On my day 6, I woke up in the morning and started coughing and my scab fell off and started heavily bleeding. which was my biggest fear of this whole thing. My doctor told me to go the ER right away but luckily the bleeding had stopped after 20 minutes and I didn’t have to have it cauterized. I stayed in the hospital for one night to be monitored. If you have any bleeding you should notify your doctor right away.
Day 6 is the worst day for most coz scabs are coming off. Keep drinking COLD water- that helps. Take Tylenol , stronger meds if Tylenol doesn’t help. Your tongue may have a coating , see if u can scrape that off .
I’m on day 6 and I feel like this is never going to end. I woke up 3 times through out the night with coughing and itching in my throat. The pain would start shooting all around my ears and neck as soon as my eyes would open. I didn’t take any medicine because I just knew my body wouldn’t be able to handle anymore, so I would wait out the pain and fall back asleep.
When I finally woke up for good, I gagged because of the taste in my mouth.
OH MY GOODNESS THIS TASTE IN MY MOUTH!! I can’t get it to go away for anything! Every swallow, sip, or tiny bite of food brings it on. If I don’t breath deep enough, I taste it.
I’m beginning to get so frustrated and I’m regretting getting this surgery 110%.
I believe the scabs are coming off, and all I can do is gag at the feel of my tongue brushing up against the disgustingness going on back there.
I’m so tired of this!
Oh im so sorry that you feel so bad. My grandson who is 4 yrs. Old with mild autism had to get his tonsils and adnoids also they put tubes in his ears. So he is all cut up in side and the hospital send him home with only tylenol he was in so much pain so I took him to the emergency and they gave him stronger tylenol with codine. Me and my husband have to hold him down to give him the medicine he refuses to take it every time but then 1 hour latter he fills better to drink . He also is on day 6 because of his autism he dont like ice cream or ice pops pudding jello mashed potato well he dont like to eat really anything to him everything is mess. Those are his words we are giving him apple juice to keep him hydrated and his suger normal. Is there any thing at all that I could do that helps you feel better. I sorry I know you feel horrible but I havent seen any scabs will he cough them up or will the scabs go down with the juice. What should I expect . Conserned grandmother thank you for taking the time to read this. I hope you feel better soon.
Today is day 6 post op, I am in agony, the pain is all over my mouth, I can’t eat or talk at all, my ears, neck, head ar all sore. I don’t know what to do, the pain killers seem doesn’t work that much. I called the hospital they said if you can’t eat so you have to come back, I don’t know if I should go or hang on more days. I wish I never done this surgery ever!
I had my tonsils out on February 27th, 2015 so this makes Day 6 if you count surgery day. I count surgery day since you are technically recovering and healing that day. Pain is manageable. I took tyelonol extra strength just so I could eat. I’ve needed to take anti-nausea meds for the last two days upon waking up though. I think my sinuses are draining at night and making me sick. Is anyone else still incredibly dizzy? I don’t know if I’m just not recovering from anesthesia well or if this is a side effect.
Today is day 6 i woke up in pain felt like i swallowed a scab after that the pain has eased of a lot I ate eggs and a banana and I am feeling a little better
I had a full tonsillectomy and turbinectomy in January 2011. It was a hard month after having the surgery. I had a really hard time getting my normal sense of taste back for a whole month.
There is light at the end of the tunnel. One month postop, I felt worlds better, and I never snored at night again (I had my tonsils removed because I had bad obstructive sleep apnea).
I am still glad I had it done and even knowing what the experience is like, it was definitely worth it. Hang in there, everyone.
16 year old female. 6th day of recovery
I took my last set of Co Codamol last night at 12:30am. And I actually felt pretty good most of yesterday. However the same can’t be said for this morning.
I’ve awoken at 5:00am and I’m in agony. My ears feel like they’re about to explode and I neednt even tell you about my throat. It’s a solid 8/10 on the pain scale.
I’m petrified of my scabs coming off today and don’t know whether to dry my throat out. Or keep it moist. Although judging by the comments I’m guessing moist is the way to go.
In the past 6 days I have eaten jelly and sorbet. However when my throiat was completely numb yesterday I managesd toast that had been microwaved (lots of butter on toast. Microwave for 20s makes it super squishy).So I’m pretty sure I’ve lost weight in an unhealthy way. However I can’t be sure because our scales don’t work.
I’m finding it very difficult to move around as I get very tired and very weak easily.
I am 26 years old I am I day 6 of my recovery. No pain meds the ent said I may take ibuprofen for the swelling helped a lot. I started a slight cough today an I had some tissue or scab come off it is now making me cough a lot due to it touching that part that makes u want to throw up. That has made my ears hurt so bad. I drink herbalife protein shakes which has helped me so much.
Day 6, 37yo – I woke up at 3am sobbing in pain and forced some medication down while pacing the house and praying for relief. I vastly underestimated the amount of pain I would be in – it’s not just the acid feel of swallowing, but my tongue hurts, my teeth hurt, my cheeks hurt, my jaw hurts and worst of all my ears feel like I’m being stabbed through the ear drum! Some of the caked white slough has come away and I feel less obstacles when I swallow. I avoided my Endone today as this gives me a shocking headache and I feel confused, but the paracetamol/nurofen was just not touching the pain. I took Endone twice today and used Ice packs for not only my throat, but relief from the headache. I brushed my teeth before bed tonight and noticed some blood – I have a sharp pain on my right side and looked in my throat and saw some bleeding. It’s not gushing, but I’ll keep an eye on it. I’m currently drinking iced water. I’m so hungry and miserable. Thank God my husband is entertaining our 19 month old as I am unable to do much at all, I can’t even have a proper conversation with my little darling
I am 25 and on day 6 post Opp and in the exact same condition. I am in agony and would say pain is at a 9/10. My ears are killing me and I can’t swallow anything. I woke up at 2am after having panadine forte at 10:30 and thought I can’t have anymore as it will be an overdose so waited in pain crying till 4:15 and took an endone. Struggled a lot to take the endone and really don’t feel that much better. Called the hospital they recmended coming in to see the surgeon. Tell me you got better soon please. This is the most excruciating thing I have ever done.
They say days 5-7 is the worst day. Day 6 was the worst for me too coz scab is coming off. Keep drinking cold water is my advice
I had my tonsils out on new years eve, exactly a week ago. Last night i had the worst night sleep ever, my throat felt like it was on fire and my ears killed i would not stop screaming! If i knew a tonsillectomy was going to be this painful i would have never had it done. I havent eaten for 3days because it feels like im swallowing glass, even drinking water burns, day 6 is definitely the worst day!
I had my surgery January 30th, 2014 and its day six for me. I’ve been having trouble brushing my teeth..gross I know. Last night i was having sharp pain as if someone was poking me with a sharp object and I’m still having that issues. I haven’t eaten much but I am drinking lots of fluids. I can’t really see where my tonsils were because it hurts too much to open my mouth that wide…I’m just ready for this to be over!!
I have read the posts above and I am soo glad that I am not the only one still in misery on day 6. I got my surgery on 12/29/2014 and so far the 5th day (yesterday) and today has been ONE of the worst My scabs are definitely not coming off yet either. I am living off of oatmeal and soup which is clearly not the best but atleast I am able to eat something. It is soo hard to simply swallow water but I know staying hydrated is key. My pain meds are definitely working but it sucks to be reliant on them. It is hell when I first wake up and eat but I know that in order for me not to get sick and feel nauseous I must eat before the pills. Hopefully the rest of the day gets better!Good luck to everyone!
Well folks – after a near week of recovery, I am essentially doing well post-tonsillectomy. I wish everyone speedy recovery and am grateful for how smooth mine went. I will say that as the scabs are coming off I have some pretty strong pain shoot through my jaw to my ears but I’ve adapted to some pain from the last several days. I slept through the night without getting up to take meds, and have weened off Lortab which after a while caused me too much anxiety, edginess and depressive feelings compared to the pain relief it provided. My stomach and digestive tract have some catching up to do but yesterday was able to eat about 2/3 a fish filet sandwich and some french fries, as well as some chicken and dumplings with green beans and a roll for dinner. I am tired after eating solids but think that’s really the only way to regain my stamina. Warm liquids ease the period where scabs slough off. Tea with honey was awesome especially. I expect to be back to work Tuesday or Wednesday, which means I fully recovered in about 8-9 days. Stay vigilant, find someone to help stay with you to care for you, and revel in knowing you did something good for your health and once done, did it! I wish I had done this a lot younger.
day six, today actually went really well, compared to yesterday (which was prob. Yesterday my scabs started falling off, and unlike many of the stories I have heard, I coughed the scabs up because they were causing my to gag which was causing more pain than I wanted to be in. So I coughed out the first set of scabs around 2 in the morning today and then around 9:30 tonight I coughed up the next scab. Although the process was highly unpleasant, I am not experiencing the extreme sensitivity now that the scabs start I was able to have real food throughout the day. I started with a bowl of jell-o, and then my dad brought home a sonic slush (Yippee) and I then I had Mac-and-cheese for lunch, and then I had a small bowl of soup. After gagging up a scab tonight my sister made me a smoothie which a)tasted amazing, b)felt amazing on my throat, and c)was healthy. I gotta say, the scabs look nasty. I am extremely grateful that the doc got me some steroids to reduce swelling and make it easy to swallow. Hoping tomorrow is even better.
Happy Holidays everyone.
This is post op day 6 for me and have to say it’s been the worse day. So day 5-7 when scab is trying to come off is when it hurts the most. So, back to only jello, ice cream. I felt great yesterday and even ate baked fish. Drinking cold fluids helps.
I’m at day 6. I’m almost 19. This last week has been a first for a lot of things! I’ve never had surgery or anesthesia or had to take pain meds for anything. This has been the worst last six days of my life! I took liquid pain meds the first couple days but I was still in a bit of pain and couldn’t eat enough (no matter how hard I tried) to keep the meds down so I threw them up on the second day): which resulted in me not taking any pain meds again. Holy cow, my pain levels remained at 8/10 and my ears hurt so badly! Almost like the feeling when you get water up your nose. I was even crying at some times. I was so hungry and weak and felt real feverish.
I didn’t leave my house until yesturday, which was a bad idea. I started to feel better though and got my nails did(: but as I was in a petco parking lot when I started to spit out a lot of blood! Thankfully, I was with my mom and we rushed to the ER. I only bleed about 1 1/2 cups. Believe it or not, it was the best I felt since the tonsillectomy!! I could talk completely normal and my pain was next to none! I was hoping the pain was over but it was for only a little while): I’m in pain again today but only about 4/10. It’s still in the ears too. I just keep telling myself, I’m almost there!
I am at day 6. Got my tonsils out on Tuesday. Spent last night in the ER after one of my scabs came off and I bled out. Bleeding is scary and extremely uncomfortable, but it solved itself within 3 hours in the hospital, and no further action was required. All in all I lost about a pint and a half of blood in a couple hours through the mouth, so don’t freak out at small amounts of blood, when you bleed, you’ll know it. The first 4 days were relatively pain free, I could speak, and eat jello and drink some protein shakes, but mostly water.
After bleeding last night the pain has skyrocketed to about a 7 or 8/10, with my pain meds. This was the pain I was expecting. Speaking is out of the question and I’m just waiting to heal now.
I forgot to add I am a 22 year old male. Apparently that increases the risk of bleeding significantly.
Anyone have a lingual tonsil removed? I have a hunk of tissue at the back of my tongue as well as a scab at the crack of my jaw next to tongue.
Day 5. First three days were OK..4 out of 10. Days 4 and 5 were a mix of tough nights and painful speaking and eating. I’m tired of being tired. No sign of scabs coming off. When does it end?
I had mine out a few months ago and i felt the same way. It gets better by week two just power through it. I know it’s hard to believe but once its over you won’t even remember the severity of the pain and you will be glad you got them out i promise! Good luck oh and a few things that helped me are putting an ice pack on my throat and their is this numbing spray called hurricane spray that helps alot and lasts for a while. It hurts when you spray it in your throat at first but it goes away in a few seconds and you can actually eat because you cant feel the pain!! It’s worth a try you can get it at Wal-Mart or Safeway.
It’s day 6
Well I am a sixteen year old and I had my tonsillectomy on the 17th of November. Today is my birthday. Finally am 16. Unfortunately it’s the worse day I’ve had. Nothing helps. I tried chicken broth and I’ve tried ice cream. Cold stuff made it feel as if I was burning. And hot stuff soothed it barely. I haven’t coughed but I have spit up blood I’m very scared. I don’t know what to do. I wish I could go back and have never had them removed.
Day 6 and it feel like someone shoved a bunch of needles down my throat. What the heck? I slept awful last night, weird dreams possibly due to the pain and meds? I woke up twice with a dry mouth and hd to force myself to drink water but felt like needles stabbing me in the throat. My jaw has been achy and my ears are hurting the worst today. I can’t have anything cold, just lukewarm stuff. Tried a mushed up banana to get some potassium but could only handle two bites. Just been drinking water so far. Mornings and evenings are still the worst. Going to start drinking ensure today, need some nutrients! The amoxicillin is the only thing that feels great on my throat. So sad.
had my op 16th oct still living on water soup and middle bit of toast living on less than what a baby would eat.
the pain is about 8 eating loads of ice pops. sleeping is bad choking snoring and dreaming I only get the odd hour here and there.
the hardest thing for me is the sickness still being sick as of today is this normal not been to the bathroom either for number 2 since a week ago getting very concerned. im lucky had no ear or jaw ache. its this constant feeling sick abd throwing up that’s getting to me. ive changed co codamal to normal paracetamol and had anti sickness tablets the hospital gave me but nothing seems to work
I had my operation same day as you. I’m dealing with the same issues. The constipation is rough. I started adding benefiber to my chicken broth, noticed my stomach has been rumbly now. However haven’t been eating too many solids so that could be the issue. I’ve been trying baby food mostly the fruit blends at room temp. I found over the past two days that really cold stuff is starting to bother me, feels like stabbing when I swallow. Good luck on your road to recovery and if you want to chat or compare let me know!
I have declared war against pain, and after that I was able to eat. The trick is to take a the cough medicine with advil before you eat and another advil after. I promise I never thought a sandwich will be this good. Water and a cold/hot pack are the best friends I have. The blood was scary but you get used to seeing it. Scabs have fall off because of the cough, so now that I think half of it are gone it is getting better. Will tray to sleep with out the really strong pain meds tonight, wish me luck!!!!!!!!!! I hope I make it through the night.
Thanks for the support this site has been to surviving week 1.
I had my surgery on 9/29/14. 6 days later I was in and out of one of chain of naps I woke up choking on my own blood. I tried to grab ice water and peroxide like they suggest but blood was just gushing out faster than I could control it. I live a lone and the ER is literally around the corner maybe half mile from my apt against better judgement I got in my car and drove over there frantic and bleeding. They were good at getting me checked in and seen, I believe I felt so bad at one point I actually passed out. I’m was able to get the bleeding to stop there but continued to cough up massive clots of blood 4 total. They were ready to take me into the OR. By time the i call surgeon got there he couldn’t see any bleeding or anything. They admitted me over night just to keep an eye on me but sent me home at noon the next morning. I wasn’t even there 24 hours. I was really anxious and scared because I left not knowing anything but the fact that I woke up choking on all that blood the night before and it was the scariest thing Ive experienced. I’m now at home with supervision and doubling up on the cold slushy drinks (I’m surprised my blender is still holding up). I’ve been advised to mix 32 oz of peroxide with 32 oz of ice water and keep that on hand to gargle (don’t swallow) I’m just praying and hoping it doest happen again and I get through this recovery. I’m back on a liquid diet for another day or two then I can try mush foods again. I’ve attempted mashed potatoes/gravy twice already first time was awesome the last time it hurt and forced me back to Popsicles. If I could do this over… I wouldn’t of had it done.
i realized after looking at my throat for the first time that i have no scabs! is this normal?
My throat has been bleeding on and off for 24 hours, i had my tonsils removed 8 days ago and now im worried
Go and get it checked out as a post tonsillectomy bleed can be nasty if not controlled. They can give you a special gargle to use and monitor you to make sure it stops. Xx
Day 6…. I made it to day 6. It’s harder to swallow since swelling has gone down. It took me almost half an hour to eat 3 Ravioli. My reward was 2 chocolate chip cookies and 2 containers chocolate pudding.
How the heck were your able to eat anything besides popsicles and applesauce on day 6!?!? I’m dying! !!! And
starving to death!
So I have this red dark spot on my scab I gently touched it with a q tip and lIggy red stains where on it but I don’t taste blood and not spitting any blood up. I’m worried and freaking out. All I wanna know is am I OK.
Shay I have heard of this from others. It seems common. I would leave it alone though. Take care!
Is it normal to have black yellowish gunk in the back of my throat? I’m 5 days out of op and worried about the blackish dis coloring. My doc won’t call me bace either. man does it hurt like hell.
Yes. It is. It’s gross but common. Hang in there. !!
It’s my 6th day. And I woke up at night crying for pain pills. I can’t even sleep for a long time,It hurts to even swollow my spit. I say to myself you have to eat you need this water,but when I drink or eat anything its the most pain I’ve ever had. But today I clinch onto my blanket when I swollow. I’m just going to be relieved when this is all over. I did not know what I was getting myself into! The other day I haven’t been able to eat before I take my pills. So it gave me a fever and cramping,I had to go to the hospital.wish me luck I’ll feel better by this Friday:(
Hi everyone. I am currently on day 6, and a tsunami of serious pain has swept over me, washing away the sense of slightly smug optimism I was feeling up until yesterday. From the start I have felt pretty good, and have been eating 3 meals a day; so I thought I was one of the lucky ones. However, at about 3am last night I awoke with that elusive 9/10 pain. The humidifier is blasting and Paracetamol is in full effect. I also have Endone (Oxycodeine) if I absolutely need it, but am trying to stay away as it’s pretty heavy stuff and will probably leave me feeling rotten.
Day 1: Woke up and ate a beef curry, bread and cornflakes within a few hours. Surprised at how good I felt. Taking 2 Paracetamol every 6 hours. Pain 2/10.
Day 2 – 5: Getting better each day and only painful when I swallow. Eating is ok but can’t really speak. Day 5 was actually quite relaxing with pain down to 1/10 at points. Have been drinking litres upon litres of room temp water. Eschewing ice as I don’t want to constrict the capillaries too much and risk infection from a lack of blood circulation. Slowly tapering off medication – feeling lucky! Pain 3/10
Day 6: ARGH! OUCH! It’s happening! Back onto the meds. Wound looks OK (lots of smooth white gunk) but ears and throat are in agony, especially in the morning when swallowing. Ears even make a weird noise (rushing sound?). Almost no sleep. Just want this whole experience to be over. So tired and dreaming of schnitzel. Pain 7/10 with dry mouth spikes up to 9.
Each day feels like an achievement, I think we should receive little ribbons at midnight. Hang in there everyone – every day is a step closer to feeling better.
And thank you to Greg for this site; it’s been such a help and comfort.
Thanks for posting. I’m glad the site has helped. You are nearing the end of the tunnel- Hang in there!
I am on day 6 and not at all good today, found this website and this is the first information I have had to how I should feel, no info given on leaving the hospital, had earache today, so glad to know in a funny sort of way this is a symptom . I’m quite annoyed I’m having to find out info on the net. I’m 51 and had a palateoplasty too, which has just added to the pain. The first couple of days were ok and definitely lulls you into a false sense of security. Don’t really want to look at my throat , the feel of it is enough. My tongue on day three was awful and I could barely talk, so looking to being another week on
Hang in there. You are in the worst of it. Watch out for oral thrush.
Mid 40s, just underwent a tonsillectomy on Tuesday. The first couple of days were deceiving. I almost felt guilty for taking the time off work. Then Saturday hit with a vengeance. I’ve been overhydrating with ice water, and it helps. Ice packs are a god-send. The worst part of the last few days has been the nerve inflammation that happens when I try to eat or drink. There’s a sore spot at the base/side of my tongue. When anything touches that Katie bar the door. A radiating pulsating wave of agony begins and nothing touches the pain besides an ice pack on my neck. This pain will break through any medication that might be working at the time, and is easily an 8 or 9 on a scale of 10.
If this ever subsides, the rest of the ride was a walk in the park.
Im a 19 year old female I got my tonsils out on july 29th 2014 it sucks so bad im on day 6 of recovery and the pain just seems to come and go I feel like it will never go away fully everytime I start feeling good the pain flares up again. Ive never felt this much pain in my life. Im so sick of not being able to eat real solid foods sometimes I can barely drink water I hate this I hope it will be worth all the pain..
I got mine out the same day as you. Are you feeling any better? I’m still in a lot of pain and it’s already day 10. It’s so annoying!! And sooo painful!!!
Day 6 after coblation tonsillectomy on 6/20/14. I overdid it last night with trying to eat some real food (even well-chewed) and had a very raw-feeling throat overnight and for most of the morning. I decided to quit the oxycodone today because the nausea was getting to be too much for me. I’ve managed all right on 2 ES Tylenol every six hours. I’ve been able to drink more and eat more, which isn’t saying much but which feels like an improvement. I overdid it again tonight, once my throat had improved, by trying to eat soggy breakfast cereal in milk. I guess it was still too crunchy/sharp. The swelling in my tongue is down. There are still scabs on the back of my throat/tonsil beds, but parts of them may have come off – I am not sure. I’m tired of being inside all day – I haven’t put on shoes since I came back from the surgery center last Fri. – but I get fatigued so easily. I’ve just been watching the World Cup and Netflix and taking two naps a day. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, I think, as long as I avoid major bleeding when the scabs really fall off. I feel much better in terms of nausea and overall brain function now that I’m off the oxycodone, even if the throat pain is a little worse. I still haven’t had much in the way of ear pain – hope that continues.
Day 6 after coblation tonsillectomy: I finally ate some food. 1.5 slices of pizza for supper. It didn’t hurt really. It was a satisfying kind of pain, like scratching an itch.
At bedtime I was unfortunate enough to suck a piece of a scab out of my throat. Gross. Now I can feel a giant blob hanging on back there, but I am fighting the urge to suction that off because I worry about bleeding. If I can just fall asleep and then swallow that thing in my sleep, I’ll be happy.
I quit taking the Percocet today because I am ready to have a good bowel movement. Instead of my regularly scheduled dose, I took 3 ibuprofen. That was 7 hours ago now, and I’ve not noticed any change in pain. No difference between taking the Percocet or the ibuprofen, and no change when the ibuprofen should have worn off. I’m a little upset now, thinking that these pills may have been doing nothing other than constipating me and making me nauseous.
At least I am med-free, and pain isn’t worse than before. Well, in honesty, I think the pain level has been decreasing over the last two days, but the discomfort level in general has increased. I can’t say today was better than yesterday, just different, I’m still miserable, but in a different way.
For those needing to hear it, pain was better today, especially once I got some food going down. It was hardly painful at all, and like I said, it felt satisfying in some way. End of day 6 could be the turn around for many of you. Hang in there!
Im 21 and I’m on day 6 today. On day 4 I overslept past my med time and tried to get up to go downstairs and passed out from pain and dehydration. My mom couldn’t get me awake to take meds or drink water the rest of that day, so through my delusion I honestly thought I was dying. Day 5 I was able to eat a good bit of cream of wheat and lots of fluids. I didn’t get out of bed all day today and have only been drinking as much as I can tolerate. My throat is very very sore/scratchy and my ears are killing me every time I swallow. My mouth also feels very mucusy? Has anyone else experienced this? Does the throat rawness mean the scabs came off and is that bad? Thanks for any answers. I’m miserable
My throat has hurt the same level of pain every day from days 1 to 6. I keep thinking that it will ALL BE worth it because no more nasty swelled tonsils with stones or tonsillitis and bad breath!!!!!! Lot of liquids and yes, my throat has felt raw after drinking all day, every day. But I want to avoid a hospital trip and IV fluids. I looked and part of a scab fell off but the next day it seemed to be back. I think they regenerate over until it is really ready to be off.
Had my tonsillectomy and uvulopalatopharyngoplasty 7 days ago woke up a little sore but it got better. Then about 3:00 pm started to burn couldn’t get it to stop. Only foods I can eat are soft boiled eggs, pudding, buttered noodles, broth, and jello . Hurts but I feel like I am getting better. Thank you for the site it helps me a lot good luck to everyone
Thanks for posting Jim- Best of health to you!
Hi all. I’m 28 years old and from Australia. I had my tonsils taken out on Thursday, 12 June via the coblation method. I am currently on my sixth day of recovery. I read a lot of horror stories prior to my surgery and I was quite nervous about what was to come but overall I think I am one of the luckier ones (so far at least).
I have had a lot of discomfort and pain but the pain hasn’t been debilitating. The worst pain is after eating and the last few days my jaw has been throbbing when I wake up. I’ve been keeping very hydrated so I think that has helped with my recovery – plus the coblation method is supposed to lead to a faster and less painful recovery.
Eating has been very hard and I cannot wait until I can eat a full meal without my throat and jaw throbbing after a few mouthfuls. So far I have been able to eat soup, jelly, sorbet, icypoles, mac and cheese, frûche fromage frais, bread and toast (suggested by my surgeon) and mashed potato and veggies. There is a bit of dairy in there which does thicken the mucus in my throat a bit but it’s worth it to get something into my stomach.
The only pain meds I’ve been given are regular old paracetamol, I wasn’t prescribed anything stronger and I have found that sticking with a strict every 6 hours schedule has helped to keep on top of the pain (except after eating!!)
The worst thing I’ve had to deal with is a tickle in my throat that can only be ‘comforted’ by coughing, that’s pretty painful but thankfully hasn’t lead to any bleeding. I also think I have oral thrush so I have been to the chemist this morning to get something to treat that. I’m hoping that getting rid of that might improve my ability to swallow without too much pain.
I’m certainly not out of the woods yet and I am keeping my fingers crossed that it doesn’t get any worse from here but overall the experience hasn’t been too bad. I would like people out there to know that it isn’t always a horror story.
I’ll come back in a week or so and give an update once I’m closer to the end of the 14 days. I hope everyone who is struggling improves very soon.
Thanks for the website by the way, it’s been a great resource!
I’m on Day 6 and I don’t know how much more I can take. There is no relief from the pain, just the thought of eating or drinking anything brings tears to my eyes, and despite being strung out on hydrocodone I now have a migraine. I’ve been alone since I got home from surgery and I just don’t know how much more I can take.
Hi Clara- I’m sorry you’re having such a rough time. It sounds just like what I went through. Try to remember that this is temporary and you WILL feel better soon. Also, even though it hurts, you MUST drink! Being dehydrated makes things much, much worse. Try to take a short walk or plan a daily bath to look forward to. There is a mental component to your suffering too.
Hang in there- I’ pulling for ya!
Thanks for the encouragement! I’m trying to keep my mind off it but it’s difficult. Today isn’t any better than yesterday; in fact, now I’m feeling nauseated. Any idea when I will start feeling better?
hmm, well I hate to say it but for me it wasn’t util day 9 that I really started feeling better. There are meds for nausea- you might ask your doc. In the meantime, try to get a little something in your stomach before taking the pain med’s- that’s what’s causing the nausea. Hang in there1
SORRY FOR ANY CONFUSION- I’M BOTH GREG AND TONSILLECTOMY RESOURCES- DEPENDING ON HOW I’M LOGGED IN
Hi Clara- This is such a difficult recovery! My daughter is on day 6 today and is miserable. I feel so sorry for you- I can’t imagine your being all alone, you are really brave. Try to keep in mind that you will start to feel better in a few days and then in a few months, you will be good as new. Keep drinking and chewing on ice. Sending you all my best and a big virtual hug! Hope today is a little better! Barb
I had a tonsilectomy adnoidectomy and a uvulopalatopharyngoplasty on Tuesday. Today is Saturday night. I feel blessed. I had 3 surgeries in my mouth and I have not once needed any pain meds of any kind. Last night I was sleeping and I started coughing and a little blood came up but not a lot. I called my doc and she said that’s normal. Today I have coughed a little and it feels like something is hanging in my throat but no pain. Just discomfort. Could the scabs be coming off now? Is it possible I just heal really quick? I have a low pain tolerance so this has surprised me no doubt.
I am on day 9 of my recovery and I have to say I’m feeling much better. I just have this one nagging thing that is making me absolutely crazy is that it feels like I have a huge hairball in the back of my throat. I’ve been retching all day as a result of this. Has anyone else felt this, and if so, how the heck can I make it better? My doctor said to take Mucinex, but it hasn’t helped at all. I am desperate for suggestions.
18 yrs old and day 6 into day 7 was probably the worst day so far. I was doing ok eating pudding, popsicles, etc. and taking liquid prescriptions until day 6. During the evening of day 6 I started spitting up blood. Not a ton of blood and I realized some of a scab must of came off. This was the weirdest feeling ever. The taste of blood let alone is upsetting but it made me feel very lightheaded. My advice for when a scab comes off is to spit and drink something cold. Water is the only thing I drank because anything and everything else burned very bad. That night after some of the scabbing came off, I went to take my medicine and it burned my throat so bad I started crying and thought I was going to pass out. I didn’t take my medicine anymore after that because luckily I had my follow up appointment the next morning and I just could not bear the burning again. I slept about 4 hours and the next morning I felt like death and was spitting up more blood and some greenish stuff. Luckily the doctor prescribed me a pill prescription. I recommend asking for the pill prescription in advance so you won’t have to endure the burning of the liquid medicine after the scabs fall off. Other than this day and the burning, I feel as if my recovery has gone decent and my doctor said only a few more days and I will be back to normal. I hope this helps!!
Im 1 week postop today and yesterday was my worst day so far so much so that I had to have my mom call the dr for different pain medication. I was worried too. Im a nurse and this is more than i expected. My jaw and tongue were hurting so bad didn’t want to eat or drink just like u said. Call and got acetaminophen with codeine which numbed my mouth and throat actually slept 6 hrs last night. Hoping over the weekend i will be able to tolerate more solid foods like pudding and such. Good luck this sucks.
I am on day 6 after my Tonsillectomy and day 5 was definitely the worst so far. At this point my entire mouth in general like tongue and roof of mouth and jaw, are more sore than my throat. Wondering is this happened to others? My mouth hurts enough that I don’t want to eat/drink because it feels like just glass stabbing my tongue, it is awful. I have still been taking Lortab every 4 hours on the dot. I am hoping things are looking up from here, but am afraid of what to expect with scabs falling off in the following days.
Uh oh! I finally see the pain everyone is talking about. Last dose of meds was 9pm last night. Scabs have also been coming off, i was out in the air furniture (and clothes) shopping for 8 hours, and I tried to eat a piece of pizza earlier yesterday…..bad idea…needless to say, I woke up at 3am this morning with the worst pain!!! Like a hot knife was stuck down my throat and an ice pick was shoved through one ear and out the other! Thank goodness for this liquid lortab. It feels like as soon as it touches my throat, the pain is relieved. I ate 3 Popsicles and about 5-10 mins later, I was feeling better. Whoo! No more solids for me! I hate it for those who’ve been feeling that way the whole time!
Ugh. Sorry to hear that your honeymoon has ended. Hope you feel better soon!
POD #6 was by far THEE worst day ever!!!! I couldn’t hold anything down over the last 12 hours due to nausea/vomiting (oh the burn
Started feeling dizzy, weak, and concerned about dehydration (I wasn’t able to take in much anyway), I went to the ER. Toradol (pain med) land Phenegran (anti-nausea) and 3L of fluid were a God-send!!!! I went from faintly speaking to almost 90% of my normal voice and tolerating water/cool green tea. Most soups/broths taste horrible (now), pudding is too sticky, and most water ice are causing reflux. We should seriously get a meddle after this.
Hang in there Nattashia. I’ll work on getting those medals made up. ?
Oops, I meant medal (damn auto-correct and drugs). Thanks for this page! It really help me get through the hellish first week.
hello, I am a 43 yr old female, day 6 just ended, had my tonsils out this past monday as well as a biopsy on my right lingual tonsil because it has been enlarged for some time now. Experiencing some majorly intense stabbing needle tickle pains where my left lingual tonsil is and can feel the swelling of these lingual guys rubbing against the surgery areas when I swallow.
the stabbing tickle I have felt on and off since before surgery and it makes me cough a lot, but now it makes me panic because I dont want to cough post surgery and cause any further issues. I’d say those have been my biggest pains, and it seems like I dont have a whole lot of scabbing for this stage which concerns me too cause I dont want the healing to take longer than what I’ve set my expectations to. Eating is uncomfortable but thanks to Monica on youtube I tried the packs of Lipton chicken noodle (has chicken broth, really small and smooth noodles and no pieces of chicken) which went down great and is the only substantial food I can tolerate right now.
Im glad to have found this forum, and hope we all heal quickly and uneventfully <3
Hi everyone just a little bit about my recovery so far,wellim on day 5 po and really haven’t had any severe pain so far.the first night home I did everything for myself but the second day it hurt a little more but wasn’t unbearable I could tell there was some swelling I drank a lot of ice water and still do I have only been eating jello and pudding until today I was able to eat some Mac n cheese.also I have had some slight ear pain but nothing I couldn’t handle I take my pain med every four hours and sometimes I take liquid Tylenol also which to me that helped the pain I was feeling in my throat.my tongue is very sore I think it bothers me more than the pain in my throat.well I give God all the thanks for how well I’m doing recovering.The night before my surgery they prayed for me at church and the morning of my surgery a couple from church came and prayed with me before I went back for surgery.so I’m taking my recovery one day at a time and I’m not going by others recoveries because so far mines hasn’t been that bad.I also was prepared I got everything I needed ahead of time which was a cool mist humidifer,liquid Tylenol,soups,lots of water,Gatorade ,Popsicles,chloresptic throat spray the only thing I didn’t get that my husband had to get for me was boost or ensure because I’m not eating very much and really have no appetite at all.i pray that this information helps and that everyone has a speedy recovery
Thanks for sharing Leeann. Glad things are moving along fairly smoothly. Your tongue was probably bruised during surgery- very common. Keep doing what you’re doing! It seems to be working. Take care.
I also had tongue pain that was worse than the throat pain, go figure. Speedy healing
Dana curious how the rest of your recovery went. My husband is on day 6 and has a bad gag reflex. He can’t drink enough fluids because of it much less food. No food since the surgery I am worried about dehydration since he only drinks 20-30 oz a day. How was it when the scabs came off? He has very little pain just the swollen throat (on steroids too) I am worried about the next faze. Long recovery for nigh of us. Thanks. Christine
I’m just starting day 6 and all I can say is the only real problem I’ve been having is sleep. I can’t sleep longer than an hour or else my throat will be hurting something fierce the moment I begin to sip on my water bottle. I have my pillows stacked and a humidifier running but it’s a gamble no matter what the moment my eyes start to close and my breathing deepens. I generally breathe through my mouth when I sleep and although I had my adenoids removed as well to help eliminate that problem it hasn’t made it any easier. So, forcing myself to sleep with my mouth shut is an experience all in itself. I’m so hungry! I’ve noticed all I want to eat is soup and even then just the broth. Applesauce I can only handle for like 4 spoonfuls before the texture begins to irritate my throat. Same with noodles and even pudding. The only remedy to this is chugging that water between huge bites. So I’ve been experiencing some weird nausea and headaches simply due to starving. I should get some ensure… I keep forgetting to ask my husband. As far as pain goes during the day it’s a general 5 with moments hitting an 8. It’s at night when it can reach that 8-9 and stay there for a little bit. I’m staggering 300mg of ibuprofen in between hydrocodene/acetaminophen liquid medicine every 4 hours and it does me fine for the most part. I also use throat numbing spray if it seriously needs it.
Day 6 – Adjusted my medicine schedule to better line up with my wife and I’s sleep schedule. I take one dose right before bed last night, so I only have to get up once during the night. It actually worked out perfectly; I dosed, fell asleep, and woke up 10 min before the next dose, then slept 30 mins past the wakeup dose. That was a pleasant surprise. Pain is still very high without meds, I can feel the scabs starting to tear off at the bottom of my throat. Will try to be gentle as I eat today. I’ve lost 12lbs at this point (which isn’t a bad thing as I’m overweight), but keeping my hydration up.
Hi my names Beckie I had my tonsillectomy done on February 26th. My mother is an OR nurse and has been taking care of me. This pain is nothing like ive ever felt in my life. Day 1 wasnt bad as I had 6 mg of morphine iv before i left the recovery room. Days 2-4 were terrible. My throat and uvula were so swollen and distorted ANY attempt to swallow ANY fluids resulted in it coming out of my nose. Im having a terrible time with mucous and post nasal drip. I cant adequately clear my throat therefore the secretions run down my throat make me gag and cough which inevitably makes me throw up. Im TERRIFIED of bleeding. I invested in a cool air mist humidfier which im sure is helpful but also sucks because it loosens secretions and makes me cough. I havent slept for more than 2 hrs at a clip since the night before surgery. Sleeping any longer than that will result in waking up with a severely dry and severely sore throat. The ear pain has started today whcih really stinks. Chewing gum seems to help minimally. Im unable to take the liquid morphine prescribed because of my empty stomach I only throw it back upshortly afterwards.
Hi Beckie! It sounds like we are having a similar experience. I had mine done two days after you on the 28th. I’m curious to find out how the rest of your recovery is doing. I think my biggest problem was my congestion, mucus, and swelling. I cannot eat the things people are describing as normal. I am starting day 6 and I still choke on water and other liquids. Its almost as if i physically cannot swallow, its not the pain stopping me.
FYI not being able to swallow is caued by the swelling in your uvula. The uvula is kind of like a swallowing helper. It guides whatever is in your mouth down your throat, kind of pushes it down. So with it being so swollen its not working properly.. Should get better once that stupid swelling goes down
First of all: thank you so much for this blog. This gives me the feeling I’m not alone in this.
I’m a 22 year old girl (I feel like a babygirl during this recovery, hence: girl) and had my tonsils out on Feb. 25th, so I’m on day 6 – operation day being day 1 because I was up again at 10.30. I’m a little bit concerned about my recovery process because it’s completely different to what I read here. Day 1 and 2 were absolute bliss, no pain at all and I could talk. Day 3 was getting more painful, let’s say 5/10 but manageable. Day 4-6 were the worst, getting more and more extreme everyday. Last night I woke up every hour in such agony that I switched my icepack every hour and cried myself to sleep. I haven’t had any ear- or headaches so far (really, nothing). I look into my throat daily with a light to check the scabs, and I see that I’ve lost already more than half (even close to 75%!) of the white tissue/scabs/what is it? that was in there before. Most of my throat looks pink now, and I guess that’s what’s hurting me. Now comes a silly and stupid question, but I found no answers yet: the white scabs right after the surgery have to come off, yeah. Are that the ‘scabs’ that everyone is talking about or will there grow new scabs after that white stuff falls off? Sorry if this sounds stupid, but I’m a bit confused because well.. it’s day 6 and I’m almost ‘scab’free. Take care everyone.
I read somewhere that the white stuff is the scabbing. Sorry you are having a rough time. I had ny surgery on February 28th, so I feel ya.
Had mine taken out last wednesday the 19th. It is now monday midnight and I have woken up to stabbing pains and some amount of blood. Sucking on an ice cube brings little relief. Scaring me as my tonsil beds are coloured dark red as if it had bled for a while before I woke up which is frightening to think about. Unsure of what to do
Lucy! I had mine out on wednesday too! i’ve had no blood but my left tonsil looks like it has blood on it! its weird, im very paraniod about bleeding!
Hi Lucy and Jodie, and welcome! A little bleeding is normal. Gargling with cold water can help stop it. There are some cases in which the bleeding becomes profuse and requires medical intervention. Avoid coughing- that’s what I usually read precipitates these episodes in others here on the site. STay calm, even if bleeding would become profuse- like more than a tablespoon or two, and get to an ER.
Bets of luck and wishes for a smooth recovery. Take care
my scab that looks bloody looks as if its pretty much coming off? is this normal at day 6?
Yes, it would be fairly normal. Don’t try to “help it along.” Just leave it be. Keep drinking cold liquids!
Okay so day six huh ? Your thinking when is this going to end ! I can only take liquid medicine beause the pain from swallowing is just ridiculous . Ive been drinking a lot of Gatorade it has helped through the pain and the only food I have been able to eat were chicken noodle soup , pudding , and SOME applesauce . Who made up the joke about you can get to eat all the ice cream you want ? Well according to my throat no ice cream for me . Boy do I have a list of all the foods I wanna eat ! I have lost about 25 pounds ; EXTREMELY unhealthy !! Ill be glad when its over . Good luck everyone you can only get better !
Hey Deron- Thanks for posting. Hope you’re over the hump and on your way to all that good food!
Hi. Im 17 and i just had my tonsils taken out monday. I know its only been 5 days. But some of you were saying how your 5th and 6th day have been the worse.. my 5th day has been the easiest. Not much i can swallow. Finally drink and eat a little bit. I had to stop taking my medication though because all tylenol 3 did to me was make me sick, dizzy and. Tired. I only take them when i really need them. And lately i havent taken them. Since tuesday night i believe. I find aleeve gets rid of the pain better. I had hot dogs yesterday. I BBC was nice. Sine iv lost 7 pounds in 5 days.
Hi Zandalee- sorry I didn’t see your post sooner. How have things gone since you wrote this? Hope you are well. Take care.
Greetings! I’ve been following your website for a while
now and finally got the bravery to go ahead and give you a
shout out from New Caney Texas! Just wanted to mention keep up the excellent job!
I’m in day six, much better than yesterday. The first day wasn’t so bad because of the anesthesia and meds. I threw up the first three days and couldn’t stand the taste or smell of lortab , did not get more than 1 to 2 hours sleep every night until yesterday when my husband suggested I take some zquil. It worked!!! I finally had a full night sleep.
I also was trying to talk from day one, is not worth it, when people say you will pay the price they are not lying!!! I stop talking completely now and making my family work to understand me is a lot more fun and I believe is what is helping me feel better. Good luck to everyone. ?
Hi folks,
I am so thankful to have found this site. Thank you Greg for starting it and to all those who are sharing their experiences. I am going into Day 6 of a tonsillectomy and UVPPP and it is very supportive and validating to come here and find that ‘I am not losing my mind afterall.’ To see that others are having similar levels of intense misery is somewhat comforting because I NEVER would have estimated that recovery could be this challenging, despite my ENT surgeon’s promise that “You WILL be swallowing crushed razor blades for at least 10 days.” I have experienced the pain of partial airway obstruction and a perforated ear drum while flying due to severe tonsillitis so surely it could not be any worse than that! Sadly, and I hate to say it..but it truly is the worst pain I have ever experienced…and so unrelenting. The throat pain I was prepared for..sort of…the ear pain..prepared for…sort of…but the tongue cramping / spasm was a complete surprise and thought my entire lower jaw would rip apart during the 15 minutes or so of spasm that occured on Day 3 and Day 4 in the early morning. It seemed to be either precipitated by, or aggravated by, the fact that I had slept for a couple of hours and the mucosa of my mouth and palate had become extremely dry. It took nearly 90 minutes of gently sipping to work through the searing pain of separation of the tissues but I resolved to never allow myself to sleep that long again and so far, it has not reoccurred.
For pain management, I am on an elixir of acetaminophen 650mg plus codeine 90 mg every four hours. After Day 3, at night, I could not go to four hours without relapsing into pure pain and misery in my throat and ears so I opted to take it every three hours for a couple of nights and that seemed to keep things manageable with respect to pain and being able to sip fluids. Since the surgeon recommended a blended, soft diet for 2 weeks I am being cautious with respect to food intake. Blended unsalted homemade soup is manageable; the ready made soup from the grocery store was too salty and seemed rather like a caustic compound on my incisions and sutures! NORMAL SALINE 0.9% has been the BIGGEST BLESSING for sipping and fluid comfort, It does not irritate whatsoever..and passes like silk over the tissues in comparison to other recommended fluids. I was finding that water, dilute tea and juices were destroying what little saliva I had and the dry mouth and throat was aggravating the swallowing even more.
This evening marks the end of Day 5 for me…and after a 2 hour nap this afternoon, which resulted in me missing my next dose of codeine by an hour and the subsequent return of ear pain, I am feeling somewhat less miserable. I sipped away about 3/4 cup of blended soup and maybe 1/2 cup of vanilla ice cream with a large chaser of the Saline Special…cold saline with saline ice cubes! My wife has noted that the largest and most visible scab over the uvula area and central palate has now started to drop off and is just hanging benignly there. ICK! Maybe the night gremlins will carry it off! Tomorrow is a new day and I am hoping for great things.
Overall I am totally flabergasted that post-operative pain management can be this challenging in the 21st century! Or is it that those who develop pain management protocols and research have become complacent or lack awareness of how serious this issue can be for some patients. It is well recognized in other medical areas that good pain management promotes faster healing; does the ENT specialty share this philosophy?
Comforting thoughts to all of you who are ‘enduring’ tonight!
Well yesterday was a horror, today was 10x better. I ate jello and some greasy chicken. I noticed my scabs are receding from top to bottom (which is the opposite I thought they would go). As long as tommorow is the same or better I will be weening myself off of my pain meds.
I’m on day 6 of my tonsillectomy recovery. I had them removed due to mono. I am 15 years old and these are by far two of the most awful pains I’ve ever experienced. I love good food and I can’t eat it! I’ve gargles with a baking soda and water mixture and things seem to have not progressed. I am starting to alternate the liquid pain medications I was given with Tylenol. I’ve had an awful cough but luckily it seems to be dissapearing. I can only eat with great pain and usually I have to scarf jello down within the first hour of taking my meds. I have found if you carefully chew Ritz Crackers and make them creamy and soft, they are do-able for a switch up in tastes. I haven’t been able to open my throat and look in it. My jaw hurts and it hurts to tilt my head back. I recommend not to sleep for long periods of time, it may feel nice but you WILL regret the mornings. Mashed potatoes that are VERY well mashed make a good food and tons and tons of jello, considering ice cream and cheese and dairy products create thick phlem and help house infection! (You’re welcome!) Swallowing ice doesn’t seem to work for me and Popsicles are too much but unsweetened iced tea makes an excellent drink. Sip through the pain! And sip as often as possible. Good luck and God Bless! Things are going to get better
Day 6 – Christmas Day! By some Christmas miracle I get a bit of a reprieve from the pain. Sometime in the middle of the night I realized I stopped staring at the clock, waiting for the next time I could take more pain meds. Such a blessed relief!
Made my family a wonderful french toast casserole…then made myself a couple soft scrambled eggs. Wanted to cry. We got an Xbox for the family for Christmas but by the time I set up my profile, I was too exhausted and had to go lay down. I did later find the energy to play one dancing game with my daughter. My husband and kids went over to my in-laws for dinner which gave me a chance to take a bubble bath and have a glass of champagne.
Just before bedtime, my pain level shot through the roof! I got a migraine again (no room spinning like last night though), my ears were killing me, it felt like knives were stabbing the back of my throat. For the first time I started spitting up little pieces of scab. I had been chewing gum to help with the ear pain, but now that I am constantly loosing little bits of scab, I just can’t chew gum anymore. The mental picture of chewing on bits of scab mixed with the gum is so revolting it makes me gag! So my one relief from the ear pain is now gone… The hydrocodone doesn’t even come close to helping ease the pain anymore and I can’t sleep at all. I spent most of the night playing sudoku on my kindle just to try to distract my brain from the endless pain.
I had surgery on 13th and I’m on the 6th day, it is probably the worst day I’ve had so far. I woke up with a dry throat it feels like under my tongue is really sore and it burns really bad my ears feel like something is living in them it looked at my throat and it was red on the edges around the white stuff I don’t know what that’s from maybe scaps fell off. I was doing super good the first 5 days I ate warm soft bread sticks (from Olive Garden) with a slight bit of ranch. everytime I drink it really burns in some spots. ugh, I tell myself that it will be over in no time but gezzz this really hurts.
I also had my Surgery on Friday the 13th! total opposite for me….it’s been a breeze thus far…maybe this will help? I don’t sleep for more than 3 1/2hours at a time…I take my meds every 4 hours never skipping a dose…I have a humidifier literally right next to my bed…. I drink A LOT of water….at first it hurt SO Much to drink…but It pays off! Also..I’ve been eating! non stop when I’m awake I almost always have something in my mouth..gum…popsicle, jello, apple sauce….mac n cheese…chicken broth…baby food (the desserts), freeze pops, malt o’ meal, oat meal. I also found that having people around to keep your mind off of it is important… play monopoly…or checkers, chess?…..I literally schedule bath time..food time, game time nap time tv time reading time.. my day goes fast and I always have something to look forward to…rather than laying in bed focusing on it…because that’s what I did my first day….Didn’t work for me…I’m taking Tylenol with codeine and antibiotic.. a steroid to make my swollen uvula return to its normal size…anti nausea meds, stool softener and!! lidocane mouth wash(this helps A LOT). I hope your recovery gets better:) <3
I had my tonsils and adenoids out Wednesday. I felt pretty good (1/10) after surgery and next. However, I noticed I could not swallow water, take my hydrocodone mix, with the fear of throwing up. My throat muscles got too excited for me, where I thought I would just choke and collapse. I know I had to power through. I did. It took some motivation of consuming water and diluting the pain med. Reason why i diluted my pain medicine was that it would burn my throat. My sister, who is an RN, said it is okay to dilute the medicine with water to have less pain. I have some mucus build up, especially after I had Wendy’s Frosty and a small scoop of milkshake. I noticed I need water more than dairy. So I kind of had to drink lots of water to dilute the mucus, but the process took all day for me to consume 20oz of water mix of Gatorade. I had to develop a different technique of swallowing medications and water. It seems to work. I have yet to try food. I know it is crucial for the healing process and plan to try apple sauce today. I might have to dilute the applesauce with water. At this point, I have not spoken to anyone, but plan to speak a bit after a week, which would be Christmas Day! For now, my pain level as of Day 5 is a 1-2. I have not been taking my pain medicine religiously. I have had some ear pain but incomparable to when I was sick three times in Nov. with the same symptoms of sharp ear pains. I suppose I worked up my tolerance, which I hope so.
My schedule is to drink about 20 oz of water in the morning, afternoon, evening, and before bed, If i can manage.
Also make sure my humidifier is constantly running and is full before slumber.
I rest on the recliner, seems to relax me
I brush my teeth and tongue three times a day to prevent thrush
Ice my neck and jaw routinely.
I rinse my mouth with ice cold water about 10 times a day
Take pain medicine about 3 times, throat spray about 7 times, and antibiotic twice a day.
I am ready for the recovery to end ASAP. I hope all of you guys have a successful recovery.
First, thanks to everyone who’s shared here. I wish I had found this site earlier! On day 6, I can’t speak, I have sharp pain at the back of my throat that radiates to my ears. It hurts to swallow, and I still have had only tiny pieces of solid food. It’s not worth the pain to eat. Today, I drank a Boost because I feel week when up and around. Typing this, I am in bed on the strong pain meds with ice packs in a U shape around my neck and ears, which I discovered to be helpful yesterday.
Day 6 = mixed bag. I slept for my longest stretch yet (4 hours) this morning. Of course, I cried a little when I had to swallow meds and water upon waking up, but I feel like my body really needed some uninterrupted rest. The pain remains sharp, and my ears are killing me. Anything cool or cold is impossible today due to ear pain. I managed to eat about 1/2 cup of macaroni and cheese mid morning and a cup of chicken broth this evening. Eating was barbaric today, but I forced myself to swallow. I keep telling myself that this pain will not kill me…it is only a sensation that I can push through…but damn, this is rough. Tylenol seems to be helping more than the narcotics, but even with Tylenol, pain is a 8-9 upon swallowing. In previous days, I had little stretches of effective pain control for an hour or so at a time, but today, the pain was intense pretty much all day. Scabs are definitely thinning and extra sensitive. Just seeing some changes in my throat gives me hope that this will not last forever. Had some bleeding today from right side for about 30 minutes…just a stream down the back of my throat. I didn’t taste blood and would not have known I was bleeding had I not looked into the back of my throat. I forced ice water (murder!) and it stopped. My saliva is super thick and slimy now. I have brushed my teeth, chewed gum, scraped my tongue, and I just cannot get rid of this medicine taste in my mouth. Yuck. Hanging on to rational thoughts and a shred of a positive outlook, but this is most definitely been awful.
I’m on day 6 and this is the worst I have felt so far. The ear pain is the worst… It’s constant and I feel like there is something inside my ears trying to push out!! Heat packs help relieve it but the pain can be so strong at points that my eyes tear up. Other than the ear pain my throat is sore but not any worse than tonsillitis pain and since having the operation on 11th Nov I have been eating food as normal (probably more than normal actually!!) as I know eating helps you recover quicker. I recommend scrambled eggs on toast as the egg helps soften the toast but its still rough enough to help your throat. Also, sorbet feels amazing on your throat after you’ve eaten. Thanks to this wonderful site I purchased a humidifier before the operation so I haven’t had too many problems sleeping. Although, that first sip of water after being a sleep for a few hours… ouch!!
I have to go back to uni on Monday so I hope the ear pain gets better soon. This site has been amazing- thank you
Day 6: Thought I’d turned a corner a little bit today. Pain didn’t seem as avid & crippling as before. Managed to get out of bed & drop son at nursery. Pain was tolerable during the day (with meds obviously) Had two episodes of bits of the white stuff fall away from the back of my mouth. Not nice. Wife has told me that my breath is hideous too :0( But overall didn’t feel too bad. Was rather hopeful.
But as usual night time is the most horrific. Just awoken a second time (it’s just gone 4am) in horrific pain due to throat being dried out. Swallowing impossible again.
…..from my head you would think a dry throat wouldn’t be an issue! My number one enemy and some of the worst pain ever.
I am sleeping pretty good until I wake up, then the pain seems to erase any gains. Most of today was spent working on the pain and getting it under control. Like many others, ice tends to exacerbate the pain…mainly a lukewarm guy today. Did have some cold coffee and worked a couple hours.
Jello for lunch and Mac and Cheese for dinner. The M&C is a little harder to put down but sure tastes good and more filling than jello.
Maybe tomorrow will be better…sure sick and tired of being sick and tired.
Day 6 is rapidly coming to a close. And right now, I feel ok. I’m current on pain meds and am a little sleepy…will probably doze off. And that is when I enter the gates of hell.
With a humidifier literally inches fr
Today the pain is I feel
At its strongest. This feels like a horrible sore throat. I have had very little ear pain. My taste buds have only changed slightly and I force myself to eat. I think the more you don’t eat, the more likely it is your body will take longer to heal.
Anyway, so far no scabing and no blood! I can feel the back of my throat is scratchey and I do have a slight cough – I try and gargle several times a day with cool water . Can’t wait to be able to eat without spilling food out of my mouth !
But very happy to have had this surgery.
I am 21 and on Day 4 of recovery this has been my best day so far on day 2 of recovery i stopped taking my percocet they were making me sick evertime i took one i threw up about half hour after taking them. i am now alternating between ibprofin and tylonal. I can eat jello if i eat ramen noodles i seem to keep getting them stuck on my uvulva in the back of my throat my pain is a 3 today as long as i keep up on my meds every four hours.
I’m a 20 year old female, tomorrow will be one week since my surgery. It’s been such a nightmare. The pain continues to only get worse every day; I think the scabs must be coming off, as ever since yesterday the sides of my throat feel raw and anything that touches them, water included, feels like burning acid. The pain killers (ketorolac and Tylenol 3’s) are doing absolutely nothing, I told my doctor a few days ago and he told me to “drink lots of fluids and wait it out, it’ll get better”. I feel like I’m being a major Negative Nancy but the constant searing pain is really knocking down my spirits. I’ve been working hard to drink plenty of fluids every day, but today that just does not seem possible. I’ve not yet seen the light yet, please dear god, soon?
Up until last night I was doing extremely well. I had been able to eat soft solid foods And had energy to get up and go do things. However, that stopped real quick. It began to burn everytime I would try to swallow anything and the lack of real nutrition began to kick in making me extremely light headed. Due to this I got sent home from work. I went straight to sleep and woke up about six hours later with my tonsils bleeding non-stop. I must admit this had to be the scariest thing that has ever happened to me. I went straight to the ER and they took me back into the Operating room to recaurterize the bleed. The doctor came to me the next morning and stated that I had a small blood vessel that begun to bleed when one of my scabs fell off. This took me back a few days in the recovery process and as I said was probably the scariest event I’ve ever experienced.
Hey, I’m 21. I had my tonsils removed on the 29th October and I can’t eat or drink no matter how much I push myself for a drink. I cry everytime I swallow and now I’m getting really bad ear ache and jaw ache! The weird thing is, it’s only hurting along my left side. I can’t talk properly.. I’m scared and I don’t know what to do
Hi, Cara, I’m 22 and got my tonsils removed on the 29th as well! I can’t eat anything either – I’ve done a little bit of soup but had the worst pain imaginable when trying mashed potatoes yesterday. Weirdly, my left side hurts a lot more than my right side also. My right side actually hardly hurts at all. I’m not talking properly yet either – I think you’re at a normal place, just drink tonnns of water and distract yourself with TV.
I will turn 40 tomorrow and had my tonsils removed three days ago. I can hardly eat anything applesauce seems to be the best. I have had a massive headache all day today on top of a fever and the horrible throat pain. Plus a nasty taste in my mouth that I can’t get rid of. I still have huge scabs on each side of my throat. From reading the other posts I lucked out with not bleeding or having ear pain. I guess at this point I am just tired of the pain! I only took two weeks off of work and I am wondering if that will be enough. I am a teacher so I don’t do much physical stuff but I talk a lot. How much longer until I feel like myself again?
Day 6. I had my asymetrical tonsils removed on the 21 October. I expected strong pain from what the doctor said. First 2 day were not so bad, managed with Percocet, but 3rd was bad. 4 day had a panic attack at 7.30 later in the day I received my pathology report- benign. I was relieved but did not feel good, my heart rate since the surgery was high. Around 6 pm I gargled with water and manuka honey as I read on Internet, after couple of minutes I start bleeding bad in front of my 4.5 yr old daughter. I start to panick run to next door for help , I was able to stop the bleeding in 5-10 min. Went to ER. They sent me home saying will be bad to put anything on the tonsil bed. For the last 2 nights I set alarm almost every hour, I am afraid I will start bleeding again. I lost 8 lbs, food burns the throat, when I drink water I have stabbing pain.
Liz can you tell me what kind of bleeding did you have and if happened again.
Today is day 4 for me. I have found that my electric ice cream maker is coming in very handy. I pour Gatorade in it, turn it on for 15 mins and it becomes a slushie. Helps tremendously!
Today is day 5 post surgery (Oct 17th). I am a 41 yr old. Food tastes absolutely horrible. I cant drink anything sugary, no apple juice, jelly, Gatorade, popcicles etc.. everything makes my spit thick. I woke up to a burning pain in the back of my throat, as if someone threw acid on it. I immediately took pain meds and drank half a bottle of water. I find that Motrin lasts much longer than Tylenol. Nights and over nights are worst for me. I still sleep sitting up so I haven’t suffered much ear pain. I thought I developed thrush and called the nurse on duty who informed me it was just my scabs falling off. I have been managing the pain up until two days ago. This is like a slow and painful death. I’m glad that I’m am over the hump now. I have lost a total of 8 lbs. I’m living off applesauce and water. I’ve managed it this far, I can managed the next 5 days like a champ…. I think.
DAY 6: I’m feeling very nauseous after deciding to take Targin (pain killer) last night. It essentially knocked me out for the whole night and therefore I didn’t get up to have any water. I have vomited twice this morning and I know that this is TMI but there was a bit of green (which I assume is Phlegm) and some very dark red spots (which could be old blood?). Nonetheless, I’m trying hard not to move incase I vomit again. I definitely won’t be taking any pain killers tonight!
Today is by far the worst day! Large chunks of scabs have been falling off and literally been making me gag! The taste alone is enough to send me to hell! I was prescribed predisone, stilpane and some kind of antibiotic! I can’t stand the feeling of not being able to breathe through my nose! Woke up lastnite chocking on scabs, coughed my lungs out I tell you! The pain today is a 9 out of 10 and I’m not to fond of the idea of taking addictive pain killers! As for eating, I have only managed yougurt, buttermilk and noodles! I miss food so much and I’ve already started planning a binge for when I’ve recovered!
Oh I am 22 and had my adenoids and tonsils removed due to strep throat and tonsil stones… Is there anything I can do about the decomposing smell coming from my mouth cause I need to go back to college in about 6 days.
Last night was very bad. Woke up in excruciating pain and bewildered. Sipped water and took codeine with Tylenol and that seemed to help. Then able to sleep for two hours and wake myself to keep taking meds on schedule. The elixirs are disgusting fruit favors and the thought alone makes me want to wretch. I haven’t vomited since Sat nite and attribute that to the codeine and doing too much. I feel hungry but its so hard to get anything down. The pain on swallowing is amazing. I have sores on the side of my tongue and my uvula is twice its normal size. When I lay on my back, it blocks my airway and I can’t breathe thru my nose. Breathing thru my mouth dries up my throat. The only way I can sleep is on my side. I have a humidifier at night to help keep the air moist and breathe directly above it when I wake up at night to take the meds. I am sipping water all day and every time i wake up at night. My breath is terrible (or so I’m told) and my mouth feels like road kill has lodged itself in there. It doesn’t feel clean and fresh regardless of how much I brush, rinse, or swish. Flossing is not an option as I can barely open my mouth to accept a spoon. Applesauce was good but now burns. Going to try pudding and jello.
So grateful for this website and all the contributions of my fellow travelers down this unpleasant path….
Hang in there Kitty. Try icing or gargling with ice water to reduce the swelling.
Well, my day 5 is just starting but I must say I have learned a lot from all of the comments and it does feel better knowing someone understands my pain. Not getting much sleep but grateful for the hours that I do get (2-3) at a time before the pain wakes me up. I have found that Campbell’s chicken noodle soup and ramen noodles have been my best friend. I overcooked the noodles so they’re completely soft and swollen. they go down much easier than jello. I was finally able to successfully eat jello on Day 4 (yesterday). Day 1 jello and applesauce kept getting stuck. I am petrified of trying anything close to ice cream becuz of the mucous. I started drinking warm tea yesterday. That was very soothing. I also had some really soup grits yesterday which tasted wonderful. Reminds me of the buttered popcorn my husband was sitting next to me eating. All in all I know I’m playing a big game of patience and can’t let the game outsmart me into doing dumb things like eating the wrong foods too soon. I do not want to risk these scabs coming off too soon. When I wake up coughing I keep my mouth kinda clinched so the full brunt of the cough doesn’t hit the scabs. I’m ready for Day 6… and what it brings. I think taking it slow (rest, eating, drinking) will pay off in the long run. #feartheturtle
DAY 6: 30 years old and had tonsillectomy (with adenoids removed too).
SOOOO..This is the ear pain everyone has been talking about! Part of the reason I got my tonsils removed was because I have had constant ear fullness for over 3 years now and the hope was that once they were removed my ears could finally drain. I hope the swelling from surgery doesn’t last too long because this ear pain is worst than what I had before the surgery.
Swallowing is still very difficult and these sores/scabs that have formed on the back of my tongue are horrible. The only way I can get through recovery is to push the liquids but it hurts to swallow Aside from the bleeding that had to be dealt with a few days ago, I am calling Day 6 my worst day so far.
Day 6 for me. I just found this site today and it is wonderful! I don’t feel like I was provided enough information prior to surgery about what to expect during recovery. Ive had several surgeries including a c-section and this is by far the worse recovery ever! I woke up this morning around 2am with pain in my jaw, ear and throat. I took a dose of roxicet grabbed an ice pack and tried to get back to sleep. I woke again around 7am and was able to get down a couple spoons of grits and a protein shake. Since the pain was bearable I didn’t take any additional meds until this afternoon. I decided to switch and take two extra strength Tylenol versus the stronger prescription drugs. It has kept the pain at about 2 for the day. I was even able to get down half a burger for dinner. I can see the scabs in the back but don’t think any have fallen off thus far. Hoping for a better night tonight and will see what the morning brings. Good luck to everyone and wishes for a speedy recovery for us all!
Today is day 5 for me, and I’ve been eating pizza with no problem. Crusts and all! It hurts, but the food is so worth it.
Day 6 – 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.
I went through my tonsillectomy on October 1, and I understand all of this. My ear hurts, swallowing has became a chore, I’m losing sleep because I can’t swallow my saliva, I haven’t had a lot to eat thanks to the pain. My pain medication is running out and I could care less because it stopped working, day 3. If anyone has this, do more research because it is so painful.
Hello Greg!!! Boy am I glad I found this site and what a blessing it is for me. I am 26 and I’m getting my tonsils out on Oct.9th. I know I don’t do for pain well but the site has helped me to prepare for whats to come. Thank You and if you could tell me a little insight on how long the recovery actually takes I’ll ever be so greatful!!!
Day 6, still dieing! I am so depressed. I feel like I am being starved out because I can’t even eat applesauce or pudding without feeling like I am fighting for my life. I am also extremely tired! Can’t sleep long because the pain just wakes me back up, and if I do manage to sleep for more than an hour…. The pain is extremely worse due to lack of water. I feel as if I am never going to feel better. I just want this recovery to hurry up!
You’re at about the worst of it. Try to think about the years of feeling better you have ahead of you. This IS temporary!!!! Give your body the time it needs to heal. It will heal!
recovery day 6 this is horrible I ice all the time and it helps… I also found ibuprofen with the lortab helps alot! I am so glad I found this page yesterday it helps hearing that I am not the only one feeling like this!!! take care everyone!
ahh DON’T use ibuprofen! if a scab comes off and starts bleeding, it will be harder to clot as ibuprofen is a blood thinner. Wait until you’re all healed up to use ibuprofen again.
I can’t take it anymore! My throat is on fire! Everything I eat or drink burns, even the ice water. After meds I’m ok, until I try to eat. It’s like I relax enough to be able to say I can do it and then when I actually try my throat is like “Psyche!” Onto of the throat pain, my ears still hurt, and the icey cold water gave me a migraine. I’m exhausted. I’m regretting this procedure big time. But I’m hoping in the long run I’ll stop getting strep and sinus infection so much. The doctor gave me a script for something to numb my throat, which I tried last night… it only lasted maybe an hour and a half and left me feeling like complete poo. I’m not sure I’ll be trying that again even though it took the pain away for a bit. Few more days. I keep telling myself it’ll get better…
After last night (when my whole left scab fell off and I was spitting out bright red blood), I’m even more terrified to speak, eat or anything else. It’s bled again once today, and I’ve come to the conclusion that the cause of my scab falling off so soon was that I was eating chunks of frozen bananas and swallowing on my left side, despite the pain I felt. Today I’ve decided to try ice cream and soup. The ice cream has not bothered me as I thought it would. Although I prefer warm on my throat, I’m scared it will warm what clots over my freshly burned skin and make me bleed again. Not a fun day. Living in fear here…
Today is my actual day six……. And yep PAIN is still here the tightness you get in the morning finding that first swallow the worst still felt the same as day 2,3,4 and 5. I have to say with my meds the dull ache seemed a little less by lunch time so I tried to eat!! It’s like the tonsillectomy devil is just waiting for you to feel at ease to trick you in to a confident “it’s safe to have something to eat” thought then the chew don’t seem bad you feel so happy that you might be able to eat today!! Then ZAP that little devil sticks that burning pain, the feeling of swallowing crushed glass or razor blades to the back of your throat in a milli second!! ….. I’m hungry, I’m tired I’m still in pain! No change my ears ache badly today so it’s helped cause all the focus is off my throat!! …. I’m from London and I’ve been reading a lot of post op blogs and it seems that over here in England we are being told to eat roughage ie: TOAST, CRUSTY ROLLS, CRISPS (potatoe chips) as it helps encourage the throat to mend quicker!! I have found by struggling to eat a slice of toast ( and this has actually made me cry with the pain) but after my throat has felt a little clearer and less tight!! Just depends on how often you can do this…. For me just the once but if any soldiers wanna give it ago it is meant to work in the healing process a lot quicker!! ….. Roll on day 7…… Will let you all know how I’m suffering!! Sharing my thoughts actually makes me feel a little better. So glad that everyone feels very similar as I started to think I was a total WHIMP lol …. Take care tonsillectomy friends recovery will soon be here……..
Hi Katie, I had my tonsils out on tue ( so in day 4) I am from the UK too and was surprised like you that my consultant said eat toast and crisps from day 1. I have been doing this but only after taking volteral which he prescribed me which is brilliant for pain. For three hours I get no pain at all when I take that – have you been prescribed it? I have found this site today and it has really cheered me up reading that there are other people sharing my discomfort. I had no idea the would be so long and painful , it’s a nightmare isnt it ? Also when you wake up and your throat is really sore try swishing water in your mouth for 20 seconds etc then spit it out. I find that helps me go swallow a little bit after that without choking on it. I have had no ear ache yet fingers crossed , but it sounds like it may come in a day or do reading other peoples accounts ! Oh well night time again, this is the bit I hate , I want to sleep but hate waking up with a dry sore mouth. The joys !!
Juuuust when I thought there was a light at the end of the tunnel. On day 5 I woke up feeling pretty much the same as every other day… Crappy! I was finally able to see those gross scars everyone’s been talking about! I took meds at 12…3…6….8….10 yeah it started getting pretty bad. Everything seemed fine I was able to go to the food store and buy more “tonsillectomy groceries”. I tried eating Mac and cheese (mini shells) and it went fine! I figured that’d be my dinner also! I have no idea what happened but in the middle of eating I experienced the worst pain mainly on the right side of my throat. I had to stop eating immediately and take more pain meds. I looked in my throat and I saw a little white ball on my throat (part of the scab but looked bigger then any other part). That night I barely slept; starving and in pain but I couldn’t do anything about it. This morning (day 6) I feel just as horrible. Tried getting little tiny pieces of water melon down but every time I swallow I want to cry. The only thing worse then the pain is this horrible metallic taste I have in my mouth. I could probably eat so much more if it wasn’t for that taste. Apple sauce tastes horrible due to this. It’s horrible. I’m just counting down the days to feeling normal again. Good luck to you all!!
I am on day 5 it’s 20:17 and I’m clock watching as I am counting every second of every minute of every hour to take my meds, I know it sounds so childish but I have been the biggest brat in the world!! I’ve not slept, swallowed or ate properly for days that seem like weeks. I can not believe how much pain this operation causes. I keep reading hundreds of posts for a little glimmer that the next day is less painful and by the looks of things it’s NOT!!.
I thought how frightening is reading all this post about how painful it is but it’s no lie!!! This has to be the worst thing ever I have cried with pain and pure frustration. I say good luck to anyone who has just had the tonsillectomy except pain, tears, hunger, frustration more pain and hardly any sleep… There are no answers to pain relief no amount of ice chipping, ice lolly’s, ice cream, apple sauce, soup, tea or medication that really helps just good old fashion taking it on the chin. I’ve had two babies and god I’d push a baby out everyday instead of this pain!! It’s constant, dull,sharp,burning,tight, words don’t describe how awful this really is.. Oh day 6 tomorrow I just can’t wait!! BRING IT ON
Well i ate everything since coming out of theater….
That ended yesterday….I’m now on day 5 and in very much pain…..every 5 hours….
Hiccups….coughing….but sneezing is the worst….OMG…
I know this is day six……and i’m on day 5…..lord help me
I can report on day 6…..very bad….only slept 2 hours or so last night….
the meds says take every 6 hours but I couldn’t….took at 12….3…and 6….
feeling better now…all my other meds are finished now….just the painkillers left.
Can’t drink my morning coffee
Let’s hope today is better…at least i can watch dexter season finale!
Day 6 – Can only sleep in my lazy-b chair sitting up. Laying down in bed is hard to breathe and very uncomfortable.
Dr. prescribed a numbing mouthwash which I was very excited about using. I thought it would numb the pain for awhile.
It did. For about 2 hours. I slept.
Then awoke in moaning agony! My throat was on fire with pain! For 2 whole hours I was on cloud 9 with no pain. But man, I paid for it.
I brushed my teeth. Drank cold water. And finally, took a dose of my pain medicine (that’s separate from the numbing mouthwash).
For a good 30 – 45 mins. I sat on my couch in total agony waiting for my pain medicine to kick in.
Today is day 6 pain is still there I find myself waking every 4 hours to take pain meds scabs r still yhere and only thing I am able to eat is milkshakes jello pudding slimfast n ooo my mashed potatoes where my enemy I think I cried about an hour after trying that.. I. Am so ready for this to b over I still have scabs but I heard things get easier asfter they fall.I’m just ready to recover n get rid of pain especially n my ears grrr is that aggrivating.
Hang in there. You are in the worst of it. Try chewing sugar-free gum to alleviate that ear pain. Take care
I know exactly what you mean. I hate eating food. . it is so painful.
I’m soooo ready for this to be over with, as well.
Day 6 and I definitely felt more pain today than I have any other day. I took a long nap and woke uo to a dry angry throat. I also had some ear pain, and my tongue hurt as well. I still ate normaly, and went on with my normal activities. Most of the day when I swallowed the pain was about 4/10. During the painful bouts I’d say the pain was a 7/10 when I swallowed or spoke. Fortunately the pain was easily brought under control with medicine. Even with today’s ups and downs I’d still call this an easy recovery. I hope it stays that way. All the best to the ones in the thick of recovery.
Day 6: still just Tylenol (since the day after surgery) and the pain was almost unmanageable when I ate. The pain was out of my imagination but I still kept on eating normal food. Nuts I know but I made it. I used cold therapy for the first time on my throat and ears and it worked very well. The pain comes and goes and the only pattern seems to be it getting worse while and 10 minutes after I ate. I use salt water after every meal and one piece of the scab (it could be scrambled eggs) came out with my mouth rinsing. Well I tried to sleep for one hour at a time the a sip of cold water but slept for 2 hours and I woke up by my own coughing. It was itchy and painful at the same time Rhein tasted blood. I spit a little blood out, but I didn’t panic I just got some ice water and era slowly. The blood stopped after a while and I didn’t get more sleep. Dang it. It was the first day I went out on my regular walk and I was just fine.
Day 6. I feel like my world is a 4 hour cycle of pain meds, sleeping, waking up from pain, then sipping cold fluids until it’s time to take another dose. The lortab doesn’t help past about 2.5 to 3 hours, so that’s the most I can sleep. I’m really tired of always being awake from 1:30 am to 2:30 am and again from 5:30 am to 6:30 am.
My pain level is between 7 and 8, depending on where I am in that cycle. I wouldn’t describe the pain as crushed glass in my throat. It’s more like my throat is on fire. I’ve stopped swallowing as much to avoid the pain, and when I do swallow it’s because I’m drinking something.
Hi there Vicky,
That’s exactly what’s I’m going through, too. The pain medicine does not take all the pain away & only lasts 2 – 3 hours, but I can’t take another dose until the 4 hour mark. By that point I’m in misery.
Day 6 so far has been miserable. I’d rate the pain a 9 out of 10. I will only award it a 10 out of 10 if and when I actually shed a tear. Woke up this morning and the percocet was no longer fighting the pain. I stupidly took some Tylenol with it hoping that would work better than Ibuprofen, which it worked for about 30 minutes before turning into utter pain again.
Throat feels like someone has been shoving glass down it all night, esophagus feels like I swallowed a fireball from all the acid trying to come up, stomach hurts from the lack of food (I’ve lost 10lbs already from this Jello only diet), and my ears…oh dear god my ears hurt so bad. All I can do to comfort myself is sit in an upright position with both hands cupped over my ears and try to enjoy what little quiet I can get…which is really difficult with the two puppies barking outside my window 24 hours a day.
I tried to take an anti-acid tablet earlier, smooshed it up really good and put it in pudding. I was only able to swallow two bites before giving up because my throat hurt so much. I think the most depressing part of it all is, everyone has told me that the 7th day is the worst, and the pain plateaus from there till the 10th day. I’m on day 6, so if I’m this miserable, I get to enjoy something worse for the next 4 days, are you kidding me?
HELP! I’m loosing my mind! Surgery was last Wednesday at 7am. Days 1/2 were pretty good, day 3 wasn’t bad. Pain has been tolerable. Now dealing gagging from what I think is thrush on my tongue or the scabs not sure which is the major cause. I’m back to only liquids, nothing taste good. Not sleeping, I fell asleep at 5am today and woke up gagging at 7. I’m at my wits end! When will this be over? Any suggestions for making it easier. I am mostly drinking smoothies and water just to get something in my stomach. Due to go back to work Thursday but unless something major flips thinking that won’t be happening. I know I needed this done but I am questioning myself now!
Are you there, God? It’s me, Little Miss Tonsillectomy.
If you’re listening, God, I’m over this. Please end this hell. I’ll even make you a deal. You make this better and I won’t curse my throat in your name anymore. Ok? Ok!
I can’t eat. I’m back to fluids only thanks to the razor blades in my throat and the screws in my jaw. Except now I prefer them slightly warm instead of cold. I also prefer a wheat bag/hot pack to the face and neck than a cold one. Is this progress???
I spent most of yesterday asleep. I missed an entire “weather event” (aka a “storm”). I woke to find half the city in darkness and trees and rooves down all over the place. It felt like the apocalypse inside my throat had started taking over the world.
I talked on the phone for about 10 minutes. BIG mistake.
I’m taking meds religiously, which helps me get a couple of hours sleep at a stretch, but my skin now looks like a junkie’s as a result.
Let this be over already. Please.
>:(
Day 5-6: woke up in pain. This has been the most pain since day 2. Throughout the day, the pain eased. Started eating chilled applesauce; went down smoothly. Tried pureed baby food; this was all fruit and highly acidic, resulting in much pain. Took pain medicine an hour later (didn’t need this until now). It’s now noon and everything is well. Pureed some eggs, chicken, and Campbell’s chicken noodle soup. Ate this after chilling and it went down very smoothly. Late evening: took a one hour nap after second pain med regiment.. Woke up and hydrated. No pain experienced. This was the case for the rest of the night.
Some precautionary steps taken to this point: absolutely no dairy consumed (the second day, this resulted in bleeding and cauterization); little to no talking **It hurts worse to talk than it does to drink pureed food and eat/dink liquid based substances**; a routine pain medication schedule (although I have not had to take them all the time) might be good; a humidifier while sleeping ( I cannot stress how much this has helped from day two and so on; I recommend this to anyone who is thinking about getting a tonsillectomy – it makes a world of difference); a balanced sleep schedule (alarm is set for every two and a half hours; upon waking, hydration is necessary).
This process is different for everyone.
After my bleeding yesterday, today has been the worst pain so far. Pain killers barely touching anything. Sticking to pure liquids for fear of another bleeding epidemic. Today, I am suffering the most ear pain so far and have been icing the most to try and maintain the pain. I’m about one level of pain away from calling my doctor for stronger meds.
Eating chicken stars soup with about 3/4 the noodles taken out, drinking strawberry pedialyte, water and apple juice. Watching My little pony… Yes, i’m 20 years old and am in such a state that the only pleasure I get is through children’s cartoons. I just want all this to be over.
Also feeding into my anxiety by researching my bleeding and the chances of it happening again… I’m practically comatose on the couch trying not to overexert myself in any way.
I’d like to sleep until it’s all over please.
bleeding again, only a bit… about 5 min. stopped with ice water. This is getting old.
Day 6 of my coblation tonsillectomy went smoothly. Pain got a tad bit worse but it isn’t bad at all, 3 out of 10 I would say, maybe a 4 at brief moments. I realized today the switch occurred – I prefer room temperature liquid now not freezing cold anymore. Also Gatorade began to burn. I’m assuming this all has to do with the scabs. I can see the tops of white scabs but can’t open my mouth further. Anyway, I am feeling good. Hopefully by the weekend things will begin going back to normal.
Ok, dare I say this but I actually started to fell better today (day 6). It had been pretty terrible with the ear pain and feeling like I was swallowing shards of glass with every sip of water. But today it seemed to turn around. I am spitting out little white chunks of scabs, but they are very small. I have hope now that I will only get better, but I am scared that this is a cruel joke and the worst is yet to come. Crossing my fingers!
Post-op day 6… (day 7 if you count the day of surgery as day 1)
PLEASE GOD LET THIS BE OVER.
Yesterday was terrible, and today has not been brilliant either. I had a scab come off around 2am last night, accompanied by more bleeding than I had anticipated. I sucked on some ice cubes and sipped ice water and it eventually stopped. After talking to the 24hr advice nurse at ENT, my mom (bless her heart, she has been putting up with her helpless 25 year old daughter through all of this) told me that things sounded good and that I was turning a corner. I was so happy!
Until this morning… when I brushed my teeth… and that same side started bleeding… again.
It was 6am and my mom was ready to take me to the ER, but after more ice cubes and rinsing with ice water the bleeding eventually stopped and we instead made an appointment for later in the day. It turns out that I have at least one clot hanging out on the side the scab came off on. My ENT doctor wanted to try to cauterize it right then and there, in her office, with me not having eaten anything in forever and already in massive amounts of pain. I had a mini anxiety attack and couldn’t let her do it, so instead I got permission to increase my pain medication and instructions to go straight to the ER if my throat either bleeds more (quantity) or more than once. It’s impossible to tell at the moment whether it’s just little blood vessels or an artery under that clot, with the former being less of a concern and an arterial bleed requiring that I go back into surgery. Please, God, no.
I have been miserably sitting in bed trying not to do one single thing to upset my throat and make it bleed, which has involved a lot of sleeping. I am also getting into a bit of a time crunch of recovery, as I have to start rotations for my 4th year of pharmacy school on the 24th! So in between naps I have tried to catch up on emails and fulfilling requirements that should have been done long ago.
Oh, and I am SO HUNGRY!!! I was trying to eat orzo pasta in butter yesterday for some substance, but was too afraid to chew anything today due to the bleed risks. Thankfully I discovered room temperature mashed potatoes. It took me about an hour to eat a cup, but that was the most substantial thing I think I’ve eaten so far. I think I am going to try to eat some more after my next dose of pain meds. This chronic hunger/malnutrition can’t possibly be helping with anything (particularly my mood!).
I’m really hoping I’ll turn a corner here soon and hit the home stretch… without having to have my throat recauterized.
Side note: I think that post probably should go under “Recovery Day 7”, since I think most people are counting surgery day as day 1. My next post will go under day 8.
My 15 yr old had his tonsils removed June 11th and it has been difficult for him. Today he had a little breakdown. He attempted to eat chicken noodle soup, roman noodles, and mac n cheese. He has not been successful at all to take in any food today. He stated that Popsicle hurts his throat. He stated that his throat hurts when he swallows any liquids, including his Lortab (which is in liquid form). He does alot of spitting. I assessed his surgical site and all looks good. He expressed his frustration and stated that he was not going to eat or drink anything. I found this site right after he made that statement. I read several comments hoping it will help him and me get through this recovery! I stressed to him the importance of keeping fluids going. He understands, but my heart goes out to him. I just don’t like the mood swings. I know he is hurting and is frustrated, but it does get better and this is the only time he will ever have his tonsils removed! Thank you to all of you for your ideas and encouragements. Remember this too shall pass! I had my tonsils removed at the age of 14 and I really don’t remember too much of the recovery, just I got through it.
Hang in there Mom! He’s lucky you are there for him. Are the popsicles the juice kind? Those burn. My favorites were the cheapo root beer and banana flavored. He REALLY needs to stay hydrated. Chewing gum is good to at least keep things working. Will he do that?
Today was the first day that I thought about crying. I didn’t though. I wasn’t going to let it get me! I am just tired and hungry! And so sick of this! It feels like it is never going to end! Pain is the worst it has been yet. Today I couldn’t talk very well and just plain hurt to try. Feels like a bad, bad case of strep. It also feels like the scabs are coming loose maybe. I can feel things hitting my tongue and throat and I’m assuming it is that. I also burped all day long (not sure why) and that hurts too! Hoping tomorrow is better! I can’t do too many days of this before I lose it and cry. And I know that will hurt!
Best day yet so far since surgery. My tongue is back to normal size with almost no pain, and half of my scabs have fallen off. Much less pain today, I’d say I’m at about a 2-3 out of 10 overall. Still sleeping a bunch but can definitely see the light at the end of the tunnel.
I’m on day 6 of my recovery and I’ve found that one side is healing better than the other.. I’ve looked in the mirror and one side is not the whitey colour it was before and the other side (the side that it very painful) still looks like it did, is it normal for one side to heal faster than the other?
Thanks Greg – great idea with the site. A source of comfort to many.
Greetings from sunny London! I never contribute comments to websites but felt compelled to after reading all these comments. I really admire everyone’s fortitude in recovery and also bravery in choosing to get this operation done. Life begins here!
I am on day 6 – my girlfriend is travelling with work so I’ve been fending for myself. Really bad pain but I am managing thanks to a few principles that have worked for me. Everyone is different but this is what I am doing:
– Develop consistency with pain killers – use your phone to plan when to take the pills and then keep a diary of what I have taken and when. As tempting as it is to sleep and take painkillers when you wake, set alarms to ensure that you keep on top of the pain rather than responding to it
– Build food consumption around consumption of pain killers – I find that one hour after taking my pain killers it the optimal time to eat
– If you have painkillers/anti-inflammatories that need to be taken after food, take them in bed and try to get some sleep – this will help you manage the nausea
– Keep food and drink simple – at first I tried (on my ENT consultant’s advice) to eat more challenging food in order to keep the throat clean. This resorted in bleeding and a return to the hospital. I am now surviving on a diet of soup (mushroom seems to work well) and yogurts
– Avoid excessively hot and cold food. Go for room temperature
– I prefer to stick to water rather than flavoured drinks as these seem to make my throat sting
– Drink water little and often – small sips are best
– Don’t become obsessed with checking your throat in the mirror – give it time to heal. A couple of times a day I check to see if there is any food congestion back there – this can be dislodged by sipping water and (I guess) will help to reduce the risk of infection
– Limit the amount of talking – I spent all of day 3 on the phone to the taxman and I believe that this caused my bleeding
– Go outside for 5 minutes everyday – just to get some fresh air and sunlight
Hope these ideas help.
Thank you E. these are pearls of wisdom!! Speedy recovery to you.
ICE CREAM!! Eat it by the bucket and think positive thoughts that’s all I have the energy to do right now!
Ok, Day6 – food has become my enemy. The thought of it recoils me! Eating was one thing I did so well and it’s gone!! I’m horrified!
The pain each time I swallow is horrendous, stabbing and sharp. I’ve also got sore teeth and my mouth tastes vile!
I spoke to the ENT nurse today, she told that I need to eat ‘normal’ food, it helps with the scabs….I tried! I had a KFC burger (it’s usually my fav and as a treat!) but it took me nearly 2 hrs to eat.
I wonder what days 7, 8, 9 and 10 have in store! I’m hoping for the sensations of little kisses from angles and smooth relaxing sensations each time I swallow. (I’m so not in denial! :0 )
Stinky mouth, ear pain, and cannot eat without stabbing my throat. Cannot talk, can’t sleep coz of the pain and any noise from tv or computer give me headache. Mouth tastes awful. There is no way I am looking at my throat the next month or so.
Well it’s the old guy again I’ve made it thru day 6 .Got my biosey report back to day and thank god there’s no cancer .The only part of my day that was good I’ve been doing real good but today I was having a lot of ear pain and my throat was hurting pretty bad.Im on 2 different pain meds but they didn’t seen to help today my scabs are still no coming and I hope they don’t for a few more days . I think it all depends on the dr that you have mine told me up front that there would be good and really bad days and this is not my good one .He told my wife on my surgery day that I was the oldest person that he had taken their tonsils out of he tricked me didn’t he but I stil think he’s the best dr I could have had .well till tomorrow good nite and have a better tomorrow.
I am 21 year old female who had my tonsils out on the 24th. Today is day 6, almost day 7. I woke up feeling marginally better. Made sure I ate toast and fruit and committed to a larger than normal dinner. Right now I almost feel back to normal. The throbbing pain in my ears has subsided and swallowing has become less painful. I am now producing less saliva thus am needing to spit a lot less (yay!). I have been bed ridden the past week and it has been an agonizing 6 days. The first two were bearable but then it was all down hill. Day 5 was easily the worst day. The pain became so unmanageable I had a panic attack due to stress.
I’ve been switching between strong codeine tablets and endone throughout my recovery. Endone made me too nauseous so I stuck with Panadeine Forte. I took an anti inflammatory about 3 hours ago and it really accelerated things some more. I’ve been cautious to take them because of their blood thinning effect, but my GP said I would be okay at this stage. Hopefully the rest of recovery is smooth sailing from here.
Also 21 years old on day 6…. Days 1-5 were pretty easy but today I’m convinced I would just like to have my tonsils back :/ The pain is just now escalating and I am completely miserable. I’ve been eating normal foods the whole time but all I’ve wanted today was Popsicles and icees. Sigh
40 year old man…and they said it would be miserable. Day 7 post op and all I can say is “Holy Hell”!! Days 1-3 were actually pretty good. I could talk, move about slowly, etc. then came day 4…
Days 4-7 were terrible. Can’t talk, can’t swallow (without excruciating pain), can’t sleep….ugh. No bleeding until today and I want to cough more…trying not to. Bleeding has been minimal but any red and I worry. I am SOOOO sick of pudding and percaset – yuk! Just trying to keep drinking water (anything else burns), alternating percaset, ibuprofen, and Tylenol, and hoping for the best.
P.S. the shooting ear pain is INSANE! Hope it passes soon…praying.
The surgery really isn’t even that bad. Glad I haven’t had the experiences all of you have had. I’m on day 6 I’ve had allergic reactions to all of the pain meds so I can take nothing and honestly I don’t think I’ve even needed any since day 2. There is hope! I hope everyone who reads these posts aren’t too scared. I’ve been eating anything and everything since surgery and I’m in my mid 20’s
I am on Day 5 post-surgery. I read this website faithfully before having my surgery on the 12th of April so I knew what to expect and it has been such a gift to feel somewhat preapred. Tonight I am having neck pain, which is probably from sleeping in the recliner every night. It’s just that each new pain makes you worry and I am just ready to be at the end of this instead of stuck somewhere in the middle.
Donna I had my tonsils out on the 12th of April as well! Good luck in this difficult recovery
Day 6. I am 34 years old and I’ve been through broken bones and burns and various injuries. Nothing prepared me for this. My symptoms have been relentless. Worst pain and agony ever. Occasional ear aches, unable to swallow still, constipation, vomiting from the meds, can’t sleep mode than an hour and a half at night. Ensure high protein vanilla has kept me alive. Today I started bleeding more. Looked back there with a flashlight, looks like a rotten corpse in there. It feels like there’s paper in my thoroughly and my lungs are burning like I’m getting a chest cold. This morning I almost passed out . No sleep, very little food and excruciating stabbing pain swallowing even water.
Today I woke up feeling the worst ever. Day 6 and there is some burning bruising next to the scabs which Is what is killing me fir pain…swallowing is not bad and scabs are fine…but that red burning bruising nakes it horrible.
One thing thats been helping me a littke is Difflam forte spray..I already went through 4 bottles of it in 2 days… this morning intook panadeine forte at 5:30 am and then oxycodone at 7:30…pain still hasnt gone away!!!
I am on Day 6 of post-op, and the pain is getting worse. My doctor did warn me that it would get worse, before it got better. But I’m honestly just plain scared. It has been a rather awful experience so far. The first 2 days were easy, and I thought “This isn’t half as bad as my Dr. said it would be!” But then came day 3. I couldn’t keep anything, not even my meds, down. I wound up in the ER on an IV for fluids and antibiotics. I even got a few shots of morphine. After that, I was much better, and went home the same day. I don’t remember much of Day 4, just that my throat was very raw from all of the vomiting from the day before. Yesterday, the scabs started to bother me. I can feel them in the back of my throat, and I threw up again last night. Now, I’m on Day 6…scared of vomiting, scared to cough, scared of bleeding. My ears hurt so much, and chewing gum doesn’t even help. I just want to sleep the pain away. I’m so scared for the next few days.
day-6
pain this morning is bad, throat feels so dry and just intense burning and ears are burning. yesterday afternoon i thought things were getting better. this feels like it will never end! have to tey to get an ensure down so i can take some meds.
I had my tonscillectomy on the 29th and it has now been 6 days since. Today was the worst day because I’ve been taking Percocet (oxycodone) for the pain and have not had a bowel movement in almost a week. After talking to my nurse I took a dose of Miralax this morning and then had a small urge to go: big mistake. I had severe constipation and was impacted from a vary large, dry and hard stool. And it hurt. It was a horrible experience to have to urge to go, to strain and not be able to pass it. It was so bad that I (fortunately) have a shower douche enema attachment and used it to fill my intestines with warm water and them pass the warm water to soften it up. After about 40 minutes and two douches, I was finally able to squeeze the monster turd through by just softening the edges: and it hurt really bad even with the enema! There was no way that would have come out without it. This was a direct result of the Oxycodone, which is a horrible drug. I stopped taking it after today’s constipation episode. I’ll deal with the pain rather than risk being impacted again, nobody should ever have to go through that. Lesson learned, if ever taking a narcotic again, take it in conjunction with a laxative.
Also, I’m a 22 (nearly 23) year old female who had her tonsillectomy performed on March 27th, 2013.
I’m supposed to go back to class tomorrow, but don’t know how I’m going to get through 6 hours of classes without talking or participating.
Today I woke up at 8am and felt as though my throat was very dry.
Last night was probably one of the worst nights of my life recovering so far. I took my pain medication on an empty stomach on Day 5 after 3 days of only using ibuprofen (crushed up and dissolved into a slushy Gatorade mixture). Due to this, I felt so sick, I couldn’t move without fear of upchucking. Unfortunately, my Mom brought a bowl over to me and as soon as she did, I threw up my dose of pain medication along with some tiny pieces of homemade bread she tried to get me to eat.
The rest of the night I spent sitting in the same position, not trying to move or adjust in fear I might puke again. I finally made it up to bed and woke up not feeling nauseous this morning. I took a nice hot bath and drank as much ice water as possible (I think I was severely dehydrated yesterday as well.)
So far today I’ve tried eating chocolate pudding, which is pretty difficult as I have a lot of mucus in the back of my throat and it’s already hard to swallow as it is. My Mom doesn’t seem to understand that it’s difficult, so I appeased her and spooned small bites into my mouth until she walked away. Also, applesauce seems to slightly be burning today. I basically have no appetite, and after the bad experience from the pain medication yesterday, I’m terrified of taking some more, thinking I might puke again and feel like complete garbage.
I also feel like there’s something stuck in my throat. Maybe a scab? Every time I swallow, I feel like I’m swallowing goop and it’s still there. I’m hoping this goes away soon?
As for my throat, my right and left side go back and forth from hurting the worst. I haven’t had any pain meds in quite some time, so I think I’m doing okay.
Also… anyone feel like the roof of their mouth is scraped? Mine hurts quite a lot closer to my actual teeth. Like an open wound as well.
I keep regretting this surgery every single day. I can’t wait until I can taste food again and eat again.
It’s crazy how alike our situations are. Last night was also the worst for me and ever since yesterday I have had a dry throat I can’t seem to shake! I hardly ate anything today other than some crackers soaked in broth but I made sure to keep pushing the water. My guess is that the worst is over and it will start to get better from here. Also I was drinking water last night and started to cough. After a coughing fit of about ten minutes I felt something odd in my mouth and it turned out I had coughed up a quarter sized scab( no bleeding thank god) but I’ve found that bread helps to ease off scabs that need to come off. Wishing you the best of luck and a quick recovery from here!
Hi there. I just came across this website while searching low and high for info about my surgery. I’m currently on day 6 and everyone’s comments have been so helpful. I don’t think my family can really understand how painful this is. Anyway, I wanted to share with you some of my experiences. First all my life saver has been miso soup with pastina in it (very tiny star shaped noodles) you don’t even need to chew and the salt from the broth sooths your throat tremendously. I think today some tiny pieces of scab fell off Becuase I have become very sensitive to cold things where before it was very soothing to suck on ice or Popsicles. I’ve been living on hard boiled eggs and Campbell’s as well. I’m very nervous for when the scabs begin to come off Becuase I don’t want to bleed. I threw up two days ago from taking my medicine on an empty stomach (always eat before!) and I just want this to be over! I havent been able to talk since day 2. Did anyone else encounter this? when did you regain your voice? Good luck to anyone else suffering with me at the moment and I hope to get some feedback!
Hey gays! Sorry to ask…. But is anyone else constipated from the pain meds? I’m taking Percocet (oxycodone) tablets, and I’m having a hard time! I was just wondering if anyone else is expieranceing this?
I feel alright overall except when I wake up from naps. I haven’t been able to get a good nighs rest, only 1-4 hour naps. Then I wake up in excruciating pain! I’m in the wagon with ya! All in all I just want to say its not that bad, except for certain times.(:
Just throwing some hope out there. Drink, drink, DRINK lots an lots of water! It helps!
Im 33 and i also had nasal surgery at the same time as my tonsillectomy, big mistake!
6th day, very bad day similar to 5. Can’t tolerate anything cold. I’m a jerk to people around me. Pain meds every 6 hours and down to 15mL from 20. eat some potatoes and mac and cheese, little bit of chicken. Doze a lot of the day and feel miserable like I have a fever but no fever. Pain is bad and nothing helps but the tetracaine pops. Feeling very nauseous and dizzy. Can’t walk around much. Email the doc and he tells me it’s normal.
Ps I am writing all this on my 9th day and I realized that we neglected to use the humidifier for days 5,6,7
Are any of y’all getting acne? I’m getting little bumps around my face but not sure why? I’m 14 and don’t get acne very often! So I’m just wondering what’s happening.. also, my eyelids are itchy!!!!
If you’ve been drooling in your sleep, which I have been, I’m on my 6th day now and every night so far I’ve woken up in a puddle, it will cause whiteheads on and around the area, normal don’t worry and if you’re taking a narcotic like percocet/oxycodone that’s why you’re itchy.
Here I am morning of day 6, just took another dose of my nasty liquid hydrocodone. Let me tell you this stuff burns like hell going down. I’ve come to the realization that my sleeping schedule revolves around me taking medication. I’m on 2 so it creates madness in the middle of the night. Ill sleep for 2.5-3 hours wake up in pain wait till I can take meds the take my meds but then I can’t call back to sleep right away because I wait for them to kick in.
When it comes to eating I don’t eat much, the easiest for me to actually eat is bread, weird? Probably. All my clothes are increasingly becoming baggies it feels by the hour but I know that’s not possible.
Basically I’m tired hungry, crabby, and impossible to deal with cant wait for this to be over with!
I’m glad I found this site and can relate to so many people because everyone around me at home really doesn’t understand how painful this experience truly is.
Thanks!
Stephanie
I had my surgery on Tuesday 3/19/13. There is no way I prepared myself for what to expect. This has been the most excruciating pain I have ever felt. I take my pain medication every four hours and it starts to wear off at about 3 1/2 hour point.
Today 6 days after surgery I am still having difficulties. I feel as though there are razors down the back of throat, even while drinking water. I cannot even think about eating anything. It is so difficult to swallow and I am producing so much mucus it’s gross. Nothing seems to be working, all I hear is drink, drink, drink. But this is extremely difficult to do when your feeling this amount of pain trying to swallow water.
31 years old and had my surgery on March 18th, so this is the end of Day 6 if you count surgery day.
Every day is slightly better (very slightly).
I coughed up a decent-sized piece of scab this morning. Not sure if this is good or not, and although I can email my ENT to ask, it seems like lots of others are having this occurrence on Day 6.
This mucus is incredibly annoying. I am ready for that to stop. I feel like I have to keep clearing my throat. I swallow it though, because I guess I consider it hydration??? I’m not sure. And the tickle in my throat that comes and goes, causing me to cough. That sucks too – is that from the scabs coming off?
I had a breakdown yesterday too. I have a 23 month old daughter who’s really noticed something is going on with Mommy. She’s been crying and reaching for me at bedtime and it just breaks my heart. My ENT said not to pick her up for 10 days. That’s been rough. I did it yesterday anyway… And I suffered in pain afterwards. What I am most worried about is that I won’t be healed by her 2nd birthday party in mid-April. I will put on a smile and everything, of course, so it’s special for her. But will I be able to have birthday cake with her? Will I be healed? This just makes me sad and scared.
Food-wise, I had some gnocchi today, but I chewed it a zillion times to make sure it was small enough. When I had tried it yesterday, I was just so hungry for anything other than Ensure, Popsicles and yogurt that I tried to eat it like I would have pre-surgery… That didn’t go so well. I kept feeling like pieces were getting stuck on the scabs or in the craters or something – is that even possible? I also made myself some soft mashed potatoes with cheese. That was really yummy – I will likely have that again tomorrow.
The thing is, no matter what I ingest (ice water and Popsicles excluded), my throat burns like razor blades when I swallow. And it’s so frustrating that my husband and my parents dont understand – they think its the acid from the tomato sauce or they say “maybe there’s pepper in there”. No! Thats not it! Its because my throat’s been butchered and things touching it just plain stings like crazy!
That’s why I am so happy I found this site. I suddenly feel so much less alone in this and it’s giving me hope… Thank you.
Welcome aboard Jamie!
I hvnt had ANY pain meds today. So hopefully that means Im healing.I’m on day 6. My right tonsill hurts the most. It hurts pretty bad, I don’t really feel it on my left. Ear pain on the right is annoying too. I have been drinking ensure and I had a half a grilled cheese today. I hope ot doesnt get worse. I think alot of people over react. Yeab it hurts but its not excruciating.
Day 6: I had a little cry yesterday. I managed to eat a piece of banana bread down. So was feeling confident that dinner would go down ok, how wrong was I. I bought some sushi as this worked well while I was in hospital. After the second bite it literally felt like I had glass in my mouth, then some food got stuck and I was choking. I was just so disappointed as when I don’t eat it’s not too bad.
Woke up this morning on day 6 and my mouth is as dry as a bone with a thick film everywhere. I pushed down a Tramadol and am sat here chewing gum as drinking water is excruciating. It almost feels like the back of my tongue is bruised and chopped or something. I’m just glad it’s the weekend and my husband can spend some time with me, I’m literally losing my marbles in the week on my own.
Also whenever I attempt to eat anything a rancid taste comes in my mouth, what the hell is that. I have such a high pain threshold and had no idea on earth recovery would be this bad.
Last night I kept drifting off to sleep on the sofa, when I work up every 20 minutes I had no idea where I was or what was going on. Like a state of confusion but I was awake, it made me really upset and my husband had to keep trying to calm me. What the hell are these drugs doing to me!
When will it get better
Day 5/6 today being day 6 have definately been the worst for me. Up until yesterday o was quite lucky with what I was eating still painful but not too bad! Have really struggled today though even drinking water through a straw is a challenge! Taking codeine (which I ran out of yesterday omg I missed that today as my chemist didn’t have it in stock till late afternoon) and paracatemol it seems to be taking longer to kick in but I’m not sure wether my scabs are coming off as I have a stinging sharp pain when swallowing! It’s going to be a long night (it’s after 10 here in Scotland) night all!
Good Morning Day Six,
I am up before the sun because I just cannot make it to med time while sleeping without complete pain recon. I started getting the little cough many of you are talking about last night and I do feel like I am going to drown in my own sticky spit. I am still having a mild grade fever, but I do not feel it is anything to rush to the hospital for, thanks to a little knowledge from Greg. The pain level is equal to what I experienced on day five. As the scabs come off, I am experiencing more of a stinging pain. The best thing for that so far is keeping it numb with ice water and packs on my neck.
So many of you are talking about pain meds; I think I have the gem for the pain. Hydrocodone-Acetamin 7.5-500MG it is generic for Lartab Elixir. It is a liquid so it gets to work fast, within one minute I start to feel it. In 10 minutes, I have relief. It taste like poison and it stings madly, but I can take it every 4 hours so I don’t have the 2 hour lag with an every 6 hour med. I am also talking Advil. The Advil helps with the swelling and it is a good backer for the pain. I can also take that every four hours. When you stagger them, you are having pain control every two hours. Not all doctors recommend this and you can’t take Advil with all pain medications. However, if you can I highly recommend it. The only time I run into issues is during the night; I normally sleep through one of the doses and get myself off track. I end up taking them together because when I wake up the pain so horrific. When I do that, I go 6 hours with the Advil so I can get back to having something every two hours. When you do this, you are never truly without something working on the pain.
As far as eating, this morning I had lumpy mashed potatoes. More like potato soup. My wonderful husband is keeping the fridge stocked with homemade mashed so I can heat them up while he is at work or sleeping with little effort. I add a lot of milk and shredded cheddar so it is more like a thick soup. The lumps scratch my throat a little, but from what I am finding that is a good thing. I am going to try to add some meat today, either grilled chicken or fish. I would rather the scabs go down with a meal than cough them up like I was this morning. So gross.
As long as I can keep my fever under control, and do things like this blog to keep my mind busy I think I might make it through another day.
We will see what today brings.
But seriously….I am ready for this to be over!
~Amanda
20 year old, thought spring break would be the perfect time for a tonsillectomy. Had surgery March 8th, Day 6 3:30 am, I don’t want to eat or drink it hurts so bad to swallow. It feels as if someone is stabbing my throat and almost as if my throat is freezing cold, I’m thinking maybe this is a sign of my scabs forming. I have not look edat my throat to see what’s going on, so that is just a shot in the dark. Does anyone else have excess mucus production in their throat? I am constantly spitting this out, but have yet to see any blood in it. The furthest I’ve ventured out with food is macaroni and cheese, I think my diet today will be much simpler due to this pain. I haven’t been able to sleep due to the pain. I had to quit taking Lotab as it kept making me puke, which was not fun, so Extra Strength Tylenol it is. Happy 6th day to all, the end is there somewhere!
I have tons of mucus. its so gross and gurts when I cough it up. I makes me feel as if I’m choking everytime I swallow. ugh I haven’t eaten anything and im trying to stsy hydrated but its so hard. I also had my surgery March 8th and im so over this! im ready to better and eat/drink whatever I want.
March 8th here as well. Woke up in the middle of the night with spontaneous tears of pain from the pain – in my ears, neck, jaws, teeth, everything.
I also have mucus overflow but I try to spit it out as little as possible – each drop of liquids had to get in with pain, I’m not letting it out that easily.
Can any of you people speak? I haven’t been able to express myself verbally since the surgery. It’s just not happening.
Keep calm and carry on. And keep the painkiller levels high…
I actually speak really we considering. I went to my ENT and h said my tonsils look great and the mucus should go away by tomorrow. So im really excited about the mucus to be gone. I am dehydrated though so he said I need to drink a ton more liquids. im sticking to water. And haven’t tried food yet. Im just not brave enough. im not in much pain and haven’t taken my pain meds since day three. he did say its almost over. which is beyond exciting. I was wondering if maybe I missed something or if I want healing correctly because everyone on here says they are in excruciating pain. but its just thr large amount of mucus that I choke on when I drink or try to sleep flat.
oh and March 8 th was the day I had mine taken out.
I was not prepared for the mucus/nasal drip issues. I think waking up Days 3-6 with a thick coating of goo covering my mouth was the hardest part of this entire recovery. I felt like my body was a slime producing machine and having to scrape away all the nastiness before taking a drink of water during wake-up dry mouth moments was no fun at all. I was so happy when I was finally able to successfully blow my nose on day 5! Today is day 7 and the slime is gone!
eat something before you take the lortab..ensure,soft scrambled eggs. narcotic pain meds don’t do well on an empty stomach. good luck
If bleeding is more then 2 teaspoons then you need to go to hospital but pain is apparently worse days 5-8. I feel awful, exhausted. Can’t talk yet and swallowing water is like razor blades sometimes the throat gets stuck doing that. Toothache, ear splitting ear ache and a drill going through my head is common on top of the burning, swelling and throbbing I mouth, throat and neck! Apparently day 10 is a turn around. I need day ten now. I use an ice pack under my chin, ear muffs, ice lollies, Luke warm chicken soup, and bottles and bottles of cold water. On max pain relief but still nothing :-/
ive been dealing with a ton a phlegm. like enough to make me cough everytime I swallow. And it gives me panic attacks because I can’t breathe. I haven’t been able to eat anything yet and water is so.hard to swallow because of the phlegm… any suggestions?
I’m on day 6 of recovery and I too have been dealing with a ton of phlegm. It hurts to spit so I have actually been shoving a tissue in my mouth to sop some up b4 drinking water. As long as it’s ice water, it’s been ok for me. I’ve also made frozen jello and it is the most soothing thing I’ve had! Just make sure you don’t use sugar free because it doesn’t work as well. I haven’t had a whole lot of pain until today because I think I tore a scab but I haven’t seen any blood. I have 6 hour medication so I’ve been taking half doses every 3 hours and it seems to help.
I had my surgery on March 6th, and I’m currently on Day 6 post-op. I was hoping I’d wake up today and feel much better, however, that wasn’t the case. I’m feeling nauseous from taking so much pain medication and not having anything on my stomach. Yay for Promethazine suppositories…nope. My tongue has finally cleared from most of the white coating. However, my taste buds are completely out of whack. They are swollen and feel raw and whenever I try to take a tiny bite of something, it tastes like complete crap. Anyone else having this problem? I want my sense of taste back. Haven’t been able to eat much…some chicken broth. Tried eating peas, carrots, apple sauce, mashed potatoes, but it all gets stuck in the back of my throat. I basically haven’t eaten in a week and all I can think about is food. Also, I’ve been much more tired today. Since I haven’t been getting any calories, I have no energy and have taken at least three naps today. Some of the scabbing has been coming off in bits and pieces, most of which I spit up. I looked in the back of my throat for the first time today (it’s really the first time I’ve been able to open my mouth that wide), and I wish I hadn’t. White scabs, swollen Uvula, and some little red spots, which I’m sure are bleeding sites/clots/healing areas. Everytime I swallow, I can feel the scabs and it makes me sick to think I’ve been swallowing some of this junk. If I could go back, I would NEVER have had my tonsils out. Don’t get me wrong: I know I needed it, but this is completely ridiculous.
I totally agree with you as I’m on day 6 of recovery. If I knew how painful this would be I never would have done it.
I had chronic tonsilitis forever and always thought I had strep. I hope that this will get rid of consonant doctor visits especially since I work with children at a hospital. Plus I have vocal nodules as well aka a hot mess so I am praying this procedure was worth it!
Glad we are all in the same boat, soon to be exiting this torture boat soon!
But golly have I caught up on some tv shows and movies
I had my procedure done on march 8th and I am now on day 6. I am speech therapist so I am used to looking at the back of the throat, but my god its nasty! I started to experience spotting of blood in my spit yesterday. During the 2nd-4th day I was eating mashed potatoes and small pasta, now I feel like I have reverted back to ice chips and slurpes. So is more pain and bleeding common 5-7 days post surgery? I dont need to call the ENT regarding the slight bleeding?
My ent told me there’s no need to panic if its a really small amount of blood – like one dose of cough medicine or a teaspoon or something lime that.
If it’s constant bleeding, however, go straight to the emergency.
We must be patient…
It is common for pain to increase because your scabs are coming off. Small amounts of bleeding are ok. Drink ice water or eat Popsicles to make the bleeding go away but if it gets worse or doesn’t stop, call the doctor. I just had the first piece of scab come off today and it hurt!! No bleeding for me though thankfully, not yet.
I’m not sure what daybthisbis exactly for me but I’m going to go with 5-6. Last night was the worst night yet and had a hard time getting comfortable. Woke up in the middle of the night with pretty bad (but still manageable pain) I had a little bleeding last night after a dinner of mashed potatoes and mashed up carrots. Freaked me out a little bit but after some ice chips, ice water and an ice pack it stopped. Today has been ok, not too much pain and am still doing only 1/4 doses of the pain meds during the day. I’m down 8 pounds as of now and am pretty hungry which is annoying. Still surprised its been as easy as it has been!
I’m on day six of my tonsillectomy recovery, and my throat is feeling fine! Not a ton of pain, I am able to eat solid foods (like toast). The only thing thats absolutely killing me is the god awful taste and smell I’m experiencing from the scabs. I’ve never dealt with anything so gruesome and revolting before, in my entire life. It’s absolutely dreadful. I can’t eat anything without smelling it and tasting it. Gum and mints mask it for a little while, but then when I have to blow my nose or cough up phlegm, it comes back. It is SO DISGUSTING and I am counting down the seconds until these scabs fall off. I don’t even care about the little bit of pain, or the fatigue or stomach problems (from the opiates), I just want these scabs OUT! How long will it last? My dad is a doctor, and he said up to two weeks – I started crying. They should fall off soon…right?
Day 6: Last night at around 1 am i cleared my throat and spit up blood. It is probably because i ate a slice of bbq chicken pizza from Jet’s a few hours previous to the blood. I freaked out and went to my mom’s bed side and said ” I have blood”…. seriously… that is a direct quote. I sat at the kitchen table for about 2 hours sucking on ice from Sonic and pop sickles. I also drank three bottles of water. I suppose that the blood i coughed up was not a major problem because i have not seen anymore blood since then.
All-in-all day 6 has not been awful. I ate mac and cheese and top roman. My stomach was really upset and (the following is not for the faint of heart) i finally took my second poop since the surgery. The BM situation has been one of the hardest things for me to adjust to. It is really strange to go from pooing once a day to only going once every three or four days.
My pain is minimal and i only have taken one loratab today. I want to eat real food so bad. I am freaking out. I want it to end. Good Luck All.
You did the right thing Todd. Glad you’re ok. hang in there man
I’m a 28 yr old female now on day 6 after my surgery I woke a 4 am with a pain that brought me to tears I’ve been trying to sparingly take my pain meds and bare through the pain but I immediately scuffled down 15 ml of lortab elixir and eagerly waited 30 mins for the shrieking pain to go away. I then fell asleep only to wake again at 9:45 am with the exact pain. The pain in my left ear is the worst by far of all of my post op days combined. I’ve only been able to consume pudding and jello sip apple juice and drink ice cold wAter. Yesterday I ventured off and tried mashed potatoes which were so delicious but now I regret eating because I think I over did it. I am praying that I will have less painful days from here on out I just can’t bare another early morning pain streak such as this one. Best wishes to all who are in the same boat as I
It is now day six of my recovery. Straight after my op, the nurse said I HAD to eat to make my throat heal quicker. About an hour after surgery I layed in the hospital bed and ate a bag of crisps, a white chocolate chip cookie, a turkey sandwich and a small slice of cake. After a few hours in recovery I was discharged from the hospital. The pain was around the same pain as i’d experience if I had tonsilitis. When I got home I was able to eat dinner easily, there was some pain with swallowing food but it was tollerable.
The day after my surgery up until day 6 have been okay so far. The pain isn’t as bad as I expected it to be. It is about the same amount of pain as one of my worst cases of tonsilitis i’ve had in the past. The only time when the pain is simply unbearable is when I consume things like orange juice or tomatoes.
The pain killers I have been given have made me drousy, tired and easily annoyed. This has been my main concern during my recovery.
The only thing I would say brace yourself for is the bad breath. Oh, dear god. I am not able to open my mouth wide enough to get to the back of my mouth when I’m brushing my teeth, nor am I able to give my tongue a good scrub.
Other than that, I have been fine! I’ve been able to eat, smoke, talk, and even sing at times. I guess I’m just having one of those good recoverys.
Too anyone who is debating whether to have a tonsillectomy or not – it’s defo worth it!
You are lying… lol. No way this is true…lol.
I am on day 6 and still in a lot of pain.pain meds i left hospital with has now run out so i called my ENT Dr and they called me in diffrent meds that are just not working…… i could get at least 4hrs of pain free now not getting any it just dulls the pain……………….. right now i am just hateing life,,,,,soup,,,,,,eggs,,,,,,,,rice,,,,,,, and this pain just want my life back
Three words for day six, hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. The key to this mess is drinking as much water as possible even if you have to set an alarm to do it, and keeping up with pain medication. I slept for three hours today and must have slept with my mouth open because when I woke up it felt like there was a chunk of glass sitting in the back of my throat, and I couldn’t get the pain under control for about an hour. Since day one I have been drinking water as much as possible and running a cool mist humidifier, that has been the most help. Second would be chicken broth. I learned the hard way not to take my pain medication for granted, I got through six hours without it and I almost wanted to cry, so I guess I’m not doing as well as I thought. My ears have started to ache so I finally put the EARDOC (ear vibrator) to work, it definitely does make a difference.
Day 6 and I felt that things were turning for the better. Or maybe it was just doubling my codeine dose that made me feel like that. I was able to manage a very large bowl of pasta for lunch – although it took me about 4 times as long to eat as it would normally. At times the pain was almost not noticeable, though swallowing was always uncomfortable. I made it out of the house for the first time, to the local shops. Noticed that when the wind blows in my face, I tense up some muscles in my throat that I never knew I had, causing pain. That was one problem I didn’t expect. Night 6 the pain came back with a vengeance. My 1am drugs dose was followed by an hour sitting awake waiting for them to kick in, then 3 hours of good sleep, and then another 2 hours wide awake in real pain before my 7am drugs. I’ve given up trying to sleep at times like that, and just sit up in bed reading on the iPhone. At 7am (end of night 6), the pain was so bad that I didn’t think I’d be able to swallow the drugs at all, and was happier (if that’s the word) bearing the pain than worsening it even temporatrily by swallowing the drugs. But I got them down in the end. Despite the pain, the tonsil bed looks to be in good shape. Patches of white are turning to a healthy looking pink. I don’t think they’re peeling off, as they don’t have well-defined edges. It’s more like the white layer is gradually turning into skin.
38 year old male. Starting day 5. I have not slept much. only an hour at a time through the night. Had my surgery done on O’ahu as there are no ENT’s here in Kona Hawaii. 1st and 2nd day were no problem. No pain but also no sleep.
Day 3 was rough as the pain increased slightly but nothing too bad. Mostly nauseous from the pain meds.Started off when I woke up in the middle of the night having a panic attack in the hotel. Felt like I could not breathe. I don’t want my throat to dry out so I have kept my mouth closed up for the whole time except to eat and drink. Had a panic attack too from feeling claustrophobic ( i think due to the meds). I had to wake up my mom who was so kind enough to help me on O’ahu for the weekend. Went down to the lobby and she helped calm me down. I have never been on pain meds. Man they mess you up. I have not spoken since Friday morning.
4th day was better. Pain feels just like a soar throat. Got home after the plane ride and made the mistake of looking at the sight of the operation. That made my stomach more queazy as actually saw how large the gaping holes in my mouth.
Now it is 2:00 am. Starting my 5th day. Felt sleepy, started falling asleep but woke up and am now typing this.
Just wanted to thank everyone for there posts. I know there is a light at the end of this proverbial tunnel. I just want to get there and get back to normal life. This no sleep thing is getting to me. I am wanting to get passed days 6-10 as I hear that those are the rougher days of dealing with pain although so far, besides the side affects from the meds and no sleep I have had no more pain than an average soar throat. I have been drinking water like there is no tomorrow. I think this may be helping.
38 year old male. Starting day 5. I have not slept much. only an hour at a time through the night. Had my surgery done on O’ahu as there are no ENT’s here in Kona Hawaii. 1st and 2nd day were no problem. No pain but also no sleep.
Day 3 was rough as the pain increased slightly but nothing too bad. Mostly nauseous from the pain meds.Started off when I woke up in the middle of the night having a panic attack in the hotel. Felt like I could not breathe. I don’t want my throat to dry out so I have kept my mouth closed up for the whole time except to eat and drink. Had a panic attack too from feeling claustrophobic ( i think due to the meds). I had to wake up my mom who was so kind enough to help me on O’ahu for the weekend. Went down to the lobby and she helped calm me down. I have never been on pain meds. Man they mess you up. I have not spoken since Friday morning.
4th day was better. Pain feels just like a soar throat. Got home after the plane ride and made the mistake of looking at the sight of the operation. That made my stomach more queazy as actually saw how large the gaping holes in my mouth were.
Now it is 2:00 am. Starting my 5th day. Felt sleepy, started falling asleep but woke up and am now typing this.
Just wanted to thank everyone for there posts. I know there is a light at the end of this proverbial tunnel. I just want to get there and get back to normal life. This no sleep thing is getting to me. I am wanting to get passed days 6-10 as I hear that those are the rougher days of dealing with pain although so far, besides the side affects from the meds and no sleep I have had more pain than an average soar throat. I have been drinking water like there is no tomorrow. I think this may be helping.
On day 6 today and is by far the worst day. Was in pain since day 1, but not pain like this. I woke up in the middle of the night feeling like someone was stabbing my throat with a knife. I put icepacks on my throat and was somehow able to fall back asleep. Starting to feel pretty hopeless today with The pain, lack of interaction, food, and with not being able to talk. It feels like this will never end and Boone else understands why your not getting better, but worse. I am counting the days down until normacy. Until now, I’ve been in pain, but not like this. Hope everyone else is having a speedy recovery time and are getting better each day.
Hi all,
Been reading these posts over the past 5 days getting advice here and there and just wanna say a HUGE thank you to Greg for this website – what a genius!!
I’m 21 y/o female and had my tonsils out on the 23rd so I’m on day 6 (incl op day). Been a freakin painful process, I thought I was well prepared-. I had quinsey and a large perotonsillar abcess about 6 months ago which was hella painfull so I was put on the tonsillectomy waiting list and here I am! However no one prepared me for this! I haven’t had relief from the pain since surgery I take 400gms Ibuprofen and 1000gms paracetemol every 6 hours but it doesn’t really do much for me.
Overall I’ve been able to eat quite a bit, boiled egg, soft toast, noodles, rice, mash potato etc but the best are the popsicles! Note for everyone who is getting pain in their ears get hold o fa vibrating massager, it works wonders!
Some of the scab has started to come off today, I think that’s pretty normal (I hope). Oh my gosh, no one said anything about how bad your breath gets!! My family all stay away from me cause it stinks so bad, tried brushing heaps, chewing gum and miints but they all only temporarily get rid of the smell, it’s horrid! Help?
Other than that I’ve been okay, hardly any bleeding, jaw and teeth feel fine, hurts to yawn though which is frustrating and I keep getting cravings!
All the best for your recoveries!
Thanka again Greg you legend!
Thanks for your comments Rose! I am also on day 6, and for me 5&6 have been the worst by far. My biggest problem are the pain in my ears. I’m glad you mentioned something about an ear vibrator. I must try and locate one.
Good luck with your recovery
Thank you Rose. I appreciate your kind words. I’m glad you’re doing, “ok.” Hope you turn the corner soon and start returning to normal life! Ear vibrator? I must research this…
you should be careful, as far as I am aware ibprofin is not to be taken during surgery recovery because it is a blood thinner and could mess up the recovery process, making it last longer and making your blood clot less effectively….
This is my 5th day, by far the worst woke up about 8, running a little bit of fever, jaw & ears killing me. So I got an ice pack and took some loritab and fell back asleep for about 2 more hours. Well when I got up I could barely swallow sprite, it hurt so bad. But I knew I had to do it anyways & I ate some yogurt smoothie thing & a Popsicle. Well I stayed up for about 4 more hours and couldn’t keep my eyes open so I went back to sleep and woke back up after 2 more hours and ate some chicken noodle soup, I could barely swallow that too. Well I took some more medicine got a little bit better. Still trying to cough and hacking a ton because I have so much dranage. Been sleeping in the living room to keep me reclined. But I don’t think it’s helping my ears or jaw at all. So scared about day 6!
I’ve also had the worst taste in my mouth for 2 days & nothing gets rid of it. Water even taste horrible.
Still day 6, well its night now. Today things seemed to get better. I felt a lot happier in myself and my throat wasn’t as painful and my ears weren’t as bad either and i could actually speak a little like a normal person today i think it had something to do with the suppository tablets i was given. It might be a little uncomfortable when im using them but believe me it is definitely worth it in the end. I felt so much better in the evening time that i even managed a bit of chinese take away which i had been craving since i had the op. A little later then i started coughing a lot and some of the scabs (i assume) started coming up, that was a very painful experience i’ll tell you and even drinking water after it stung the throat off me. It’s now midnight and i’m in a little pain from the scabs coming off and my ears are a little painful again. It’s a pretty weird feeling, the scabs hanging off. All i want to do is cough them up because it kind of tickles, but i know if i force them up it will just cause more pain and damage in the long run so i’m just going to have to wait it out Hopefully tomorrow will be even better than today
So im on day 6. The day is only really starting, well its 3 o clock in the afternoon. So far it hasn’t been too bad. Although i did wake up in excrutiating pain last night. My ears and throat were really sore. I finally got back to sleep after eating some ice. Then when i woke up again my throat was really dry and swollen. It seems to have swelled up even more than before especially on the left, is this normal? I also think some scabs came off today, and i got a bit of phlegm up, not a lot but a bit and it felt great but now it’s just as bad as before concerning the phlegm, how can i get it up without causing pain and damage? I also feel like im gunna blow up, my family have been great but today they’re just really getting on my nerves. Telling me to take my meds and eat soup and jelly. I’ve been taking my meds and i’ve been eating the frigging soup and jelly, you try live on soup and jelly and the odd bit of toast for 6 days and see how you feel like seriously they’re getting on my nerves so much!! I understand they only care and they’re just trying to help but they don’t know how it feels to be reliant on medication and to be only allowed eat certain things. I don’t think im going to be able to go another week or more with all the physical and emotional affects of it.
I am on day 6–just started–and I totally understand what you are saying about people getting on your nerves! It’s like you want to shake them and say “WAKE UP!”
I realized that eating a white soft bread is less painful than anything semisolid that has a flavour – it’ s the vegetables, salt and fruit that hurts when it touches the scabs. I almost cried over a mixed vegetable soup or banana smoothie but bread seems ok. Glad that I won’t die from hunger afterall. Lost around 4 kilograms but I was a skinny girl already before the op.
My advice to you who don’t have the humifidier: hold a wet towel in front of your mouth when you go to sleep. It helped me a lot, your mouth and nose cavity will stay moist. I also hanged wet towels in the room to make the air colder and less dry.
My fifth- sixth day’s night was horrible. I havent had any big pains before but last night i woke up with ridiculous pain on one side, shooting to jaw, tongue and ear. My jaw was swollen so i couldn’t open my mouth properly and drinking water was pure hell. Painkillers didn’t help so i panicked and went to the hospital. They said i developed an inflamation on one of the scabs and gave me a penicillin shot and something else to stop the swelling. I must go there tommorow again for the shot. I wonder why the hell doctors don’t prescribe antibiotics right away after the surgery, so people can avoid this. I have been eating quite normally before that, and now I’m again on clear boujon, popsicles and ice tea.
That’s crazy! My doctor gave me antibiotics to take…I’m still crazy miserable on day 6 tho!
My right side still hurts and I am on day 12! It has really only been the right side for the last week that has hurt. Seems odd, but I have read the same thing from so many other people that it sounds normal…. Just not fun =(
Smell is so bad!!! I can’t sleep because of the smell coming from my throat! Pain is still at like 6 and trying not to take as much pain meds (liquid roxicet) which I think at this point is just contributing to the terrible smell. Ears and jaw are still killing me but finally able to drink cold water without wanting to die. Any suggestions for the smell? I’ve been brushing my teeth as often as possible and gargling with salt water and alcohol free mouth wash (which hurts like hell afterwards). I also can barely open my mouth, I’ve tried to look in my throat, but I can barely open it enough to see anything. From what I can see, it is still VERY white and swollen.
Try chewing gum..
It’s so great to read all this. I had my tonsils removed the 27th and even though everyone is very supporting and sweet and caring etc. They also all seem to think it’s a very simple procedure with a short recovery time. Which is not true, i now know. I do not recognise any of the meds discribed here, i only got paracetamol but ive been mixing it with diclofenac which sometimes helps and sometimes well, just doesnt…. And i find myself crying but… Not to hard because crying also hurts like hell!
Glad that ive been able to eat ‘vla’ which is dutch custard but after this i dont think i will eat it ever again
Maybe ask your doctor for stronger meds? Paracetamol is good but you need stronger
I am also at day 6 and I feel like my family members are very much “over” this recovery, like they can’t figure out why I am still in pain. Kind of sad that after like day 4 everybody seems to care a lot less… =(. Though, my boyfriend has remained to be amazing!!!!
So funny, I totally agree! My husband has been great and pushing for me to rest but I feel like everyone else is like, ok it’s been 5 days, shouldn’t u be out of bed by now? What’s the big deal, little kids have it done all the time… Ha if they only knew the excruciating pain involved w this procedure!
I’m on Dafalgan Codeïne 500 mg, which is paracetemol with codeïne, and it works for me, although on a really painful day i take six (1 every 4 hours) of them which is really the maximum amount you can take…
I wish I would have seen this sooner. I had my tonsils out Dec. 26th so this is day 6 for me. I’m up at 2-3 am everything morning becauae the pain is so bad. I just wanna sleep. I have no energy at all. And my ears are killing me. I’m 26 years old and I have a two year old. My mom kept my son for the first four days while my husband took.care of me. But now I have to go back to work tomorrow where I talk on the phone all day and I don’t think i can do it. I have been eating pretty well. I don’t feel like my pain is as bad as others have posted. I drink constantly ( Dr told me I would heal faster) and I’ve eaten since the day of surgery. Ive had ramen noodles. Mac and cheese, soup, fish, lots of ice cream and jello. But i want a cheeseburger and pizza really bad lol!
Day 6:
It’s CHRISTMAS! Happy holidays, everyone! So I took it easy yesterday (partly because of the agonizing pain and party because I was prepping for Christmas dinner) I think today went well. All I ate for dinner was mashed potatoes and corn. I was okay with this and had hardly any pain swallowing… until I decided to add turkey to the mix. Why must I always overdo it? Well, I added turkey and that’s when I started getting the scrapey feeling when I swallowed. I waited a little while to let my throat cool off (I did this while drinking plenty of ice water) and after that had some apple pie with vanilla ice cream and whipped cream. I only allowed myself to eat apple pie because I knew the ice cream would cool off my throat and would let the pie slide down my throat easily, which it did.
I was a happy camper.
I’ve stuck to my new routine of taking my liquid vicodin in the mornings after I wake up and at night right before I go to bed. During the day all I do is drink lots of ice water, which seems to be doing the trick. I don’t think it hurt that today I also got to open my Christmas presents. That definitely put me in a good mood.
Overall, I’m not getting nauseous anymore (even without taking my anti-nausea pills) and eating and swallowing in general is getting better.
Could this be the beginning of the light at the end of the tunnel?? I’m not saying I see the light yet, because this still sucks, but maybe I’m getting there!
December 26, Day 6:
Went back to work today. I make a living from speaking on the phone and today was a little rough. After several phone conversations my voice was shot. I lasted 6 hours and had to call it a day. Not a bad decision as the weather is dreadful with snow, sleet and freezing rain.
Again it’s the pain meds that make this tolerable. I’m exhausted from lack of good sleep but I believe I’m right at the turning point and I should be better tomorrow. Hang in there folks, it does get better.
Definatly think I overdid things yesterday. Last night after we got back home the pain increased dramatically. I continued taking 5 ml of roxicet every 3 hours and added 1 50 mg tramadon every 6 hours, kept my ice packs on and kept the humidifier on.
Waking up this morning to day 6 pain is still high but noticed it has changed. It must be something with the scabs. All I know is it’s intense with incredible ear pain. Continuing my med schedule, ice pack regimine, back to liquids, and no talking.
I don’t know if the increase in psi is from overdoing it yesterday with our Christmas at the inlaws or if I’m just at that point in my recovery. Either way, I know it will pass in time so I’m just gonna take it easy and take it day by day.
Merry Christmas everyone.
Just looked at my scabs and have come to the conclusion that they are workin on comming off. There are areas that have a bright red appearance ( explaining why water stings). The worst part I’m finding is the taste that belching brings up. Yuck!!! The taste from the scabs makes me nauseous . Any suggestions??
try gently gargling with 1 tablespoon salt dissolved into 8 oz cool water add 1/4 teaspoon baking soda 2-3 times daily.
I’m 19 years old and today is day 6. After the morphine fully left my system during day 2, it was evident how painful this would be. Everyone said how the older you were the more painful it is and boy were they right. I’ve broken my collar bone twice and have torn my labrum and neither of those could compare to the amount of physical pain this tonsillectomy is causing. Haven’t eaten to much but I find things like bread (Loaded with butter, even though I’m not a fan) is easy to eat very soft and provides you with a ton of calories. It sucks it’s Christmas Eve and I won’t be able to eat any regular food or Christmas candy. But every minute is a minute closer to being done.
and a HUMIDIFIER has proven to be the best thing I have bought all year. It keeps the air in your room moist especially over night, which will keep your throat moist. This prevents “dagger-swallowing” pain in the morning and can even lead to a slightly quicker recovery. The more moist the throat stays the quicker it can heal
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
So, today is Day 6, my son is still taking the Lortab elixir every 4- 6 hrs, varying the dose between 10-15ml, depending how he feels. 3 days ago, I gave him a milk of magnesia tablet, and again, another yesterday, as he hadn’t had a BM since the day before surgery. Finally had success with a large BM last night! He’s basically eating what he wants, ie: ice cream, popsicles, soft tacos, won ton soup, spaghetti, tuna fish cakes with salad….I’m amazed. When I had mine out at age 31, I could eat mashed potatoes for 2 weeks! I’ve been off work this whole time, to make sure he’s ok, but I’m back to work on Monday, which will be Day 8. We have our follow up on Thursday, which will be Day 11. Good luck to everyone, just be sure to drink, drink, drink. It keeps the throat moist, so the scabs don’t dry out. Talk, and yawn and stretch your neck. Ibuprofen is ok, it not only is a pain reliever, but an anti-inflammatory, so, it helps reduce swelling. Oh, BTW, I’m an RN, I know of what I speak.
I had my tonsils removed December 14th so today is day 6 of my recovery. The pain has been awful. But I have managed to eat stuffing and mashed potatoes. I’ve noticed that the scabs are thinning and coming off which I’m un sure of if its normal but if any one has any advice to getting through this faster please let me know
Hi Taylor, I also had my tonsils removed on the 14th. That is perfectly normal as i noticed the same thing happening to me yesterday so I called my ENT department and they said its supposed to happen. I’ve been told to consume a rough food diet and today I’m finding it hard to even consume water with the ear pain and burning pain in my throat. All the best with your recovery! I feel your pain.
I had surgery on the 13 so this makes day 5 for me. I’m so frustrated with not being able to eat food and I’m so sick of jello ice thrown up 4 times in the past 2 days not including today but I feel the puke just chillin in my throat. Is this normal? I’m soo tired and sick of this pain all the time and the dry throat, how do I make my self a bit more comfortable???
I know it’s miserable. I would call your doctor and ask for help. Your doctor is there to help. I would ask for something to help with nausea to start…..you have to keep your meds down. Once you get that under control, try other foods like a mashed potatoe or scrambled eggs. But you have to get snti nausea meds first, then pain meds to help swallow foods, then eat, just a little. I’m not a dr, but these things helped me. I wish you all the luck.
I’m on day 5 post op and up until now I’ve been good ! I’ve been eating loads and taking my antibiotics ! The pain today had been awful . Does this mean infection is setting in or it’s healing :(??? Am worried!!!
im an 18 year old female and i had my tonsils out on the 5th of december. two or so days ago, i had to go back to the ER because the pain was so unbelievably bad. they put me on a drip for a pain killer and gave me 2 bags of saline through an IV. i was really dehydrated and very weak.they ended up prescribing me percocets, which i took every 4-6 hours. after three of them, i woke up in the middle of the night gagging and finally threw stomach bile up. now, im worried about my scabs. the left side is really the only side that really hurts, including my left ear. any time i drink anything at all, its a stinging pain and i end up crying and punching the couch because i become so frustrated.
Ky I completely agree. I become so frustrated constantly that I punch my bed all the time. It is dec 22 and I got my tonsils out on the 17th of dec, so I am on Day 6. Honestly this is just getting old and I just want to eat regular food, especially with christmas coming up soon. First it was the right side of my throat and my right ear, now its the left side of my throat and my left ear. It literally feels like it is never ending.
My day 6 is today (Christmas Eve) and my ears hurt so bad I’m just sitting here crying. I don’t care about the vomiting, killer sore throat, god awful taste in mouth, or not being able to eat. my ears hurt so bad I feel like they’re going to explode. And Vicodin has decided it’s going to do nothing to help me anymore. Any advice?
Advil. Aka Ibuprofen — 600mg every 6 hrs (no more than that). I was on Vicodin every 4 hrs and it stopped working for me day 3. My father is a doctor and he said this was okay… the Ibuprofen is working way better than Vicodin for me. I’m on Day 6, too. Hopefully the advice isn’t coming too late. Good luck!
I am now on day 6 as well. The pain is really awful. Now only my right side hurts. It burns and stings and aches whenever I move. Is there something wrong? It is only the right side that is super painful
I have reading through this forum and I cannot understand why you are all crying your pain out loud.
I am a 32yo man, and I had my tonsillectomy 6 days ago here in Paris (France) where I live, following a phlegmon.
Nobody ever gave me any opioids (morphine and so) not even in the hour following the surgery. I am, from day 1 on, on a regime of paracetamol (1gr every 6 hours, climbing up to 8-hours pause during the night). I had Cortisone for three days (from day 2 to day 5, once per day, in the morning) in order to reduce the inflammation. And of course antibiotic until today, to prevent infections. And that’s all.
No other painkillers, no other drugs, just yogurt and fresh milk and ice-cream. And I have never, and i mean never, felt this bad. Ok, it hurts a bit, when Paracetamol effects get lower (from the 5th hour on).
Worst day was maybe day 2, in the morning. All the other time I could read, eat (yogurt, milk and ice-cream, of course), talk and sleep with no problems at all. I would not say I have really suffered – never ever – any big pain.
If post-tonsillectomy recovery makes you feel this bad, either your surgeons take away your tonsils with kitchen knives, either your drugs don’t work, either you are just not used to deal with the normal amount of pain any person has in life, from time to time. If you take painkillers every time you have a little pain, then you’ll never learn to deal with normal, mild pain like post-tonsillectomy pain.
Stop whining, breathe and be rational. Nothing this bad is happening to you all. Nothing.
You must be very proud of yourself.
Where is the “LIKE” button?
Wait…that didn’t sound right. *DIES*
I’m on day 6. My tonsilectomy had some complications because my tonsils were fused to my throat with scar tissue. That meant more cutting. The scar tissue somehow wrapped around those pesky veins, so I got some stitches that most folks don’t get. The doctor said my recovery was going to be longer and more painful because of it. Fortunately, my doctor was wrong. My recovery is painful, but after reading some of these stories, I realize it’s much better than most of the folks out there. For some reason it just worked out that way. That makes me lucky and especially grateful this holiday season. It doesn’t make me qualified to tell people that are suffering to suck it up because it really isn’t that bad.
That being said my recovery hit a snag on day 5, i.e. more painful than day 4. Waking up for day 6 is worse than day 5. I noticed bleeding on day 4, but the pain didn’t amp up until day 5. I’m ready for this phase to peak. My hope is scabs started coming off on day 4 and that process will only last 2 or 3 days, at which point the pain goes down until I’m recovered. I was hoping to go back to work today (Monday). I let the office know that isn’t going to happen and that Tuesday and Wednesday are questionable.
We can all be as tough as you Frenchy. I have tore my bicep tendon, tore my labrum and rotator cuff, henriated discs in my back and neck, had surgeries for all of them and my tonsillectomy hurt worse than all of them. I have a high threshold for pain but am man enough to admit that this hurt bad. Don’t feel bad everyone it hurts and don’t think less of yourself for admitting it..
Well Im so happy for you to not experience pain. Dont sit therr an accuse others of bein babies and crying on here. Everyones experience is different. If you dont like reading it then get off the site! This is a support center for some people and they dont need you complainin over how they react to their situation!
This was in reference to emanule
I am 24…I had my tonsillectomy on Tuesday the 4th December.. An day 1-2 was fine although days 3-4 I have woken up 3:4 o’clock constantly in pain… I thought I had a high pain threshold but yeh it’s never ending.. An can’t get a gd nights sleep an wake up with night sweats.. My breath stinks an when I eat it tastes like burning rubber… An I’m hoping that is what my breath smells like an not of an infection. Also am I the only one to get given toast to eat after the op ? An I’ve been eating solids constantly but mainly soup in the day.. But it hurts like a bitch!
I’ve been hearing day 5-6 are worst so what I’m feeling now will no doubt get worse even though I think I’m already at that stage.. My throat is white where the tonsils used to be an I’m thinking is that a infection building up? But reading your posts it looks like its the scabs.. I hope!
Role on day 5 an 6…. Come at me “cuz pain is just weakness leaving my body biatch” an in a weird way the worse the pain the more I like it.. Because when I’m better ill be saying .. Yeh I did that an yeh I overcome it with flying colours.. No more throat pains accompanied with bad breath again! Woop… (Cheer up whoever is in same situation as me)! Oh the pain haha “laugh or cry”‘! P.s. am I the only one who go given paracetamol an ibuprofen after my op to take for e week…. It’s actually rubbish ! Only lasts 2 hours… Lol.
Laters GL
You can try Biotene mouthwash for the stinky breath. It is an enzyme formula that does not sting like other mouthwashes. It actually feels soothing and will help control bacteria and other nasties. I have been brushing with it since my pain increased on day 4 ( i am on day 7 now) because the foam of toothpaste was making me gag. I also use a syringe I bought at my pharmacy to gently squirt the mouthwash and lukewarm salt water directly onto the chunky scabs. Parts of them have loosened and rinsed out making it easier to breathe and swallow. Good luck.
every ones recovery is different a friend of mine just had hers taken out 2 weeks ago and she was fine the day after surgery and was able to east normally and everything. i however have not been that lucky and have been in a lot of pain and can barely eat, and trust me i am used to pain but i would rather have shoulder surgery again than have my tonsils removed. i am very happy your recovery has gone so well unfortunately not every ones goes the same way
I thought day 3 was bad, today was a lot worse, woke up last night, 2 hours after I’d taken my painkillers (which usually give relief for 4-6 hours) with the worst pains in both my ears. These carried on all day with the only relief coming from holding ice packs to my face. Ended up having to go back to the doctors again for more painkillers and a stronger anti inflammatory. At the moment its 2 hours til I can take my next painkiller and I am in agony. Don’t know how much more of this I can take. Think I’d rather have tonsillitis every few weeks than this pain. My throat is stinging on one side like an open cut and in the previous days I’ve been coughing up black almost fleshy lumps. Its disgusting, I cant even look at my throat. I hate this
Day 6 is really terrible. I woke up shaking from the pain and it takes major courage gathering to swallow the hydrocodone- it burns like acid going down! Today I couldnt bear it so mixed it with cream of wheat and it worked! Highly recommend! I means you have to eat a whole bowl of cream of wheat but I needed to do that anyway. I cant eat alot because the horrible taste of the scabs makes everything taste like sickningly sweet/bitter vomit. But there are a few things that are tolerable. Heres my list of tolerable:
Popsickles- nothing with artificial sweeteners- those taste sickeningly sweet.
cream of wheat- the only thing that actually tastes good
beef broth
chicken broth
refried bean burrito- the bland/salty refried beans are some much needed protein
Jello- stil in liquid form
mashed potatoes
pudding
peach yougurt
The 2 humidifiers in my room and sucking on ice chips really help! I also like taking childrens ibuprofen, it doesnt sting going down like the other meds do
Bread is aboslutely revolting if your having the taste problem, made me throw up which sets you back
I discovered if you mix the hydrocodone with 2-3x the amount of chocolate milk it goes down with almost no pain!!!! Yea!!!! But it seems like the meds are ony working 2-3hours now and that 4th hour I just suffer waiting to be able to take the next dose.
Agree. I cant wait the 4 hours. And the coughing started last night…hurt like hell and it seemed the I ent backward in my recovery progress.
* like I went*
Day 6. YOW! Same pain as yesterday, but no bleeding. Pain is about an 8 or 9 today. I am finding it very very hard to choke down any food today, and even water really hurts! I tried to eat some soggy Special-K, but gave up after about 1/4 cup because it seemed to have tiny rough bits in it, and my uvula hurt so bad. I think tomorrow I am going to try regular cornflakes, soggy of course. I choked twice trying to eat yogurt. I hope the coughing did not rupture anything! I have a headache too. I think I got about a total of 3-4 hours sleep last night (not all at once though). I am still sleeping sitting up, which helps keep the mucus down so I can breathe better. I had very bad diarrhea in the morning… probably from all the water. For lunch I managed to squeeze down some scrambled eggs. Popsicles and water ice felt really good. Besides the white scabs, throat has some very red patches, which I think were irritated from trying to swallow food. No bleeding, but I do see a little red dot that looks sort of like a blood blister on the top. Not sure what that is… blood clot maybe?
I am 25 and ha my tonsillectomy 6 days ago. I had sleep apnea because my tonsils were so large, so it was necessary for me to have the procedure. Although I can already tell a difference in how much better of sleep I’m getting – THIS SUCKS!!!! I have a high pain tolerance, and after 2 major car accidents, a broken wrist, fractured tailbone, fractured and sprained ankle, and several tattoos, I have to say this sucks the most. Days 1-2 not so bad, days 3-4 worse, days 5-6 definitely the worst so far. Waking in the middle of the night is AWFUL. It feels like my tongue was left out in the sun for hours, and it’s become so swollen that I have sores on either side of it and sore gums in addition to pain at the surgery site. Water is hard to get down, though I have been able to eat 2 burrito, some ramen noodles, and French toast. Though day 6 I may be back tracking as far as what I can eat is concerned unless my dr will prescribe more pain meds… God I hope this gets better soon.
Hi Stacy:
I’m so sorry you are in so much pain! I got my tonsils out in February (I’m 25). I remember on day 6/7 I lost my mind. I also ended up back at the doctor for stronger pain meds and anti-nausea medication, promethazine. All the medications were making me really sick too. Make sure you have a humidifier going, if you can’t afford one try a hot pot (that is what I used). Icing sometimes helps, just make sure it is soft squishy ice or a bag of peas. I know it is miserable, hang in there. Although it was hell for about 12 days, I’ve been so much healthier and happier since I got my tonsils out. You can do it! Good Luck! <3
Emily
Worst day yet. Not because of the pain but because of the seemingly endless length of this process! By day 6 of most things (except mono, which I was so lucky to have last year) you’re usually on the up and up. Now I know what everyone means by depression, and just plain old malaise. My throat pain has been steady, probably a 6/10 and I gave up trying to wean the percs. I’m not even hungry. I forced myself to eat some mashed potatoes and an ensure but that’s it besides water. Sweet stuff stings. The mucus is a pain in the ass, my breath smells and no matter how much I brush it doesn’t feel clean in there. So tomorrow after I get up and get my pain under control I’m going out to break this cycle. Just gonna wander and do a little shopping and hope that makes me feel better mentally. I’m trying to be a man about this situation….but it’s just so east to wallow in self-pity.
Hm… very crappy day today. Hurting all over the place in my throat, the scabs, the insanely irritating dry cough, not being able to sleep last night and knives in my ears down my neck and throat. O U C H !
Today I just wanted to cry… Crossing my fingers for a better day tomorrow!
I’m a 31 year old male. Had a tonsillectomy, along with a deviated septum repair, on Wednesday, October 10. Surgery day was a relative breeze. I have apnea, so they admitted me for a day to the hospital. After I came out of anesthesia, they began giving me morphine. That night, I ate two bowls of jello and three pudding cups and drank plenty of water. My throat was sore, but not unbearable. I stayed on morphine until 3 AM the next morning when I requested to be switched to the liquid lortab I would be using once home. The liquid lortab actually seemed to provide more consistent relief from the pain. Day 1 Post Op (Thursday, October 11)was also not that bad, either. I came home. I ate pudding, jello and hot chicken noodle soup. I flushed my nose with salt water (sort of nasty, but sort of relieving to see all of the junk coming out). I slept an awful lot. I had the thought that most of the people who post on this site must have bad experiences or low pain thresholds. I told my wife I might be able to go back to work on Monday, October 15th. Day 2 Post Op (Friday, October 12) I started to feel a little worse. I decided it was attributable to eating the chicken noodle soup and that I needed to stick to a cold liquid diet. We increased my medicine schedule so that I was taking the liquid lortab every 3 1/2 hours versus 4 hours. I also developed a regiment where I would squirt my throat with chloraseptic, take the liquid lortab and then suck on a lidocane lollipop. About an hour after the meds had set in, I’d start chugging water. We set alarms at night to stick to the schedule and had a humidifier set up in the room to try and keep my throat moist. Despite all of these efforts, I woke up on Day 3 Post Op (Saturday, October 13) with the worst pain yet. In addition to a chronically dry, painful throat, I started experiencing intense ear aches and nausea. To prevent throwing up, we added phenergen to my medicine regiment. This helped with the nausea, but added to feeling generally disoriented, which made it hard to cope with the pain/interact with my wife. Found myself getting irrationally angry at times and unable to express what I was thinking/feeling. Anyhow, Day 3 Post Op was not a good day. Saturday night, I made myself drink even more water throughout the night. I woke up on Day 4 Post Op (Sunday, October 14) feeling a little better. My throat was still sore, but I was not nauseated and did not have the same type of intense ear pain. By midday, that all changed. I started feeling like I needed to vomit, took some more phenergen and the cycle started all over again. By Sunday night, my ears were absolutely killing me. I applied an ice pack to my throat for the first time, but that brought limited relief. I tried chewing some gum after reading that it could help, but that also brought limited relief. Ultimately, the only thing that helped was sleeping. We forgot to set alarms for my medicine Sunday night, but luckily, my body woke itself up when it was time and I stayed on schedule. On Day 5 Post Op (Monday, October 15), I woke up feeling pretty normal. I did some work from home. I didn’t spend the day just lying around. I had a brief period of nausea and what felt like some fever, but avoided taking any more phenergen. I ate more than I had been eating, including some frozen yogurt, some pudding and even some hot noodle soup. Around bedtime, my next dose of medicine was due at 11:45 PM. I was feeling so good that I went to sleep at 10:45 with instruction to my wife not to wake me up for medicine. I woke up at 12:45 AM in excruciating pain. It felt like there were two giant marbles lodged in the back of my throat, it was on fire and my head/ears were throbbing. I took the liquid lortab, sucked on a lidocane lollipop for a few minutes and then was able to go back to sleep. I woke up again around 4 AM. Again, I was in excruciating pain and felt like I was almost choking. For a moment I had the thought that perhaps my scabs were coming off and that was the cause of the pain and the choking sensation. I got a flashlight and looked at the back of my throat in a mirror. It look like there has been some scab “movement” around the edges of my throat (I can see some pink flesh), but not much. Overall, everything is just very swollen back there. The white blobs where my tonsils used to be appear almost as large as my tonsils did pre-surgery. My uvula is enormous. Even my tongue is a little swollen. It all appears to be exacerbated, somewhat, by the onset of oral thrush, which is something I’ve tried desperately to avoid. I say all of this to say that my original assessment of this surgery and the people who posted on this site were wrong. This surgery is nothing to laugh about and I now understand how people can complain for days on end about it. Just when you think you’re getting better, something else hits you. The difficult part has been explaining to a skeptical employer why a “kid’s surgery” requires that I miss this much work.
I’m 17 and I’m on day 7 post-op, I feel so much better today its weird to think two days ago I was in agony with a sore throat and earache! But I can honestly say the pain just disappears, today I’ve had a cheese and marmite sandwich for lunch and I’m actually looking forward to dinner! There is light at the end of the tunnel!
I am on day 5 of my recovery, my throat doesn’t actually hurt that bad however I have an excruciating ear ache both sides! This prevents me from chewing and swallowing. I’m taking all my medicine on time but it doesn’t seem to be touching the pain at all. Yesterday I bit the bullet and had a twister meal from KFC, what a pain that was. Today I’ve managed some tomato soup and a couple of pieces of bread with jam! I’m very scared to sleep again tonight because I know I will wake up in a horrific pain again tomorrow! I just want this whole ordeal to be over with
I’m 17 by the way! I had mine out due to chronic tonsillitis.
Ah, day 6. Throughout the night I woke up regularly, but with no pain?! And now I have just woken up and my god the ear ache is back and there’s a burning feeling in my throat? I hope this burning feeling is the scabs coming off- *apparently* all is meant to be better after the scabs come off! We’ll see. Yesterday my mum buttered and got rid of the crusts from two slices of bread and popped some jam on there then cut them into strips, probably the easiest thing I’ve eaten so far! Don’t get me wrong swallowing hurts but if you take small bites and swallow smaller pieces its heaven on earth. I’m hoping there’s light at the end of the tunnel- day 7-9 is *apparently* when things start shaping up. Fingers crossed! ?
I’m 31 years old and had my tonsil surgery on Friday Oct 12th, 2012. Today is day 3 for me. The first 2 days were ok, have been taking all my meds as prescribed. My diet has consisted of yogurt, vanilla ice cream, choc shake, and banana baby food. My neck was extremely sore and tense yesterday. I’ve spent most of my time in bed, have been in and out due to the meds and lack of energy. I’m trying not to do to much so I don’t work up alot of saliva and don’t swallow as much. After reading everyones posts I’m guessing that this has only just begun. I can totally see the pain seeming unbarable after dealing w/ it for so long, not to mention not having the proper vitamins/minerals your body is used to having. I’ve been dealing w/ chronic tonsil infections and tonsil stones for the majority of my life. As much as this sucks, i’d rather suffer for 2 weeks rather than deal w/ the aggrevation for 60 more years Hoping these next few weeks come and go quickly.
Day 6 for me to
Woke up this morning scared to death cuz I was coughing up blood, this has been the worst last two weeks of my life I have hospitalized all of last week and just haven’t been getting any better, intense ear pain when I swallow and I just feel like I wanna die. Plus not to mention before my tonsilectomy I tested positive for strep throat and mono. So this has been one hell of a ride
Today is my 6th day surgery was Thursday oct. 4 th in the am. I am 38 years old. So far the pain ramped up on day 3 and has been consistent. Ear pain, dry crackle feeling in throat and of course difficulty swallowing. I have resorted to taking the max of my Percocet. It has been great makes it so I can eat and drink almost feeling normalish. I think the scabs are staring to come off, part of the tonsillectomy area is very sensitive to cold, while warm tea and broth are great. I think in general I am handling the pain very well, my normal was pretty bad since I had a sore throat and sinus infection for two years straight. I wish everyone on this blog well. Here’s to getting to the end of the recovery road!
I’m 22 years old and today was day six for me. Omg!!! I woke up at 3 am, choking on mucus and sometimes a little blood. I was freaking all the way out. I was in soooo much pain. Sharp pains when I swallowed. I cried so much because I was so tired and in so much pain all day today. I noticed that my scab was slightly thinner. My doctor told me it was normal to have mucus and a little blood while the scabs were starting to come off. It’s not midnight and the pain isn’t too bad. Although I am afraid to fall asleep
30y/o day 6. Healing nicely just Ear pain, ear pain and more ear pain. Taking Tylenol and antibiotics but the pain meds wear off really quick. Been doing a lot of rinsing with salt and warm water. That helps and my breath doesn’t stink. Been eating semi solids (mashed potatoes, extremely soft noodles)but only 30mins after I take my meds so I feel no pain afterwards. Be sure to rinse out in the salt water solute after every meal please and off course drink loads of water. One last thing, gum helps. Keep chewing. You will be glad you did.
Today was my day 6 (got them taken out on 9/24). This morning was the WORST pain i’ve had so far during this procedure. I actually just started taking my Lortab last night for the sharp pains. I fell asleep perfect but woke up about 5 hours later in excruciating, stabbing pain in my jaw and tongue. I literally laid in bed and cried for 45 minutes because it hurt to move and I couldn’t get up for my pain meds. I could tolerate the pain days 1-5 but nights and mornings have gotten worse.
On a good note, for the first time this afternoon (from about 2-5pm) I actually had NO pain when swallowing! It may have been the ice water I was sipping at work, but not too sure. The pain did come back after yelling at someone who pissed me off (I know, bad idea but I have been so irritated that I can’t eat a steak lol)
My throat is part white and part pink. Scabs are coming off good. I see the ENT tomorrow and will update Day 7!
today is day 6 of my recovery and i still am in lots of pain it’s a different type of pain today though. day 4 & 5 were awful but today is mainly really bad ear aches and feels like razors are going down my throat. i’ve been staying up on my lortab but today it doesn’t seem to be doing much at all except for the first 30 minutes or so. water still hurts to drink but i’ve been making myself stay on it. my body’s so tired but i’m so scared to sleep because waking up is awful. i have to say ice packs have been my life saver..once they’re on my neck for a few minutes they numb stuff up for a little bit. also taking a hot shower and letting it run behind my ears and neck feels pretty good too. all this medicines making me feel like throwing up (which im TERRIFIED of doing) so i tried eating little tiny pieces of a pancake earlier to soak up in my stomach. it hurt to eat but i did it. i have NOOO idea how people are saying they ate toast. i’m praying and praying that tomorrow will be a really better day because i don’t know how much longer i can handle this. i think parts of my scabs started coming off last night because when i went to spit i saw a little bit of pink but i’m too scared to look into my throat.
i’m 20 years old btw ?
day 6 i’m 29 years old and today hasn’t been so bad I’m getting ready to try some soft boiled eggs we’ll see how that goes if I could get the throbing ear pain to go away this might be tolerable here’s hoping for tomorrow
Hey Joe! Try chewing gum to relieve that ear pain. icing also helps. Take care!
Today is day 6. Im 18 and the pain has just started easing up.I decided to stop my medication because since day 1 I have thrown up 9 times and the pain is the worst I have ever felt. As far as eating.. I havent eaten anymore than a spoonfull of applesauce. I hope tomorrow is alot better
Day 6 – I’m a in a lot of pain, this is the worts day so far; feel like I can’t take it anymore, the ear pain is so bad, no med seems to help, and I can only drink fluids, no food. Is there anyone on day 6 feeling this bad?
Hi
Hi, my name is Vanessa and yes I know exactly how you feel. My Day 6 is today and for the past two days these ear aches and throat pain have starting getting worse and worse. My worst pain is when I have to drink too much of something or if I have to eat something, or even when I sleep for a long time period and wake up again with this intense, practically unbearable pain. Smh it’s horrible. I just want all this pain to finally be over.
I’m a 29 yr old who just got my tonsils out on 9/11/12 and the first 5 days were horrible and I thought I would never heal! I’m on day 6 and the pain isn’t as bad but for some reason I feel like I’m going to puke but I’m scared to death of puking right now just due to the fact that days 5-10 are when your most at risk of vomiting blood and that’s the least thing I feel like doing!
Yesterday I was praying not to wake up today, but seems that for me, yesterday was the freak day. Today i woke up like days 1-4 with no pain….the scabs are disgusting though, especially when you feel them going down your throat….jaqqqqq. However now that it’s just past midnight and i should be thinking of going to sleep, throat is getting a bit dry and i’m scared of actually falling asleep and waking up in pain (plus the smell/taste of the scabs is not helping esp when i lay down).
This is day 6 for me “technically” since it is after 12am. I am in so much pain, don’t know how much longer I can bear it. I am 47 years old, tonsils out for chronic tonsillitis and tonsil stones, that have plagued me for decades! My advice to others would be “do not wait until you are in your late 40’s to have this operation.” I always thought I was stoic about pain, now I must rethink that. 2 c-sections and a hysterectomy were not this painful! Percocet barely touches the pain. Good luck to you all, hope I’ll turn a corner soon.
Day 6 wasn’t too bad, (35 year old) still hardly any pain, more discomfort/dull ache. The only issue was waking up after sleeping, it felt like someone had been trying to pull my tongue out and given up, or another comparison was it felt like I’d eaten 10 packets of cream crackers without water. After a couple of paracetemols and an ibuprofen (for the swelling) it went away. I enjoyed normal food like I have done every day, including rough food (this helps clear out excess debris (gunk!). Slept quite a lot again which helps pass the time and aids recovery. No sensation in the ears other than when eating. Feeling fine generally, don’t panic – eat at all costs, I’m sure this is the key to a quicker recovery.
Uh no. If the scabs fall off prematurely then you will just have to wait for them to scab up again and hopefully not get infected. I hope your theory worked out for you… I kinda think this post is a joke..
@ Mandy: Everyone has their own way of dealing with their particular situation. In the UK, at least, the advice we’re given is to eat normally, including rough foods. I haven’t managed to eat much myself, but the theory is that eating normally cleans the back of the throat and aids recovery. Saliva seems to be an important factor in helping recovery which of course is produced through eating. Saliva has a peptide in it called Histatin which fights off yeast infections and promotes the distribution of healthy cells. I also read somewhere that it has pain-killing properties. Disagreeing with someone’s approach to managing their situation doesn’t mean you have the right to label their contribution as a joke.
Yep. I was told to eat a rough diet of toasts, crisps etc seems to be the recommendation in the uk
6 days post op, 7 if you count surgery day. Woke up a few hours ago and had a vanilla milkshake with my meds, it was fantastic but gave me heartburn. Day 4 and 5 were horror and the pain was the worst I couldnt eat or drink at all so it really set me back. I’m on a tylenol and Ibuprofen regime every 6 hours, which I know is terrible for my stomach with no food in it but I can’t take the Roxicet that was prescribed bc it makes me want to throw up. Had some really creamy mashed potatoes which provided some substance and actually stuck for a little while. I have a gross taste in my mouth and drinking water burns. Brushing my teeth and taking a shower gives a little relief. I hope this is the peak of the worst of it and I start feeling a little better everyday.
I am 31 years old, on my 6th day of recovery. The first three days I slept most of the time. By day four and five I actually thought that I was feeling better, however today, day 6, has been hard. I am really craving some good food – like a juicy cheeseburger! I ate pasta this morning, however found that chewing the noodles was very exhausting on my jaw. I was thinking I was returning to work tomorrow, however have realized that I still need my pain meds and will need another week for recovery. The recovery process is getting tiredsome. I am afraid of the scap falling off and pray that I heal well over the next week.
Day 6 – last night I slept really badly, I am so exhausted by this whole recovery. The pain is not as strong as it has been, but it seems more constant. Cannot wait to eat something real, even though I have realized you can blend or purée just about any meal.
Day 6 – Some scabs have fallen out this morning, but have developed a nasty cough and some serious phlegm, not fun :(.
I’ve been taking only the childrens tylenol since day 4 (day 6 now) so I’m pretty happy about that. Some of my scabs are falling off and they taste and smell absolutely disgusting. That’s the only thing I hate right now… I’m talking today but it sounds like I have peanut butter in my mouth lol. I also finally progressed to solid foods which made my day so much better.
Day 6 has been pretty good. Still a tightness in my throat and some mild ear pain. The pain in my throat was a little worse this morning because I skipped taking my medicine last night. Other than that, it’s pretty good. I’m now eating a PB&J sandwich, which is the first real solid food I’ve eaten so far. I’m LOVING this sandwich right now.
Day 6 for me (33 y/o). No big complaints today. I think overall I’m doing well. I’m just tired and can sleep a lot. I’ve been having mild ear pain but nothing unbearable. Drinking lots of fluids, and yesterday ate ramen noodle soup. Today I had some cream of wheat.
Can somebody please help me it will be my 6th day tommorow and I just want to die. I do not know how much more of the war pain I can take. I am 24 years old and to be fair I would rather have the tonsilites every month than this :(. It feels like my head is going to blow of I am in agony. Can somebody give me advise on anything I can go out and buy to help at the minute I am only on Paracetamol codine and 3 diclofenics a day which make me sick. Can we use a numbing mouth spray ect. Thanks for any help
Stacey
Sorry sweetheart. I know it’s really tough. Right now you are in the VERY worst of it. Try to relax. Icing your throat, gargling with ice cold water will help. hold a bag of ice on there for 10 minutes. Please keep drinking, even though it’s uncomfortable. it’s SO important. Do you have a humidifier running? popsicles? Yes, I used throat spray- opinions differ on this, but I got some relief.
Try to get a little something in your tummy before you take the pain med’s- even Jell-o. It will reduce the nausea. Your Dr. can also rescribe an anti-nausea medicine like Promethizine (SP?)- helped me. Hang in there kiddo- It’ll get better. i promise!
Hi Stacy:
I’m so sorry you are in so much pain. I got my tonsils out at
Alicia,
My daughter, Amelia, is having a much better day today, after a very rough night. I got her some small heat packs, and they seem to help a bit. The salt water helped a bit too. Thanks so much! She had 3 episodes yesterday with the ear splitting pain but none today!
Unfortunately she did have 2 bleeds last night, both quite considerable but we were able to stop it so no ER visit! I took her to the ENT today and they gave her the Benzocain drops for her ears and she is easily eating some soup right now! Yay! She did have some fluid behind one of her ears, thinking that could be contributing to the pain. And they said her scabs were gone so it’s sounding good.
I think we are on the road to recovery finally!
Thank you for your concern! Hope you’re doing better also
I’m glad some of those things worked for her. Glad she’s feeling better make sure she stays right on top of the meds to the minute.
Its so hard for them to work once the pain hits – is she still drinking a lot of water?
Thank you Matt and Alicia – I can’t reply to the comments?? I will certainly try the warm towel as her biggest complaint is her ears. She has had a much better day after all but just had an episode with her ears Her spirits seem to be lifted and I pray she is turning a corner.
I have another question – does anyone know whether or not a salt water rinse would be helpful or harmful. I’m very old school when it comes to medicine and salt water gargles growning up always helped my throat. I know this situation is different but was curious all the same.
If I remember correctly Alicia had some luck with salt water. Anything involving salt made my throat burn for hours afterwards around that time in my recovery. It is probably something worth trying but I would go very light on the salt for the first try. I am interested to see what Alicia has to say about this.
-Matt F.
Hi Monica, yes I was advised by my physician assistant to gargle with warm/room temp. salt water (I use sea salt) to help with the thick saliva and mucus 2-3 times per day. It didn’t burn me at all and it actually helped to break it down. Just keep an eye on any bleeding if that happens immediately gargle w/ ice water to stop the bleeding if it doesn’t stop – call doc immediately.
Also, I had a miniature heating pad I used on each ear for a few minutes. I’ve also heard people say they put cotton balls in their ears and that helped…didn’t help for me. In addition I was prescribed some ear drops but when I went to fulfill it i couldn’t use it because it had benzocaine which I’m allergic to so I couldn’t use it. You may want to ask doctor about the ear drops tomorrow.
I hope this has helped. Don’t forget have her keep drinking as much as possible; shoot for 64oz a day.
Alicia
Hi Monica, how is your daughter doing now? Did any of the suggestions help?
My daughter, age 11, had her tonsils and adenoids removed on Aug 6. She seems to be getting worse, depressed like and in considerable pain. She is still on Lortab around the clock and the biggest complaint is in her ears. She is chewing gum like prescribed but nothing seems to be helping. Her scabs are white but it’s red around the area. She has no fever but her breath smell a bit infected. She lives off Ensure and water as most everything else is uncomfortable I’m hoping to find some words of wisdom here and maybe some ideas on how to help lift her spirit. Thanks
I had my surgery on the 2nd and this is very similar to what I experienced. Things got worse and worse until right around that day 6/7 range when my scabs fell off. At this point I had the worst pain of my recovery followed by a quick turn around and steady progress towards less pain. I found that ice packs around my neck and a steady diet of popsicles were some of the best things I could do for my throat. It is miserable and sometimes seems unending but you do get better.
-Matt F.
Monica, I didn’t have much luck with the gum for my ears as there was too much saliva and the gum tasted horrible. Try a warm towel or heating pad for her ears ONLY. Don’t put them on her throat at all as heat will increase the chances of bleeding. Also, a cool mist humidifier will help for when she sleeps as it will allow her throat to sty moist. Make sure she takes her meds on time exactly no matter how she feels for the first few days…don’t let the pain creep up on her or it will be worse. Have her drink or eat about 20-30 min after the meds as this will be the best time to get the fluids and food in. If no help call Doc I and was advised to change up the frequency of the meds. Try to be patient..this too shall pass…I had tonsils removed on 8/6 and still waiting for the final scabs to come off…but I feel so much better.
Day 6, very painful. Had an episode with hiccups again this morning but they have subsided. Throat, tongue, mouth, gums, etc extremely sore. Still have scabs, have not noticed them coming off. Edge of my throat is very agitated and looks bruised – maybe from hiccups? Able to get down some more food today but nothing crazy. Replacing narcotic meds with liquid Tylenol and it seems to be helping just fine. The swelling and pain is intense today. Still have some narcotics just in case. Hopefully tomorrow is not as painful. I want to get out of the house but today I didn’t feel like doing anything.
This is the worst day yet. Over night was horrible. The only way I am surviving is constant icing of my neck and jaw. I now have 7 ice packs in the freezer and may get a couple more… The ear pain is the worst. And of course I’ve got some bad nausea popping up as well… I am so hungry, all I have eaten in the last two days is popsicles and a bowl of ice cream…
-Matt F.
Things got better later in the day. I hope this means I have turned the corner. I was able to get about a 1/3 of a box of macaroni and cheese down tonight. It did still hurt, and I still don’t have much of an appetite, but it is nice to have some food in my stomach that is not sugary. I get acid reflux pretty bad and all the sugar and acid of popsicles along with the meds have been ripping up y stomach pretty good. Time to sleep now, I hope its not as bad as last night with pain.
-Matt F.
hi Matt how are you today? better i hope!! just checking on you.
Doing well. Off the narcotics tonight for the first time. I am giving a try to go to the midnight showing of Bourne Legacy tonight. It feels good to be getting out of the house. How are you doing Alicia?
-Matt F.
I’m just seeing this because I just finished having an episode. I know you’re at the movie, but you’ll see this in the am. I fell asleep just to wake up 3 min later choking,,,afraid i’d busted something….ran to bathroom to spit….you guessed it….scabs and mucus. Have you had any come off yet? I think your surgery was on 8/2 right? Mine was 8/3 and I’m surprised this happened tonight..I didn’t feel pain as I’d just taken night time meds about 40 min prior. Now I’m afraid to try to go back to sleep. After spiting the multiple chunks and stuff out I gargled w/ warm salt water out of panic then gargled with ice water for a few min. Not sure what to expect next…more scabs to come off i guess but when?? Let me know how u like the movie…i may try one this weekend…
For some reason it won’t let me post to your most current post… Oh well, anyways I had mine come off in my sleep two nights ago. I did not wake up for the scabs so I assume I just swallowed them. That being said I woke up during the night with the worst pain I had experienced through the whole recovery. I would rate it at a 7/10 with a fresh dose of pain meds and ice packs on my neck. It was a bad night. But I got through it in about 6 hours and have been on a steady recovery since. The only thing I notice is my throat is sensitive to acid, salt, carbonation, and mint. I made it over 12 hours between half doses of my codeine today. I took a big 1000mg dose of liquid tylenol at about 7:30pm. I probably pushed it a little too far again tonight so I am going with some narcotics to help me get the pain to a place where I can sleep. But the time out was fantastic, even if I couldn’t talk with my friends much. The movie was a decent mindless action movie. No plot but good chase scenes so it was worth while. I may be giving another run at a movie tomorrow with my girlfriend if I’m up for it but this one did really tax me. I am definitely ready to crash. Good luck at sleep tonight. I hope you don’t have a night like I did when my scabs came off.
-Matt F.
Im 19 and today is the absolute worst! I have been in pain for every day since the surgery but today is the worst. I woke up and my throat muscles hurt so bad and my ears hurt ridiculously today. I was in so much pain I nearly fainted when I went to take my pills. I was given elixir pain medicine which I took day 1-4 but the last two days I have been taking tylenol pills because the taste of liquid medicine was making me nauseous and giving me horrible headache side effects. I am thinking of going back to the hydrocodone just because the pain is so bad. I was eating eggs, soup, even fish before, today I can’t even get down juice. My muscles in my mouth and throat hurt horribly when I talk or move my neck. Is that even normal?
For the first time since my op, I woke up in the night with the pain. So took my meds and slept another 5 1/2 hours… making me late for my morning dose, which again was pretty painful to wake up to. I was hitting a 6/10 on the scale, which makes this the first ‘unpleasant’ morning so far (but still nothing close to what I have been bracing myself for).
Then, weirdly, the rest of the day was fine, with no pain at all. In fact I had a full evening meal and didnt limit myself food-wise. It was like tonsillectomy – what tonsillectomy! I skipped my afternoon painkillers, even did housework
Now it is close to bedtime, and I have crashed back down to square 1… OUCH! So my not-tonsils did a complete pain yo-yo on me.
I wish I could dispense some advise from this, some helpful ‘tips’, but no, it just sucked…. and caught me completely off guard.
Maybe the lesson is: dont over exert yourself / jump the gun just because you think youre fine. Take your prescription, and stay in bed!
44 year old, on day 6 of the recovery. It hasn’t been easy, but by the sound of it a lot easier than some. Day’s 1-2 weren’t too bad and I joined the family playing pool etc. Days 3-5 were the hardest days so far, with most of the time in bed or trying to push water down my neck. I stopped taking the pain medication yesterday morning due to the side effect of being constipated. Rather just deal with one type of pain! I was lucky enough not to suffer the nausea a lot of people are reporting here. Since stopping taking medication things have improved and I just put up with the headache, ear ache and sore throat. I was suppose to be back at work yesterday, but can’t talk easily so I am taking an extra day or two off until I can at least talk freely. It is an mental, physical and emotional journey and it isn’t over yet, but everyday is a step in the right direction. Best advice I can give is to read this very informative forum learn what works for you, keep drinking and keep hope. One final comment is I a UK citizen but had the tonsillectomy in the UK. The appears to be a big difference in advice from the countries, with the US going soft foods and the UK harsher foods. I stuck with the softer foods as I didn’t feel like explaining to my US ENT why I had been eating toast!
Im 20 and Its the morning of day 6 and the pain is pretty bad. It hurts worse in the ears. I’ve been using an icepack which is temporarily soothing the pain. I’ve been eating solids since day 3 and it hasn’t been too bad. Other than ice packs is there any other tips to relieve the ear pain?
Heating pad for the ears! Works great,
Hi Megan- Try chewing sugarless gum for the ear pain. Something minty… Good luck!
When I woke up this morning, I was in the worst pain that ive had through this entire recovery. I think it was more where my adenoids were taken out than my tonsils, so ice water and italian ice werent helping it. I was eventually able to manage the pain and then I immedately called the doctor to see if they could give me something stronger for pain. They told me that there wasnt really anything else they could give me, but I could start taking ibuprofin regularly to help with the swelling. I got out of the house for a while today with friends, and felt pretty miserale the whole time, but hung in there for my friends. I had to take a lot of sit-down breaks. When I got home it was way past my next dose of pain meds so I was hurting. The rest of the day went pretty well after that, although around 11, I looked at my throat in the mirror to see what my throat looked like and saw that there was some blood on the left side. I woke my mom up in a panic and she told me not to worry and that I probably just lost a scab. I guess I will only worry about it if I start spitting up blood.
Today-Day 6 has been the worst… the pain hit me so strong in the middle of the night which was close to the 10 on the pain scale. However the pain is manageable just follow your doctors orders. Ok I am 33 and have put this surgery off for years but am glad I did it. My relief has been believe it or not constant swallowing. The more water I drink, the better I feel so the key is hydration just like the others experiences. Drink Drink Drink. It makes the pain go away and helps. I saw a little blood today and drunk more cold water so it must have been a piece of scab but it was small. I am trying to keep them on for as long as I have to. Ice packs are helping me it keeps my neck cool. Day 7 here I come. Thanks for a great informative site.
Day 6 is similar to 5 for me. Still feels like swallowing razor blades. Got a refill on the pain meds, so I feel prepared for the next few days in which I hope to round the corner on pain. Just powering through the days at this point.
You’ve the right attitude Andy. Hang in there man!
Day 6, didn’t think it could get worse but it did. I cried today trying to drink a smoothie from Jamba Juice. I can’t eat anything but eggs and cottage cheese still. Don’t really want to eat anything anymore. The pain meds don’t seem to be working as well anymore.
Days 3 & 4 were horrible, the pain in my ears was almost unbearable. The only thing that helped me was the medicine my ENT prescribed. Eating was difficult and applesauce has been my bestfriend through this entire ordeal. Also on day 4 I found a warm compress to be more soothing than the cold ones.
Day 5- Horrible earache once again, more difficultly swallowing, and I continued my regimen of warm compresses and applesauce.
S/n : do not over exert your voice.
Day 6- Started badly, I could barely speak, my ears hurt, more continued dufficulty swallowing. But some relief came with now ice cold water. The more I drank the easier it was for me to swallow. The scabs have started to come off, unfortunately I have swallowed some and spit others out.
Day 6 sucked. When I woke up and had all this throat pain, I about had a breakdown, punching and throwing things. At the restaurant eating a hot beef, one piece hurt terribly and cut my throat and I wanted to frisbee the plate across the room at the waitress, not caring about the consequences.I’m normally a happy, loving human being but I’m pretty fed up with the consistency of the pain. Can’t seem to get much relief. I really don’t see any end in sight. At this rate, I feel like I’ll be in pain for at least another week.
Day 6 has been the worst day yet. I woke up with my ears feeling like they were going to fall off and my throat feeling like it’d been
Attacked by a pack of razors. Day. 5 had actually gone pretty smoothe and I thought I was finally going to wake up
With some relief. I ate a peice of chocolate pie and then my mouth felt disgusting and I felt like I couldn’t swallow or like something was caught in my esophagus. I opened mouth so see if there was food caught in the back of my throat and saw huge white scabs with black dots. I thought it was peices of chocolate cake but after I gargles the black dots were still there. So if this happens, don’t panic, the white stuff on your tongue is residue left from the white scabs and the black holes are where the scabs have begun to fall off. This day 6 I’ve chopped up
Painkillers to powder form and swallow them with liquid in a shot glass.
On day 6 stick to multi gummy vitamins, ice chips, and ice cream. Other days where you’re feeling better try quiche( a little better than plain nasty eggs), Popsicles, baked potatoe soup, broccoli And cheese soup, and mashed sweet potatoes. Gargle with the salt, baking soda, and a VIP
Of water every 3 hours. Drink lots of water even if it hurts like hell, it will help you not bleed and help with pain. So far I’m still Alive and the pain won’t last forever so good luck to everyone else out there!
So I did not really think things could get any worse- but then a storm rolled in. And guess what?? No electricity for 32 hours (which for us also means no water as we are on a well.) Oh yeah, did I mention it is 100 degrees, too? Good times, good times.
So Day Six has definitely been the worse in terms of pain. I am taking two percosets every four hours, which keeps me in a semi-comfort zone for about two hours, sometimes three is I am lucky. The one thing I can eat is instant cream of wheat, which is helping me to keep the pain medicine down. And, peppermint tea continues to be a life savior. I am back to chomping on ice chips b/c it is so hot and sticky. And, to my surprise, they are really helping with the pain. (I had stopped eating cold things b/c it was increasing my pain, but not the case with the ice chips.)
I am really hoping Day Seven is the turning point for me!
Day 6, June 27, 2012. Early morning I woke up. Completely dizzy and feeling like I was going to pass out. The feeling lasted a few hours. My wife called the on call nurse and with my symptoms she recommended getting evaluated in the ER. So off we went. They didn’t find any secondary infections, but my nutrition was not as good as it needed to be.. They gave me some liquid nutrition via IV, ran a couple tests, and I was on my way home at leat not feeling dizzy. I was scared when I felt like passing out, which is why I went. I’ve started eating yogurt, powerade even though it burns. Just trying to get more calories in. Nothing else has changed.
I’m on Day Five of post-op. I’ve got a few hints. Hopefully people will actually read this and it will be of help. 1) People have talked a lot about nausea even after the perscription has run out. ALTOIDS!!! Mint helps to calm upset stomaches. I had such a horrible upset stomach when I woke up on Day 4 that I sent my cousin running to the store to buy me some. As soon as I took them, I started feeling better. I’ve been keeping them by my side ever since. 2) I’ve seen some people say things about not getting enough nutrition. I take childrens chewable vitamins- not the gummy one, the pressed powder ones. You can fully chew them so it’s very easy to swallow. The other thing is V8 Fusion drinks. A cup has a full serving of fruit AND vegetable, and it tastes good. It’s a whole lot healthier than other drinks out there. Hope this helps people!
I am at the end of day 6 and I am wondering if it will ever end! I can even drink juice, I did on day 4 and I thought my throat was going to bleed and burn forever. Nutrition is a problem, can’t even drink ensure. Pretty much everything burns, even water. Although, I am dreaming of a cheeseburger with chili, cheese, and slaw!
oops, that was supposed to be can’t drink juice. The pain meds are a little strong..
i got my tonsils removed last friday in im still in pain in i have only been eating ice cream in i have been having diarehha o my have anyone experience this at all they gave me hydrocrdone liquid i never had that before im so hungry i was dehydrated in had to get a iv but i just started taking down fluids o my is all i can say but can some who can relate tell me about this please i feel werid
Diareha(can’ spell it) was my friend on day 4, from the antibiotic. With barely eating, I was surprised that I had anything to even come out like that. Im on that hydrocodone liquid, second refill, that’s some nasty stuff! If you can eat baby food, try that. When I can eat, I eat mac and cheese baby food, but choking it down was and still is pure hell.
My stomach started being upset on day 4. It’s mostly liquid and it just kind of explodes out (sorry for the gross visual). I didn’t go at all for the first 4 so I guess I’m glad to be going? Lots of weird things happening to me. Glad I’m not alone, but sorry for your discomfort. Hang in there.
female, 33, had mine on Tuesday. Today is Sunday. the pain is peaking! ear, and throat. had uvula and tonsils out. for the first time, got a torch lite and took a peek at my throat….scarry!!!
have not had any decent meal since tuesday. just custard, tea and honey, bread soaked in tea and egg white (albumen)…. have had tonsil stones for two years now. it was a bad case. like a plague….everyday was torture. right now, my throat and uvula is covered in thick white stuffs (scabs i guess) and i feel like there is no passageway on my throat anymore! quite uncomfortable. please someone tell me:
after tonsilectomy and uvulectomy, will life be normal again like pre tonsil stones days?
will i be able to eat without spending two hours later gargling out food particles from my throat?
will i feel normal and happy again? is this really worth it? comment please, will be grately appreciated. thanks.
How are you feeling now? Please tell me does it get better? I see you posted 12 days ago. Please tell me things get better? I too had tonsil stones and that’s why I had the surgery everyone says to me if you suffer tonsillitis then it’s kind of like that pain but I never really got it in the first place.
Wow, I feel like an idiot! I had no idea this website had different pages for each day of recovery on which to leave comments! I have no idea where I was posting before, I can’t even find it now! lol
Well, I’m just starting Day 6 and I have some concerns I was hoping someone might be able to address.
I woke up at 5am and spat up a small amount of blood that I was able to stop with cold water and an ice pack. My scabs seem to be sloughing off somewhat, leaving sore-looking patches that feel like they could start bleeding any second.
Is this normal?
I thought the scabs didn’t start coming off until around Day 10. I haven’t been eating or drinking anything unusual, still sticking to very soft things.
Thanks.
Supposedly, the bleeding is from the scabs coming off. Sounds like you are healing quite well, just take it easy and behave, you should be just fine.
Day 6 was bad. I spent as much of the day sleeping as I could. The Lortab side effects got to be way too much for me, so tonight I’ve used extra strength tylonal instead. The shallow breathing was just too scary for me. My goal is to no longer use that pain medication at all. The pain is not unbearable with the tylonal, but it’s there, absolutely. It hurts to swallow but I am pushing myself. Ate nothing all day and then decided I HAD to, so I ate a bowl of Italian Wedding Soup (very mushy) and a lot of nice cold watermelon. The watermelon was very soothing. Tomorrow is Day 7, so I’m hoping that from here it only gets better, but we’ll see.
I wanted to post a follow-up to this. I’m on Day 10, and starting to feel a LOT better. But please, take it from someone who’s been there, do NOT change or stop your meds without speaking with your doctor first. I had a bad time with the Lortab, but without meds (just Tylenol) I was miserable. And then I got another medicine with Tramadol in it…which made me throw up. So the moral of the story- I personally am not great with pain medication, but it was STUPID to just stop taking anything. It was painful and unnecessary!!!!
Hi just wanted to everyone somewhat of a good story!!! I got my tonsils out last Wednesday its now day 6!! The first 2 days were pretty horrible and then kept getting a tiny bit better im on day 6 and im pretty much all better little soar throat and ear pain but for the most part up and about my advice to everyone is think POSITIVe take showers watch ur favorite shows. I wasn’t eating for about 4 days …. but it will get better I promice!!! I didn’t take very much medicine at all either because it hurt my stomach s bad but all these horrow stories just make it worse! Try to relax don’t cry its just puts strain on ur throat making everything!!! Ache horribly!! So don’t listen to everything u read I was terrified have been terrified but everyone diffrent try to eat alot of ice gadorade is great keeps you hydrated!! Also try eating to get stuff in your stomach yeaster I had pasta with butter, mashed potatoes and today eggs. Didn’t eat alot and took forever but its a start!!!!
Day 1 for me and you guys are really making me nervous! i had a lot of issues in the OR because i swelled up so bad i couldn’t breath and the mucus was terrible, but after going home i feel fine. I’m in no pain just a little uncomfortable from swelling and i even have yet to take my pain meds. I still can’t really swallow food, but its ok for now. If i’m doing this good now will it get as bad as what you are all describing or did you have it bad in the beginning too?
Anyone else have intense nausea alongside the normal healing process? Every time I try to eat my stomach does a somersault and I have been sick several times. Even when not taking the pain meds I have the nausea. Cannot eat anything. Anyone have A similar experience?
It’s very common Paul. It’s a side effect of the pain meds. Try getting something in your stomach before taking them. There are also anti-nausea meds that work well. Take care, Greg
Im also on Day 6 of recovery. I’m female, 33 and live in Australia. Today has been the best day so far! I woke up at 6am (I’ve been sleeping in 2-3 hour blocks) in not too horrendous pain. I’ve found that holding some water in the back of my throat in the morning really helps. Also, covering my mouth all night every night with a blanket or a bit of your dressing gown works wonders in keeping your throat warm. I’m able to talk pretty well (if not a little bit foggy). Some of the scabs on my uvula have come away which has made life a LOT easier. I’m hoping I’m on the upward spin now! Mainly been eating mash pototo, apple sauce, yogo and drinking HEAPS of water and lukewarm tea. Let me know if you want to know more about my recovery, there hasn’t been a lot of info on the web about how the recovery has been for people in Australia.
I would kill for some mashed potatoes! Drinking water is normal for me, but geez this operation has got me drinking gallons of it!
Hi, I would love some feedback – I’m 25 in Sydney and got tonsils out last Weds, so tomorrow is Day 6 I think. The surgeon sent me away with Endone and Panadeine + Codeine but both were too strong for my stomach and was vomiting badly. Now an taking 2 panadol every 6 hours and am managing…but a bit worried about the pain getting worse again when scabs are coming off or if there is bleeding, eek!
I was doing fine on just panadol (as morphine and codeine makes my chest tighten to the point of feeling like my heart will stop!) but am starting to worry that it’s not enough. I’m taking it every 4 hours, but at day 6/7 I’m really starting to feel the pain.
Is it because I can’t take codeine that it hurts so much?
How did you go with just panadol, in the end?
Untill this day, everything was going good. My pain was under control with paracetamol and diclofenac and I was eating soft food. All the sudden, it seemed that the painmedication wasn’t working enough. I started to have unbearable pain. I couldn’t eat and even drinking was torture. When I looked at the wound, I saw the edges of the wound were very red. Also my tongue felt raw and looked white. I went to the doctor . He diagnosed a mouth thrush: a fungus in the mucosal layer of the mouth and also in the wound. I got nystatin for it (an antifungal antibiotic). I went back the next day because the pain had not been reduced. When the doctor looked at the wound, he saw the woundedges where less red and the wound looked less inflamed. Later that day, the pain seemed to reduce.
On my day 6, I woke up in the morning and started coughing and my scab fell off and started heavily bleeding. which was my biggest fear of this whole thing. My doctor told me to go the ER right away but luckily the bleeding had stopped after 20 minutes and I didn’t have to have it cauterized. I stayed in the hospital for one night to be monitored. If you have any bleeding you should notify your doctor right away.
Day 6 is the worst day for most coz scabs are coming off. Keep drinking COLD water- that helps. Take Tylenol , stronger meds if Tylenol doesn’t help. Your tongue may have a coating , see if u can scrape that off .
I’m on day 6 and I feel like this is never going to end. I woke up 3 times through out the night with coughing and itching in my throat. The pain would start shooting all around my ears and neck as soon as my eyes would open. I didn’t take any medicine because I just knew my body wouldn’t be able to handle anymore, so I would wait out the pain and fall back asleep.
When I finally woke up for good, I gagged because of the taste in my mouth.
OH MY GOODNESS THIS TASTE IN MY MOUTH!! I can’t get it to go away for anything! Every swallow, sip, or tiny bite of food brings it on. If I don’t breath deep enough, I taste it.
I’m beginning to get so frustrated and I’m regretting getting this surgery 110%.
I believe the scabs are coming off, and all I can do is gag at the feel of my tongue brushing up against the disgustingness going on back there.
I’m so tired of this!
Oh im so sorry that you feel so bad. My grandson who is 4 yrs. Old with mild autism had to get his tonsils and adnoids also they put tubes in his ears. So he is all cut up in side and the hospital send him home with only tylenol he was in so much pain so I took him to the emergency and they gave him stronger tylenol with codine. Me and my husband have to hold him down to give him the medicine he refuses to take it every time but then 1 hour latter he fills better to drink . He also is on day 6 because of his autism he dont like ice cream or ice pops pudding jello mashed potato well he dont like to eat really anything to him everything is mess. Those are his words we are giving him apple juice to keep him hydrated and his suger normal. Is there any thing at all that I could do that helps you feel better. I sorry I know you feel horrible but I havent seen any scabs will he cough them up or will the scabs go down with the juice. What should I expect . Conserned grandmother thank you for taking the time to read this. I hope you feel better soon.
Today is day 6 post op, I am in agony, the pain is all over my mouth, I can’t eat or talk at all, my ears, neck, head ar all sore. I don’t know what to do, the pain killers seem doesn’t work that much. I called the hospital they said if you can’t eat so you have to come back, I don’t know if I should go or hang on more days. I wish I never done this surgery ever!
I had my tonsils out on February 27th, 2015 so this makes Day 6 if you count surgery day. I count surgery day since you are technically recovering and healing that day. Pain is manageable. I took tyelonol extra strength just so I could eat. I’ve needed to take anti-nausea meds for the last two days upon waking up though. I think my sinuses are draining at night and making me sick. Is anyone else still incredibly dizzy? I don’t know if I’m just not recovering from anesthesia well or if this is a side effect.
Today is day 6 i woke up in pain felt like i swallowed a scab after that the pain has eased of a lot I ate eggs and a banana and I am feeling a little better
I had a full tonsillectomy and turbinectomy in January 2011. It was a hard month after having the surgery. I had a really hard time getting my normal sense of taste back for a whole month.
There is light at the end of the tunnel. One month postop, I felt worlds better, and I never snored at night again (I had my tonsils removed because I had bad obstructive sleep apnea).
I am still glad I had it done and even knowing what the experience is like, it was definitely worth it. Hang in there, everyone.
16 year old female. 6th day of recovery
I took my last set of Co Codamol last night at 12:30am. And I actually felt pretty good most of yesterday. However the same can’t be said for this morning.
I’ve awoken at 5:00am and I’m in agony. My ears feel like they’re about to explode and I neednt even tell you about my throat. It’s a solid 8/10 on the pain scale.
I’m petrified of my scabs coming off today and don’t know whether to dry my throat out. Or keep it moist. Although judging by the comments I’m guessing moist is the way to go.
In the past 6 days I have eaten jelly and sorbet. However when my throiat was completely numb yesterday I managesd toast that had been microwaved (lots of butter on toast. Microwave for 20s makes it super squishy).So I’m pretty sure I’ve lost weight in an unhealthy way. However I can’t be sure because our scales don’t work.
I’m finding it very difficult to move around as I get very tired and very weak easily.
I am 26 years old I am I day 6 of my recovery. No pain meds the ent said I may take ibuprofen for the swelling helped a lot. I started a slight cough today an I had some tissue or scab come off it is now making me cough a lot due to it touching that part that makes u want to throw up. That has made my ears hurt so bad. I drink herbalife protein shakes which has helped me so much.
Day 6, 37yo – I woke up at 3am sobbing in pain and forced some medication down while pacing the house and praying for relief. I vastly underestimated the amount of pain I would be in – it’s not just the acid feel of swallowing, but my tongue hurts, my teeth hurt, my cheeks hurt, my jaw hurts and worst of all my ears feel like I’m being stabbed through the ear drum! Some of the caked white slough has come away and I feel less obstacles when I swallow. I avoided my Endone today as this gives me a shocking headache and I feel confused, but the paracetamol/nurofen was just not touching the pain. I took Endone twice today and used Ice packs for not only my throat, but relief from the headache. I brushed my teeth before bed tonight and noticed some blood – I have a sharp pain on my right side and looked in my throat and saw some bleeding. It’s not gushing, but I’ll keep an eye on it. I’m currently drinking iced water. I’m so hungry and miserable. Thank God my husband is entertaining our 19 month old as I am unable to do much at all, I can’t even have a proper conversation with my little darling
I am 25 and on day 6 post Opp and in the exact same condition. I am in agony and would say pain is at a 9/10. My ears are killing me and I can’t swallow anything. I woke up at 2am after having panadine forte at 10:30 and thought I can’t have anymore as it will be an overdose so waited in pain crying till 4:15 and took an endone. Struggled a lot to take the endone and really don’t feel that much better. Called the hospital they recmended coming in to see the surgeon. Tell me you got better soon please. This is the most excruciating thing I have ever done.
They say days 5-7 is the worst day. Day 6 was the worst for me too coz scab is coming off. Keep drinking cold water is my advice
I had my tonsils out on new years eve, exactly a week ago. Last night i had the worst night sleep ever, my throat felt like it was on fire and my ears killed i would not stop screaming! If i knew a tonsillectomy was going to be this painful i would have never had it done. I havent eaten for 3days because it feels like im swallowing glass, even drinking water burns, day 6 is definitely the worst day!
I had my surgery January 30th, 2014 and its day six for me. I’ve been having trouble brushing my teeth..gross I know. Last night i was having sharp pain as if someone was poking me with a sharp object and I’m still having that issues. I haven’t eaten much but I am drinking lots of fluids. I can’t really see where my tonsils were because it hurts too much to open my mouth that wide…I’m just ready for this to be over!!
I have read the posts above and I am soo glad that I am not the only one still in misery on day 6. I got my surgery on 12/29/2014 and so far the 5th day (yesterday) and today has been ONE of the worst
My scabs are definitely not coming off yet either. I am living off of oatmeal and soup which is clearly not the best but atleast I am able to eat something. It is soo hard to simply swallow water but I know staying hydrated is key. My pain meds are definitely working but it sucks to be reliant on them. It is hell when I first wake up and eat but I know that in order for me not to get sick and feel nauseous I must eat before the pills. Hopefully the rest of the day gets better!Good luck to everyone!
Well folks – after a near week of recovery, I am essentially doing well post-tonsillectomy. I wish everyone speedy recovery and am grateful for how smooth mine went. I will say that as the scabs are coming off I have some pretty strong pain shoot through my jaw to my ears but I’ve adapted to some pain from the last several days. I slept through the night without getting up to take meds, and have weened off Lortab which after a while caused me too much anxiety, edginess and depressive feelings compared to the pain relief it provided. My stomach and digestive tract have some catching up to do but yesterday was able to eat about 2/3 a fish filet sandwich and some french fries, as well as some chicken and dumplings with green beans and a roll for dinner. I am tired after eating solids but think that’s really the only way to regain my stamina. Warm liquids ease the period where scabs slough off. Tea with honey was awesome especially. I expect to be back to work Tuesday or Wednesday, which means I fully recovered in about 8-9 days. Stay vigilant, find someone to help stay with you to care for you, and revel in knowing you did something good for your health and once done, did it! I wish I had done this a lot younger.
day six, today actually went really well, compared to yesterday (which was prob. Yesterday my scabs started falling off, and unlike many of the stories I have heard, I coughed the scabs up because they were causing my to gag which was causing more pain than I wanted to be in. So I coughed out the first set of scabs around 2 in the morning today and then around 9:30 tonight I coughed up the next scab. Although the process was highly unpleasant, I am not experiencing the extreme sensitivity now that the scabs start I was able to have real food throughout the day. I started with a bowl of jell-o, and then my dad brought home a sonic slush (Yippee) and I then I had Mac-and-cheese for lunch, and then I had a small bowl of soup. After gagging up a scab tonight my sister made me a smoothie which a)tasted amazing, b)felt amazing on my throat, and c)was healthy. I gotta say, the scabs look nasty. I am extremely grateful that the doc got me some steroids to reduce swelling and make it easy to swallow. Hoping tomorrow is even better.
Happy Holidays everyone.
This is post op day 6 for me and have to say it’s been the worse day. So day 5-7 when scab is trying to come off is when it hurts the most. So, back to only jello, ice cream. I felt great yesterday and even ate baked fish. Drinking cold fluids helps.
I’m at day 6. I’m almost 19. This last week has been a first for a lot of things! I’ve never had surgery or anesthesia or had to take pain meds for anything. This has been the worst last six days of my life! I took liquid pain meds the first couple days but I was still in a bit of pain and couldn’t eat enough (no matter how hard I tried) to keep the meds down so I threw them up on the second day): which resulted in me not taking any pain meds again. Holy cow, my pain levels remained at 8/10 and my ears hurt so badly! Almost like the feeling when you get water up your nose. I was even crying at some times. I was so hungry and weak and felt real feverish.
I didn’t leave my house until yesturday, which was a bad idea. I started to feel better though and got my nails did(: but as I was in a petco parking lot when I started to spit out a lot of blood! Thankfully, I was with my mom and we rushed to the ER. I only bleed about 1 1/2 cups. Believe it or not, it was the best I felt since the tonsillectomy!! I could talk completely normal and my pain was next to none! I was hoping the pain was over but it was for only a little while): I’m in pain again today but only about 4/10. It’s still in the ears too. I just keep telling myself, I’m almost there!
I am at day 6. Got my tonsils out on Tuesday. Spent last night in the ER after one of my scabs came off and I bled out. Bleeding is scary and extremely uncomfortable, but it solved itself within 3 hours in the hospital, and no further action was required. All in all I lost about a pint and a half of blood in a couple hours through the mouth, so don’t freak out at small amounts of blood, when you bleed, you’ll know it. The first 4 days were relatively pain free, I could speak, and eat jello and drink some protein shakes, but mostly water.
After bleeding last night the pain has skyrocketed to about a 7 or 8/10, with my pain meds. This was the pain I was expecting. Speaking is out of the question and I’m just waiting to heal now.
I forgot to add I am a 22 year old male. Apparently that increases the risk of bleeding significantly.
Anyone have a lingual tonsil removed? I have a hunk of tissue at the back of my tongue as well as a scab at the crack of my jaw next to tongue.
Day 5. First three days were OK..4 out of 10. Days 4 and 5 were a mix of tough nights and painful speaking and eating. I’m tired of being tired. No sign of scabs coming off. When does it end?
I had mine out a few months ago and i felt the same way. It gets better by week two just power through it. I know it’s hard to believe but once its over you won’t even remember the severity of the pain and you will be glad you got them out i promise! Good luck
oh and a few things that helped me are putting an ice pack on my throat and their is this numbing spray called hurricane spray that helps alot and lasts for a while. It hurts when you spray it in your throat at first but it goes away in a few seconds and you can actually eat because you cant feel the pain!! It’s worth a try you can get it at Wal-Mart or Safeway.
It’s day 6
Well I am a sixteen year old and I had my tonsillectomy on the 17th of November. Today is my birthday. Finally am 16. Unfortunately it’s the worse day I’ve had. Nothing helps. I tried chicken broth and I’ve tried ice cream. Cold stuff made it feel as if I was burning. And hot stuff soothed it barely. I haven’t coughed but I have spit up blood I’m very scared. I don’t know what to do. I wish I could go back and have never had them removed.
Day 6 and it feel like someone shoved a bunch of needles down my throat. What the heck? I slept awful last night, weird dreams possibly due to the pain and meds? I woke up twice with a dry mouth and hd to force myself to drink water but felt like needles stabbing me in the throat. My jaw has been achy and my ears are hurting the worst today. I can’t have anything cold, just lukewarm stuff. Tried a mushed up banana to get some potassium but could only handle two bites. Just been drinking water so far. Mornings and evenings are still the worst. Going to start drinking ensure today, need some nutrients! The amoxicillin is the only thing that feels great on my throat. So sad.
had my op 16th oct still living on water soup and middle bit of toast living on less than what a baby would eat.
the pain is about 8 eating loads of ice pops. sleeping is bad choking snoring and dreaming I only get the odd hour here and there.
the hardest thing for me is the sickness still being sick as of today is this normal not been to the bathroom either for number 2 since a week ago getting very concerned. im lucky had no ear or jaw ache. its this constant feeling sick abd throwing up that’s getting to me. ive changed co codamal to normal paracetamol and had anti sickness tablets the hospital gave me but nothing seems to work
I had my operation same day as you. I’m dealing with the same issues. The constipation is rough. I started adding benefiber to my chicken broth, noticed my stomach has been rumbly now. However haven’t been eating too many solids so that could be the issue. I’ve been trying baby food mostly the fruit blends at room temp. I found over the past two days that really cold stuff is starting to bother me, feels like stabbing when I swallow. Good luck on your road to recovery and if you want to chat or compare let me know!
I have declared war against pain, and after that I was able to eat. The trick is to take a the cough medicine with advil before you eat and another advil after. I promise I never thought a sandwich will be this good. Water and a cold/hot pack are the best friends I have. The blood was scary but you get used to seeing it. Scabs have fall off because of the cough, so now that I think half of it are gone it is getting better. Will tray to sleep with out the really strong pain meds tonight, wish me luck!!!!!!!!!! I hope I make it through the night.
Thanks for the support this site has been to surviving week 1.
I had my surgery on 9/29/14. 6 days later I was in and out of one of chain of naps I woke up choking on my own blood. I tried to grab ice water and peroxide like they suggest but blood was just gushing out faster than I could control it. I live a lone and the ER is literally around the corner maybe half mile from my apt against better judgement I got in my car and drove over there frantic and bleeding. They were good at getting me checked in and seen, I believe I felt so bad at one point I actually passed out. I’m was able to get the bleeding to stop there but continued to cough up massive clots of blood 4 total. They were ready to take me into the OR. By time the i call surgeon got there he couldn’t see any bleeding or anything. They admitted me over night just to keep an eye on me but sent me home at noon the next morning. I wasn’t even there 24 hours. I was really anxious and scared because I left not knowing anything but the fact that I woke up choking on all that blood the night before and it was the scariest thing Ive experienced. I’m now at home with supervision and doubling up on the cold slushy drinks (I’m surprised my blender is still holding up). I’ve been advised to mix 32 oz of peroxide with 32 oz of ice water and keep that on hand to gargle (don’t swallow) I’m just praying and hoping it doest happen again and I get through this recovery. I’m back on a liquid diet for another day or two then I can try mush foods again. I’ve attempted mashed potatoes/gravy twice already first time was awesome the last time it hurt and forced me back to Popsicles. If I could do this over… I wouldn’t of had it done.
i realized after looking at my throat for the first time that i have no scabs! is this normal?
My throat has been bleeding on and off for 24 hours, i had my tonsils removed 8 days ago and now im worried
Go and get it checked out as a post tonsillectomy bleed can be nasty if not controlled. They can give you a special gargle to use and monitor you to make sure it stops. Xx
Day 6…. I made it to day 6. It’s harder to swallow since swelling has gone down. It took me almost half an hour to eat 3 Ravioli. My reward was 2 chocolate chip cookies and 2 containers chocolate pudding.
How the heck were your able to eat anything besides popsicles and applesauce on day 6!?!? I’m dying! !!! And
starving to death!
So I have this red dark spot on my scab I gently touched it with a q tip and lIggy red stains where on it but I don’t taste blood and not spitting any blood up. I’m worried and freaking out. All I wanna know is am I OK.
Shay I have heard of this from others. It seems common. I would leave it alone though. Take care!
Is it normal to have black yellowish gunk in the back of my throat? I’m 5 days out of op and worried about the blackish dis coloring. My doc won’t call me bace either. man does it hurt like hell.
Yes. It is. It’s gross but common. Hang in there. !!
It’s my 6th day. And I woke up at night crying for pain pills. I can’t even sleep for a long time,It hurts to even swollow my spit. I say to myself you have to eat you need this water,but when I drink or eat anything its the most pain I’ve ever had. But today I clinch onto my blanket when I swollow. I’m just going to be relieved when this is all over. I did not know what I was getting myself into! The other day I haven’t been able to eat before I take my pills. So it gave me a fever and cramping,I had to go to the hospital.wish me luck I’ll feel better by this Friday:(
Hi everyone. I am currently on day 6, and a tsunami of serious pain has swept over me, washing away the sense of slightly smug optimism I was feeling up until yesterday. From the start I have felt pretty good, and have been eating 3 meals a day; so I thought I was one of the lucky ones. However, at about 3am last night I awoke with that elusive 9/10 pain. The humidifier is blasting and Paracetamol is in full effect. I also have Endone (Oxycodeine) if I absolutely need it, but am trying to stay away as it’s pretty heavy stuff and will probably leave me feeling rotten.
Day 1: Woke up and ate a beef curry, bread and cornflakes within a few hours. Surprised at how good I felt. Taking 2 Paracetamol every 6 hours. Pain 2/10.
Day 2 – 5: Getting better each day and only painful when I swallow. Eating is ok but can’t really speak. Day 5 was actually quite relaxing with pain down to 1/10 at points. Have been drinking litres upon litres of room temp water. Eschewing ice as I don’t want to constrict the capillaries too much and risk infection from a lack of blood circulation. Slowly tapering off medication – feeling lucky! Pain 3/10
Day 6: ARGH! OUCH! It’s happening! Back onto the meds. Wound looks OK (lots of smooth white gunk) but ears and throat are in agony, especially in the morning when swallowing. Ears even make a weird noise (rushing sound?). Almost no sleep. Just want this whole experience to be over. So tired and dreaming of schnitzel. Pain 7/10 with dry mouth spikes up to 9.
Each day feels like an achievement, I think we should receive little ribbons at midnight. Hang in there everyone – every day is a step closer to feeling better.
And thank you to Greg for this site; it’s been such a help and comfort.
Thanks for posting. I’m glad the site has helped. You are nearing the end of the tunnel- Hang in there!
I am on day 6 and not at all good today, found this website and this is the first information I have had to how I should feel, no info given on leaving the hospital, had earache today, so glad to know in a funny sort of way this is a symptom . I’m quite annoyed I’m having to find out info on the net. I’m 51 and had a palateoplasty too, which has just added to the pain. The first couple of days were ok and definitely lulls you into a false sense of security. Don’t really want to look at my throat , the feel of it is enough. My tongue on day three was awful and I could barely talk, so looking to being another week on
Hang in there. You are in the worst of it. Watch out for oral thrush.
Mid 40s, just underwent a tonsillectomy on Tuesday. The first couple of days were deceiving. I almost felt guilty for taking the time off work. Then Saturday hit with a vengeance. I’ve been overhydrating with ice water, and it helps. Ice packs are a god-send. The worst part of the last few days has been the nerve inflammation that happens when I try to eat or drink. There’s a sore spot at the base/side of my tongue. When anything touches that Katie bar the door. A radiating pulsating wave of agony begins and nothing touches the pain besides an ice pack on my neck. This pain will break through any medication that might be working at the time, and is easily an 8 or 9 on a scale of 10.
If this ever subsides, the rest of the ride was a walk in the park.
Im a 19 year old female I got my tonsils out on july 29th 2014 it sucks so bad im on day 6 of recovery and the pain just seems to come and go I feel like it will never go away fully everytime I start feeling good the pain flares up again. Ive never felt this much pain in my life. Im so sick of not being able to eat real solid foods sometimes I can barely drink water I hate this I hope it will be worth all the pain..
I got mine out the same day as you. Are you feeling any better? I’m still in a lot of pain and it’s already day 10. It’s so annoying!! And sooo painful!!!
Day 6 after coblation tonsillectomy on 6/20/14. I overdid it last night with trying to eat some real food (even well-chewed) and had a very raw-feeling throat overnight and for most of the morning. I decided to quit the oxycodone today because the nausea was getting to be too much for me. I’ve managed all right on 2 ES Tylenol every six hours. I’ve been able to drink more and eat more, which isn’t saying much but which feels like an improvement. I overdid it again tonight, once my throat had improved, by trying to eat soggy breakfast cereal in milk. I guess it was still too crunchy/sharp. The swelling in my tongue is down. There are still scabs on the back of my throat/tonsil beds, but parts of them may have come off – I am not sure. I’m tired of being inside all day – I haven’t put on shoes since I came back from the surgery center last Fri. – but I get fatigued so easily. I’ve just been watching the World Cup and Netflix and taking two naps a day. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, I think, as long as I avoid major bleeding when the scabs really fall off. I feel much better in terms of nausea and overall brain function now that I’m off the oxycodone, even if the throat pain is a little worse. I still haven’t had much in the way of ear pain – hope that continues.
Day 6 after coblation tonsillectomy: I finally ate some food. 1.5 slices of pizza for supper. It didn’t hurt really. It was a satisfying kind of pain, like scratching an itch.
At bedtime I was unfortunate enough to suck a piece of a scab out of my throat. Gross. Now I can feel a giant blob hanging on back there, but I am fighting the urge to suction that off because I worry about bleeding. If I can just fall asleep and then swallow that thing in my sleep, I’ll be happy.
I quit taking the Percocet today because I am ready to have a good bowel movement. Instead of my regularly scheduled dose, I took 3 ibuprofen. That was 7 hours ago now, and I’ve not noticed any change in pain. No difference between taking the Percocet or the ibuprofen, and no change when the ibuprofen should have worn off. I’m a little upset now, thinking that these pills may have been doing nothing other than constipating me and making me nauseous.
At least I am med-free, and pain isn’t worse than before. Well, in honesty, I think the pain level has been decreasing over the last two days, but the discomfort level in general has increased. I can’t say today was better than yesterday, just different, I’m still miserable, but in a different way.
For those needing to hear it, pain was better today, especially once I got some food going down. It was hardly painful at all, and like I said, it felt satisfying in some way. End of day 6 could be the turn around for many of you. Hang in there!
Im 21 and I’m on day 6 today. On day 4 I overslept past my med time and tried to get up to go downstairs and passed out from pain and dehydration. My mom couldn’t get me awake to take meds or drink water the rest of that day, so through my delusion I honestly thought I was dying. Day 5 I was able to eat a good bit of cream of wheat and lots of fluids. I didn’t get out of bed all day today and have only been drinking as much as I can tolerate. My throat is very very sore/scratchy and my ears are killing me every time I swallow. My mouth also feels very mucusy? Has anyone else experienced this? Does the throat rawness mean the scabs came off and is that bad? Thanks for any answers. I’m miserable
My throat has hurt the same level of pain every day from days 1 to 6. I keep thinking that it will ALL BE worth it because no more nasty swelled tonsils with stones or tonsillitis and bad breath!!!!!! Lot of liquids and yes, my throat has felt raw after drinking all day, every day. But I want to avoid a hospital trip and IV fluids. I looked and part of a scab fell off but the next day it seemed to be back. I think they regenerate over until it is really ready to be off.
Had my tonsillectomy and uvulopalatopharyngoplasty 7 days ago woke up a little sore but it got better. Then about 3:00 pm started to burn couldn’t get it to stop. Only foods I can eat are soft boiled eggs, pudding, buttered noodles, broth, and jello . Hurts but I feel like I am getting better. Thank you for the site it helps me a lot good luck to everyone
Thanks for posting Jim- Best of health to you!
Hi all. I’m 28 years old and from Australia. I had my tonsils taken out on Thursday, 12 June via the coblation method. I am currently on my sixth day of recovery. I read a lot of horror stories prior to my surgery and I was quite nervous about what was to come but overall I think I am one of the luckier ones (so far at least).
I have had a lot of discomfort and pain but the pain hasn’t been debilitating. The worst pain is after eating and the last few days my jaw has been throbbing when I wake up. I’ve been keeping very hydrated so I think that has helped with my recovery – plus the coblation method is supposed to lead to a faster and less painful recovery.
Eating has been very hard and I cannot wait until I can eat a full meal without my throat and jaw throbbing after a few mouthfuls. So far I have been able to eat soup, jelly, sorbet, icypoles, mac and cheese, frûche fromage frais, bread and toast (suggested by my surgeon) and mashed potato and veggies. There is a bit of dairy in there which does thicken the mucus in my throat a bit but it’s worth it to get something into my stomach.
The only pain meds I’ve been given are regular old paracetamol, I wasn’t prescribed anything stronger and I have found that sticking with a strict every 6 hours schedule has helped to keep on top of the pain (except after eating!!)
The worst thing I’ve had to deal with is a tickle in my throat that can only be ‘comforted’ by coughing, that’s pretty painful but thankfully hasn’t lead to any bleeding. I also think I have oral thrush so I have been to the chemist this morning to get something to treat that. I’m hoping that getting rid of that might improve my ability to swallow without too much pain.
I’m certainly not out of the woods yet and I am keeping my fingers crossed that it doesn’t get any worse from here but overall the experience hasn’t been too bad. I would like people out there to know that it isn’t always a horror story.
I’ll come back in a week or so and give an update once I’m closer to the end of the 14 days. I hope everyone who is struggling improves very soon.
Thanks for the website by the way, it’s been a great resource!
I’m on Day 6 and I don’t know how much more I can take. There is no relief from the pain, just the thought of eating or drinking anything brings tears to my eyes, and despite being strung out on hydrocodone I now have a migraine. I’ve been alone since I got home from surgery and I just don’t know how much more I can take.
Hi Clara- I’m sorry you’re having such a rough time. It sounds just like what I went through. Try to remember that this is temporary and you WILL feel better soon. Also, even though it hurts, you MUST drink! Being dehydrated makes things much, much worse. Try to take a short walk or plan a daily bath to look forward to. There is a mental component to your suffering too.
Hang in there- I’ pulling for ya!
Thanks for the encouragement! I’m trying to keep my mind off it but it’s difficult. Today isn’t any better than yesterday; in fact, now I’m feeling nauseated. Any idea when I will start feeling better?
hmm, well I hate to say it but for me it wasn’t util day 9 that I really started feeling better. There are meds for nausea- you might ask your doc. In the meantime, try to get a little something in your stomach before taking the pain med’s- that’s what’s causing the nausea. Hang in there1
SORRY FOR ANY CONFUSION- I’M BOTH GREG AND TONSILLECTOMY RESOURCES- DEPENDING ON HOW I’M LOGGED IN
Hi Clara- This is such a difficult recovery! My daughter is on day 6 today and is miserable. I feel so sorry for you- I can’t imagine your being all alone, you are really brave. Try to keep in mind that you will start to feel better in a few days and then in a few months, you will be good as new. Keep drinking and chewing on ice. Sending you all my best and a big virtual hug! Hope today is a little better! Barb
I had a tonsilectomy adnoidectomy and a uvulopalatopharyngoplasty on Tuesday. Today is Saturday night. I feel blessed. I had 3 surgeries in my mouth and I have not once needed any pain meds of any kind. Last night I was sleeping and I started coughing and a little blood came up but not a lot. I called my doc and she said that’s normal. Today I have coughed a little and it feels like something is hanging in my throat but no pain. Just discomfort. Could the scabs be coming off now? Is it possible I just heal really quick? I have a low pain tolerance so this has surprised me no doubt.
I am on day 9 of my recovery and I have to say I’m feeling much better. I just have this one nagging thing that is making me absolutely crazy is that it feels like I have a huge hairball in the back of my throat. I’ve been retching all day as a result of this. Has anyone else felt this, and if so, how the heck can I make it better? My doctor said to take Mucinex, but it hasn’t helped at all. I am desperate for suggestions.
18 yrs old and day 6 into day 7 was probably the worst day so far. I was doing ok eating pudding, popsicles, etc. and taking liquid prescriptions until day 6. During the evening of day 6 I started spitting up blood. Not a ton of blood and I realized some of a scab must of came off. This was the weirdest feeling ever. The taste of blood let alone is upsetting but it made me feel very lightheaded. My advice for when a scab comes off is to spit and drink something cold. Water is the only thing I drank because anything and everything else burned very bad. That night after some of the scabbing came off, I went to take my medicine and it burned my throat so bad I started crying and thought I was going to pass out. I didn’t take my medicine anymore after that because luckily I had my follow up appointment the next morning and I just could not bear the burning again. I slept about 4 hours and the next morning I felt like death and was spitting up more blood and some greenish stuff. Luckily the doctor prescribed me a pill prescription. I recommend asking for the pill prescription in advance so you won’t have to endure the burning of the liquid medicine after the scabs fall off. Other than this day and the burning, I feel as if my recovery has gone decent and my doctor said only a few more days and I will be back to normal. I hope this helps!!
Im 1 week postop today and yesterday was my worst day so far so much so that I had to have my mom call the dr for different pain medication. I was worried too. Im a nurse and this is more than i expected. My jaw and tongue were hurting so bad didn’t want to eat or drink just like u said. Call and got acetaminophen with codeine which numbed my mouth and throat actually slept 6 hrs last night. Hoping over the weekend i will be able to tolerate more solid foods like pudding and such. Good luck this sucks.
I am on day 6 after my Tonsillectomy and day 5 was definitely the worst so far. At this point my entire mouth in general like tongue and roof of mouth and jaw, are more sore than my throat. Wondering is this happened to others? My mouth hurts enough that I don’t want to eat/drink because it feels like just glass stabbing my tongue, it is awful. I have still been taking Lortab every 4 hours on the dot. I am hoping things are looking up from here, but am afraid of what to expect with scabs falling off in the following days.
Hi Casey- sorry you’re having a rough time. Is it possible that you’ve developed oral thrush? Pretty common after tonsillectomy. I wrote a piece on it:https://tonsillectomyrecovery.com/oral-thrush-candida/
Uh oh! I finally see the pain everyone is talking about. Last dose of meds was 9pm last night. Scabs have also been coming off, i was out in the air furniture (and clothes) shopping for 8 hours, and I tried to eat a piece of pizza earlier yesterday…..bad idea…needless to say, I woke up at 3am this morning with the worst pain!!! Like a hot knife was stuck down my throat and an ice pick was shoved through one ear and out the other! Thank goodness for this liquid lortab. It feels like as soon as it touches my throat, the pain is relieved. I ate 3 Popsicles and about 5-10 mins later, I was feeling better. Whoo! No more solids for me! I hate it for those who’ve been feeling that way the whole time!
Ugh. Sorry to hear that your honeymoon has ended. Hope you feel better soon!
POD #6 was by far THEE worst day ever!!!! I couldn’t hold anything down over the last 12 hours due to nausea/vomiting (oh the burn
Started feeling dizzy, weak, and concerned about dehydration (I wasn’t able to take in much anyway), I went to the ER. Toradol (pain med) land Phenegran (anti-nausea) and 3L of fluid were a God-send!!!! I went from faintly speaking to almost 90% of my normal voice and tolerating water/cool green tea. Most soups/broths taste horrible (now), pudding is too sticky, and most water ice are causing reflux. We should seriously get a meddle after this.
Hang in there Nattashia. I’ll work on getting those medals made up. ?
Oops, I meant medal (damn auto-correct and drugs). Thanks for this page! It really help me get through the hellish first week.
hello, I am a 43 yr old female, day 6 just ended, had my tonsils out this past monday as well as a biopsy on my right lingual tonsil because it has been enlarged for some time now. Experiencing some majorly intense stabbing needle tickle pains where my left lingual tonsil is and can feel the swelling of these lingual guys rubbing against the surgery areas when I swallow.
the stabbing tickle I have felt on and off since before surgery and it makes me cough a lot, but now it makes me panic because I dont want to cough post surgery and cause any further issues. I’d say those have been my biggest pains, and it seems like I dont have a whole lot of scabbing for this stage which concerns me too cause I dont want the healing to take longer than what I’ve set my expectations to. Eating is uncomfortable but thanks to Monica on youtube I tried the packs of Lipton chicken noodle (has chicken broth, really small and smooth noodles and no pieces of chicken) which went down great and is the only substantial food I can tolerate right now.
Im glad to have found this forum, and hope we all heal quickly and uneventfully <3
Hi everyone just a little bit about my recovery so far,wellim on day 5 po and really haven’t had any severe pain so far.the first night home I did everything for myself but the second day it hurt a little more but wasn’t unbearable I could tell there was some swelling I drank a lot of ice water and still do I have only been eating jello and pudding until today I was able to eat some Mac n cheese.also I have had some slight ear pain but nothing I couldn’t handle I take my pain med every four hours and sometimes I take liquid Tylenol also which to me that helped the pain I was feeling in my throat.my tongue is very sore I think it bothers me more than the pain in my throat.well I give God all the thanks for how well I’m doing recovering.The night before my surgery they prayed for me at church and the morning of my surgery a couple from church came and prayed with me before I went back for surgery.so I’m taking my recovery one day at a time and I’m not going by others recoveries because so far mines hasn’t been that bad.I also was prepared I got everything I needed ahead of time which was a cool mist humidifer,liquid Tylenol,soups,lots of water,Gatorade ,Popsicles,chloresptic throat spray the only thing I didn’t get that my husband had to get for me was boost or ensure because I’m not eating very much and really have no appetite at all.i pray that this information helps and that everyone has a speedy recovery
Thanks for sharing Leeann. Glad things are moving along fairly smoothly. Your tongue was probably bruised during surgery- very common. Keep doing what you’re doing! It seems to be working. Take care.
I also had tongue pain that was worse than the throat pain, go figure. Speedy healing
Dana curious how the rest of your recovery went. My husband is on day 6 and has a bad gag reflex. He can’t drink enough fluids because of it much less food. No food since the surgery I am worried about dehydration since he only drinks 20-30 oz a day. How was it when the scabs came off? He has very little pain just the swollen throat (on steroids too) I am worried about the next faze. Long recovery for nigh of us. Thanks. Christine
I’m just starting day 6 and all I can say is the only real problem I’ve been having is sleep. I can’t sleep longer than an hour or else my throat will be hurting something fierce the moment I begin to sip on my water bottle. I have my pillows stacked and a humidifier running but it’s a gamble no matter what the moment my eyes start to close and my breathing deepens. I generally breathe through my mouth when I sleep and although I had my adenoids removed as well to help eliminate that problem it hasn’t made it any easier. So, forcing myself to sleep with my mouth shut is an experience all in itself. I’m so hungry! I’ve noticed all I want to eat is soup and even then just the broth. Applesauce I can only handle for like 4 spoonfuls before the texture begins to irritate my throat. Same with noodles and even pudding. The only remedy to this is chugging that water between huge bites. So I’ve been experiencing some weird nausea and headaches simply due to starving. I should get some ensure… I keep forgetting to ask my husband. As far as pain goes during the day it’s a general 5 with moments hitting an 8. It’s at night when it can reach that 8-9 and stay there for a little bit. I’m staggering 300mg of ibuprofen in between hydrocodene/acetaminophen liquid medicine every 4 hours and it does me fine for the most part. I also use throat numbing spray if it seriously needs it.
Day 6 – Adjusted my medicine schedule to better line up with my wife and I’s sleep schedule. I take one dose right before bed last night, so I only have to get up once during the night. It actually worked out perfectly; I dosed, fell asleep, and woke up 10 min before the next dose, then slept 30 mins past the wakeup dose. That was a pleasant surprise. Pain is still very high without meds, I can feel the scabs starting to tear off at the bottom of my throat. Will try to be gentle as I eat today. I’ve lost 12lbs at this point (which isn’t a bad thing as I’m overweight), but keeping my hydration up.
Hi my names Beckie I had my tonsillectomy done on February 26th. My mother is an OR nurse and has been taking care of me. This pain is nothing like ive ever felt in my life. Day 1 wasnt bad as I had 6 mg of morphine iv before i left the recovery room. Days 2-4 were terrible. My throat and uvula were so swollen and distorted ANY attempt to swallow ANY fluids resulted in it coming out of my nose. Im having a terrible time with mucous and post nasal drip. I cant adequately clear my throat therefore the secretions run down my throat make me gag and cough which inevitably makes me throw up. Im TERRIFIED of bleeding. I invested in a cool air mist humidfier which im sure is helpful but also sucks because it loosens secretions and makes me cough. I havent slept for more than 2 hrs at a clip since the night before surgery. Sleeping any longer than that will result in waking up with a severely dry and severely sore throat. The ear pain has started today whcih really stinks. Chewing gum seems to help minimally. Im unable to take the liquid morphine prescribed because of my empty stomach I only throw it back upshortly afterwards.
Hi Beckie! It sounds like we are having a similar experience. I had mine done two days after you on the 28th. I’m curious to find out how the rest of your recovery is doing. I think my biggest problem was my congestion, mucus, and swelling. I cannot eat the things people are describing as normal. I am starting day 6 and I still choke on water and other liquids. Its almost as if i physically cannot swallow, its not the pain stopping me.
FYI not being able to swallow is caued by the swelling in your uvula. The uvula is kind of like a swallowing helper. It guides whatever is in your mouth down your throat, kind of pushes it down. So with it being so swollen its not working properly.. Should get better once that stupid swelling goes down
First of all: thank you so much for this blog. This gives me the feeling I’m not alone in this.
I’m a 22 year old girl (I feel like a babygirl during this recovery, hence: girl) and had my tonsils out on Feb. 25th, so I’m on day 6 – operation day being day 1 because I was up again at 10.30. I’m a little bit concerned about my recovery process because it’s completely different to what I read here. Day 1 and 2 were absolute bliss, no pain at all and I could talk. Day 3 was getting more painful, let’s say 5/10 but manageable. Day 4-6 were the worst, getting more and more extreme everyday. Last night I woke up every hour in such agony that I switched my icepack every hour and cried myself to sleep. I haven’t had any ear- or headaches so far (really, nothing). I look into my throat daily with a light to check the scabs, and I see that I’ve lost already more than half (even close to 75%!) of the white tissue/scabs/what is it? that was in there before. Most of my throat looks pink now, and I guess that’s what’s hurting me. Now comes a silly and stupid question, but I found no answers yet: the white scabs right after the surgery have to come off, yeah. Are that the ‘scabs’ that everyone is talking about or will there grow new scabs after that white stuff falls off? Sorry if this sounds stupid, but I’m a bit confused because well.. it’s day 6 and I’m almost ‘scab’free. Take care everyone.
I read somewhere that the white stuff is the scabbing. Sorry you are having a rough time. I had ny surgery on February 28th, so I feel ya.
Had mine taken out last wednesday the 19th. It is now monday midnight and I have woken up to stabbing pains and some amount of blood. Sucking on an ice cube brings little relief. Scaring me as my tonsil beds are coloured dark red as if it had bled for a while before I woke up which is frightening to think about. Unsure of what to do
Lucy! I had mine out on wednesday too! i’ve had no blood but my left tonsil looks like it has blood on it! its weird, im very paraniod about bleeding!
Hi Lucy and Jodie, and welcome! A little bleeding is normal. Gargling with cold water can help stop it. There are some cases in which the bleeding becomes profuse and requires medical intervention. Avoid coughing- that’s what I usually read precipitates these episodes in others here on the site. STay calm, even if bleeding would become profuse- like more than a tablespoon or two, and get to an ER.
Bets of luck and wishes for a smooth recovery. Take care
my scab that looks bloody looks as if its pretty much coming off? is this normal at day 6?
Yes, it would be fairly normal. Don’t try to “help it along.” Just leave it be. Keep drinking cold liquids!
Okay so day six huh ? Your thinking when is this going to end ! I can only take liquid medicine beause the pain from swallowing is just ridiculous . Ive been drinking a lot of Gatorade it has helped through the pain and the only food I have been able to eat were chicken noodle soup , pudding , and SOME applesauce . Who made up the joke about you can get to eat all the ice cream you want ? Well according to my throat no ice cream for me . Boy do I have a list of all the foods I wanna eat ! I have lost about 25 pounds ; EXTREMELY unhealthy !! Ill be glad when its over . Good luck everyone you can only get better !
Hey Deron- Thanks for posting. Hope you’re over the hump and on your way to all that good food!
Hi. Im 17 and i just had my tonsils taken out monday. I know its only been 5 days. But some of you were saying how your 5th and 6th day have been the worse.. my 5th day has been the easiest. Not much i can swallow. Finally drink and eat a little bit. I had to stop taking my medication though because all tylenol 3 did to me was make me sick, dizzy and. Tired. I only take them when i really need them. And lately i havent taken them. Since tuesday night i believe. I find aleeve gets rid of the pain better. I had hot dogs yesterday. I BBC was nice. Sine iv lost 7 pounds in 5 days.
Hi Zandalee- sorry I didn’t see your post sooner. How have things gone since you wrote this? Hope you are well. Take care.
Greetings! I’ve been following your website for a while
now and finally got the bravery to go ahead and give you a
shout out from New Caney Texas! Just wanted to mention keep up the excellent job!
I’m in day six, much better than yesterday. The first day wasn’t so bad because of the anesthesia and meds. I threw up the first three days and couldn’t stand the taste or smell of lortab , did not get more than 1 to 2 hours sleep every night until yesterday when my husband suggested I take some zquil. It worked!!! I finally had a full night sleep.
I also was trying to talk from day one, is not worth it, when people say you will pay the price they are not lying!!! I stop talking completely now and making my family work to understand me is a lot more fun and I believe is what is helping me feel better. Good luck to everyone. ?
Hi folks,
I am so thankful to have found this site. Thank you Greg for starting it and to all those who are sharing their experiences. I am going into Day 6 of a tonsillectomy and UVPPP and it is very supportive and validating to come here and find that ‘I am not losing my mind afterall.’ To see that others are having similar levels of intense misery is somewhat comforting because I NEVER would have estimated that recovery could be this challenging, despite my ENT surgeon’s promise that “You WILL be swallowing crushed razor blades for at least 10 days.” I have experienced the pain of partial airway obstruction and a perforated ear drum while flying due to severe tonsillitis so surely it could not be any worse than that! Sadly, and I hate to say it..but it truly is the worst pain I have ever experienced…and so unrelenting. The throat pain I was prepared for..sort of…the ear pain..prepared for…sort of…but the tongue cramping / spasm was a complete surprise and thought my entire lower jaw would rip apart during the 15 minutes or so of spasm that occured on Day 3 and Day 4 in the early morning. It seemed to be either precipitated by, or aggravated by, the fact that I had slept for a couple of hours and the mucosa of my mouth and palate had become extremely dry. It took nearly 90 minutes of gently sipping to work through the searing pain of separation of the tissues but I resolved to never allow myself to sleep that long again and so far, it has not reoccurred.
For pain management, I am on an elixir of acetaminophen 650mg plus codeine 90 mg every four hours. After Day 3, at night, I could not go to four hours without relapsing into pure pain and misery in my throat and ears so I opted to take it every three hours for a couple of nights and that seemed to keep things manageable with respect to pain and being able to sip fluids. Since the surgeon recommended a blended, soft diet for 2 weeks I am being cautious with respect to food intake. Blended unsalted homemade soup is manageable; the ready made soup from the grocery store was too salty and seemed rather like a caustic compound on my incisions and sutures! NORMAL SALINE 0.9% has been the BIGGEST BLESSING for sipping and fluid comfort, It does not irritate whatsoever..and passes like silk over the tissues in comparison to other recommended fluids. I was finding that water, dilute tea and juices were destroying what little saliva I had and the dry mouth and throat was aggravating the swallowing even more.
This evening marks the end of Day 5 for me…and after a 2 hour nap this afternoon, which resulted in me missing my next dose of codeine by an hour and the subsequent return of ear pain, I am feeling somewhat less miserable. I sipped away about 3/4 cup of blended soup and maybe 1/2 cup of vanilla ice cream with a large chaser of the Saline Special…cold saline with saline ice cubes! My wife has noted that the largest and most visible scab over the uvula area and central palate has now started to drop off and is just hanging benignly there. ICK! Maybe the night gremlins will carry it off! Tomorrow is a new day and I am hoping for great things.
Overall I am totally flabergasted that post-operative pain management can be this challenging in the 21st century! Or is it that those who develop pain management protocols and research have become complacent or lack awareness of how serious this issue can be for some patients. It is well recognized in other medical areas that good pain management promotes faster healing; does the ENT specialty share this philosophy?
Comforting thoughts to all of you who are ‘enduring’ tonight!
Well yesterday was a horror, today was 10x better. I ate jello and some greasy chicken. I noticed my scabs are receding from top to bottom (which is the opposite I thought they would go). As long as tommorow is the same or better I will be weening myself off of my pain meds.
I’m on day 6 of my tonsillectomy recovery. I had them removed due to mono. I am 15 years old and these are by far two of the most awful pains I’ve ever experienced. I love good food and I can’t eat it! I’ve gargles with a baking soda and water mixture and things seem to have not progressed. I am starting to alternate the liquid pain medications I was given with Tylenol. I’ve had an awful cough but luckily it seems to be dissapearing. I can only eat with great pain and usually I have to scarf jello down within the first hour of taking my meds. I have found if you carefully chew Ritz Crackers and make them creamy and soft, they are do-able for a switch up in tastes. I haven’t been able to open my throat and look in it. My jaw hurts and it hurts to tilt my head back. I recommend not to sleep for long periods of time, it may feel nice but you WILL regret the mornings. Mashed potatoes that are VERY well mashed make a good food and tons and tons of jello, considering ice cream and cheese and dairy products create thick phlem and help house infection! (You’re welcome!) Swallowing ice doesn’t seem to work for me and Popsicles are too much but unsweetened iced tea makes an excellent drink. Sip through the pain! And sip as often as possible. Good luck and God Bless! Things are going to get better
Day 6 – Christmas Day! By some Christmas miracle I get a bit of a reprieve from the pain. Sometime in the middle of the night I realized I stopped staring at the clock, waiting for the next time I could take more pain meds. Such a blessed relief!
Made my family a wonderful french toast casserole…then made myself a couple soft scrambled eggs. Wanted to cry. We got an Xbox for the family for Christmas but by the time I set up my profile, I was too exhausted and had to go lay down. I did later find the energy to play one dancing game with my daughter. My husband and kids went over to my in-laws for dinner which gave me a chance to take a bubble bath and have a glass of champagne.
Just before bedtime, my pain level shot through the roof! I got a migraine again (no room spinning like last night though), my ears were killing me, it felt like knives were stabbing the back of my throat. For the first time I started spitting up little pieces of scab. I had been chewing gum to help with the ear pain, but now that I am constantly loosing little bits of scab, I just can’t chew gum anymore. The mental picture of chewing on bits of scab mixed with the gum is so revolting it makes me gag! So my one relief from the ear pain is now gone… The hydrocodone doesn’t even come close to helping ease the pain anymore and I can’t sleep at all. I spent most of the night playing sudoku on my kindle just to try to distract my brain from the endless pain.
I had surgery on 13th and I’m on the 6th day, it is probably the worst day I’ve had so far. I woke up with a dry throat it feels like under my tongue is really sore and it burns really bad my ears feel like something is living in them it looked at my throat and it was red on the edges around the white stuff I don’t know what that’s from maybe scaps fell off. I was doing super good the first 5 days I ate warm soft bread sticks (from Olive Garden) with a slight bit of ranch. everytime I drink it really burns in some spots. ugh, I tell myself that it will be over in no time but gezzz this really hurts.
I also had my Surgery on Friday the 13th! total opposite for me….it’s been a breeze thus far…maybe this will help? I don’t sleep for more than 3 1/2hours at a time…I take my meds every 4 hours never skipping a dose…I have a humidifier literally right next to my bed…. I drink A LOT of water….at first it hurt SO Much to drink…but It pays off! Also..I’ve been eating! non stop when I’m awake I almost always have something in my mouth..gum…popsicle, jello, apple sauce….mac n cheese…chicken broth…baby food (the desserts), freeze pops, malt o’ meal, oat meal. I also found that having people around to keep your mind off of it is important… play monopoly…or checkers, chess?…..I literally schedule bath time..food time, game time nap time tv time reading time.. my day goes fast and I always have something to look forward to…rather than laying in bed focusing on it…because that’s what I did my first day….Didn’t work for me…I’m taking Tylenol with codeine and antibiotic.. a steroid to make my swollen uvula return to its normal size…anti nausea meds, stool softener and!! lidocane mouth wash(this helps A LOT). I hope your recovery gets better:) <3
I had my tonsils and adenoids out Wednesday. I felt pretty good (1/10) after surgery and next. However, I noticed I could not swallow water, take my hydrocodone mix, with the fear of throwing up. My throat muscles got too excited for me, where I thought I would just choke and collapse. I know I had to power through. I did. It took some motivation of consuming water and diluting the pain med. Reason why i diluted my pain medicine was that it would burn my throat. My sister, who is an RN, said it is okay to dilute the medicine with water to have less pain. I have some mucus build up, especially after I had Wendy’s Frosty and a small scoop of milkshake. I noticed I need water more than dairy. So I kind of had to drink lots of water to dilute the mucus, but the process took all day for me to consume 20oz of water mix of Gatorade. I had to develop a different technique of swallowing medications and water. It seems to work. I have yet to try food. I know it is crucial for the healing process and plan to try apple sauce today. I might have to dilute the applesauce with water. At this point, I have not spoken to anyone, but plan to speak a bit after a week, which would be Christmas Day! For now, my pain level as of Day 5 is a 1-2. I have not been taking my pain medicine religiously. I have had some ear pain but incomparable to when I was sick three times in Nov. with the same symptoms of sharp ear pains. I suppose I worked up my tolerance, which I hope so.
My schedule is to drink about 20 oz of water in the morning, afternoon, evening, and before bed, If i can manage.
Also make sure my humidifier is constantly running and is full before slumber.
I rest on the recliner, seems to relax me
I brush my teeth and tongue three times a day to prevent thrush
Ice my neck and jaw routinely.
I rinse my mouth with ice cold water about 10 times a day
Take pain medicine about 3 times, throat spray about 7 times, and antibiotic twice a day.
I am ready for the recovery to end ASAP. I hope all of you guys have a successful recovery.
First, thanks to everyone who’s shared here. I wish I had found this site earlier! On day 6, I can’t speak, I have sharp pain at the back of my throat that radiates to my ears. It hurts to swallow, and I still have had only tiny pieces of solid food. It’s not worth the pain to eat. Today, I drank a Boost because I feel week when up and around. Typing this, I am in bed on the strong pain meds with ice packs in a U shape around my neck and ears, which I discovered to be helpful yesterday.
Day 6 = mixed bag. I slept for my longest stretch yet (4 hours) this morning. Of course, I cried a little when I had to swallow meds and water upon waking up, but I feel like my body really needed some uninterrupted rest. The pain remains sharp, and my ears are killing me. Anything cool or cold is impossible today due to ear pain. I managed to eat about 1/2 cup of macaroni and cheese mid morning and a cup of chicken broth this evening. Eating was barbaric today, but I forced myself to swallow. I keep telling myself that this pain will not kill me…it is only a sensation that I can push through…but damn, this is rough. Tylenol seems to be helping more than the narcotics, but even with Tylenol, pain is a 8-9 upon swallowing. In previous days, I had little stretches of effective pain control for an hour or so at a time, but today, the pain was intense pretty much all day. Scabs are definitely thinning and extra sensitive. Just seeing some changes in my throat gives me hope that this will not last forever. Had some bleeding today from right side for about 30 minutes…just a stream down the back of my throat. I didn’t taste blood and would not have known I was bleeding had I not looked into the back of my throat. I forced ice water (murder!) and it stopped. My saliva is super thick and slimy now. I have brushed my teeth, chewed gum, scraped my tongue, and I just cannot get rid of this medicine taste in my mouth. Yuck. Hanging on to rational thoughts and a shred of a positive outlook, but this is most definitely been awful.
I’m on day 6 and this is the worst I have felt so far. The ear pain is the worst… It’s constant and I feel like there is something inside my ears trying to push out!! Heat packs help relieve it but the pain can be so strong at points that my eyes tear up. Other than the ear pain my throat is sore but not any worse than tonsillitis pain and since having the operation on 11th Nov I have been eating food as normal (probably more than normal actually!!) as I know eating helps you recover quicker. I recommend scrambled eggs on toast as the egg helps soften the toast but its still rough enough to help your throat. Also, sorbet feels amazing on your throat after you’ve eaten. Thanks to this wonderful site I purchased a humidifier before the operation so I haven’t had too many problems sleeping. Although, that first sip of water after being a sleep for a few hours… ouch!!
I have to go back to uni on Monday so I hope the ear pain gets better soon. This site has been amazing- thank you
Day 6: Thought I’d turned a corner a little bit today. Pain didn’t seem as avid & crippling as before. Managed to get out of bed & drop son at nursery. Pain was tolerable during the day (with meds obviously) Had two episodes of bits of the white stuff fall away from the back of my mouth. Not nice. Wife has told me that my breath is hideous too :0( But overall didn’t feel too bad. Was rather hopeful.
But as usual night time is the most horrific. Just awoken a second time (it’s just gone 4am) in horrific pain due to throat being dried out. Swallowing impossible again.
…..from my head you would think a dry throat wouldn’t be an issue! My number one enemy and some of the worst pain ever.
I am sleeping pretty good until I wake up, then the pain seems to erase any gains. Most of today was spent working on the pain and getting it under control. Like many others, ice tends to exacerbate the pain…mainly a lukewarm guy today. Did have some cold coffee and worked a couple hours.
Jello for lunch and Mac and Cheese for dinner. The M&C is a little harder to put down but sure tastes good and more filling than jello.
Maybe tomorrow will be better…sure sick and tired of being sick and tired.
Day 6 is rapidly coming to a close. And right now, I feel ok. I’m current on pain meds and am a little sleepy…will probably doze off. And that is when I enter the gates of hell.
With a humidifier literally inches fr
Today the pain is I feel
At its strongest. This feels like a horrible sore throat. I have had very little ear pain. My taste buds have only changed slightly and I force myself to eat. I think the more you don’t eat, the more likely it is your body will take longer to heal.
Anyway, so far no scabing and no blood! I can feel the back of my throat is scratchey and I do have a slight cough – I try and gargle several times a day with cool water . Can’t wait to be able to eat without spilling food out of my mouth !
But very happy to have had this surgery.
I am 21 and on Day 4 of recovery this has been my best day so far on day 2 of recovery i stopped taking my percocet they were making me sick evertime i took one i threw up about half hour after taking them. i am now alternating between ibprofin and tylonal. I can eat jello if i eat ramen noodles i seem to keep getting them stuck on my uvulva in the back of my throat my pain is a 3 today as long as i keep up on my meds every four hours.
I’m a 20 year old female, tomorrow will be one week since my surgery. It’s been such a nightmare. The pain continues to only get worse every day; I think the scabs must be coming off, as ever since yesterday the sides of my throat feel raw and anything that touches them, water included, feels like burning acid. The pain killers (ketorolac and Tylenol 3’s) are doing absolutely nothing, I told my doctor a few days ago and he told me to “drink lots of fluids and wait it out, it’ll get better”. I feel like I’m being a major Negative Nancy but the constant searing pain is really knocking down my spirits. I’ve been working hard to drink plenty of fluids every day, but today that just does not seem possible. I’ve not yet seen the light yet, please dear god, soon?
Up until last night I was doing extremely well. I had been able to eat soft solid foods And had energy to get up and go do things. However, that stopped real quick. It began to burn everytime I would try to swallow anything and the lack of real nutrition began to kick in making me extremely light headed. Due to this I got sent home from work. I went straight to sleep and woke up about six hours later with my tonsils bleeding non-stop. I must admit this had to be the scariest thing that has ever happened to me. I went straight to the ER and they took me back into the Operating room to recaurterize the bleed. The doctor came to me the next morning and stated that I had a small blood vessel that begun to bleed when one of my scabs fell off. This took me back a few days in the recovery process and as I said was probably the scariest event I’ve ever experienced.
Hey, I’m 21. I had my tonsils removed on the 29th October and I can’t eat or drink no matter how much I push myself for a drink. I cry everytime I swallow and now I’m getting really bad ear ache and jaw ache! The weird thing is, it’s only hurting along my left side. I can’t talk properly.. I’m scared and I don’t know what to do
Hi, Cara, I’m 22 and got my tonsils removed on the 29th as well! I can’t eat anything either – I’ve done a little bit of soup but had the worst pain imaginable when trying mashed potatoes yesterday. Weirdly, my left side hurts a lot more than my right side also. My right side actually hardly hurts at all. I’m not talking properly yet either – I think you’re at a normal place, just drink tonnns of water and distract yourself with TV.
I will turn 40 tomorrow and had my tonsils removed three days ago. I can hardly eat anything applesauce seems to be the best. I have had a massive headache all day today on top of a fever and the horrible throat pain. Plus a nasty taste in my mouth that I can’t get rid of. I still have huge scabs on each side of my throat. From reading the other posts I lucked out with not bleeding or having ear pain. I guess at this point I am just tired of the pain! I only took two weeks off of work and I am wondering if that will be enough. I am a teacher so I don’t do much physical stuff but I talk a lot. How much longer until I feel like myself again?
Day 6. I had my asymetrical tonsils removed on the 21 October. I expected strong pain from what the doctor said. First 2 day were not so bad, managed with Percocet, but 3rd was bad. 4 day had a panic attack at 7.30 later in the day I received my pathology report- benign. I was relieved but did not feel good, my heart rate since the surgery was high. Around 6 pm I gargled with water and manuka honey as I read on Internet, after couple of minutes I start bleeding bad in front of my 4.5 yr old daughter. I start to panick run to next door for help , I was able to stop the bleeding in 5-10 min. Went to ER. They sent me home saying will be bad to put anything on the tonsil bed. For the last 2 nights I set alarm almost every hour, I am afraid I will start bleeding again. I lost 8 lbs, food burns the throat, when I drink water I have stabbing pain.
Liz can you tell me what kind of bleeding did you have and if happened again.
Today is day 4 for me. I have found that my electric ice cream maker is coming in very handy. I pour Gatorade in it, turn it on for 15 mins and it becomes a slushie. Helps tremendously!
Today is day 5 post surgery (Oct 17th). I am a 41 yr old. Food tastes absolutely horrible. I cant drink anything sugary, no apple juice, jelly, Gatorade, popcicles etc.. everything makes my spit thick. I woke up to a burning pain in the back of my throat, as if someone threw acid on it. I immediately took pain meds and drank half a bottle of water. I find that Motrin lasts much longer than Tylenol. Nights and over nights are worst for me. I still sleep sitting up so I haven’t suffered much ear pain. I thought I developed thrush and called the nurse on duty who informed me it was just my scabs falling off. I have been managing the pain up until two days ago. This is like a slow and painful death. I’m glad that I’m am over the hump now. I have lost a total of 8 lbs. I’m living off applesauce and water. I’ve managed it this far, I can managed the next 5 days like a champ…. I think.
DAY 6: I’m feeling very nauseous after deciding to take Targin (pain killer) last night. It essentially knocked me out for the whole night and therefore I didn’t get up to have any water. I have vomited twice this morning and I know that this is TMI but there was a bit of green (which I assume is Phlegm) and some very dark red spots (which could be old blood?). Nonetheless, I’m trying hard not to move incase I vomit again. I definitely won’t be taking any pain killers tonight!
Today is by far the worst day! Large chunks of scabs have been falling off and literally been making me gag! The taste alone is enough to send me to hell! I was prescribed predisone, stilpane and some kind of antibiotic! I can’t stand the feeling of not being able to breathe through my nose! Woke up lastnite chocking on scabs, coughed my lungs out I tell you! The pain today is a 9 out of 10 and I’m not to fond of the idea of taking addictive pain killers! As for eating, I have only managed yougurt, buttermilk and noodles! I miss food so much and I’ve already started planning a binge for when I’ve recovered!
Oh I am 22 and had my adenoids and tonsils removed due to strep throat and tonsil stones… Is there anything I can do about the decomposing smell coming from my mouth cause I need to go back to college in about 6 days.
Last night was very bad. Woke up in excruciating pain and bewildered. Sipped water and took codeine with Tylenol and that seemed to help. Then able to sleep for two hours and wake myself to keep taking meds on schedule. The elixirs are disgusting fruit favors and the thought alone makes me want to wretch. I haven’t vomited since Sat nite and attribute that to the codeine and doing too much. I feel hungry but its so hard to get anything down. The pain on swallowing is amazing. I have sores on the side of my tongue and my uvula is twice its normal size. When I lay on my back, it blocks my airway and I can’t breathe thru my nose. Breathing thru my mouth dries up my throat. The only way I can sleep is on my side. I have a humidifier at night to help keep the air moist and breathe directly above it when I wake up at night to take the meds. I am sipping water all day and every time i wake up at night. My breath is terrible (or so I’m told) and my mouth feels like road kill has lodged itself in there. It doesn’t feel clean and fresh regardless of how much I brush, rinse, or swish. Flossing is not an option as I can barely open my mouth to accept a spoon. Applesauce was good but now burns. Going to try pudding and jello.
So grateful for this website and all the contributions of my fellow travelers down this unpleasant path….
Hang in there Kitty. Try icing or gargling with ice water to reduce the swelling.
Well, my day 5 is just starting but I must say I have learned a lot from all of the comments and it does feel better knowing someone understands my pain. Not getting much sleep but grateful for the hours that I do get (2-3) at a time before the pain wakes me up. I have found that Campbell’s chicken noodle soup and ramen noodles have been my best friend. I overcooked the noodles so they’re completely soft and swollen. they go down much easier than jello. I was finally able to successfully eat jello on Day 4 (yesterday). Day 1 jello and applesauce kept getting stuck. I am petrified of trying anything close to ice cream becuz of the mucous. I started drinking warm tea yesterday. That was very soothing. I also had some really soup grits yesterday which tasted wonderful. Reminds me of the buttered popcorn my husband was sitting next to me eating. All in all I know I’m playing a big game of patience and can’t let the game outsmart me into doing dumb things like eating the wrong foods too soon. I do not want to risk these scabs coming off too soon. When I wake up coughing I keep my mouth kinda clinched so the full brunt of the cough doesn’t hit the scabs. I’m ready for Day 6… and what it brings. I think taking it slow (rest, eating, drinking) will pay off in the long run. #feartheturtle
DAY 6: 30 years old and had tonsillectomy (with adenoids removed too).
Aside from the bleeding that had to be dealt with a few days ago, I am calling Day 6 my worst day so far.
SOOOO..This is the ear pain everyone has been talking about! Part of the reason I got my tonsils removed was because I have had constant ear fullness for over 3 years now and the hope was that once they were removed my ears could finally drain. I hope the swelling from surgery doesn’t last too long because this ear pain is worst than what I had before the surgery.
Swallowing is still very difficult and these sores/scabs that have formed on the back of my tongue are horrible. The only way I can get through recovery is to push the liquids but it hurts to swallow
Day 6 for me. I just found this site today and it is wonderful! I don’t feel like I was provided enough information prior to surgery about what to expect during recovery. Ive had several surgeries including a c-section and this is by far the worse recovery ever! I woke up this morning around 2am with pain in my jaw, ear and throat. I took a dose of roxicet grabbed an ice pack and tried to get back to sleep. I woke again around 7am and was able to get down a couple spoons of grits and a protein shake. Since the pain was bearable I didn’t take any additional meds until this afternoon. I decided to switch and take two extra strength Tylenol versus the stronger prescription drugs. It has kept the pain at about 2 for the day. I was even able to get down half a burger for dinner. I can see the scabs in the back but don’t think any have fallen off thus far. Hoping for a better night tonight and will see what the morning brings. Good luck to everyone and wishes for a speedy recovery for us all!
Today is day 5 for me, and I’ve been eating pizza with no problem. Crusts and all! It hurts, but the food is so worth it.
Day 6 – 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.
I went through my tonsillectomy on October 1, and I understand all of this. My ear hurts, swallowing has became a chore, I’m losing sleep because I can’t swallow my saliva, I haven’t had a lot to eat thanks to the pain. My pain medication is running out and I could care less because it stopped working, day 3. If anyone has this, do more research because it is so painful.
Hello Greg!!! Boy am I glad I found this site and what a blessing it is for me. I am 26 and I’m getting my tonsils out on Oct.9th. I know I don’t do for pain well but the site has helped me to prepare for whats to come. Thank You and if you could tell me a little insight on how long the recovery actually takes I’ll ever be so greatful!!!
Hi Tiffany, and welcome! Recovery really does vary between individuals but two weeks is what I usually advise people to allow. here is a bit more info:https://tonsillectomyrecovery.com/tonsillectomy-recovery-time/
Best of luck to you!
Day 6, still dieing! I am so depressed. I feel like I am being starved out because I can’t even eat applesauce or pudding without feeling like I am fighting for my life. I am also extremely tired! Can’t sleep long because the pain just wakes me back up, and if I do manage to sleep for more than an hour…. The pain is extremely worse due to lack of water. I feel as if I am never going to feel better. I just want this recovery to hurry up!
You’re at about the worst of it. Try to think about the years of feeling better you have ahead of you. This IS temporary!!!! Give your body the time it needs to heal. It will heal!
recovery day 6 this is horrible I ice all the time and it helps… I also found ibuprofen with the lortab helps alot! I am so glad I found this page yesterday it helps hearing that I am not the only one feeling like this!!! take care everyone!
ahh DON’T use ibuprofen! if a scab comes off and starts bleeding, it will be harder to clot as ibuprofen is a blood thinner. Wait until you’re all healed up to use ibuprofen again.
I can’t take it anymore! My throat is on fire! Everything I eat or drink burns, even the ice water. After meds I’m ok, until I try to eat. It’s like I relax enough to be able to say I can do it and then when I actually try my throat is like “Psyche!” Onto of the throat pain, my ears still hurt, and the icey cold water gave me a migraine. I’m exhausted. I’m regretting this procedure big time. But I’m hoping in the long run I’ll stop getting strep and sinus infection so much. The doctor gave me a script for something to numb my throat, which I tried last night… it only lasted maybe an hour and a half and left me feeling like complete poo. I’m not sure I’ll be trying that again even though it took the pain away for a bit. Few more days. I keep telling myself it’ll get better…
After last night (when my whole left scab fell off and I was spitting out bright red blood), I’m even more terrified to speak, eat or anything else. It’s bled again once today, and I’ve come to the conclusion that the cause of my scab falling off so soon was that I was eating chunks of frozen bananas and swallowing on my left side, despite the pain I felt. Today I’ve decided to try ice cream and soup. The ice cream has not bothered me as I thought it would. Although I prefer warm on my throat, I’m scared it will warm what clots over my freshly burned skin and make me bleed again. Not a fun day. Living in fear here…
Today is my actual day six……. And yep PAIN is still here the tightness you get in the morning finding that first swallow the worst still felt the same as day 2,3,4 and 5. I have to say with my meds the dull ache seemed a little less by lunch time so I tried to eat!! It’s like the tonsillectomy devil is just waiting for you to feel at ease to trick you in to a confident “it’s safe to have something to eat” thought then the chew don’t seem bad you feel so happy that you might be able to eat today!! Then ZAP that little devil sticks that burning pain, the feeling of swallowing crushed glass or razor blades to the back of your throat in a milli second!! ….. I’m hungry, I’m tired I’m still in pain! No change my ears ache badly today so it’s helped cause all the focus is off my throat!! …. I’m from London and I’ve been reading a lot of post op blogs and it seems that over here in England we are being told to eat roughage ie: TOAST, CRUSTY ROLLS, CRISPS (potatoe chips) as it helps encourage the throat to mend quicker!! I have found by struggling to eat a slice of toast ( and this has actually made me cry with the pain) but after my throat has felt a little clearer and less tight!! Just depends on how often you can do this…. For me just the once but if any soldiers wanna give it ago it is meant to work in the healing process a lot quicker!! ….. Roll on day 7…… Will let you all know how I’m suffering!! Sharing my thoughts actually makes me feel a little better. So glad that everyone feels very similar as I started to think I was a total WHIMP lol …. Take care tonsillectomy friends recovery will soon be here……..
Hi Katie, I had my tonsils out on tue ( so in day 4) I am from the UK too and was surprised like you that my consultant said eat toast and crisps from day 1. I have been doing this but only after taking volteral which he prescribed me which is brilliant for pain. For three hours I get no pain at all when I take that – have you been prescribed it? I have found this site today and it has really cheered me up reading that there are other people sharing my discomfort. I had no idea the would be so long and painful , it’s a nightmare isnt it ? Also when you wake up and your throat is really sore try swishing water in your mouth for 20 seconds etc then spit it out. I find that helps me go swallow a little bit after that without choking on it. I have had no ear ache yet fingers crossed , but it sounds like it may come in a day or do reading other peoples accounts ! Oh well night time again, this is the bit I hate , I want to sleep but hate waking up with a dry sore mouth. The joys !!
Juuuust when I thought there was a light at the end of the tunnel. On day 5 I woke up feeling pretty much the same as every other day… Crappy! I was finally able to see those gross scars everyone’s been talking about! I took meds at 12…3…6….8….10 yeah it started getting pretty bad. Everything seemed fine I was able to go to the food store and buy more “tonsillectomy groceries”. I tried eating Mac and cheese (mini shells) and it went fine! I figured that’d be my dinner also! I have no idea what happened but in the middle of eating I experienced the worst pain mainly on the right side of my throat. I had to stop eating immediately and take more pain meds. I looked in my throat and I saw a little white ball on my throat (part of the scab but looked bigger then any other part). That night I barely slept; starving and in pain but I couldn’t do anything about it. This morning (day 6) I feel just as horrible. Tried getting little tiny pieces of water melon down but every time I swallow I want to cry. The only thing worse then the pain is this horrible metallic taste I have in my mouth. I could probably eat so much more if it wasn’t for that taste. Apple sauce tastes horrible due to this. It’s horrible. I’m just counting down the days to feeling normal again. Good luck to you all!!
I am on day 5 it’s 20:17 and I’m clock watching as I am counting every second of every minute of every hour to take my meds, I know it sounds so childish but I have been the biggest brat in the world!! I’ve not slept, swallowed or ate properly for days that seem like weeks. I can not believe how much pain this operation causes. I keep reading hundreds of posts for a little glimmer that the next day is less painful and by the looks of things it’s NOT!!.
I thought how frightening is reading all this post about how painful it is but it’s no lie!!! This has to be the worst thing ever I have cried with pain and pure frustration. I say good luck to anyone who has just had the tonsillectomy except pain, tears, hunger, frustration more pain and hardly any sleep… There are no answers to pain relief no amount of ice chipping, ice lolly’s, ice cream, apple sauce, soup, tea or medication that really helps just good old fashion taking it on the chin. I’ve had two babies and god I’d push a baby out everyday instead of this pain!! It’s constant, dull,sharp,burning,tight, words don’t describe how awful this really is.. Oh day 6 tomorrow I just can’t wait!! BRING IT ON
Well i ate everything since coming out of theater….
That ended yesterday….I’m now on day 5 and in very much pain…..every 5 hours….
Hiccups….coughing….but sneezing is the worst….OMG…
I know this is day six……and i’m on day 5…..lord help me
I can report on day 6…..very bad….only slept 2 hours or so last night….
the meds says take every 6 hours but I couldn’t….took at 12….3…and 6….
feeling better now…all my other meds are finished now….just the painkillers left.
Can’t drink my morning coffee
Let’s hope today is better…at least i can watch dexter season finale!
Day 6 – Can only sleep in my lazy-b chair sitting up. Laying down in bed is hard to breathe and very uncomfortable.
Dr. prescribed a numbing mouthwash which I was very excited about using. I thought it would numb the pain for awhile.
It did. For about 2 hours. I slept.
Then awoke in moaning agony! My throat was on fire with pain! For 2 whole hours I was on cloud 9 with no pain. But man, I paid for it.
I brushed my teeth. Drank cold water. And finally, took a dose of my pain medicine (that’s separate from the numbing mouthwash).
For a good 30 – 45 mins. I sat on my couch in total agony waiting for my pain medicine to kick in.
Today is day 6 pain is still there I find myself waking every 4 hours to take pain meds scabs r still yhere and only thing I am able to eat is milkshakes jello pudding slimfast n ooo my mashed potatoes where my enemy I think I cried about an hour after trying that.. I. Am so ready for this to b over I still have scabs but I heard things get easier asfter they fall.I’m just ready to recover n get rid of pain especially n my ears grrr is that aggrivating.
Hang in there. You are in the worst of it. Try chewing sugar-free gum to alleviate that ear pain. Take care
I know exactly what you mean. I hate eating food. . it is so painful.
I’m soooo ready for this to be over with, as well.
Day 6 and I definitely felt more pain today than I have any other day. I took a long nap and woke uo to a dry angry throat. I also had some ear pain, and my tongue hurt as well. I still ate normaly, and went on with my normal activities. Most of the day when I swallowed the pain was about 4/10. During the painful bouts I’d say the pain was a 7/10 when I swallowed or spoke. Fortunately the pain was easily brought under control with medicine. Even with today’s ups and downs I’d still call this an easy recovery. I hope it stays that way. All the best to the ones in the thick of recovery.
Tonsillectomy method- tissue/thermal welding
Meds- Percocet & ibuprofen
Day 6: still just Tylenol (since the day after surgery) and the pain was almost unmanageable when I ate. The pain was out of my imagination but I still kept on eating normal food. Nuts I know but I made it. I used cold therapy for the first time on my throat and ears and it worked very well. The pain comes and goes and the only pattern seems to be it getting worse while and 10 minutes after I ate. I use salt water after every meal and one piece of the scab (it could be scrambled eggs) came out with my mouth rinsing. Well I tried to sleep for one hour at a time the a sip of cold water but slept for 2 hours and I woke up by my own coughing. It was itchy and painful at the same time Rhein tasted blood. I spit a little blood out, but I didn’t panic I just got some ice water and era slowly. The blood stopped after a while and I didn’t get more sleep. Dang it. It was the first day I went out on my regular walk and I was just fine.
Day 6. I feel like my world is a 4 hour cycle of pain meds, sleeping, waking up from pain, then sipping cold fluids until it’s time to take another dose. The lortab doesn’t help past about 2.5 to 3 hours, so that’s the most I can sleep. I’m really tired of always being awake from 1:30 am to 2:30 am and again from 5:30 am to 6:30 am.
My pain level is between 7 and 8, depending on where I am in that cycle. I wouldn’t describe the pain as crushed glass in my throat. It’s more like my throat is on fire. I’ve stopped swallowing as much to avoid the pain, and when I do swallow it’s because I’m drinking something.
Hi there Vicky,
That’s exactly what’s I’m going through, too. The pain medicine does not take all the pain away & only lasts 2 – 3 hours, but I can’t take another dose until the 4 hour mark. By that point I’m in misery.
Day 6 so far has been miserable. I’d rate the pain a 9 out of 10. I will only award it a 10 out of 10 if and when I actually shed a tear. Woke up this morning and the percocet was no longer fighting the pain. I stupidly took some Tylenol with it hoping that would work better than Ibuprofen, which it worked for about 30 minutes before turning into utter pain again.
Throat feels like someone has been shoving glass down it all night, esophagus feels like I swallowed a fireball from all the acid trying to come up, stomach hurts from the lack of food (I’ve lost 10lbs already from this Jello only diet), and my ears…oh dear god my ears hurt so bad. All I can do to comfort myself is sit in an upright position with both hands cupped over my ears and try to enjoy what little quiet I can get…which is really difficult with the two puppies barking outside my window 24 hours a day.
I tried to take an anti-acid tablet earlier, smooshed it up really good and put it in pudding. I was only able to swallow two bites before giving up because my throat hurt so much. I think the most depressing part of it all is, everyone has told me that the 7th day is the worst, and the pain plateaus from there till the 10th day. I’m on day 6, so if I’m this miserable, I get to enjoy something worse for the next 4 days, are you kidding me?
HELP! I’m loosing my mind! Surgery was last Wednesday at 7am. Days 1/2 were pretty good, day 3 wasn’t bad. Pain has been tolerable. Now dealing gagging from what I think is thrush on my tongue or the scabs not sure which is the major cause. I’m back to only liquids, nothing taste good. Not sleeping, I fell asleep at 5am today and woke up gagging at 7. I’m at my wits end! When will this be over? Any suggestions for making it easier. I am mostly drinking smoothies and water just to get something in my stomach. Due to go back to work Thursday but unless something major flips thinking that won’t be happening. I know I needed this done but I am questioning myself now!
Are you there, God? It’s me, Little Miss Tonsillectomy.
If you’re listening, God, I’m over this. Please end this hell. I’ll even make you a deal. You make this better and I won’t curse my throat in your name anymore. Ok? Ok!
I can’t eat. I’m back to fluids only thanks to the razor blades in my throat and the screws in my jaw. Except now I prefer them slightly warm instead of cold. I also prefer a wheat bag/hot pack to the face and neck than a cold one. Is this progress???
I spent most of yesterday asleep. I missed an entire “weather event” (aka a “storm”). I woke to find half the city in darkness and trees and rooves down all over the place. It felt like the apocalypse inside my throat had started taking over the world.
I talked on the phone for about 10 minutes. BIG mistake.
I’m taking meds religiously, which helps me get a couple of hours sleep at a stretch, but my skin now looks like a junkie’s as a result.
Let this be over already. Please.
>:(
Day 5-6: woke up in pain. This has been the most pain since day 2. Throughout the day, the pain eased. Started eating chilled applesauce; went down smoothly. Tried pureed baby food; this was all fruit and highly acidic, resulting in much pain. Took pain medicine an hour later (didn’t need this until now). It’s now noon and everything is well. Pureed some eggs, chicken, and Campbell’s chicken noodle soup. Ate this after chilling and it went down very smoothly. Late evening: took a one hour nap after second pain med regiment.. Woke up and hydrated. No pain experienced. This was the case for the rest of the night.
Some precautionary steps taken to this point: absolutely no dairy consumed (the second day, this resulted in bleeding and cauterization); little to no talking **It hurts worse to talk than it does to drink pureed food and eat/dink liquid based substances**; a routine pain medication schedule (although I have not had to take them all the time) might be good; a humidifier while sleeping ( I cannot stress how much this has helped from day two and so on; I recommend this to anyone who is thinking about getting a tonsillectomy – it makes a world of difference); a balanced sleep schedule (alarm is set for every two and a half hours; upon waking, hydration is necessary).
This process is different for everyone.
After my bleeding yesterday, today has been the worst pain so far. Pain killers barely touching anything. Sticking to pure liquids for fear of another bleeding epidemic. Today, I am suffering the most ear pain so far and have been icing the most to try and maintain the pain. I’m about one level of pain away from calling my doctor for stronger meds.
Eating chicken stars soup with about 3/4 the noodles taken out, drinking strawberry pedialyte, water and apple juice. Watching My little pony… Yes, i’m 20 years old and am in such a state that the only pleasure I get is through children’s cartoons. I just want all this to be over.
Also feeding into my anxiety by researching my bleeding and the chances of it happening again… I’m practically comatose on the couch trying not to overexert myself in any way.
I’d like to sleep until it’s all over please.
bleeding again, only a bit… about 5 min. stopped with ice water. This is getting old.
Day 6 of my coblation tonsillectomy went smoothly. Pain got a tad bit worse but it isn’t bad at all, 3 out of 10 I would say, maybe a 4 at brief moments. I realized today the switch occurred – I prefer room temperature liquid now not freezing cold anymore. Also Gatorade began to burn. I’m assuming this all has to do with the scabs. I can see the tops of white scabs but can’t open my mouth further. Anyway, I am feeling good. Hopefully by the weekend things will begin going back to normal.
Ok, dare I say this but I actually started to fell better today (day 6). It had been pretty terrible with the ear pain and feeling like I was swallowing shards of glass with every sip of water. But today it seemed to turn around. I am spitting out little white chunks of scabs, but they are very small. I have hope now that I will only get better, but I am scared that this is a cruel joke and the worst is yet to come. Crossing my fingers!
Post-op day 6… (day 7 if you count the day of surgery as day 1)
PLEASE GOD LET THIS BE OVER.
Yesterday was terrible, and today has not been brilliant either. I had a scab come off around 2am last night, accompanied by more bleeding than I had anticipated. I sucked on some ice cubes and sipped ice water and it eventually stopped. After talking to the 24hr advice nurse at ENT, my mom (bless her heart, she has been putting up with her helpless 25 year old daughter through all of this) told me that things sounded good and that I was turning a corner. I was so happy!
Until this morning… when I brushed my teeth… and that same side started bleeding… again.
It was 6am and my mom was ready to take me to the ER, but after more ice cubes and rinsing with ice water the bleeding eventually stopped and we instead made an appointment for later in the day. It turns out that I have at least one clot hanging out on the side the scab came off on. My ENT doctor wanted to try to cauterize it right then and there, in her office, with me not having eaten anything in forever and already in massive amounts of pain. I had a mini anxiety attack and couldn’t let her do it, so instead I got permission to increase my pain medication and instructions to go straight to the ER if my throat either bleeds more (quantity) or more than once. It’s impossible to tell at the moment whether it’s just little blood vessels or an artery under that clot, with the former being less of a concern and an arterial bleed requiring that I go back into surgery. Please, God, no.
I have been miserably sitting in bed trying not to do one single thing to upset my throat and make it bleed, which has involved a lot of sleeping. I am also getting into a bit of a time crunch of recovery, as I have to start rotations for my 4th year of pharmacy school on the 24th! So in between naps I have tried to catch up on emails and fulfilling requirements that should have been done long ago.
Oh, and I am SO HUNGRY!!! I was trying to eat orzo pasta in butter yesterday for some substance, but was too afraid to chew anything today due to the bleed risks. Thankfully I discovered room temperature mashed potatoes. It took me about an hour to eat a cup, but that was the most substantial thing I think I’ve eaten so far. I think I am going to try to eat some more after my next dose of pain meds. This chronic hunger/malnutrition can’t possibly be helping with anything (particularly my mood!).
I’m really hoping I’ll turn a corner here soon and hit the home stretch… without having to have my throat recauterized.
Side note: I think that post probably should go under “Recovery Day 7”, since I think most people are counting surgery day as day 1. My next post will go under day 8.
My 15 yr old had his tonsils removed June 11th and it has been difficult for him. Today he had a little breakdown. He attempted to eat chicken noodle soup, roman noodles, and mac n cheese. He has not been successful at all to take in any food today. He stated that Popsicle hurts his throat. He stated that his throat hurts when he swallows any liquids, including his Lortab (which is in liquid form). He does alot of spitting. I assessed his surgical site and all looks good. He expressed his frustration and stated that he was not going to eat or drink anything. I found this site right after he made that statement. I read several comments hoping it will help him and me get through this recovery! I stressed to him the importance of keeping fluids going. He understands, but my heart goes out to him. I just don’t like the mood swings. I know he is hurting and is frustrated, but it does get better and this is the only time he will ever have his tonsils removed! Thank you to all of you for your ideas and encouragements. Remember this too shall pass! I had my tonsils removed at the age of 14 and I really don’t remember too much of the recovery, just I got through it.
Hang in there Mom! He’s lucky you are there for him. Are the popsicles the juice kind? Those burn. My favorites were the cheapo root beer and banana flavored. He REALLY needs to stay hydrated. Chewing gum is good to at least keep things working. Will he do that?
Today was the first day that I thought about crying. I didn’t though. I wasn’t going to let it get me! I am just tired and hungry! And so sick of this! It feels like it is never going to end! Pain is the worst it has been yet. Today I couldn’t talk very well and just plain hurt to try. Feels like a bad, bad case of strep. It also feels like the scabs are coming loose maybe. I can feel things hitting my tongue and throat and I’m assuming it is that. I also burped all day long (not sure why) and that hurts too! Hoping tomorrow is better! I can’t do too many days of this before I lose it and cry. And I know that will hurt!
Best day yet so far since surgery. My tongue is back to normal size with almost no pain, and half of my scabs have fallen off. Much less pain today, I’d say I’m at about a 2-3 out of 10 overall. Still sleeping a bunch but can definitely see the light at the end of the tunnel.
I’m on day 6 of my recovery and I’ve found that one side is healing better than the other.. I’ve looked in the mirror and one side is not the whitey colour it was before and the other side (the side that it very painful) still looks like it did, is it normal for one side to heal faster than the other?
Thanks Greg – great idea with the site. A source of comfort to many.
Greetings from sunny London! I never contribute comments to websites but felt compelled to after reading all these comments. I really admire everyone’s fortitude in recovery and also bravery in choosing to get this operation done. Life begins here!
I am on day 6 – my girlfriend is travelling with work so I’ve been fending for myself. Really bad pain but I am managing thanks to a few principles that have worked for me. Everyone is different but this is what I am doing:
– Develop consistency with pain killers – use your phone to plan when to take the pills and then keep a diary of what I have taken and when. As tempting as it is to sleep and take painkillers when you wake, set alarms to ensure that you keep on top of the pain rather than responding to it
– Build food consumption around consumption of pain killers – I find that one hour after taking my pain killers it the optimal time to eat
– If you have painkillers/anti-inflammatories that need to be taken after food, take them in bed and try to get some sleep – this will help you manage the nausea
– Keep food and drink simple – at first I tried (on my ENT consultant’s advice) to eat more challenging food in order to keep the throat clean. This resorted in bleeding and a return to the hospital. I am now surviving on a diet of soup (mushroom seems to work well) and yogurts
– Avoid excessively hot and cold food. Go for room temperature
– I prefer to stick to water rather than flavoured drinks as these seem to make my throat sting
– Drink water little and often – small sips are best
– Don’t become obsessed with checking your throat in the mirror – give it time to heal. A couple of times a day I check to see if there is any food congestion back there – this can be dislodged by sipping water and (I guess) will help to reduce the risk of infection
– Limit the amount of talking – I spent all of day 3 on the phone to the taxman and I believe that this caused my bleeding
– Go outside for 5 minutes everyday – just to get some fresh air and sunlight
Hope these ideas help.
Thank you E. these are pearls of wisdom!! Speedy recovery to you.
ICE CREAM!! Eat it by the bucket and think positive thoughts that’s all I have the energy to do right now!
Ok, Day6 – food has become my enemy. The thought of it recoils me! Eating was one thing I did so well and it’s gone!! I’m horrified!
The pain each time I swallow is horrendous, stabbing and sharp. I’ve also got sore teeth and my mouth tastes vile!
I spoke to the ENT nurse today, she told that I need to eat ‘normal’ food, it helps with the scabs….I tried! I had a KFC burger (it’s usually my fav and as a treat!) but it took me nearly 2 hrs to eat.
I wonder what days 7, 8, 9 and 10 have in store! I’m hoping for the sensations of little kisses from angles and smooth relaxing sensations each time I swallow. (I’m so not in denial! :0 )
Stinky mouth, ear pain, and cannot eat without stabbing my throat. Cannot talk, can’t sleep coz of the pain and any noise from tv or computer give me headache. Mouth tastes awful. There is no way I am looking at my throat the next month or so.
Well it’s the old guy again I’ve made it thru day 6 .Got my biosey report back to day and thank god there’s no cancer .The only part of my day that was good I’ve been doing real good but today I was having a lot of ear pain and my throat was hurting pretty bad.Im on 2 different pain meds but they didn’t seen to help today my scabs are still no coming and I hope they don’t for a few more days . I think it all depends on the dr that you have mine told me up front that there would be good and really bad days and this is not my good one .He told my wife on my surgery day that I was the oldest person that he had taken their tonsils out of he tricked me didn’t he but I stil think he’s the best dr I could have had .well till tomorrow good nite and have a better tomorrow.
I am 21 year old female who had my tonsils out on the 24th. Today is day 6, almost day 7. I woke up feeling marginally better. Made sure I ate toast and fruit and committed to a larger than normal dinner. Right now I almost feel back to normal. The throbbing pain in my ears has subsided and swallowing has become less painful. I am now producing less saliva thus am needing to spit a lot less (yay!). I have been bed ridden the past week and it has been an agonizing 6 days. The first two were bearable but then it was all down hill. Day 5 was easily the worst day. The pain became so unmanageable I had a panic attack due to stress.
I’ve been switching between strong codeine tablets and endone throughout my recovery. Endone made me too nauseous so I stuck with Panadeine Forte. I took an anti inflammatory about 3 hours ago and it really accelerated things some more. I’ve been cautious to take them because of their blood thinning effect, but my GP said I would be okay at this stage. Hopefully the rest of recovery is smooth sailing from here.
Also 21 years old on day 6…. Days 1-5 were pretty easy but today I’m convinced I would just like to have my tonsils back :/ The pain is just now escalating and I am completely miserable. I’ve been eating normal foods the whole time but all I’ve wanted today was Popsicles and icees. Sigh
40 year old man…and they said it would be miserable. Day 7 post op and all I can say is “Holy Hell”!! Days 1-3 were actually pretty good. I could talk, move about slowly, etc. then came day 4…
Days 4-7 were terrible. Can’t talk, can’t swallow (without excruciating pain), can’t sleep….ugh. No bleeding until today and I want to cough more…trying not to. Bleeding has been minimal but any red and I worry. I am SOOOO sick of pudding and percaset – yuk! Just trying to keep drinking water (anything else burns), alternating percaset, ibuprofen, and Tylenol, and hoping for the best.
P.S. the shooting ear pain is INSANE! Hope it passes soon…praying.
The surgery really isn’t even that bad. Glad I haven’t had the experiences all of you have had. I’m on day 6 I’ve had allergic reactions to all of the pain meds so I can take nothing and honestly I don’t think I’ve even needed any since day 2. There is hope! I hope everyone who reads these posts aren’t too scared. I’ve been eating anything and everything since surgery
and I’m in my mid 20’s
I am on Day 5 post-surgery. I read this website faithfully before having my surgery on the 12th of April so I knew what to expect and it has been such a gift to feel somewhat preapred. Tonight I am having neck pain, which is probably from sleeping in the recliner every night. It’s just that each new pain makes you worry and I am just ready to be at the end of this instead of stuck somewhere in the middle.
Donna I had my tonsils out on the 12th of April as well! Good luck in this difficult recovery
Day 6. I am 34 years old and I’ve been through broken bones and burns and various injuries. Nothing prepared me for this. My symptoms have been relentless. Worst pain and agony ever. Occasional ear aches, unable to swallow still, constipation, vomiting from the meds, can’t sleep mode than an hour and a half at night. Ensure high protein vanilla has kept me alive. Today I started bleeding more. Looked back there with a flashlight, looks like a rotten corpse in there. It feels like there’s paper in my thoroughly and my lungs are burning like I’m getting a chest cold. This morning I almost passed out . No sleep, very little food and excruciating stabbing pain swallowing even water.
Today I woke up feeling the worst ever. Day 6 and there is some burning bruising next to the scabs which Is what is killing me fir pain…swallowing is not bad and scabs are fine…but that red burning bruising nakes it horrible.
One thing thats been helping me a littke is Difflam forte spray..I already went through 4 bottles of it in 2 days… this morning intook panadeine forte at 5:30 am and then oxycodone at 7:30…pain still hasnt gone away!!!
I am on Day 6 of post-op, and the pain is getting worse. My doctor did warn me that it would get worse, before it got better. But I’m honestly just plain scared. It has been a rather awful experience so far. The first 2 days were easy, and I thought “This isn’t half as bad as my Dr. said it would be!” But then came day 3. I couldn’t keep anything, not even my meds, down. I wound up in the ER on an IV for fluids and antibiotics. I even got a few shots of morphine. After that, I was much better, and went home the same day. I don’t remember much of Day 4, just that my throat was very raw from all of the vomiting from the day before. Yesterday, the scabs started to bother me. I can feel them in the back of my throat, and I threw up again last night. Now, I’m on Day 6…scared of vomiting, scared to cough, scared of bleeding. My ears hurt so much, and chewing gum doesn’t even help. I just want to sleep the pain away. I’m so scared for the next few days.
day-6
pain this morning is bad, throat feels so dry and just intense burning and ears are burning. yesterday afternoon i thought things were getting better. this feels like it will never end! have to tey to get an ensure down so i can take some meds.
I had my tonscillectomy on the 29th and it has now been 6 days since. Today was the worst day because I’ve been taking Percocet (oxycodone) for the pain and have not had a bowel movement in almost a week. After talking to my nurse I took a dose of Miralax this morning and then had a small urge to go: big mistake. I had severe constipation and was impacted from a vary large, dry and hard stool. And it hurt. It was a horrible experience to have to urge to go, to strain and not be able to pass it. It was so bad that I (fortunately) have a shower douche enema attachment and used it to fill my intestines with warm water and them pass the warm water to soften it up. After about 40 minutes and two douches, I was finally able to squeeze the monster turd through by just softening the edges: and it hurt really bad even with the enema! There was no way that would have come out without it. This was a direct result of the Oxycodone, which is a horrible drug. I stopped taking it after today’s constipation episode. I’ll deal with the pain rather than risk being impacted again, nobody should ever have to go through that. Lesson learned, if ever taking a narcotic again, take it in conjunction with a laxative.
Also, I’m a 22 (nearly 23) year old female who had her tonsillectomy performed on March 27th, 2013.
I’m supposed to go back to class tomorrow, but don’t know how I’m going to get through 6 hours of classes without talking or participating.
Today I woke up at 8am and felt as though my throat was very dry.
Last night was probably one of the worst nights of my life recovering so far. I took my pain medication on an empty stomach on Day 5 after 3 days of only using ibuprofen (crushed up and dissolved into a slushy Gatorade mixture). Due to this, I felt so sick, I couldn’t move without fear of upchucking. Unfortunately, my Mom brought a bowl over to me and as soon as she did, I threw up my dose of pain medication along with some tiny pieces of homemade bread she tried to get me to eat.
The rest of the night I spent sitting in the same position, not trying to move or adjust in fear I might puke again. I finally made it up to bed and woke up not feeling nauseous this morning. I took a nice hot bath and drank as much ice water as possible (I think I was severely dehydrated yesterday as well.)
So far today I’ve tried eating chocolate pudding, which is pretty difficult as I have a lot of mucus in the back of my throat and it’s already hard to swallow as it is. My Mom doesn’t seem to understand that it’s difficult, so I appeased her and spooned small bites into my mouth until she walked away. Also, applesauce seems to slightly be burning today. I basically have no appetite, and after the bad experience from the pain medication yesterday, I’m terrified of taking some more, thinking I might puke again and feel like complete garbage.
I also feel like there’s something stuck in my throat. Maybe a scab? Every time I swallow, I feel like I’m swallowing goop and it’s still there. I’m hoping this goes away soon?
As for my throat, my right and left side go back and forth from hurting the worst. I haven’t had any pain meds in quite some time, so I think I’m doing okay.
Also… anyone feel like the roof of their mouth is scraped? Mine hurts quite a lot closer to my actual teeth. Like an open wound as well.
I keep regretting this surgery every single day. I can’t wait until I can taste food again and eat again.
It’s crazy how alike our situations are. Last night was also the worst for me and ever since yesterday I have had a dry throat I can’t seem to shake! I hardly ate anything today other than some crackers soaked in broth but I made sure to keep pushing the water. My guess is that the worst is over and it will start to get better from here. Also I was drinking water last night and started to cough. After a coughing fit of about ten minutes I felt something odd in my mouth and it turned out I had coughed up a quarter sized scab( no bleeding thank god) but I’ve found that bread helps to ease off scabs that need to come off. Wishing you the best of luck and a quick recovery from here!
Hi there. I just came across this website while searching low and high for info about my surgery. I’m currently on day 6 and everyone’s comments have been so helpful. I don’t think my family can really understand how painful this is. Anyway, I wanted to share with you some of my experiences. First all my life saver has been miso soup with pastina in it (very tiny star shaped noodles) you don’t even need to chew and the salt from the broth sooths your throat tremendously. I think today some tiny pieces of scab fell off Becuase I have become very sensitive to cold things where before it was very soothing to suck on ice or Popsicles. I’ve been living on hard boiled eggs and Campbell’s as well. I’m very nervous for when the scabs begin to come off Becuase I don’t want to bleed. I threw up two days ago from taking my medicine on an empty stomach (always eat before!) and I just want this to be over! I havent been able to talk since day 2. Did anyone else encounter this? when did you regain your voice? Good luck to anyone else suffering with me at the moment and I hope to get some feedback!
Hey gays! Sorry to ask…. But is anyone else constipated from the pain meds? I’m taking Percocet (oxycodone) tablets, and I’m having a hard time! I was just wondering if anyone else is expieranceing this?
I feel alright overall except when I wake up from naps. I haven’t been able to get a good nighs rest, only 1-4 hour naps. Then I wake up in excruciating pain! I’m in the wagon with ya! All in all I just want to say its not that bad, except for certain times.(:
Just throwing some hope out there. Drink, drink, DRINK lots an lots of water! It helps!
Im 33 and i also had nasal surgery at the same time as my tonsillectomy, big mistake!
6th day, very bad day similar to 5. Can’t tolerate anything cold. I’m a jerk to people around me. Pain meds every 6 hours and down to 15mL from 20. eat some potatoes and mac and cheese, little bit of chicken. Doze a lot of the day and feel miserable like I have a fever but no fever. Pain is bad and nothing helps but the tetracaine pops. Feeling very nauseous and dizzy. Can’t walk around much. Email the doc and he tells me it’s normal.
Ps I am writing all this on my 9th day and I realized that we neglected to use the humidifier for days 5,6,7
Are any of y’all getting acne? I’m getting little bumps around my face but not sure why? I’m 14 and don’t get acne very often! So I’m just wondering what’s happening.. also, my eyelids are itchy!!!!
If you’ve been drooling in your sleep, which I have been, I’m on my 6th day now and every night so far I’ve woken up in a puddle, it will cause whiteheads on and around the area, normal don’t worry and if you’re taking a narcotic like percocet/oxycodone that’s why you’re itchy.
Here I am morning of day 6, just took another dose of my nasty liquid hydrocodone. Let me tell you this stuff burns like hell going down. I’ve come to the realization that my sleeping schedule revolves around me taking medication. I’m on 2 so it creates madness in the middle of the night. Ill sleep for 2.5-3 hours wake up in pain wait till I can take meds the take my meds but then I can’t call back to sleep right away because I wait for them to kick in.
When it comes to eating I don’t eat much, the easiest for me to actually eat is bread, weird? Probably. All my clothes are increasingly becoming baggies it feels by the hour but I know that’s not possible.
Basically I’m tired hungry, crabby, and impossible to deal with cant wait for this to be over with!
I’m glad I found this site and can relate to so many people because everyone around me at home really doesn’t understand how painful this experience truly is.
Thanks!
Stephanie
I had my surgery on Tuesday 3/19/13. There is no way I prepared myself for what to expect. This has been the most excruciating pain I have ever felt. I take my pain medication every four hours and it starts to wear off at about 3 1/2 hour point.
Today 6 days after surgery I am still having difficulties. I feel as though there are razors down the back of throat, even while drinking water. I cannot even think about eating anything. It is so difficult to swallow and I am producing so much mucus it’s gross. Nothing seems to be working, all I hear is drink, drink, drink. But this is extremely difficult to do when your feeling this amount of pain trying to swallow water.
31 years old and had my surgery on March 18th, so this is the end of Day 6 if you count surgery day.
Every day is slightly better (very slightly).
I coughed up a decent-sized piece of scab this morning. Not sure if this is good or not, and although I can email my ENT to ask, it seems like lots of others are having this occurrence on Day 6.
This mucus is incredibly annoying. I am ready for that to stop. I feel like I have to keep clearing my throat. I swallow it though, because I guess I consider it hydration??? I’m not sure. And the tickle in my throat that comes and goes, causing me to cough. That sucks too – is that from the scabs coming off?
I had a breakdown yesterday too. I have a 23 month old daughter who’s really noticed something is going on with Mommy. She’s been crying and reaching for me at bedtime and it just breaks my heart. My ENT said not to pick her up for 10 days. That’s been rough. I did it yesterday anyway… And I suffered in pain afterwards. What I am most worried about is that I won’t be healed by her 2nd birthday party in mid-April. I will put on a smile and everything, of course, so it’s special for her. But will I be able to have birthday cake with her? Will I be healed? This just makes me sad and scared.
Food-wise, I had some gnocchi today, but I chewed it a zillion times to make sure it was small enough. When I had tried it yesterday, I was just so hungry for anything other than Ensure, Popsicles and yogurt that I tried to eat it like I would have pre-surgery… That didn’t go so well. I kept feeling like pieces were getting stuck on the scabs or in the craters or something – is that even possible? I also made myself some soft mashed potatoes with cheese. That was really yummy – I will likely have that again tomorrow.
The thing is, no matter what I ingest (ice water and Popsicles excluded), my throat burns like razor blades when I swallow. And it’s so frustrating that my husband and my parents dont understand – they think its the acid from the tomato sauce or they say “maybe there’s pepper in there”. No! Thats not it! Its because my throat’s been butchered and things touching it just plain stings like crazy!
That’s why I am so happy I found this site. I suddenly feel so much less alone in this and it’s giving me hope… Thank you.
Welcome aboard Jamie!
I hvnt had ANY pain meds today. So hopefully that means Im healing.I’m on day 6. My right tonsill hurts the most. It hurts pretty bad, I don’t really feel it on my left. Ear pain on the right is annoying too. I have been drinking ensure and I had a half a grilled cheese today. I hope ot doesnt get worse. I think alot of people over react. Yeab it hurts but its not excruciating.
Day 6: I had a little cry yesterday. I managed to eat a piece of banana bread down. So was feeling confident that dinner would go down ok, how wrong was I. I bought some sushi as this worked well while I was in hospital. After the second bite it literally felt like I had glass in my mouth, then some food got stuck and I was choking. I was just so disappointed as when I don’t eat it’s not too bad.
Woke up this morning on day 6 and my mouth is as dry as a bone with a thick film everywhere. I pushed down a Tramadol and am sat here chewing gum as drinking water is excruciating. It almost feels like the back of my tongue is bruised and chopped or something. I’m just glad it’s the weekend and my husband can spend some time with me, I’m literally losing my marbles in the week on my own.
Also whenever I attempt to eat anything a rancid taste comes in my mouth, what the hell is that. I have such a high pain threshold and had no idea on earth recovery would be this bad.
Last night I kept drifting off to sleep on the sofa, when I work up every 20 minutes I had no idea where I was or what was going on. Like a state of confusion but I was awake, it made me really upset and my husband had to keep trying to calm me. What the hell are these drugs doing to me!
When will it get better
Day 5/6 today being day 6 have definately been the worst for me. Up until yesterday o was quite lucky with what I was eating still painful but not too bad! Have really struggled today though even drinking water through a straw is a challenge! Taking codeine (which I ran out of yesterday omg I missed that today as my chemist didn’t have it in stock till late afternoon) and paracatemol it seems to be taking longer to kick in but I’m not sure wether my scabs are coming off as I have a stinging sharp pain when swallowing! It’s going to be a long night (it’s after 10 here in Scotland) night all!
Good Morning Day Six,
I am up before the sun because I just cannot make it to med time while sleeping without complete pain recon. I started getting the little cough many of you are talking about last night and I do feel like I am going to drown in my own sticky spit. I am still having a mild grade fever, but I do not feel it is anything to rush to the hospital for, thanks to a little knowledge from Greg. The pain level is equal to what I experienced on day five. As the scabs come off, I am experiencing more of a stinging pain. The best thing for that so far is keeping it numb with ice water and packs on my neck.
So many of you are talking about pain meds; I think I have the gem for the pain. Hydrocodone-Acetamin 7.5-500MG it is generic for Lartab Elixir. It is a liquid so it gets to work fast, within one minute I start to feel it. In 10 minutes, I have relief. It taste like poison and it stings madly, but I can take it every 4 hours so I don’t have the 2 hour lag with an every 6 hour med. I am also talking Advil. The Advil helps with the swelling and it is a good backer for the pain. I can also take that every four hours. When you stagger them, you are having pain control every two hours. Not all doctors recommend this and you can’t take Advil with all pain medications. However, if you can I highly recommend it. The only time I run into issues is during the night; I normally sleep through one of the doses and get myself off track. I end up taking them together because when I wake up the pain so horrific. When I do that, I go 6 hours with the Advil so I can get back to having something every two hours. When you do this, you are never truly without something working on the pain.
As far as eating, this morning I had lumpy mashed potatoes. More like potato soup. My wonderful husband is keeping the fridge stocked with homemade mashed so I can heat them up while he is at work or sleeping with little effort. I add a lot of milk and shredded cheddar so it is more like a thick soup. The lumps scratch my throat a little, but from what I am finding that is a good thing. I am going to try to add some meat today, either grilled chicken or fish. I would rather the scabs go down with a meal than cough them up like I was this morning. So gross.
As long as I can keep my fever under control, and do things like this blog to keep my mind busy I think I might make it through another day.
We will see what today brings.
But seriously….I am ready for this to be over!
~Amanda
20 year old, thought spring break would be the perfect time for a tonsillectomy. Had surgery March 8th, Day 6 3:30 am, I don’t want to eat or drink it hurts so bad to swallow. It feels as if someone is stabbing my throat and almost as if my throat is freezing cold, I’m thinking maybe this is a sign of my scabs forming. I have not look edat my throat to see what’s going on, so that is just a shot in the dark. Does anyone else have excess mucus production in their throat? I am constantly spitting this out, but have yet to see any blood in it. The furthest I’ve ventured out with food is macaroni and cheese, I think my diet today will be much simpler due to this pain. I haven’t been able to sleep due to the pain. I had to quit taking Lotab as it kept making me puke, which was not fun, so Extra Strength Tylenol it is. Happy 6th day to all, the end is there somewhere!
I have tons of mucus. its so gross and gurts when I cough it up. I makes me feel as if I’m choking everytime I swallow. ugh I haven’t eaten anything and im trying to stsy hydrated but its so hard. I also had my surgery March 8th and im so over this! im ready to better and eat/drink whatever I want.
March 8th here as well. Woke up in the middle of the night with spontaneous tears of pain from the pain – in my ears, neck, jaws, teeth, everything.
I also have mucus overflow but I try to spit it out as little as possible – each drop of liquids had to get in with pain, I’m not letting it out that easily.
Can any of you people speak? I haven’t been able to express myself verbally since the surgery. It’s just not happening.
Keep calm and carry on. And keep the painkiller levels high…
I actually speak really we considering. I went to my ENT and h said my tonsils look great and the mucus should go away by tomorrow. So im really excited about the mucus to be gone. I am dehydrated though so he said I need to drink a ton more liquids. im sticking to water. And haven’t tried food yet. Im just not brave enough. im not in much pain and haven’t taken my pain meds since day three. he did say its almost over. which is beyond exciting. I was wondering if maybe I missed something or if I want healing correctly because everyone on here says they are in excruciating pain. but its just thr large amount of mucus that I choke on when I drink or try to sleep flat.
oh and March 8 th was the day I had mine taken out.
I was not prepared for the mucus/nasal drip issues. I think waking up Days 3-6 with a thick coating of goo covering my mouth was the hardest part of this entire recovery. I felt like my body was a slime producing machine and having to scrape away all the nastiness before taking a drink of water during wake-up dry mouth moments was no fun at all. I was so happy when I was finally able to successfully blow my nose on day 5! Today is day 7 and the slime is gone!
eat something before you take the lortab..ensure,soft scrambled eggs. narcotic pain meds don’t do well on an empty stomach. good luck
If bleeding is more then 2 teaspoons then you need to go to hospital but pain is apparently worse days 5-8. I feel awful, exhausted. Can’t talk yet and swallowing water is like razor blades sometimes the throat gets stuck doing that. Toothache, ear splitting ear ache and a drill going through my head is common on top of the burning, swelling and throbbing I mouth, throat and neck! Apparently day 10 is a turn around. I need day ten now. I use an ice pack under my chin, ear muffs, ice lollies, Luke warm chicken soup, and bottles and bottles of cold water. On max pain relief but still nothing :-/
ive been dealing with a ton a phlegm. like enough to make me cough everytime I swallow. And it gives me panic attacks because I can’t breathe. I haven’t been able to eat anything yet and water is so.hard to swallow because of the phlegm… any suggestions?
I’m on day 6 of recovery and I too have been dealing with a ton of phlegm. It hurts to spit so I have actually been shoving a tissue in my mouth to sop some up b4 drinking water. As long as it’s ice water, it’s been ok for me. I’ve also made frozen jello and it is the most soothing thing I’ve had! Just make sure you don’t use sugar free because it doesn’t work as well. I haven’t had a whole lot of pain until today because I think I tore a scab but I haven’t seen any blood. I have 6 hour medication so I’ve been taking half doses every 3 hours and it seems to help.
I had my surgery on March 6th, and I’m currently on Day 6 post-op. I was hoping I’d wake up today and feel much better, however, that wasn’t the case. I’m feeling nauseous from taking so much pain medication and not having anything on my stomach. Yay for Promethazine suppositories…nope. My tongue has finally cleared from most of the white coating. However, my taste buds are completely out of whack. They are swollen and feel raw and whenever I try to take a tiny bite of something, it tastes like complete crap. Anyone else having this problem? I want my sense of taste back. Haven’t been able to eat much…some chicken broth. Tried eating peas, carrots, apple sauce, mashed potatoes, but it all gets stuck in the back of my throat. I basically haven’t eaten in a week and all I can think about is food. Also, I’ve been much more tired today. Since I haven’t been getting any calories, I have no energy and have taken at least three naps today. Some of the scabbing has been coming off in bits and pieces, most of which I spit up. I looked in the back of my throat for the first time today (it’s really the first time I’ve been able to open my mouth that wide), and I wish I hadn’t. White scabs, swollen Uvula, and some little red spots, which I’m sure are bleeding sites/clots/healing areas. Everytime I swallow, I can feel the scabs and it makes me sick to think I’ve been swallowing some of this junk. If I could go back, I would NEVER have had my tonsils out. Don’t get me wrong: I know I needed it, but this is completely ridiculous.
I totally agree with you as I’m on day 6 of recovery. If I knew how painful this would be I never would have done it.
I had chronic tonsilitis forever and always thought I had strep. I hope that this will get rid of consonant doctor visits especially since I work with children at a hospital. Plus I have vocal nodules as well aka a hot mess so I am praying this procedure was worth it!
Glad we are all in the same boat, soon to be exiting this torture boat soon!
But golly have I caught up on some tv shows and movies
I had my procedure done on march 8th and I am now on day 6. I am speech therapist so I am used to looking at the back of the throat, but my god its nasty! I started to experience spotting of blood in my spit yesterday. During the 2nd-4th day I was eating mashed potatoes and small pasta, now I feel like I have reverted back to ice chips and slurpes. So is more pain and bleeding common 5-7 days post surgery? I dont need to call the ENT regarding the slight bleeding?
My ent told me there’s no need to panic if its a really small amount of blood – like one dose of cough medicine or a teaspoon or something lime that.
If it’s constant bleeding, however, go straight to the emergency.
We must be patient…
It is common for pain to increase because your scabs are coming off. Small amounts of bleeding are ok. Drink ice water or eat Popsicles to make the bleeding go away but if it gets worse or doesn’t stop, call the doctor. I just had the first piece of scab come off today and it hurt!! No bleeding for me though thankfully, not yet.
I’m not sure what daybthisbis exactly for me but I’m going to go with 5-6. Last night was the worst night yet and had a hard time getting comfortable. Woke up in the middle of the night with pretty bad (but still manageable pain) I had a little bleeding last night after a dinner of mashed potatoes and mashed up carrots. Freaked me out a little bit but after some ice chips, ice water and an ice pack it stopped. Today has been ok, not too much pain and am still doing only 1/4 doses of the pain meds during the day. I’m down 8 pounds as of now and am pretty hungry which is annoying. Still surprised its been as easy as it has been!
I’m on day six of my tonsillectomy recovery, and my throat is feeling fine! Not a ton of pain, I am able to eat solid foods (like toast). The only thing thats absolutely killing me is the god awful taste and smell I’m experiencing from the scabs. I’ve never dealt with anything so gruesome and revolting before, in my entire life. It’s absolutely dreadful. I can’t eat anything without smelling it and tasting it. Gum and mints mask it for a little while, but then when I have to blow my nose or cough up phlegm, it comes back. It is SO DISGUSTING and I am counting down the seconds until these scabs fall off. I don’t even care about the little bit of pain, or the fatigue or stomach problems (from the opiates), I just want these scabs OUT! How long will it last? My dad is a doctor, and he said up to two weeks – I started crying. They should fall off soon…right?
Day 6: Last night at around 1 am i cleared my throat and spit up blood. It is probably because i ate a slice of bbq chicken pizza from Jet’s a few hours previous to the blood. I freaked out and went to my mom’s bed side and said ” I have blood”…. seriously… that is a direct quote. I sat at the kitchen table for about 2 hours sucking on ice from Sonic and pop sickles. I also drank three bottles of water. I suppose that the blood i coughed up was not a major problem because i have not seen anymore blood since then.
All-in-all day 6 has not been awful. I ate mac and cheese and top roman. My stomach was really upset and (the following is not for the faint of heart) i finally took my second poop since the surgery. The BM situation has been one of the hardest things for me to adjust to. It is really strange to go from pooing once a day to only going once every three or four days.
My pain is minimal and i only have taken one loratab today. I want to eat real food so bad. I am freaking out. I want it to end. Good Luck All.
You did the right thing Todd. Glad you’re ok. hang in there man
I’m a 28 yr old female now on day 6 after my surgery I woke a 4 am with a pain that brought me to tears I’ve been trying to sparingly take my pain meds and bare through the pain but I immediately scuffled down 15 ml of lortab elixir and eagerly waited 30 mins for the shrieking pain to go away. I then fell asleep only to wake again at 9:45 am with the exact pain. The pain in my left ear is the worst by far of all of my post op days combined. I’ve only been able to consume pudding and jello sip apple juice and drink ice cold wAter. Yesterday I ventured off and tried mashed potatoes which were so delicious but now I regret eating because I think I over did it. I am praying that I will have less painful days from here on out I just can’t bare another early morning pain streak such as this one. Best wishes to all who are in the same boat as I
It is now day six of my recovery. Straight after my op, the nurse said I HAD to eat to make my throat heal quicker. About an hour after surgery I layed in the hospital bed and ate a bag of crisps, a white chocolate chip cookie, a turkey sandwich and a small slice of cake. After a few hours in recovery I was discharged from the hospital. The pain was around the same pain as i’d experience if I had tonsilitis. When I got home I was able to eat dinner easily, there was some pain with swallowing food but it was tollerable.
The day after my surgery up until day 6 have been okay so far. The pain isn’t as bad as I expected it to be. It is about the same amount of pain as one of my worst cases of tonsilitis i’ve had in the past. The only time when the pain is simply unbearable is when I consume things like orange juice or tomatoes.
The pain killers I have been given have made me drousy, tired and easily annoyed. This has been my main concern during my recovery.
The only thing I would say brace yourself for is the bad breath. Oh, dear god. I am not able to open my mouth wide enough to get to the back of my mouth when I’m brushing my teeth, nor am I able to give my tongue a good scrub.
Other than that, I have been fine! I’ve been able to eat, smoke, talk, and even sing at times. I guess I’m just having one of those good recoverys.
Too anyone who is debating whether to have a tonsillectomy or not – it’s defo worth it!
You are lying… lol. No way this is true…lol.
I am on day 6 and still in a lot of pain.pain meds i left hospital with has now run out so i called my ENT Dr and they called me in diffrent meds that are just not working…… i could get at least 4hrs of pain free now not getting any it just dulls the pain……………….. right now i am just hateing life,,,,,soup,,,,,,eggs,,,,,,,,rice,,,,,,, and this pain just want my life back
Three words for day six, hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. The key to this mess is drinking as much water as possible even if you have to set an alarm to do it, and keeping up with pain medication. I slept for three hours today and must have slept with my mouth open because when I woke up it felt like there was a chunk of glass sitting in the back of my throat, and I couldn’t get the pain under control for about an hour. Since day one I have been drinking water as much as possible and running a cool mist humidifier, that has been the most help. Second would be chicken broth. I learned the hard way not to take my pain medication for granted, I got through six hours without it and I almost wanted to cry, so I guess I’m not doing as well as I thought. My ears have started to ache so I finally put the EARDOC (ear vibrator) to work, it definitely does make a difference.
Day 6 and I felt that things were turning for the better. Or maybe it was just doubling my codeine dose that made me feel like that. I was able to manage a very large bowl of pasta for lunch – although it took me about 4 times as long to eat as it would normally. At times the pain was almost not noticeable, though swallowing was always uncomfortable. I made it out of the house for the first time, to the local shops. Noticed that when the wind blows in my face, I tense up some muscles in my throat that I never knew I had, causing pain. That was one problem I didn’t expect. Night 6 the pain came back with a vengeance. My 1am drugs dose was followed by an hour sitting awake waiting for them to kick in, then 3 hours of good sleep, and then another 2 hours wide awake in real pain before my 7am drugs. I’ve given up trying to sleep at times like that, and just sit up in bed reading on the iPhone. At 7am (end of night 6), the pain was so bad that I didn’t think I’d be able to swallow the drugs at all, and was happier (if that’s the word) bearing the pain than worsening it even temporatrily by swallowing the drugs. But I got them down in the end. Despite the pain, the tonsil bed looks to be in good shape. Patches of white are turning to a healthy looking pink. I don’t think they’re peeling off, as they don’t have well-defined edges. It’s more like the white layer is gradually turning into skin.
38 year old male. Starting day 5. I have not slept much. only an hour at a time through the night. Had my surgery done on O’ahu as there are no ENT’s here in Kona Hawaii. 1st and 2nd day were no problem. No pain but also no sleep.
Day 3 was rough as the pain increased slightly but nothing too bad. Mostly nauseous from the pain meds.Started off when I woke up in the middle of the night having a panic attack in the hotel. Felt like I could not breathe. I don’t want my throat to dry out so I have kept my mouth closed up for the whole time except to eat and drink. Had a panic attack too from feeling claustrophobic ( i think due to the meds). I had to wake up my mom who was so kind enough to help me on O’ahu for the weekend. Went down to the lobby and she helped calm me down. I have never been on pain meds. Man they mess you up. I have not spoken since Friday morning.
4th day was better. Pain feels just like a soar throat. Got home after the plane ride and made the mistake of looking at the sight of the operation. That made my stomach more queazy as actually saw how large the gaping holes in my mouth.
Now it is 2:00 am. Starting my 5th day. Felt sleepy, started falling asleep but woke up and am now typing this.
Just wanted to thank everyone for there posts. I know there is a light at the end of this proverbial tunnel. I just want to get there and get back to normal life. This no sleep thing is getting to me. I am wanting to get passed days 6-10 as I hear that those are the rougher days of dealing with pain although so far, besides the side affects from the meds and no sleep I have had no more pain than an average soar throat. I have been drinking water like there is no tomorrow. I think this may be helping.
38 year old male. Starting day 5. I have not slept much. only an hour at a time through the night. Had my surgery done on O’ahu as there are no ENT’s here in Kona Hawaii. 1st and 2nd day were no problem. No pain but also no sleep.
Day 3 was rough as the pain increased slightly but nothing too bad. Mostly nauseous from the pain meds.Started off when I woke up in the middle of the night having a panic attack in the hotel. Felt like I could not breathe. I don’t want my throat to dry out so I have kept my mouth closed up for the whole time except to eat and drink. Had a panic attack too from feeling claustrophobic ( i think due to the meds). I had to wake up my mom who was so kind enough to help me on O’ahu for the weekend. Went down to the lobby and she helped calm me down. I have never been on pain meds. Man they mess you up. I have not spoken since Friday morning.
4th day was better. Pain feels just like a soar throat. Got home after the plane ride and made the mistake of looking at the sight of the operation. That made my stomach more queazy as actually saw how large the gaping holes in my mouth were.
Now it is 2:00 am. Starting my 5th day. Felt sleepy, started falling asleep but woke up and am now typing this.
Just wanted to thank everyone for there posts. I know there is a light at the end of this proverbial tunnel. I just want to get there and get back to normal life. This no sleep thing is getting to me. I am wanting to get passed days 6-10 as I hear that those are the rougher days of dealing with pain although so far, besides the side affects from the meds and no sleep I have had more pain than an average soar throat. I have been drinking water like there is no tomorrow. I think this may be helping.
On day 6 today and is by far the worst day. Was in pain since day 1, but not pain like this. I woke up in the middle of the night feeling like someone was stabbing my throat with a knife. I put icepacks on my throat and was somehow able to fall back asleep. Starting to feel pretty hopeless today with The pain, lack of interaction, food, and with not being able to talk. It feels like this will never end and Boone else understands why your not getting better, but worse. I am counting the days down until normacy. Until now, I’ve been in pain, but not like this. Hope everyone else is having a speedy recovery time and are getting better each day.
Hi all,
Been reading these posts over the past 5 days getting advice here and there and just wanna say a HUGE thank you to Greg for this website – what a genius!!
I’m 21 y/o female and had my tonsils out on the 23rd so I’m on day 6 (incl op day). Been a freakin painful process, I thought I was well prepared-. I had quinsey and a large perotonsillar abcess about 6 months ago which was hella painfull so I was put on the tonsillectomy waiting list and here I am! However no one prepared me for this! I haven’t had relief from the pain since surgery I take 400gms Ibuprofen and 1000gms paracetemol every 6 hours but it doesn’t really do much for me.
Overall I’ve been able to eat quite a bit, boiled egg, soft toast, noodles, rice, mash potato etc but the best are the popsicles! Note for everyone who is getting pain in their ears get hold o fa vibrating massager, it works wonders!
Some of the scab has started to come off today, I think that’s pretty normal (I hope). Oh my gosh, no one said anything about how bad your breath gets!! My family all stay away from me cause it stinks so bad, tried brushing heaps, chewing gum and miints but they all only temporarily get rid of the smell, it’s horrid! Help?
Other than that I’ve been okay, hardly any bleeding, jaw and teeth feel fine, hurts to yawn though which is frustrating and I keep getting cravings!
All the best for your recoveries!
Thanka again Greg you legend!
Thanks for your comments Rose! I am also on day 6, and for me 5&6 have been the worst by far. My biggest problem are the pain in my ears. I’m glad you mentioned something about an ear vibrator. I must try and locate one.
Good luck with your recovery
Thank you Rose. I appreciate your kind words. I’m glad you’re doing, “ok.” Hope you turn the corner soon and start returning to normal life! Ear vibrator? I must research this…
you should be careful, as far as I am aware ibprofin is not to be taken during surgery recovery because it is a blood thinner and could mess up the recovery process, making it last longer and making your blood clot less effectively….
This is my 5th day, by far the worst woke up about 8, running a little bit of fever, jaw & ears killing me. So I got an ice pack and took some loritab and fell back asleep for about 2 more hours. Well when I got up I could barely swallow sprite, it hurt so bad. But I knew I had to do it anyways & I ate some yogurt smoothie thing & a Popsicle. Well I stayed up for about 4 more hours and couldn’t keep my eyes open so I went back to sleep and woke back up after 2 more hours and ate some chicken noodle soup, I could barely swallow that too. Well I took some more medicine got a little bit better. Still trying to cough and hacking a ton because I have so much dranage. Been sleeping in the living room to keep me reclined. But I don’t think it’s helping my ears or jaw at all. So scared about day 6!
I’ve also had the worst taste in my mouth for 2 days & nothing gets rid of it. Water even taste horrible.
Still day 6, well its night now. Today things seemed to get better. I felt a lot happier in myself and my throat wasn’t as painful and my ears weren’t as bad either and i could actually speak a little like a normal person today i think it had something to do with the suppository tablets i was given. It might be a little uncomfortable when im using them but believe me it is definitely worth it in the end. I felt so much better in the evening time that i even managed a bit of chinese take away which i had been craving since i had the op. A little later then i started coughing a lot and some of the scabs (i assume) started coming up, that was a very painful experience i’ll tell you and even drinking water after it stung the throat off me. It’s now midnight and i’m in a little pain from the scabs coming off and my ears are a little painful again. It’s a pretty weird feeling, the scabs hanging off. All i want to do is cough them up because it kind of tickles, but i know if i force them up it will just cause more pain and damage in the long run so i’m just going to have to wait it out
Hopefully tomorrow will be even better than today 
So im on day 6. The day is only really starting, well its 3 o clock in the afternoon. So far it hasn’t been too bad. Although i did wake up in excrutiating pain last night. My ears and throat were really sore. I finally got back to sleep after eating some ice. Then when i woke up again my throat was really dry and swollen. It seems to have swelled up even more than before especially on the left, is this normal? I also think some scabs came off today, and i got a bit of phlegm up, not a lot but a bit and it felt great but now it’s just as bad as before concerning the phlegm, how can i get it up without causing pain and damage? I also feel like im gunna blow up, my family have been great but today they’re just really getting on my nerves. Telling me to take my meds and eat soup and jelly. I’ve been taking my meds and i’ve been eating the frigging soup and jelly, you try live on soup and jelly and the odd bit of toast for 6 days and see how you feel like seriously they’re getting on my nerves so much!! I understand they only care and they’re just trying to help but they don’t know how it feels to be reliant on medication and to be only allowed eat certain things. I don’t think im going to be able to go another week or more with all the physical and emotional affects of it.
I am on day 6–just started–and I totally understand what you are saying about people getting on your nerves! It’s like you want to shake them and say “WAKE UP!”
I realized that eating a white soft bread is less painful than anything semisolid that has a flavour – it’ s the vegetables, salt and fruit that hurts when it touches the scabs. I almost cried over a mixed vegetable soup or banana smoothie but bread seems ok. Glad that I won’t die from hunger afterall. Lost around 4 kilograms but I was a skinny girl already before the op.
My advice to you who don’t have the humifidier: hold a wet towel in front of your mouth when you go to sleep. It helped me a lot, your mouth and nose cavity will stay moist. I also hanged wet towels in the room to make the air colder and less dry.
My fifth- sixth day’s night was horrible. I havent had any big pains before but last night i woke up with ridiculous pain on one side, shooting to jaw, tongue and ear. My jaw was swollen so i couldn’t open my mouth properly and drinking water was pure hell. Painkillers didn’t help so i panicked and went to the hospital. They said i developed an inflamation on one of the scabs and gave me a penicillin shot and something else to stop the swelling. I must go there tommorow again for the shot. I wonder why the hell doctors don’t prescribe antibiotics right away after the surgery, so people can avoid this. I have been eating quite normally before that, and now I’m again on clear boujon, popsicles and ice tea.
That’s crazy! My doctor gave me antibiotics to take…I’m still crazy miserable on day 6 tho!
My right side still hurts and I am on day 12! It has really only been the right side for the last week that has hurt. Seems odd, but I have read the same thing from so many other people that it sounds normal…. Just not fun =(
Smell is so bad!!! I can’t sleep because of the smell coming from my throat! Pain is still at like 6 and trying not to take as much pain meds (liquid roxicet) which I think at this point is just contributing to the terrible smell. Ears and jaw are still killing me but finally able to drink cold water without wanting to die. Any suggestions for the smell? I’ve been brushing my teeth as often as possible and gargling with salt water and alcohol free mouth wash (which hurts like hell afterwards). I also can barely open my mouth, I’ve tried to look in my throat, but I can barely open it enough to see anything. From what I can see, it is still VERY white and swollen.
Try chewing gum..
It’s so great to read all this. I had my tonsils removed the 27th and even though everyone is very supporting and sweet and caring etc. They also all seem to think it’s a very simple procedure with a short recovery time. Which is not true, i now know. I do not recognise any of the meds discribed here, i only got paracetamol but ive been mixing it with diclofenac which sometimes helps and sometimes well, just doesnt…. And i find myself crying but… Not to hard because crying also hurts like hell!
Glad that ive been able to eat ‘vla’ which is dutch custard but after this i dont think i will eat it ever again
Maybe ask your doctor for stronger meds? Paracetamol is good but you need stronger
I am also at day 6 and I feel like my family members are very much “over” this recovery, like they can’t figure out why I am still in pain. Kind of sad that after like day 4 everybody seems to care a lot less… =(. Though, my boyfriend has remained to be amazing!!!!
So funny, I totally agree! My husband has been great and pushing for me to rest but I feel like everyone else is like, ok it’s been 5 days, shouldn’t u be out of bed by now? What’s the big deal, little kids have it done all the time… Ha if they only knew the excruciating pain involved w this procedure!
I’m on Dafalgan Codeïne 500 mg, which is paracetemol with codeïne, and it works for me, although on a really painful day i take six (1 every 4 hours) of them which is really the maximum amount you can take…
I wish I would have seen this sooner. I had my tonsils out Dec. 26th so this is day 6 for me. I’m up at 2-3 am everything morning becauae the pain is so bad. I just wanna sleep. I have no energy at all. And my ears are killing me. I’m 26 years old and I have a two year old. My mom kept my son for the first four days while my husband took.care of me. But now I have to go back to work tomorrow where I talk on the phone all day and I don’t think i can do it. I have been eating pretty well. I don’t feel like my pain is as bad as others have posted. I drink constantly ( Dr told me I would heal faster) and I’ve eaten since the day of surgery. Ive had ramen noodles. Mac and cheese, soup, fish, lots of ice cream and jello. But i want a cheeseburger and pizza really bad lol!
Day 6:
It’s CHRISTMAS! Happy holidays, everyone! So I took it easy yesterday (partly because of the agonizing pain and party because I was prepping for Christmas dinner) I think today went well. All I ate for dinner was mashed potatoes and corn. I was okay with this and had hardly any pain swallowing… until I decided to add turkey to the mix. Why must I always overdo it? Well, I added turkey and that’s when I started getting the scrapey feeling when I swallowed. I waited a little while to let my throat cool off (I did this while drinking plenty of ice water) and after that had some apple pie with vanilla ice cream and whipped cream. I only allowed myself to eat apple pie because I knew the ice cream would cool off my throat and would let the pie slide down my throat easily, which it did.
I was a happy camper.
I’ve stuck to my new routine of taking my liquid vicodin in the mornings after I wake up and at night right before I go to bed. During the day all I do is drink lots of ice water, which seems to be doing the trick. I don’t think it hurt that today I also got to open my Christmas presents. That definitely put me in a good mood.
Overall, I’m not getting nauseous anymore (even without taking my anti-nausea pills) and eating and swallowing in general is getting better.
Could this be the beginning of the light at the end of the tunnel?? I’m not saying I see the light yet, because this still sucks, but maybe I’m getting there!
December 26, Day 6:
Went back to work today. I make a living from speaking on the phone and today was a little rough. After several phone conversations my voice was shot. I lasted 6 hours and had to call it a day. Not a bad decision as the weather is dreadful with snow, sleet and freezing rain.
Again it’s the pain meds that make this tolerable. I’m exhausted from lack of good sleep but I believe I’m right at the turning point and I should be better tomorrow. Hang in there folks, it does get better.
Definatly think I overdid things yesterday. Last night after we got back home the pain increased dramatically. I continued taking 5 ml of roxicet every 3 hours and added 1 50 mg tramadon every 6 hours, kept my ice packs on and kept the humidifier on.
Waking up this morning to day 6 pain is still high but noticed it has changed. It must be something with the scabs. All I know is it’s intense with incredible ear pain. Continuing my med schedule, ice pack regimine, back to liquids, and no talking.
I don’t know if the increase in psi is from overdoing it yesterday with our Christmas at the inlaws or if I’m just at that point in my recovery. Either way, I know it will pass in time so I’m just gonna take it easy and take it day by day.
Merry Christmas everyone.
Just looked at my scabs and have come to the conclusion that they are workin on comming off. There are areas that have a bright red appearance ( explaining why water stings). The worst part I’m finding is the taste that belching brings up. Yuck!!! The taste from the scabs makes me nauseous . Any suggestions??
try gently gargling with 1 tablespoon salt dissolved into 8 oz cool water add 1/4 teaspoon baking soda 2-3 times daily.
I’m 19 years old and today is day 6. After the morphine fully left my system during day 2, it was evident how painful this would be. Everyone said how the older you were the more painful it is and boy were they right. I’ve broken my collar bone twice and have torn my labrum and neither of those could compare to the amount of physical pain this tonsillectomy is causing. Haven’t eaten to much but I find things like bread (Loaded with butter, even though I’m not a fan) is easy to eat very soft and provides you with a ton of calories. It sucks it’s Christmas Eve and I won’t be able to eat any regular food or Christmas candy. But every minute is a minute closer to being done.
and a HUMIDIFIER has proven to be the best thing I have bought all year. It keeps the air in your room moist especially over night, which will keep your throat moist. This prevents “dagger-swallowing” pain in the morning and can even lead to a slightly quicker recovery. The more moist the throat stays the quicker it can heal
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
So, today is Day 6, my son is still taking the Lortab elixir every 4- 6 hrs, varying the dose between 10-15ml, depending how he feels. 3 days ago, I gave him a milk of magnesia tablet, and again, another yesterday, as he hadn’t had a BM since the day before surgery. Finally had success with a large BM last night! He’s basically eating what he wants, ie: ice cream, popsicles, soft tacos, won ton soup, spaghetti, tuna fish cakes with salad….I’m amazed. When I had mine out at age 31, I could eat mashed potatoes for 2 weeks! I’ve been off work this whole time, to make sure he’s ok, but I’m back to work on Monday, which will be Day 8. We have our follow up on Thursday, which will be Day 11. Good luck to everyone, just be sure to drink, drink, drink. It keeps the throat moist, so the scabs don’t dry out. Talk, and yawn and stretch your neck. Ibuprofen is ok, it not only is a pain reliever, but an anti-inflammatory, so, it helps reduce swelling. Oh, BTW, I’m an RN, I know of what I speak.
I had my tonsils removed December 14th so today is day 6 of my recovery. The pain has been awful. But I have managed to eat stuffing and mashed potatoes. I’ve noticed that the scabs are thinning and coming off which I’m un sure of if its normal but if any one has any advice to getting through this faster please let me know
Hi Taylor, I also had my tonsils removed on the 14th. That is perfectly normal as i noticed the same thing happening to me yesterday so I called my ENT department and they said its supposed to happen. I’ve been told to consume a rough food diet and today I’m finding it hard to even consume water with the ear pain and burning pain in my throat. All the best with your recovery! I feel your pain.
I had surgery on the 13 so this makes day 5 for me. I’m so frustrated with not being able to eat food and I’m so sick of jello ice thrown up 4 times in the past 2 days not including today but I feel the puke just chillin in my throat. Is this normal? I’m soo tired and sick of this pain all the time and the dry throat, how do I make my self a bit more comfortable???
I know it’s miserable. I would call your doctor and ask for help. Your doctor is there to help. I would ask for something to help with nausea to start…..you have to keep your meds down. Once you get that under control, try other foods like a mashed potatoe or scrambled eggs. But you have to get snti nausea meds first, then pain meds to help swallow foods, then eat, just a little. I’m not a dr, but these things helped me. I wish you all the luck.
I’m on day 5 post op and up until now I’ve been good ! I’ve been eating loads and taking my antibiotics ! The pain today had been awful . Does this mean infection is setting in or it’s healing :(??? Am worried!!!
im an 18 year old female and i had my tonsils out on the 5th of december. two or so days ago, i had to go back to the ER because the pain was so unbelievably bad. they put me on a drip for a pain killer and gave me 2 bags of saline through an IV. i was really dehydrated and very weak.they ended up prescribing me percocets, which i took every 4-6 hours. after three of them, i woke up in the middle of the night gagging and finally threw stomach bile up. now, im worried about my scabs. the left side is really the only side that really hurts, including my left ear. any time i drink anything at all, its a stinging pain and i end up crying and punching the couch because i become so frustrated.
Ky I completely agree. I become so frustrated constantly that I punch my bed all the time. It is dec 22 and I got my tonsils out on the 17th of dec, so I am on Day 6. Honestly this is just getting old and I just want to eat regular food, especially with christmas coming up soon. First it was the right side of my throat and my right ear, now its the left side of my throat and my left ear. It literally feels like it is never ending.
My day 6 is today (Christmas Eve) and my ears hurt so bad I’m just sitting here crying. I don’t care about the vomiting, killer sore throat, god awful taste in mouth, or not being able to eat. my ears hurt so bad I feel like they’re going to explode. And Vicodin has decided it’s going to do nothing to help me anymore. Any advice?
Advil. Aka Ibuprofen — 600mg every 6 hrs (no more than that). I was on Vicodin every 4 hrs and it stopped working for me day 3. My father is a doctor and he said this was okay… the Ibuprofen is working way better than Vicodin for me. I’m on Day 6, too. Hopefully the advice isn’t coming too late. Good luck!
I am now on day 6 as well. The pain is really awful. Now only my right side hurts. It burns and stings and aches whenever I move. Is there something wrong? It is only the right side that is super painful
I have reading through this forum and I cannot understand why you are all crying your pain out loud.
I am a 32yo man, and I had my tonsillectomy 6 days ago here in Paris (France) where I live, following a phlegmon.
Nobody ever gave me any opioids (morphine and so) not even in the hour following the surgery. I am, from day 1 on, on a regime of paracetamol (1gr every 6 hours, climbing up to 8-hours pause during the night). I had Cortisone for three days (from day 2 to day 5, once per day, in the morning) in order to reduce the inflammation. And of course antibiotic until today, to prevent infections. And that’s all.
No other painkillers, no other drugs, just yogurt and fresh milk and ice-cream. And I have never, and i mean never, felt this bad. Ok, it hurts a bit, when Paracetamol effects get lower (from the 5th hour on).
Worst day was maybe day 2, in the morning. All the other time I could read, eat (yogurt, milk and ice-cream, of course), talk and sleep with no problems at all. I would not say I have really suffered – never ever – any big pain.
If post-tonsillectomy recovery makes you feel this bad, either your surgeons take away your tonsils with kitchen knives, either your drugs don’t work, either you are just not used to deal with the normal amount of pain any person has in life, from time to time. If you take painkillers every time you have a little pain, then you’ll never learn to deal with normal, mild pain like post-tonsillectomy pain.
Stop whining, breathe and be rational. Nothing this bad is happening to you all. Nothing.
You must be very proud of yourself.
Where is the “LIKE” button?
Wait…that didn’t sound right. *DIES*
I’m on day 6. My tonsilectomy had some complications because my tonsils were fused to my throat with scar tissue. That meant more cutting. The scar tissue somehow wrapped around those pesky veins, so I got some stitches that most folks don’t get. The doctor said my recovery was going to be longer and more painful because of it. Fortunately, my doctor was wrong. My recovery is painful, but after reading some of these stories, I realize it’s much better than most of the folks out there. For some reason it just worked out that way. That makes me lucky and especially grateful this holiday season. It doesn’t make me qualified to tell people that are suffering to suck it up because it really isn’t that bad.
That being said my recovery hit a snag on day 5, i.e. more painful than day 4. Waking up for day 6 is worse than day 5. I noticed bleeding on day 4, but the pain didn’t amp up until day 5. I’m ready for this phase to peak. My hope is scabs started coming off on day 4 and that process will only last 2 or 3 days, at which point the pain goes down until I’m recovered. I was hoping to go back to work today (Monday). I let the office know that isn’t going to happen and that Tuesday and Wednesday are questionable.
We can all be as tough as you Frenchy. I have tore my bicep tendon, tore my labrum and rotator cuff, henriated discs in my back and neck, had surgeries for all of them and my tonsillectomy hurt worse than all of them. I have a high threshold for pain but am man enough to admit that this hurt bad. Don’t feel bad everyone it hurts and don’t think less of yourself for admitting it..
Well Im so happy for you to not experience pain. Dont sit therr an accuse others of bein babies and crying on here. Everyones experience is different. If you dont like reading it then get off the site! This is a support center for some people and they dont need you complainin over how they react to their situation!
This was in reference to emanule
I am 24…I had my tonsillectomy on Tuesday the 4th December.. An day 1-2 was fine although days 3-4 I have woken up 3:4 o’clock constantly in pain… I thought I had a high pain threshold but yeh it’s never ending.. An can’t get a gd nights sleep an wake up with night sweats.. My breath stinks an when I eat it tastes like burning rubber… An I’m hoping that is what my breath smells like an not of an infection. Also am I the only one to get given toast to eat after the op ? An I’ve been eating solids constantly but mainly soup in the day.. But it hurts like a bitch!
I’ve been hearing day 5-6 are worst so what I’m feeling now will no doubt get worse even though I think I’m already at that stage.. My throat is white where the tonsils used to be an I’m thinking is that a infection building up? But reading your posts it looks like its the scabs.. I hope!
Role on day 5 an 6…. Come at me “cuz pain is just weakness leaving my body biatch” an in a weird way the worse the pain the more I like it.. Because when I’m better ill be saying .. Yeh I did that an yeh I overcome it with flying colours.. No more throat pains accompanied with bad breath again! Woop… (Cheer up whoever is in same situation as me)! Oh the pain haha “laugh or cry”‘! P.s. am I the only one who go given paracetamol an ibuprofen after my op to take for e week…. It’s actually rubbish ! Only lasts 2 hours… Lol.
Laters GL
You can try Biotene mouthwash for the stinky breath. It is an enzyme formula that does not sting like other mouthwashes. It actually feels soothing and will help control bacteria and other nasties. I have been brushing with it since my pain increased on day 4 ( i am on day 7 now) because the foam of toothpaste was making me gag. I also use a syringe I bought at my pharmacy to gently squirt the mouthwash and lukewarm salt water directly onto the chunky scabs. Parts of them have loosened and rinsed out making it easier to breathe and swallow. Good luck.
every ones recovery is different a friend of mine just had hers taken out 2 weeks ago and she was fine the day after surgery and was able to east normally and everything. i however have not been that lucky and have been in a lot of pain and can barely eat, and trust me i am used to pain but i would rather have shoulder surgery again than have my tonsils removed. i am very happy your recovery has gone so well unfortunately not every ones goes the same way
I thought day 3 was bad, today was a lot worse, woke up last night, 2 hours after I’d taken my painkillers (which usually give relief for 4-6 hours) with the worst pains in both my ears. These carried on all day with the only relief coming from holding ice packs to my face. Ended up having to go back to the doctors again for more painkillers and a stronger anti inflammatory. At the moment its 2 hours til I can take my next painkiller and I am in agony. Don’t know how much more of this I can take. Think I’d rather have tonsillitis every few weeks than this pain. My throat is stinging on one side like an open cut and in the previous days I’ve been coughing up black almost fleshy lumps. Its disgusting, I cant even look at my throat. I hate this
Day 6 is really terrible. I woke up shaking from the pain and it takes major courage gathering to swallow the hydrocodone- it burns like acid going down! Today I couldnt bear it so mixed it with cream of wheat and it worked! Highly recommend! I means you have to eat a whole bowl of cream of wheat but I needed to do that anyway. I cant eat alot because the horrible taste of the scabs makes everything taste like sickningly sweet/bitter vomit. But there are a few things that are tolerable. Heres my list of tolerable:
Popsickles- nothing with artificial sweeteners- those taste sickeningly sweet.
cream of wheat- the only thing that actually tastes good
beef broth
chicken broth
refried bean burrito- the bland/salty refried beans are some much needed protein
Jello- stil in liquid form
mashed potatoes
pudding
peach yougurt
The 2 humidifiers in my room and sucking on ice chips really help! I also like taking childrens ibuprofen, it doesnt sting going down like the other meds do
Bread is aboslutely revolting if your having the taste problem, made me throw up which sets you back
I discovered if you mix the hydrocodone with 2-3x the amount of chocolate milk it goes down with almost no pain!!!! Yea!!!! But it seems like the meds are ony working 2-3hours now and that 4th hour I just suffer waiting to be able to take the next dose.
Agree. I cant wait the 4 hours. And the coughing started last night…hurt like hell and it seemed the I ent backward in my recovery progress.
* like I went*
Day 6. YOW! Same pain as yesterday, but no bleeding. Pain is about an 8 or 9 today. I am finding it very very hard to choke down any food today, and even water really hurts! I tried to eat some soggy Special-K, but gave up after about 1/4 cup because it seemed to have tiny rough bits in it, and my uvula hurt so bad. I think tomorrow I am going to try regular cornflakes, soggy of course. I choked twice trying to eat yogurt. I hope the coughing did not rupture anything! I have a headache too. I think I got about a total of 3-4 hours sleep last night (not all at once though). I am still sleeping sitting up, which helps keep the mucus down so I can breathe better. I had very bad diarrhea in the morning… probably from all the water. For lunch I managed to squeeze down some scrambled eggs. Popsicles and water ice felt really good. Besides the white scabs, throat has some very red patches, which I think were irritated from trying to swallow food. No bleeding, but I do see a little red dot that looks sort of like a blood blister on the top. Not sure what that is… blood clot maybe?
I am 25 and ha my tonsillectomy 6 days ago. I had sleep apnea because my tonsils were so large, so it was necessary for me to have the procedure. Although I can already tell a difference in how much better of sleep I’m getting – THIS SUCKS!!!! I have a high pain tolerance, and after 2 major car accidents, a broken wrist, fractured tailbone, fractured and sprained ankle, and several tattoos, I have to say this sucks the most. Days 1-2 not so bad, days 3-4 worse, days 5-6 definitely the worst so far. Waking in the middle of the night is AWFUL. It feels like my tongue was left out in the sun for hours, and it’s become so swollen that I have sores on either side of it and sore gums in addition to pain at the surgery site. Water is hard to get down, though I have been able to eat 2 burrito, some ramen noodles, and French toast. Though day 6 I may be back tracking as far as what I can eat is concerned unless my dr will prescribe more pain meds… God I hope this gets better soon.
Hi Stacy:
I’m so sorry you are in so much pain! I got my tonsils out in February (I’m 25). I remember on day 6/7 I lost my mind. I also ended up back at the doctor for stronger pain meds and anti-nausea medication, promethazine. All the medications were making me really sick too. Make sure you have a humidifier going, if you can’t afford one try a hot pot (that is what I used). Icing sometimes helps, just make sure it is soft squishy ice or a bag of peas. I know it is miserable, hang in there. Although it was hell for about 12 days, I’ve been so much healthier and happier since I got my tonsils out. You can do it! Good Luck! <3
Emily
Worst day yet. Not because of the pain but because of the seemingly endless length of this process! By day 6 of most things (except mono, which I was so lucky to have last year) you’re usually on the up and up. Now I know what everyone means by depression, and just plain old malaise. My throat pain has been steady, probably a 6/10 and I gave up trying to wean the percs. I’m not even hungry. I forced myself to eat some mashed potatoes and an ensure but that’s it besides water. Sweet stuff stings. The mucus is a pain in the ass, my breath smells and no matter how much I brush it doesn’t feel clean in there. So tomorrow after I get up and get my pain under control I’m going out to break this cycle. Just gonna wander and do a little shopping and hope that makes me feel better mentally. I’m trying to be a man about this situation….but it’s just so east to wallow in self-pity.
Hm… very crappy day today. Hurting all over the place in my throat, the scabs, the insanely irritating dry cough, not being able to sleep last night and knives in my ears down my neck and throat. O U C H !
Today I just wanted to cry… Crossing my fingers for a better day tomorrow!
I’m a 31 year old male. Had a tonsillectomy, along with a deviated septum repair, on Wednesday, October 10. Surgery day was a relative breeze. I have apnea, so they admitted me for a day to the hospital. After I came out of anesthesia, they began giving me morphine. That night, I ate two bowls of jello and three pudding cups and drank plenty of water. My throat was sore, but not unbearable. I stayed on morphine until 3 AM the next morning when I requested to be switched to the liquid lortab I would be using once home. The liquid lortab actually seemed to provide more consistent relief from the pain. Day 1 Post Op (Thursday, October 11)was also not that bad, either. I came home. I ate pudding, jello and hot chicken noodle soup. I flushed my nose with salt water (sort of nasty, but sort of relieving to see all of the junk coming out). I slept an awful lot. I had the thought that most of the people who post on this site must have bad experiences or low pain thresholds. I told my wife I might be able to go back to work on Monday, October 15th. Day 2 Post Op (Friday, October 12) I started to feel a little worse. I decided it was attributable to eating the chicken noodle soup and that I needed to stick to a cold liquid diet. We increased my medicine schedule so that I was taking the liquid lortab every 3 1/2 hours versus 4 hours. I also developed a regiment where I would squirt my throat with chloraseptic, take the liquid lortab and then suck on a lidocane lollipop. About an hour after the meds had set in, I’d start chugging water. We set alarms at night to stick to the schedule and had a humidifier set up in the room to try and keep my throat moist. Despite all of these efforts, I woke up on Day 3 Post Op (Saturday, October 13) with the worst pain yet. In addition to a chronically dry, painful throat, I started experiencing intense ear aches and nausea. To prevent throwing up, we added phenergen to my medicine regiment. This helped with the nausea, but added to feeling generally disoriented, which made it hard to cope with the pain/interact with my wife. Found myself getting irrationally angry at times and unable to express what I was thinking/feeling. Anyhow, Day 3 Post Op was not a good day. Saturday night, I made myself drink even more water throughout the night. I woke up on Day 4 Post Op (Sunday, October 14) feeling a little better. My throat was still sore, but I was not nauseated and did not have the same type of intense ear pain. By midday, that all changed. I started feeling like I needed to vomit, took some more phenergen and the cycle started all over again. By Sunday night, my ears were absolutely killing me. I applied an ice pack to my throat for the first time, but that brought limited relief. I tried chewing some gum after reading that it could help, but that also brought limited relief. Ultimately, the only thing that helped was sleeping. We forgot to set alarms for my medicine Sunday night, but luckily, my body woke itself up when it was time and I stayed on schedule. On Day 5 Post Op (Monday, October 15), I woke up feeling pretty normal. I did some work from home. I didn’t spend the day just lying around. I had a brief period of nausea and what felt like some fever, but avoided taking any more phenergen. I ate more than I had been eating, including some frozen yogurt, some pudding and even some hot noodle soup. Around bedtime, my next dose of medicine was due at 11:45 PM. I was feeling so good that I went to sleep at 10:45 with instruction to my wife not to wake me up for medicine. I woke up at 12:45 AM in excruciating pain. It felt like there were two giant marbles lodged in the back of my throat, it was on fire and my head/ears were throbbing. I took the liquid lortab, sucked on a lidocane lollipop for a few minutes and then was able to go back to sleep. I woke up again around 4 AM. Again, I was in excruciating pain and felt like I was almost choking. For a moment I had the thought that perhaps my scabs were coming off and that was the cause of the pain and the choking sensation. I got a flashlight and looked at the back of my throat in a mirror. It look like there has been some scab “movement” around the edges of my throat (I can see some pink flesh), but not much. Overall, everything is just very swollen back there. The white blobs where my tonsils used to be appear almost as large as my tonsils did pre-surgery. My uvula is enormous. Even my tongue is a little swollen. It all appears to be exacerbated, somewhat, by the onset of oral thrush, which is something I’ve tried desperately to avoid. I say all of this to say that my original assessment of this surgery and the people who posted on this site were wrong. This surgery is nothing to laugh about and I now understand how people can complain for days on end about it. Just when you think you’re getting better, something else hits you. The difficult part has been explaining to a skeptical employer why a “kid’s surgery” requires that I miss this much work.
I’m 17 and I’m on day 7 post-op, I feel so much better today its weird to think two days ago I was in agony with a sore throat and earache! But I can honestly say the pain just disappears, today I’ve had a cheese and marmite sandwich for lunch and I’m actually looking forward to dinner! There is light at the end of the tunnel!
I am on day 5 of my recovery, my throat doesn’t actually hurt that bad however I have an excruciating ear ache both sides! This prevents me from chewing and swallowing. I’m taking all my medicine on time but it doesn’t seem to be touching the pain at all. Yesterday I bit the bullet and had a twister meal from KFC, what a pain that was. Today I’ve managed some tomato soup and a couple of pieces of bread with jam! I’m very scared to sleep again tonight because I know I will wake up in a horrific pain again tomorrow! I just want this whole ordeal to be over with
I’m 17 by the way! I had mine out due to chronic tonsillitis.
Ah, day 6. Throughout the night I woke up regularly, but with no pain?! And now I have just woken up and my god the ear ache is back and there’s a burning feeling in my throat? I hope this burning feeling is the scabs coming off- *apparently* all is meant to be better after the scabs come off! We’ll see. Yesterday my mum buttered and got rid of the crusts from two slices of bread and popped some jam on there then cut them into strips, probably the easiest thing I’ve eaten so far! Don’t get me wrong swallowing hurts but if you take small bites and swallow smaller pieces its heaven on earth. I’m hoping there’s light at the end of the tunnel- day 7-9 is *apparently* when things start shaping up. Fingers crossed! ?
I’m 31 years old and had my tonsil surgery on Friday Oct 12th, 2012. Today is day 3 for me. The first 2 days were ok, have been taking all my meds as prescribed. My diet has consisted of yogurt, vanilla ice cream, choc shake, and banana baby food. My neck was extremely sore and tense yesterday. I’ve spent most of my time in bed, have been in and out due to the meds and lack of energy. I’m trying not to do to much so I don’t work up alot of saliva and don’t swallow as much. After reading everyones posts I’m guessing that this has only just begun. I can totally see the pain seeming unbarable after dealing w/ it for so long, not to mention not having the proper vitamins/minerals your body is used to having. I’ve been dealing w/ chronic tonsil infections and tonsil stones for the majority of my life. As much as this sucks, i’d rather suffer for 2 weeks rather than deal w/ the aggrevation for 60 more years
Hoping these next few weeks come and go quickly.
Day 6 for me to
Woke up this morning scared to death cuz I was coughing up blood, this has been the worst last two weeks of my life I have hospitalized all of last week and just haven’t been getting any better, intense ear pain when I swallow and I just feel like I wanna die. Plus not to mention before my tonsilectomy I tested positive for strep throat and mono. So this has been one hell of a ride
Today is my 6th day surgery was Thursday oct. 4 th in the am. I am 38 years old. So far the pain ramped up on day 3 and has been consistent. Ear pain, dry crackle feeling in throat and of course difficulty swallowing. I have resorted to taking the max of my Percocet. It has been great makes it so I can eat and drink almost feeling normalish. I think the scabs are staring to come off, part of the tonsillectomy area is very sensitive to cold, while warm tea and broth are great. I think in general I am handling the pain very well, my normal was pretty bad since I had a sore throat and sinus infection for two years straight. I wish everyone on this blog well. Here’s to getting to the end of the recovery road!
I’m 22 years old and today was day six for me. Omg!!! I woke up at 3 am, choking on mucus and sometimes a little blood. I was freaking all the way out. I was in soooo much pain. Sharp pains when I swallowed. I cried so much because I was so tired and in so much pain all day today. I noticed that my scab was slightly thinner. My doctor told me it was normal to have mucus and a little blood while the scabs were starting to come off. It’s not midnight and the pain isn’t too bad. Although I am afraid to fall asleep
30y/o day 6. Healing nicely just Ear pain, ear pain and more ear pain. Taking Tylenol and antibiotics but the pain meds wear off really quick. Been doing a lot of rinsing with salt and warm water. That helps and my breath doesn’t stink. Been eating semi solids (mashed potatoes, extremely soft noodles)but only 30mins after I take my meds so I feel no pain afterwards. Be sure to rinse out in the salt water solute after every meal please and off course drink loads of water. One last thing, gum helps. Keep chewing. You will be glad you did.
Today was my day 6 (got them taken out on 9/24). This morning was the WORST pain i’ve had so far during this procedure. I actually just started taking my Lortab last night for the sharp pains. I fell asleep perfect but woke up about 5 hours later in excruciating, stabbing pain in my jaw and tongue. I literally laid in bed and cried for 45 minutes because it hurt to move and I couldn’t get up for my pain meds. I could tolerate the pain days 1-5 but nights and mornings have gotten worse.
On a good note, for the first time this afternoon (from about 2-5pm) I actually had NO pain when swallowing! It may have been the ice water I was sipping at work, but not too sure. The pain did come back after yelling at someone who pissed me off (I know, bad idea but I have been so irritated that I can’t eat a steak lol)
My throat is part white and part pink. Scabs are coming off good. I see the ENT tomorrow and will update Day 7!
today is day 6 of my recovery and i still am in lots of pain
it’s a different type of pain today though. day 4 & 5 were awful but today is mainly really bad ear aches and feels like razors are going down my throat. i’ve been staying up on my lortab but today it doesn’t seem to be doing much at all except for the first 30 minutes or so. water still hurts to drink but i’ve been making myself stay on it. my body’s so tired but i’m so scared to sleep because waking up is awful. i have to say ice packs have been my life saver..once they’re on my neck for a few minutes they numb stuff up for a little bit. also taking a hot shower and letting it run behind my ears and neck feels pretty good too. all this medicines making me feel like throwing up (which im TERRIFIED of doing) so i tried eating little tiny pieces of a pancake earlier to soak up in my stomach. it hurt to eat but i did it. i have NOOO idea how people are saying they ate toast. i’m praying and praying that tomorrow will be a really better day because i don’t know how much longer i can handle this. i think parts of my scabs started coming off last night because when i went to spit i saw a little bit of pink but i’m too scared to look into my throat.
i’m 20 years old btw ?
day 6 i’m 29 years old and today hasn’t been so bad I’m getting ready to try some soft boiled eggs we’ll see how that goes if I could get the throbing ear pain to go away this might be tolerable here’s hoping for tomorrow
Hey Joe! Try chewing gum to relieve that ear pain. icing also helps. Take care!
Today is day 6. Im 18 and the pain has just started easing up.I decided to stop my medication because since day 1 I have thrown up 9 times and the pain is the worst I have ever felt. As far as eating.. I havent eaten anymore than a spoonfull of applesauce. I hope tomorrow is alot better
Day 6 – I’m a in a lot of pain, this is the worts day so far; feel like I can’t take it anymore, the ear pain is so bad, no med seems to help, and I can only drink fluids, no food. Is there anyone on day 6 feeling this bad?
Hi
Hi, my name is Vanessa and yes I know exactly how you feel. My Day 6 is today and for the past two days these ear aches and throat pain have starting getting worse and worse. My worst pain is when I have to drink too much of something or if I have to eat something, or even when I sleep for a long time period and wake up again with this intense, practically unbearable pain. Smh it’s horrible. I just want all this pain to finally be over.
I’m a 29 yr old who just got my tonsils out on 9/11/12 and the first 5 days were horrible and I thought I would never heal! I’m on day 6 and the pain isn’t as bad but for some reason I feel like I’m going to puke but I’m scared to death of puking right now just due to the fact that days 5-10 are when your most at risk of vomiting blood and that’s the least thing I feel like doing!
Yesterday I was praying not to wake up today, but seems that for me, yesterday was the freak day. Today i woke up like days 1-4 with no pain….the scabs are disgusting though, especially when you feel them going down your throat….jaqqqqq. However now that it’s just past midnight and i should be thinking of going to sleep, throat is getting a bit dry and i’m scared of actually falling asleep and waking up in pain (plus the smell/taste of the scabs is not helping esp when i lay down).
This is day 6 for me “technically” since it is after 12am. I am in so much pain, don’t know how much longer I can bear it. I am 47 years old, tonsils out for chronic tonsillitis and tonsil stones, that have plagued me for decades! My advice to others would be “do not wait until you are in your late 40’s to have this operation.” I always thought I was stoic about pain, now I must rethink that. 2 c-sections and a hysterectomy were not this painful! Percocet barely touches the pain. Good luck to you all, hope I’ll turn a corner soon.
Day 6 wasn’t too bad, (35 year old) still hardly any pain, more discomfort/dull ache. The only issue was waking up after sleeping, it felt like someone had been trying to pull my tongue out and given up, or another comparison was it felt like I’d eaten 10 packets of cream crackers without water. After a couple of paracetemols and an ibuprofen (for the swelling) it went away. I enjoyed normal food like I have done every day, including rough food (this helps clear out excess debris (gunk!). Slept quite a lot again which helps pass the time and aids recovery. No sensation in the ears other than when eating. Feeling fine generally, don’t panic – eat at all costs, I’m sure this is the key to a quicker recovery.
Uh no. If the scabs fall off prematurely then you will just have to wait for them to scab up again and hopefully not get infected. I hope your theory worked out for you… I kinda think this post is a joke..
@ Mandy: Everyone has their own way of dealing with their particular situation. In the UK, at least, the advice we’re given is to eat normally, including rough foods. I haven’t managed to eat much myself, but the theory is that eating normally cleans the back of the throat and aids recovery. Saliva seems to be an important factor in helping recovery which of course is produced through eating. Saliva has a peptide in it called Histatin which fights off yeast infections and promotes the distribution of healthy cells. I also read somewhere that it has pain-killing properties. Disagreeing with someone’s approach to managing their situation doesn’t mean you have the right to label their contribution as a joke.
Yep. I was told to eat a rough diet of toasts, crisps etc
seems to be the recommendation in the uk
6 days post op, 7 if you count surgery day. Woke up a few hours ago and had a vanilla milkshake with my meds, it was fantastic but gave me heartburn. Day 4 and 5 were horror and the pain was the worst I couldnt eat or drink at all so it really set me back. I’m on a tylenol and Ibuprofen regime every 6 hours, which I know is terrible for my stomach with no food in it but I can’t take the Roxicet that was prescribed bc it makes me want to throw up. Had some really creamy mashed potatoes which provided some substance and actually stuck for a little while. I have a gross taste in my mouth and drinking water burns. Brushing my teeth and taking a shower gives a little relief. I hope this is the peak of the worst of it and I start feeling a little better everyday.
I am 31 years old, on my 6th day of recovery. The first three days I slept most of the time. By day four and five I actually thought that I was feeling better, however today, day 6, has been hard. I am really craving some good food – like a juicy cheeseburger! I ate pasta this morning, however found that chewing the noodles was very exhausting on my jaw. I was thinking I was returning to work tomorrow, however have realized that I still need my pain meds and will need another week for recovery. The recovery process is getting tiredsome. I am afraid of the scap falling off and pray that I heal well over the next week.
Day 6 – last night I slept really badly, I am so exhausted by this whole recovery. The pain is not as strong as it has been, but it seems more constant. Cannot wait to eat something real, even though I have realized you can blend or purée just about any meal.
Day 6 – Some scabs have fallen out this morning, but have developed a nasty cough and some serious phlegm, not fun :(.
I’ve been taking only the childrens tylenol since day 4 (day 6 now) so I’m pretty happy about that. Some of my scabs are falling off and they taste and smell absolutely disgusting. That’s the only thing I hate right now… I’m talking today but it sounds like I have peanut butter in my mouth lol. I also finally progressed to solid foods which made my day so much better.
Day 6 has been pretty good. Still a tightness in my throat and some mild ear pain. The pain in my throat was a little worse this morning because I skipped taking my medicine last night. Other than that, it’s pretty good. I’m now eating a PB&J sandwich, which is the first real solid food I’ve eaten so far. I’m LOVING this sandwich right now.
Day 6 for me (33 y/o). No big complaints today. I think overall I’m doing well. I’m just tired and can sleep a lot. I’ve been having mild ear pain but nothing unbearable. Drinking lots of fluids, and yesterday ate ramen noodle soup. Today I had some cream of wheat.
Can somebody please help me it will be my 6th day tommorow and I just want to die. I do not know how much more of the war pain I can take. I am 24 years old and to be fair I would rather have the tonsilites every month than this :(. It feels like my head is going to blow of I am in agony. Can somebody give me advise on anything I can go out and buy to help at the minute I am only on Paracetamol codine and 3 diclofenics a day which make me sick. Can we use a numbing mouth spray ect. Thanks for any help
Stacey
Sorry sweetheart. I know it’s really tough. Right now you are in the VERY worst of it. Try to relax. Icing your throat, gargling with ice cold water will help. hold a bag of ice on there for 10 minutes. Please keep drinking, even though it’s uncomfortable. it’s SO important. Do you have a humidifier running? popsicles? Yes, I used throat spray- opinions differ on this, but I got some relief.
Try to get a little something in your tummy before you take the pain med’s- even Jell-o. It will reduce the nausea. Your Dr. can also rescribe an anti-nausea medicine like Promethizine (SP?)- helped me. Hang in there kiddo- It’ll get better. i promise!
Hi Stacy:
I’m so sorry you are in so much pain. I got my tonsils out at
Alicia,
My daughter, Amelia, is having a much better day today, after a very rough night. I got her some small heat packs, and they seem to help a bit. The salt water helped a bit too. Thanks so much! She had 3 episodes yesterday with the ear splitting pain but none today!
Unfortunately she did have 2 bleeds last night, both quite considerable but we were able to stop it so no ER visit! I took her to the ENT today and they gave her the Benzocain drops for her ears and she is easily eating some soup right now! Yay! She did have some fluid behind one of her ears, thinking that could be contributing to the pain. And they said her scabs were gone so it’s sounding good.
I think we are on the road to recovery finally!
Thank you for your concern! Hope you’re doing better also
I’m glad some of those things worked for her. Glad she’s feeling better make sure she stays right on top of the meds to the minute.
Its so hard for them to work once the pain hits – is she still drinking a lot of water?
Thank you Matt and Alicia – I can’t reply to the comments?? I will certainly try the warm towel as her biggest complaint is her ears. She has had a much better day after all but just had an episode with her ears
Her spirits seem to be lifted and I pray she is turning a corner.
I have another question – does anyone know whether or not a salt water rinse would be helpful or harmful. I’m very old school when it comes to medicine and salt water gargles growning up always helped my throat. I know this situation is different but was curious all the same.
If I remember correctly Alicia had some luck with salt water. Anything involving salt made my throat burn for hours afterwards around that time in my recovery. It is probably something worth trying but I would go very light on the salt for the first try. I am interested to see what Alicia has to say about this.
-Matt F.
Hi Monica, yes I was advised by my physician assistant to gargle with warm/room temp. salt water (I use sea salt) to help with the thick saliva and mucus 2-3 times per day. It didn’t burn me at all and it actually helped to break it down. Just keep an eye on any bleeding if that happens immediately gargle w/ ice water to stop the bleeding if it doesn’t stop – call doc immediately.
Also, I had a miniature heating pad I used on each ear for a few minutes. I’ve also heard people say they put cotton balls in their ears and that helped…didn’t help for me. In addition I was prescribed some ear drops but when I went to fulfill it i couldn’t use it because it had benzocaine which I’m allergic to so I couldn’t use it. You may want to ask doctor about the ear drops tomorrow.
I hope this has helped. Don’t forget have her keep drinking as much as possible; shoot for 64oz a day.
Alicia
Hi Monica, how is your daughter doing now? Did any of the suggestions help?
My daughter, age 11, had her tonsils and adenoids removed on Aug 6. She seems to be getting worse, depressed like and in considerable pain. She is still on Lortab around the clock and the biggest complaint is in her ears. She is chewing gum like prescribed but nothing seems to be helping. Her scabs are white but it’s red around the area. She has no fever but her breath smell a bit infected. She lives off Ensure and water as most everything else is uncomfortable
I’m hoping to find some words of wisdom here and maybe some ideas on how to help lift her spirit. Thanks 
I had my surgery on the 2nd and this is very similar to what I experienced. Things got worse and worse until right around that day 6/7 range when my scabs fell off. At this point I had the worst pain of my recovery followed by a quick turn around and steady progress towards less pain. I found that ice packs around my neck and a steady diet of popsicles were some of the best things I could do for my throat. It is miserable and sometimes seems unending but you do get better.
-Matt F.
Monica, I didn’t have much luck with the gum for my ears as there was too much saliva and the gum tasted horrible. Try a warm towel or heating pad for her ears ONLY. Don’t put them on her throat at all as heat will increase the chances of bleeding. Also, a cool mist humidifier will help for when she sleeps as it will allow her throat to sty moist. Make sure she takes her meds on time exactly no matter how she feels for the first few days…don’t let the pain creep up on her or it will be worse. Have her drink or eat about 20-30 min after the meds as this will be the best time to get the fluids and food in. If no help call Doc I and was advised to change up the frequency of the meds. Try to be patient..this too shall pass…I had tonsils removed on 8/6 and still waiting for the final scabs to come off…but I feel so much better.
Day 6, very painful. Had an episode with hiccups again this morning but they have subsided. Throat, tongue, mouth, gums, etc extremely sore. Still have scabs, have not noticed them coming off. Edge of my throat is very agitated and looks bruised – maybe from hiccups? Able to get down some more food today but nothing crazy. Replacing narcotic meds with liquid Tylenol and it seems to be helping just fine. The swelling and pain is intense today. Still have some narcotics just in case. Hopefully tomorrow is not as painful. I want to get out of the house but today I didn’t feel like doing anything.
This is the worst day yet. Over night was horrible. The only way I am surviving is constant icing of my neck and jaw. I now have 7 ice packs in the freezer and may get a couple more… The ear pain is the worst. And of course I’ve got some bad nausea popping up as well… I am so hungry, all I have eaten in the last two days is popsicles and a bowl of ice cream…
-Matt F.
Things got better later in the day. I hope this means I have turned the corner. I was able to get about a 1/3 of a box of macaroni and cheese down tonight. It did still hurt, and I still don’t have much of an appetite, but it is nice to have some food in my stomach that is not sugary. I get acid reflux pretty bad and all the sugar and acid of popsicles along with the meds have been ripping up y stomach pretty good. Time to sleep now, I hope its not as bad as last night with pain.
-Matt F.
hi Matt how are you today? better i hope!! just checking on you.
Doing well. Off the narcotics tonight for the first time. I am giving a try to go to the midnight showing of Bourne Legacy tonight. It feels good to be getting out of the house. How are you doing Alicia?
-Matt F.
I’m just seeing this because I just finished having an episode. I know you’re at the movie, but you’ll see this in the am. I fell asleep just to wake up 3 min later choking,,,afraid i’d busted something….ran to bathroom to spit….you guessed it….scabs and mucus. Have you had any come off yet? I think your surgery was on 8/2 right? Mine was 8/3 and I’m surprised this happened tonight..I didn’t feel pain as I’d just taken night time meds about 40 min prior. Now I’m afraid to try to go back to sleep. After spiting the multiple chunks and stuff out I gargled w/ warm salt water out of panic then gargled with ice water for a few min. Not sure what to expect next…more scabs to come off i guess but when?? Let me know how u like the movie…i may try one this weekend…
For some reason it won’t let me post to your most current post… Oh well, anyways I had mine come off in my sleep two nights ago. I did not wake up for the scabs so I assume I just swallowed them. That being said I woke up during the night with the worst pain I had experienced through the whole recovery. I would rate it at a 7/10 with a fresh dose of pain meds and ice packs on my neck. It was a bad night. But I got through it in about 6 hours and have been on a steady recovery since. The only thing I notice is my throat is sensitive to acid, salt, carbonation, and mint. I made it over 12 hours between half doses of my codeine today. I took a big 1000mg dose of liquid tylenol at about 7:30pm. I probably pushed it a little too far again tonight so I am going with some narcotics to help me get the pain to a place where I can sleep. But the time out was fantastic, even if I couldn’t talk with my friends much. The movie was a decent mindless action movie. No plot but good chase scenes so it was worth while. I may be giving another run at a movie tomorrow with my girlfriend if I’m up for it but this one did really tax me. I am definitely ready to crash. Good luck at sleep tonight. I hope you don’t have a night like I did when my scabs came off.
-Matt F.
Im 19 and today is the absolute worst! I have been in pain for every day since the surgery but today is the worst. I woke up and my throat muscles hurt so bad and my ears hurt ridiculously today. I was in so much pain I nearly fainted when I went to take my pills. I was given elixir pain medicine which I took day 1-4 but the last two days I have been taking tylenol pills because the taste of liquid medicine was making me nauseous and giving me horrible headache side effects. I am thinking of going back to the hydrocodone just because the pain is so bad. I was eating eggs, soup, even fish before, today I can’t even get down juice. My muscles in my mouth and throat hurt horribly when I talk or move my neck. Is that even normal?
For the first time since my op, I woke up in the night with the pain. So took my meds and slept another 5 1/2 hours… making me late for my morning dose, which again was pretty painful to wake up to. I was hitting a 6/10 on the scale, which makes this the first ‘unpleasant’ morning so far (but still nothing close to what I have been bracing myself for).
Then, weirdly, the rest of the day was fine, with no pain at all. In fact I had a full evening meal and didnt limit myself food-wise. It was like tonsillectomy – what tonsillectomy! I skipped my afternoon painkillers, even did housework
Now it is close to bedtime, and I have crashed back down to square 1… OUCH! So my not-tonsils did a complete pain yo-yo on me.
I wish I could dispense some advise from this, some helpful ‘tips’, but no, it just sucked…. and caught me completely off guard.
Maybe the lesson is: dont over exert yourself / jump the gun just because you think youre fine. Take your prescription, and stay in bed!
44 year old, on day 6 of the recovery. It hasn’t been easy, but by the sound of it a lot easier than some. Day’s 1-2 weren’t too bad and I joined the family playing pool etc. Days 3-5 were the hardest days so far, with most of the time in bed or trying to push water down my neck. I stopped taking the pain medication yesterday morning due to the side effect of being constipated. Rather just deal with one type of pain! I was lucky enough not to suffer the nausea a lot of people are reporting here. Since stopping taking medication things have improved and I just put up with the headache, ear ache and sore throat. I was suppose to be back at work yesterday, but can’t talk easily so I am taking an extra day or two off until I can at least talk freely. It is an mental, physical and emotional journey and it isn’t over yet, but everyday is a step in the right direction. Best advice I can give is to read this very informative forum learn what works for you, keep drinking and keep hope. One final comment is I a UK citizen but had the tonsillectomy in the UK. The appears to be a big difference in advice from the countries, with the US going soft foods and the UK harsher foods. I stuck with the softer foods as I didn’t feel like explaining to my US ENT why I had been eating toast!
Im 20 and Its the morning of day 6 and the pain is pretty bad. It hurts worse in the ears. I’ve been using an icepack which is temporarily soothing the pain. I’ve been eating solids since day 3 and it hasn’t been too bad. Other than ice packs is there any other tips to relieve the ear pain?
Heating pad for the ears! Works great,
Hi Megan- Try chewing sugarless gum for the ear pain. Something minty… Good luck!
When I woke up this morning, I was in the worst pain that ive had through this entire recovery. I think it was more where my adenoids were taken out than my tonsils, so ice water and italian ice werent helping it. I was eventually able to manage the pain and then I immedately called the doctor to see if they could give me something stronger for pain. They told me that there wasnt really anything else they could give me, but I could start taking ibuprofin regularly to help with the swelling. I got out of the house for a while today with friends, and felt pretty miserale the whole time, but hung in there for my friends. I had to take a lot of sit-down breaks. When I got home it was way past my next dose of pain meds so I was hurting. The rest of the day went pretty well after that, although around 11, I looked at my throat in the mirror to see what my throat looked like and saw that there was some blood on the left side. I woke my mom up in a panic and she told me not to worry and that I probably just lost a scab. I guess I will only worry about it if I start spitting up blood.
Today-Day 6 has been the worst… the pain hit me so strong in the middle of the night which was close to the 10 on the pain scale. However the pain is manageable just follow your doctors orders. Ok I am 33 and have put this surgery off for years but am glad I did it. My relief has been believe it or not constant swallowing. The more water I drink, the better I feel so the key is hydration just like the others experiences. Drink Drink Drink. It makes the pain go away and helps. I saw a little blood today and drunk more cold water so it must have been a piece of scab but it was small. I am trying to keep them on for as long as I have to. Ice packs are helping me it keeps my neck cool. Day 7 here I come. Thanks for a great informative site.
Day 6 is similar to 5 for me. Still feels like swallowing razor blades. Got a refill on the pain meds, so I feel prepared for the next few days in which I hope to round the corner on pain. Just powering through the days at this point.
You’ve the right attitude Andy. Hang in there man!
Day 6, didn’t think it could get worse but it did. I cried today trying to drink a smoothie from Jamba Juice. I can’t eat anything but eggs and cottage cheese still. Don’t really want to eat anything anymore. The pain meds don’t seem to be working as well anymore.
Days 3 & 4 were horrible, the pain in my ears was almost unbearable. The only thing that helped me was the medicine my ENT prescribed. Eating was difficult and applesauce has been my bestfriend through this entire ordeal. Also on day 4 I found a warm compress to be more soothing than the cold ones.
Day 5- Horrible earache once again, more difficultly swallowing, and I continued my regimen of warm compresses and applesauce.
S/n : do not over exert your voice.
Day 6- Started badly, I could barely speak, my ears hurt, more continued dufficulty swallowing. But some relief came with now ice cold water. The more I drank the easier it was for me to swallow. The scabs have started to come off, unfortunately I have swallowed some and spit others out.
Day 6 sucked. When I woke up and had all this throat pain, I about had a breakdown, punching and throwing things. At the restaurant eating a hot beef, one piece hurt terribly and cut my throat and I wanted to frisbee the plate across the room at the waitress, not caring about the consequences.I’m normally a happy, loving human being but I’m pretty fed up with the consistency of the pain. Can’t seem to get much relief. I really don’t see any end in sight. At this rate, I feel like I’ll be in pain for at least another week.
Day 6 has been the worst day yet. I woke up with my ears feeling like they were going to fall off and my throat feeling like it’d been
Attacked by a pack of razors. Day. 5 had actually gone pretty smoothe and I thought I was finally going to wake up
With some relief. I ate a peice of chocolate pie and then my mouth felt disgusting and I felt like I couldn’t swallow or like something was caught in my esophagus. I opened mouth so see if there was food caught in the back of my throat and saw huge white scabs with black dots. I thought it was peices of chocolate cake but after I gargles the black dots were still there. So if this happens, don’t panic, the white stuff on your tongue is residue left from the white scabs and the black holes are where the scabs have begun to fall off. This day 6 I’ve chopped up
Painkillers to powder form and swallow them with liquid in a shot glass.
On day 6 stick to multi gummy vitamins, ice chips, and ice cream. Other days where you’re feeling better try quiche( a little better than plain nasty eggs), Popsicles, baked potatoe soup, broccoli And cheese soup, and mashed sweet potatoes. Gargle with the salt, baking soda, and a VIP
Of water every 3 hours. Drink lots of water even if it hurts like hell, it will help you not bleed and help with pain. So far I’m still Alive and the pain won’t last forever so good luck to everyone else out there!
So I did not really think things could get any worse- but then a storm rolled in. And guess what?? No electricity for 32 hours (which for us also means no water as we are on a well.) Oh yeah, did I mention it is 100 degrees, too? Good times, good times.
So Day Six has definitely been the worse in terms of pain. I am taking two percosets every four hours, which keeps me in a semi-comfort zone for about two hours, sometimes three is I am lucky. The one thing I can eat is instant cream of wheat, which is helping me to keep the pain medicine down. And, peppermint tea continues to be a life savior. I am back to chomping on ice chips b/c it is so hot and sticky. And, to my surprise, they are really helping with the pain. (I had stopped eating cold things b/c it was increasing my pain, but not the case with the ice chips.)
I am really hoping Day Seven is the turning point for me!
Day 6, June 27, 2012. Early morning I woke up. Completely dizzy and feeling like I was going to pass out. The feeling lasted a few hours. My wife called the on call nurse and with my symptoms she recommended getting evaluated in the ER. So off we went. They didn’t find any secondary infections, but my nutrition was not as good as it needed to be.. They gave me some liquid nutrition via IV, ran a couple tests, and I was on my way home at leat not feeling dizzy. I was scared when I felt like passing out, which is why I went. I’ve started eating yogurt, powerade even though it burns. Just trying to get more calories in. Nothing else has changed.
I’m on Day Five of post-op. I’ve got a few hints. Hopefully people will actually read this and it will be of help. 1) People have talked a lot about nausea even after the perscription has run out. ALTOIDS!!! Mint helps to calm upset stomaches. I had such a horrible upset stomach when I woke up on Day 4 that I sent my cousin running to the store to buy me some. As soon as I took them, I started feeling better. I’ve been keeping them by my side ever since. 2) I’ve seen some people say things about not getting enough nutrition. I take childrens chewable vitamins- not the gummy one, the pressed powder ones. You can fully chew them so it’s very easy to swallow. The other thing is V8 Fusion drinks. A cup has a full serving of fruit AND vegetable, and it tastes good. It’s a whole lot healthier than other drinks out there. Hope this helps people!
I am at the end of day 6 and I am wondering if it will ever end! I can even drink juice, I did on day 4 and I thought my throat was going to bleed and burn forever. Nutrition is a problem, can’t even drink ensure. Pretty much everything burns, even water. Although, I am dreaming of a cheeseburger with chili, cheese, and slaw!
oops, that was supposed to be can’t drink juice. The pain meds are a little strong..
i got my tonsils removed last friday in im still in pain in i have only been eating ice cream in i have been having diarehha o my have anyone experience this at all they gave me hydrocrdone liquid i never had that before im so hungry i was dehydrated in had to get a iv but i just started taking down fluids o my is all i can say but can some who can relate tell me about this please i feel werid
Diareha(can’ spell it) was my friend on day 4, from the antibiotic. With barely eating, I was surprised that I had anything to even come out like that. Im on that hydrocodone liquid, second refill, that’s some nasty stuff! If you can eat baby food, try that. When I can eat, I eat mac and cheese baby food, but choking it down was and still is pure hell.
My stomach started being upset on day 4. It’s mostly liquid and it just kind of explodes out (sorry for the gross visual). I didn’t go at all for the first 4 so I guess I’m glad to be going? Lots of weird things happening to me. Glad I’m not alone, but sorry for your discomfort. Hang in there.
female, 33, had mine on Tuesday. Today is Sunday. the pain is peaking! ear, and throat. had uvula and tonsils out. for the first time, got a torch lite and took a peek at my throat….scarry!!!
have not had any decent meal since tuesday. just custard, tea and honey, bread soaked in tea and egg white (albumen)…. have had tonsil stones for two years now. it was a bad case. like a plague….everyday was torture. right now, my throat and uvula is covered in thick white stuffs (scabs i guess) and i feel like there is no passageway on my throat anymore! quite uncomfortable. please someone tell me:
after tonsilectomy and uvulectomy, will life be normal again like pre tonsil stones days?
will i be able to eat without spending two hours later gargling out food particles from my throat?
will i feel normal and happy again? is this really worth it? comment please, will be grately appreciated. thanks.
How are you feeling now? Please tell me does it get better? I see you posted 12 days ago. Please tell me things get better? I too had tonsil stones and that’s why I had the surgery everyone says to me if you suffer tonsillitis then it’s kind of like that pain but I never really got it in the first place.
Wow, I feel like an idiot! I had no idea this website had different pages for each day of recovery on which to leave comments! I have no idea where I was posting before, I can’t even find it now! lol
Well, I’m just starting Day 6 and I have some concerns I was hoping someone might be able to address.
I woke up at 5am and spat up a small amount of blood that I was able to stop with cold water and an ice pack. My scabs seem to be sloughing off somewhat, leaving sore-looking patches that feel like they could start bleeding any second.
Is this normal?
I thought the scabs didn’t start coming off until around Day 10. I haven’t been eating or drinking anything unusual, still sticking to very soft things.
Thanks.
Supposedly, the bleeding is from the scabs coming off. Sounds like you are healing quite well, just take it easy and behave, you should be just fine.
Day 6 was bad. I spent as much of the day sleeping as I could. The Lortab side effects got to be way too much for me, so tonight I’ve used extra strength tylonal instead. The shallow breathing was just too scary for me. My goal is to no longer use that pain medication at all. The pain is not unbearable with the tylonal, but it’s there, absolutely. It hurts to swallow but I am pushing myself. Ate nothing all day and then decided I HAD to, so I ate a bowl of Italian Wedding Soup (very mushy) and a lot of nice cold watermelon. The watermelon was very soothing. Tomorrow is Day 7, so I’m hoping that from here it only gets better, but we’ll see.
I wanted to post a follow-up to this. I’m on Day 10, and starting to feel a LOT better. But please, take it from someone who’s been there, do NOT change or stop your meds without speaking with your doctor first. I had a bad time with the Lortab, but without meds (just Tylenol) I was miserable. And then I got another medicine with Tramadol in it…which made me throw up. So the moral of the story- I personally am not great with pain medication, but it was STUPID to just stop taking anything. It was painful and unnecessary!!!!
Hi just wanted to everyone somewhat of a good story!!! I got my tonsils out last Wednesday its now day 6!! The first 2 days were pretty horrible and then kept getting a tiny bit better im on day 6 and im pretty much all better little soar throat and ear pain but for the most part up and about my advice to everyone is think POSITIVe take showers watch ur favorite shows. I wasn’t eating for about 4 days …. but it will get better I promice!!! I didn’t take very much medicine at all either because it hurt my stomach s bad but all these horrow stories just make it worse! Try to relax don’t cry its just puts strain on ur throat making everything!!! Ache horribly!! So don’t listen to everything u read I was terrified have been terrified but everyone diffrent try to eat alot of ice gadorade is great keeps you hydrated!! Also try eating to get stuff in your stomach yeaster I had pasta with butter, mashed potatoes and today eggs. Didn’t eat alot and took forever but its a start!!!!
Day 1 for me and you guys are really making me nervous! i had a lot of issues in the OR because i swelled up so bad i couldn’t breath and the mucus was terrible, but after going home i feel fine. I’m in no pain just a little uncomfortable from swelling and i even have yet to take my pain meds. I still can’t really swallow food, but its ok for now. If i’m doing this good now will it get as bad as what you are all describing or did you have it bad in the beginning too?
Anyone else have intense nausea alongside the normal healing process? Every time I try to eat my stomach does a somersault and I have been sick several times. Even when not taking the pain meds I have the nausea. Cannot eat anything. Anyone have A similar experience?
It’s very common Paul. It’s a side effect of the pain meds. Try getting something in your stomach before taking them. There are also anti-nausea meds that work well. Take care, Greg
Im also on Day 6 of recovery. I’m female, 33 and live in Australia. Today has been the best day so far! I woke up at 6am (I’ve been sleeping in 2-3 hour blocks) in not too horrendous pain. I’ve found that holding some water in the back of my throat in the morning really helps. Also, covering my mouth all night every night with a blanket or a bit of your dressing gown works wonders in keeping your throat warm. I’m able to talk pretty well (if not a little bit foggy). Some of the scabs on my uvula have come away which has made life a LOT easier. I’m hoping I’m on the upward spin now! Mainly been eating mash pototo, apple sauce, yogo and drinking HEAPS of water and lukewarm tea. Let me know if you want to know more about my recovery, there hasn’t been a lot of info on the web about how the recovery has been for people in Australia.
I would kill for some mashed potatoes! Drinking water is normal for me, but geez this operation has got me drinking gallons of it!
Hi, I would love some feedback – I’m 25 in Sydney and got tonsils out last Weds, so tomorrow is Day 6 I think. The surgeon sent me away with Endone and Panadeine + Codeine but both were too strong for my stomach and was vomiting badly. Now an taking 2 panadol every 6 hours and am managing…but a bit worried about the pain getting worse again when scabs are coming off or if there is bleeding, eek!
I was doing fine on just panadol (as morphine and codeine makes my chest tighten to the point of feeling like my heart will stop!) but am starting to worry that it’s not enough. I’m taking it every 4 hours, but at day 6/7 I’m really starting to feel the pain.
Is it because I can’t take codeine that it hurts so much?
How did you go with just panadol, in the end?
Untill this day, everything was going good. My pain was under control with paracetamol and diclofenac and I was eating soft food. All the sudden, it seemed that the painmedication wasn’t working enough. I started to have unbearable pain. I couldn’t eat and even drinking was torture. When I looked at the wound, I saw the edges of the wound were very red. Also my tongue felt raw and looked white. I went to the doctor . He diagnosed a mouth thrush: a fungus in the mucosal layer of the mouth and also in the wound. I got nystatin for it (an antifungal antibiotic). I went back the next day because the pain had not been reduced. When the doctor looked at the wound, he saw the woundedges where less red and the wound looked less inflamed. Later that day, the pain seemed to reduce.