeps me up at night and i have a feeling tonight is going to be one of those nights. Tomorrow will be day 8 and i’m just counting down the days till i’m better. I cannot wait to eat a proper dinner, a chinese take away a pizza, crisps chocolate and to have a cigarette. A lot of people keep telling me to give up because i haven’t smoked since the op but thats easier said than done. There’s been a few things keeping me going through this whole experience. This site, my birthday which is the 29th and i’ll be the big 18, my next tattoo for my bday and knowing i’ll get to have a smoke and enjoy it when this is all over. Although now i know i will be able to give them up when i’m good and ready not when everyone else wants me to. I know it would be best if i stayed off them but i really cannot wait to just have a smoke and just forget about this whole thing. Reading some of the posts i realize how lucky i am because some of you have had horrible experiences, although then i look at others and i envy them, they’re able to eat whatever they want and some of them are even able to smoke which i truly envy. Hopefully the next few days will come and go fast enough and i’ll be all better in time for my birthday
today is day seven and this is the worst pain I’ve felt this whole time . haven’t really eaten the whole time besides last night I ate a can of sliced peaches . waking up every hour to the feeling of razor blades in my throat ! I’m prescribed percs & it’s bad enough if I take them on a full stomach I get sick but now with my stomach completely empty I feel nauseous allot – I wish this would go away ! I pray every night to hurry this up so I can eat a cheese burger ! this was my first surgery and this is the worst experience ever -__-
Mines too . Every hour on the hour i wake up coughing dryly . It would hurt less if my thoat didnt feel as if it had been torched on fire. And the annoying exsessive development of saliva… Just so painful. Just so you know im 14.
Day 7: Last night i had a horrible nights sleep i kept waking up coughing and in pain with my ears. This morning i woke up at 9 am took my pain meds and went back to sleep for an hour. I woke up ate and took more meds on schedule and then ate some dinner, it was going great at first but then i think a scab came off while i was eating and it stung like hell trying to eat the rest of it. I had more pain killers on time and it really hurt me trying to swallow it. I’m so hungry and i wanna try eat something soon because i’ve lost a bit of weight since i had my tonsils out and that was the last thing i needed. I’ll be back later, before i go to bed to give you all another update. Can someone please tell me aswel how long it usually takes the scabs to completely fall off? I hate this feeling and the smell is making me sick too.
I thought my recovery was going to be so easy. Day of the operation I was talking and having fun with the family. Day 1 post-op was a breeze. I went shopping with my mother. Day 2 I took it easy, but it was nothing special. Day 3, I ate pizza. Pizza! Day 4 I started classes again at university. Day 5 I had pain worse than ever before, and since then it’s only gotten worse. Day 6 I stopped eating. It felt like a hot wire was in my throat whenever anything solid or semisolid touched. Day 7 is today and I actually had to leave class I was so nauseated. The taste in my throat is so disgusting. The only thing that helps is to eat peppermints. Not to mention the constipation. I’ve only had a single laxative-induced bowel movement since the day before surgery. I decided that the laxatives probably were doing me more harm than good, though, so after that BM I stopped. I want this to end! I am pre-med and I CANNOT miss school.
Day 7 I woke up wasn’t able to eat or drink anything. It hurts so bad! I’m on the same amount of pain pills too and nothing. So I was desperate. I got some cold water and put a lot of salt in it and would take a swig and gargle it for 10 sec and then spit it out. I just kept repeating that and it honestly made it 60 to 70% better!!!!!
Day 7 December 27th:
This started off rather well for me. Having read so many horror stories, I felt I was getting off easy compared to some. Boy was I wrong! My surgery was the 21st. I’m 53.
I’ll preface this by saying my tonsillectomy was done to help determine the source of Metastatic Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Head and Neck with an occult primary. The PET scan showed the tumor on my left lymph node and my right tonsil lit up a little as well. So, it’s tonsils out for a biopsy along with samples of the back of my tongue and naspharynx and a laryngoscopy.
The first three days were quite tolerable. On Christmas Eve I had some severe pain upon awakening and then off and on that day. I awoke Christmas morning in agony! The pain in the ears, jaw and tongue was almost unbearable.
I went to work on Wednesday and stayed about 6 hours. I was feeling pretty run down and tired. I wasn’t in terrible pain but just felt ill. I went to bed early and slept solid for about 6 hours. It was the pain that woke me up at 4am. Blinding.. excruciating! After the pain meds I was able to sleep a couple more hours.
I called the ENT as I was concerned about the level of pain. He said that due to the biopsies (“we took lots of little pieces of you. From your jaw to your sinuses”) , I was experiencing more pain than usual. The wounds were healing and scabbing (thus the razor blades in every part of my mouth, throat and sinuses feeling). He renewed my pain meds and has me taking it every 3-4 hours (good stuff too!). I barely make it to 3.5 hours without extreme pain. I took my last dose at 8:30 and just took another dose after toughing it out for 30 minutes. This is NOT fun!
He said I should start to see some relief in the next 3-4 days. Lord I hope so! On the bright side, the laryngoscopy didn’t show anything unusual. He seems to think it started in my tonsils. I’ll know January 4th when I get all the results. I’m thinking treatment will be a walk in the park compared to this
Ok… writing while the meds kicked in was a welcome distraction. I’m feeling some relief and I think I’ll be off to bed. I’ll keep you posted…..
Day 7 I woke up wasn’t able to eat or drink anything. It hurts so bad! I’m on the same amount of pain pills too and nothing. So I was desperate. I got some cold water and put a lot of salt in it and would take a swig and gargle it for 10 sec and then spit it out. I just kept repeating that and it honestly made it 60 to 70% better!!!!!
Day 7:
One week! I made it!
Overall, I think my recovery has been a lot nicer to me than a lot of other people’s, so I guess I really can’t complain. I only threw up one night (day 2) and I haven’t had ear pain at all. I’ve also been able to eat relatively solid foods since day four (even though it was probably a bad idea to do so), so I only had to go without eating anything substantial for four days. Yeah, my throat has been full of flames and knives all week, but I think we all knew that was gonna happen. No shocker there.
Today was really boring. Spent all day on the couch reading and watching TV. My throat still hurts, and I can definitely feel some stinging when I swallow or talk, but it’s nothing compared to what it was before. And my voice is coming back! Before it was weird because my thoughts would sound normal in my head, but when I tried to voice them I came out sounding like a third grader. Not so much anymore!
The only thing is that I’m always hungry now. I always want to be munching on something. I think I’m afraid that my throat will somehow digress and I’ll have to go without eating again.
I’m not sure if my scabs have come off or not. Yesterday I could literally feel something move when I swallowed, and I don’t feel that anymore… But the white patches where my tonsils used to be are still visible. Are those the scabs?
Day 7 I woke up wasn’t able to eat or drink anything. It hurts so bad! I’m on the same amount of pain pills too and nothing. So I was desperate. I got some cold water and put a lot of salt in it and would take a swig and gargle it for 10 sec and then spit it out. I just kept repeating that and it honestly made it 60 to 70% better!!!!!
My day 7 has mixed reviews. Woke up at 7 this morning and took my 5 ml of pain meds. Went back to sleep and successfully slept until 1230, my longest sleep so far. However, i woke up with pain 9/10. Once I managed to get my meds and morning smoothie down things improved slightly.
Since I was getting low on meds and have developed a wet chesty but non-productive cough, I had hubby call my dr. He increased my meds to 10 ml every 4 hours( I was on 10 ml every 6). I’m a happy camper about that, but he wants metro be able to cough. I am very hesitant to cough and have been doing everything I can not to!
I have noticed with great effort and pain, I am able to talk quietly for a short time. Im still not eating much more than liquids, hoping the increase in meds helps that!!
Lots of ice cold water, apple juice slushies, cepocal and chloroseptic have been my favorite. Hubby has been nice enough to let me take over the tv, and my dogs are all enjoying the extra cuddle time.
Hoping I feel up to eating soon and the pain gets better in the next few days.
Ending of my day 7 isn’t so hot. I made an attempt at food tonight (only the 2nd time) and although it went down well and felt ok with pain meds, a piece of deviled egg got stuck in my right side. I attempted to lightly rinse with the netti pot packet diluted in water. The egg was still there and beginning to cause pain, so I got a little more aggressive and brought out my squeeze bottle for my sinus rinse. The thought was maybe a gentle spray of water would dislodge this little piece of egg. On my final attempt I got it! The only problem was I also dislodged a large piece of scab from that side, no bleeding happened thankfully. Now there is a large hole in the scab, and that side is extremely sensitive! This hole is big enough one of my evening pills went into it and had no way out. All I could do was keep drinking water. The way I see it, this should make the next few days interesting.
I have also developed a nasty cough. It’s in my chest, which now has a tight feeling when I breathe. It’s non productive, but sounds wet and doesn’t feel to hot on my tender throat.
Here’s to hoping tomorrow is a better day!
Day 7. Merry Christmas. !Still pain, like awful sore throat . Cooked breakfast; eggs, biscuits, grits. Tried eggs and biscuit ; not ready yet. Hurts Save myself for dinner. Had sweet potato casserole, dressing, kale,yeast rolls, mac & cheese, ham very small servings It hurt, but its Christmas Now in pin, sucked on Cepacol sensations hydra, some relief . Great fun with fam.
Day 7, so far days 6-7 have been by far the most painfull. I am able to eat applesauce, cream of wheat, soup, eggs and pancakes with some pain. Anything else is extremely painfull. I have to take 1.5tsp of liquid lortab every 2 hrs. My stomach is getting upset with the meds. Also started getting constant pain under my left jaw, by my lymph node (I think). Days 1-3 were pretty easy compared ti now. I really hope this is the peak of the pain. Another thing is my throat is getting really itchy. Almost like a scab is trying to come off. It kind of makes you feel like gagging. I have to drink iced water and swallow applesauce to keep from chocking. Hang in there everyone…before we know it the worst will be over.
Had tonsillectomy on 12/18/2012.
Day 4 – still painful, tongue swollen & painful, neck pain,hurts to swallow, talk, and still feel like back of tongue has a buildup of something. So continue with meds, tylenol with codeine & antibiotics, and lots of cool water. Can’t wait for tongue to no longer feel swollen &head feeling as though I’ve been hit upside with a sledgehammer .
Day 5 – worse pain, days 1 & 2 not bad. Tried eating. Feels like food is stuck under tongue, which I can’t move. For me, the colder the beverage the more pain. Wake up a couple times during the night, throat on fire!
Day 6 – each day the pain is getting worse. Waiting for the downhill ride. Still can’t eat. Tried boxed mashed potatoes, and pastina & broth. I think it`s still lodged in my throat. Tongue swollen, hurts if I talk too much, and wake up a couple times at night with dry on fire throat. Ice cold not soothing. Lots and lots and lots of cool water
Day 8 – woke up this morning around 3:30, throat extremely dry with excruciating pain. Took some meds and stayed up for awhile trying to moisten throat by drinking water and sucking on Cepacol. I guess I finally dozed off. Slept until 10 am, again waking with a dry throat. The pain is lessening some, but still hurts to swallow. I have peeked at my throat from day #2, still looks the same; no sight of uvula. Back to jello/water diet since the water burns; feels like I have mouth sores. Although yesterday’s dinner, painful going down, was a big change from the norm.
Just finished day 7 and everyday I think today was the worse day but somehow they keep getting worse! I found this blog pretty early on but it is the first time I have posted, however, it has been a lifesaver! The pain was so bad today, I kept having to take my vicodin every 3-3.5 hours and slept most of the day. Don’t know if that was good or bad since sleeping feels great but then I wake up with knives in my throat. I had a follow up with the ENT and he said I’m right on schedule for healing and I’m in the worst part right now until my scabs fall off. One question I have is does anyone else have more one sided pain? FOr the most part, my left ear/ throat is more sore than my right but sometimes it will switch. It never seems to be equal on both sides.
I just finished day 5 and it feels like in swallowing knives, pain med (liquid Vicodin/acetaminophen) is almost out, called the doctor left a message but no call back yet. My pain seems to he more on my left ear and throat too
so ready for this pain to be over
I’m 6 days post op. Early on my pain was primarily on the left side. Over the last few days it has charged to mainly the right
I am a 34 y/o f and I had my tonsils out one week ago today. (13 Dec) I am on day seven of recovery and it seems like I am getting worse not better. The pain is so excrutiating it takes me over 30 minutes just to swallow my medicine down. I can’t sleep, can’t swallow, and can barely open my mouth. I can’t open it far enough to see what’s going on back there healing wise. I am losing sympathy from spouse and getting very little support. Cannot comprehend how unbearable this is even though I have bouts of energy here and there. Is this normal for day 7? I pray to God for strength to get through this and I hope it will be over soon.
I’m on day 8 and what,you’re experiencing is exactly what I experienced. As a matter of fact days 5, 6 and 7 were nightmarish. I lost it a few times on my husband – the men just want to fix it and when they can’t I think they shut down. It’s not a criticism, but they’re just wired differently when it comes to nurturing. Just rest and keep up with meds. Also try some children’s IB profen with your pain meds or inbetween doses to keep the edge off. it worked wonders for me yesterday. I also found chewing sugar free watermelon extra gum helps, even though i can only chew for 5 minutes. Sorry for all the pain and drop in support at home, but your over the hump……hang in there!
When I said children’s in profen, I meant the liquid kind….just to clarify. The Tylenol might work well too ( take both with the liquid lortab) but its thicker and makes me gag
I have been reading posts on here for the past week…a little longer really, I read in advance to prepare. I cannot believe with all the advances in medicine and technology that this is seriously the best we can do for those of us who have this procedure, WHEN will I start feeling better?! I am so tired of being cooped up in my house, but The flu is rampant right now in my neck of the woods and I am terrified of getting that on top of this. My throat is excruciating and my EARS! I can’t eat anything…pudding, jello, soup, water without my ears starting to pound at me. I was doing really well on drinking water until yesterday. It hurts so badly to swallow, I have resorted to eating ice chips for hydration. I did not sleep at all last night and it looks like tomight will be the same. I hoped the day before yesterday when my pain became so terrible that my scabs were falling off – but I don’t see them doing so! It looks like maybe they’re a little thinner? Is it possible for them to sort of melt off instead of falling off in chunks? I am so tired of this. I keep thinking tomorow will be better and then it isn’t. I am starving, tired, hurting awful, depressed, and I miss playing with my girls! It’s Christmastime and I can’t do any of the fun things we had planned! My tonsils were the largest my doctor had ever seen and were filled with tunnels and white crap that had to be cleaned but I think I would rather have them back. This is awful. I am so sad. 27/F
Also…why is my uvula still so swollen and covered in scabs? Is this normal?
Megan- I am on day six and in the same boat. I have found 2 things that have helped a bit, first Cepacol Ultra spray. I spray it in the back of my throat and it burns for a few minutes and then numbs my throat. Second, once my throat is numb I drink a 7-11 slurpee. It is cold and refreshing and helps with hydration.
Good luck!
Stacy
Hallelujah! I felt soooo much better today! I was able to get out of the house and ride along to pick my daughter up from school AND got to go to her Christmas concert tonight! Thank you Lord! Also, I finally got to eat something besides pudding and jello…I had some finely chopped spaghetti noodles coated in butter & olive oil and some chopped up salmon! It was DELICIOUS! And NO EAR PAIN today! My scabs are gone in a few small spots but are still hanging in there for the most part…they look thinner though? I am just praying that every day gets better now and I don’t digress! I am just so glad to be able to be a mommy again! I was so worried I would miss out on all the things my daughters have going on! Thank you Jesus and thank you tonsillectomy recovery.com for the nights of company!
Stacy, I used cepacol extra strength drops..they did help some! I hope you are starting to feel some better today!
I know I had mine out 7 days ago and it feels like its just getting worse, if I would have known it was this painful I would have dealt with that little pain in my throat ever once an awhile:/ I hope you get better soon -Brian
Hi there. I am 37 and I had my tonsils removed last Tuesday, so one week ago today. I feel that I may have turned a corner and just wanted to let others know that it does get better. I have been eating solid foods since day one and would recommend this to everyone. I am in Australia and my specialist told me to do and eat everything I would normally. So I have. Days 3-5 were quite challenging and I had a couple of serves of soup during this time but other than that I have been eating toast with poached eggs, crackers with dips (yes really!), fruit including mangoes, blueberries and cold puréed apples, roast pork and veggies, fish and veggies. When painful I have eaten lots of ice poles and sucked on ice, this has helped lots. I was told to keep my pain meds up even if I did not feel too much pain and I have done this. Just paracetamol during the day and a stronger tablet at night. Will try to cut this one out tonight. It has been a long hard road to this point however I believe that by eating, drinking and talking straight away I have done all I can to make the experience as comfortable as possible. I have stopped looking in my mouth and I am now just trusting in my bodies ability to heal itself! I do have a numb tongue on the left hand side, anyone else experience this?
I am 28 years old and I’m am exactly one week (7 days) from my surgery that was on Nov. 27, 2012. The first 3 days were fine and I thought this isn’t fun but its not the agonizing pain I had feared. I was so afraid to have this surgery that I almost cancelled the morning of.
Yesterday was day 6 and around 11pm I woke up with blood in my mouth. Now after reading everyone on here saying to “stay calm” I did my best and drank a lot of ice ice water. It was still horrifying and really so scary. It eventually stopped after about and hr or so. But I couldn’t tell the difference between the blood and the new skin. Everything tasted like blood at that point. I was so scared is throw up from the blood in my stomach and around 2:30am I was able to take anti nausea medecine. (Zofran – it saves your life when you feel sick!) finally at 3:30am I woke up, after going 9 hours with out a pain killer (my longest stretch of no pain killers to date.), and my throat hurt so bad. It hurts worse than any other day. I guess a huge chunk I scab came off bc it felt like the whole too half of my throat on both sides were so sure and bleeding. I’ll have to look today. Tongue finally went down a little. I had tremendous sores on both sides of my tongue and that pain, at times, was more painful that my throat.
Anyway, all that to say… Everyone on here saying it gets worse before it gets better is right on. I felt okay and then last night was such a set back for me. This mornings pain was awful and I’m hoping this is the beginning of the end of pain for me.
If anyone has any info for me or similar experiences, please post so I can know what to expect. I would really appreciate it. This site has been amazing for me. Thank you Greg!! I hope you know how many people needed this site!! I know I’m so grateful and check daily and nightly.
Hi Gina- Ouch! Sounds like you’re hanging in there though. Gargling with cold water can help stop minor bleeds- in case it happens again. You are in the thick of it now, then it will start getting better. Keep drinking!
Take care, Greg
Thanks Greg. This site really brings me a lot of comfort. Especially bc I can’t communicate and it’s frustrating that no one understands what I’m going through. Thank you for doing this. I can’t tell you how calming it is knowing you actually read and post back. It’s good to know someone understands what I’m going through. You think this will only last another two days maybe?
I don’t know how much more I can handle.
Gina
Hi Gina- Thanks for saying such nice things. I try to keep up on the comments, but I can’t always. If you want to find e more quickly, try the facebook page.
Yes, I think you’re getting close. For me day 10 was a HUGE turning point. It’s probably as bad as it will get today. (I hope:( )
Take care- message me any time
Can you give me a link to the fb page? I can’t find it anywhere on this sure. Thank you Greg.
http://www.facebook.com/MyBigFatTonsillectomy
Hi Gina,
I had my tonsils out about a week after yours(Dec 3) and am around the same age(26). Read your post and find it very similar to what I am going through. I am just wondering as to how you have progressed since? Was that the worst and if so, when was the turn around? What wre the signs of the end? I am at wits end and really unsure how much longer I can go. Hope you have recovered. Please respond.
Hi Greg! I had my surgery the same day you did. I wish I could say my scabs were falling off. I was doing so well up until Sunday. I no longer can try to eat anything solid, I’m so hungry! I have weird choking/cough attacks. My tongue is red and raw but it previously had a white cottage cheese appearance, it really grossed me out. I’m down to one pain pill and I have the rest of this week off of work. I really really hope my scans fall off before I return to work!!!
I meant Gina not Greg
I am also on the end of day 7 post op
DISCOVERY!!! Every single time I take the hydrocodone I sit there psyching myself up to take it forever because it burns like acid going down and the pain is unbearable. After trying a few things the best thing it chocolate milk!! Mix about three times the amount of hydrocod and drink it down and It goes down MUCH less painfully, takes it down from a 10 on the pain scale to a 3 or 4. Cream of wheat also works but you have to be committed to eating and sometimes you just need to get the pain med down first. I used chocalate almond milk which I think is the best because its slightly creamier. I wish so badly I had know this all 6 days!
Day 7. And the pain worsens!!! So far in my adventure, this is now the new worst day, pain-wise. I would say it is a 9/10. Scabs don’t really look any different than yesterday. Forced down about 1/2 cup of soggy cornflakes in fat-free milk. It went down a little bit easier than yesterday, but not much. So, every day it does get a little bit easier to swallow, but still hurts very much when eating, even though the uvula is a little smaller today. Switched pain meds (because of stomach problems/diarrhea) from the liquid Tylenol to the Jr. Rapid Melt tabs, bubblegum flavor (awesome!). These just melt in your mouth and slide down so much easier than anything I’ve tried so far! If you are having problems with liquid pain meds irritating your stomach, definitely try these!!! For dinner, Panera Macaroni & Cheese went down pretty well, taken in small pieces. Yum! It feels so good just to eat something normal for dinner. After dinner we went to So Fun Yogurt, and I had some pumpkin frozen yogurt, although I did not realize it was considered “spicy”, and my throat burned for some time after that (should have stuck with vanilla).
I’m only 14, on post-op day 7 and doing pretty well… They’re keeping me in the hospital (for other health reasons/likely complications from weakness) and the pain is slowly getting better… Of course I haven’t tackled going out yet but I’m not that bothered by that since it’s the 7th month I spend in the hospital this year and I’m quite used to it by now. I do experience pain in my ears and throat when I swallow and without the painkillers I wouldn’t survive but they make the pain bearable… I feed on liquid supplements (but because of malnutrition unconnected to the surgery I have no other choice) but I am slowly managing to eat yogurts, apple sauce, pudding, mashed potatoes and cream cheese. They don’t give me any ice cream cause they say it’s too cold and I have to eat everything at room temperature.
All in all I’m surviving and I’m looking forward to leaving the hospital on friday ? I’m finally going to be free!
Ps. I’m going to try nutella today, I’m craving sweets ? and I just got over anorexia so not eating is agony, I already starved for 2 years
Hi Izzy- Wow! 7 months in the hospital! You really have a great attitude. It shows in what you write. That is your best weapon in all of this! I’m sorry to hear that the doctors won’t allow cold items. (Although ice cream isn’t that good anyway because it can leave a gross film on your throat) I found that ice cold water or Gatorade really helped with inflammation. You might try chewing gum for that ear pain. It usually helps.
I wish you all the best in your recovery from BOTH tonsillectomy and anorexia. Take care, Greg
I almost had some peanut butter today but was terrified it would get stuck in my throat…… shudder.
EXTRA STRENGTH TYLENOL HELPS!!!
Hello, I am 40 years old and this is Day 6 of my post op tonsillectomy. This procedure has been more painful than what people told me. This morning I opened my mouth and checked to see if I had the white stuff in there. It is still here. So I guess the scabs have not fallen off. The pain is intense, but manageable when I take the hydroco liquid pain medicine. I also seem to notice that there is a layer of white stuff at the end of my tongue. Is this like thrush or built up of saliva and ice cream? Last night I was able to sleep a little better than before. As I read everybody’s postings, most of it matches to what I am going through. I am glad that I read all this a few days after the surgery. Otherwise, I would have probably had second thoughts about the tonsillectomy. I have been eating more and more different types of food. Last night, I had soup and small pieces of chicken. How much will this pain continue. I am planning on going to work tomorrow and I hope this doesn’t hinder my recovery.
I was told by day 7 would be back to my semi-normal diet …. not true at all! I’ve been living off of ensure and jello for 3 days in a row now. I’ve lost 10 lbs in less than a week. I’m so hungry! If the pain in my throat and ears doesn’t wake me at night, the loud growling from my stomach does. I don’t see the light at the end of the tunnel yet. The liquid pain medication burns so I have to psych myself up to it every time. I’m starting to think strep every other month wasn’t so bad. I go for my post op visit later today … I just hope he doesnt try to scrape everything off, I feel like I’m not healing fast enough. This blows.
Sorry it’s not better- Day seven is usually about the worst. I tell people to count on at LEAST 10 days before getting back to anything “normal” Hang in there.
Had a rough morning after a few hours sleep; throat was dry despite humidifier, pain intense. Managed to get down pain meds, put an ice pack around my neck and nodded off. After I formally got up I pounded some water then drank 3 cups of tea. Tea really seems to cut the mucus and loosen things up back there. Otherwise today has been decent re: pain. My mom took me out for some dinner and I was amazed at how totally cranky I was in public. She didn’t mind, seemed to think it was the lack of sleep and the pain. It was good to get out but only for a bit. Able to eat warm soup and some of the bread bowl. I’m not sure about this scab thing; all I have back there is like this yellow coating that looks gooey not scabby. So I don’t know whether that is good or bad. I talked more today than I have in several days and it hurts! Good thing I have no plans for another week. Light at the end of the tunnel – are you there?
I would think after 3,000 years of tonsilitomies being performed there would be some progress in the procedure and pain management.
I hope I just experienced this day’s low point as I just cried over a bowl of luke warm porridge because it hurt so much to swallow. Crying only makes it worse of course, so my husband rescued me with a towel wrung in cold water and finally I feel like I can breathe again.
I have been very good at sticking with my painmed regime of Paracetamol/Tylenol up until now, but it hurt so much I had to take an extra, hoping that my liver can handle it.
Last night was CRAP. I couldn’t sleep, I tossed an turned on the couch, didn’t dare to go lay in my bed and experienced awful pain involving my ears around 5 am last night on the left side when I think my scab fell off and swallowed it. That really grossed me out and I almost vomited, but at least the pain got better. My morning was painful and blurry from the lack of sleep (not pain meds,) but I felt a little bit better throughout the day. So good in fact that I thought I could eat porridge 30 minutes ago. That proved to be a very bad idea so I stopped eating and will just vegetate on the couch for the rest of the night. God please god, let this pain stop!!!!
(I’m a 37 year old female who is allergic to pain meds btw.)
Day 7 for me I am glad to know there are others going through what I am .I woke this morning after falling asleep and my throat felt like I had swallowed razors and glass like I had drunk hydrochloric acid. I am trying to come off the pain medications and the pain in my ears is just terrible feels like someone is shoving a sword in my ears .Looks like the scabs are still there This is not what everyone says it is eat ice cream ice pops.This friggin hurts really bad! probabally the worst pain I have ever had in my life tonsillectomy ay my age of 42 has been the most challenging thing I have ever had to endure .I hope my family knows this I mean I can handle pain to but this is just terrible> Praying that God heals me quick because I need to get back to my old self .I know I will just really frustrated days before this were not as bad but bad this yesterday day 6 and now day 7 have been the worse hope it gets better will be praying that we all get better Amen!
Today is day 7 post surgery, day 6 of healing. My throat is still sore – like swallowing bits of glass – but overall, I’m much better that I was on days 2,3,4,5…I’m hoping the worst days are behind me.
Do yourself a favor and follow the advice from folks above…keep well hydrated. As soon as your throat dries up – it’s a mess again. My doc told me to keep a child’s medicine dropper near my beverage…and that every 15 minutes (or more) I should fill the syringe with liquid and squeeze it in to my mouth. WHAT A LIFE SAVING piece of advice. The juice/water/etc. was gently delivered and flowed down my throat so nicely!
So, today’s new symptom – I’m kind of choking…I’ve felt like something is in my throat (duh?!) It’s made me cough (which is sore) and also gag (also not comfy). I had my DH look in my throat and the scabs are intact, but the one on the left side of my throat is larger and the area is still quite swollen. He seems to feel the swelling may be causing a ‘pushing’ sensation when I swallow, making me cough and gag. It’s not great, but I am feeling better.
I actually ate some VERY soggy cereal today! YIPPEE!!
I had read on some post to keep a spray bottle of water nearby. I have that and put distilled water in the sprayer just to be on the safe side.
OK. Day Seven is finally here. This morning I can swallow a little easier. I want to talk about something I did not see in previous posts. On day five My throat hurt so bad I could not swallow water or anything else. I took a flashlight & looked in my mouth to find everything had turned white & I had like white bumps on my gums & tongue it looked like milk white no red anywhere. You see liquid antibiotics can cause Thrush mouth (yeast infection of the mouth) This caused more throat pain then the tonsillectomy ever could, I was doing pretty well until I got this which led me back to the doctor for another medicine to be added to what I am already taking. The good thing is once you start using this mouth wash that you swallow it does not take long to see & feel that it is working. I have been using this mouth wash for two days my tongue & gums are nice & red again, I still have my scabs not sure how long before they come out. I wanted to alert you to this possibility so you can get it taken care of quickly as I truly feel this was a set back for me & that the sooner you know & get it treated the sooner you can get back on the road to recovery! Good Luck to all of you hope your recovery goes well without any little white bumps in the road, on your tongue or in your mouth.
I’m on day 7. Though it has been painful, certainly bearable. My goal was to follow ALL the advice.
1. Took pain medications on time. Had an alarm clock by my bed and woke up right on time.
2. Ice, ice, ice. My husband found a cooler–a round one my daughter used for soccer.. He “shaves” the ice by putting it in our blend tec blender–turned out kind of like snow. It stays for almost 12 hours in the cooler. Then we refill. The more I suck on ice the better. The minute it starts hurting, if I suck on ice it feels better.
3. Slept up. I slept in a recliner chair the whole week. Not sure whether this is important or not, but I was following advice.
4. Ate or drank as much as possible–but NOT anything nearly solid. Tried eggs the third day, but they got stuck in the tonsil hole. Best things: ramen noodles with eggs whipped up and thrown in. Pumpkin pie–cooked without crust. Popsicles, of course. Homemade applesauce. Green smoothie–with spinach and melon. Best to eat 20 minutes after medicine. Stuff will get stuck–drink a full cup of water while medicine still strong to rinse out tonsils.
5. Kept humidifier on by head all the time.
6. Continued allergy medicine, including nasonex.
7. Sprayed sinuses with saline nasal spray regularly.
8. Ice, ice, ice–did I say that?
9. Rest!
10. Keep log of medications–you’re so foggy on them, that you need something so you don’t wonder if you just took them 1/2 an hour ago.
What a great post- Thank you! and good luck in your recovery. -Greg
Chicken noodle and potato soup is the best so far. I also agree Slurpees are wonderful. Sonic has really good favors and are delish.
In response to -September 2, 2012 at 2:43 pm Craig:
I have been taking meds and not missed any. But even with that the pain has been the worst ever. One thing you will notice is that people here have varying experiences. I would count yourself very blessed if you have not had it extremely bad.
The only thing that’s getting me down is the ear ache and the constant fatigue! The pain from my throat isn’t really that bad, it just feels like a mild case of tonsilitus but when I eat the pain is obviously worse. I’ve been eating solids since the op and I think this has helped with my recovery. I’m meant to be back at work tomorrow, hope the ear aches gone by then!