Depression After Tonsillectomy
One challenge that many tonsillectomy patients don’t anticipate is depression after surgery. Even people with the sunniest of dispositions may find themselves in a dark place after enduring the hardships of surgery and its recovery. **Before discussing the topic of depression after surgery any further, let me say that if you are under a doctor’s care for depression before surgery, be sure to work with them to plan treatment after surgery.
Tonsillectomy Recovery- Day 17: Why don’t I feel better?
Tonsillectomy surgery, like almost any other surgery, requires more of your body than normal. The healing process takes energy. After tonsillectomy, eating and sleeping become difficult. This makes the healing process more of a strain. I have tips for both eating and sleeping on other pages. For now I’d like to address the almost inevitable event of depression after surgery.
Two weeks of battling pain, not getting enough sleep, taking narcotic pain medicine, and being removed from your normal social interaction can have a profound effect on your mental state. Being prepared for depression after surgery can help you feel better.
Doing your best to stay nourished, get sleep, and stay ahead of pain will all help. I further recommend planning some simple daily activities like a short walk outside, a relaxing bath, a daily television show. These simple activities can get your mind off the discomfort, give you something to look forward to, and give normalcy to an otherwise abnormal time.
Another trick to beating depression after surgery is to record your thoughts and feelings in a journal. Oddly, this seems to release the struggles a bit. I also suggest participating in the online forums and offering others support. As I’ve often said, when you shine a light for others, you also light your own path.
Finally, let people in. Family, friends, health professionals, even co workers have more compassion than you may realize. Let people help. Ask for help in advance- before you have surgery. I personally would be delighted if a friend asked me to run out for Popsicle’s or chewing gum because they’d run out during their tonsillectomy recovery. Help others to help you. You’ll both benefit.
Finally, try to remember that this is temporary. How you are feeling in the midst of your recovery is not how you’ll always feel. Try to imagine the better life you’ll have without the problems the surgery will have corrected. Again, you can read of success stories in my book and on the forum.
Take care,
Greg
Hi Yas…… I cannot see ur post when I click reply but I received an email notification about a new post?!? I had a similar situation . Had my tonsils out on 21st November and after 7 days had a bleed, got kept in hosp overnight but then had another bleed which was bad and after 2 hrs of bleeding I was taken to theatre for re cauterisation and stitches in the left tonsil. I didn’t eat for another week and half after that, I too was starving 🙁 I lost nearly 14lbs! It’s been over 3 weeks since the initial operation and just over 2 for the stitches. I am eating again but I still have pain on he left side, and in my ear and jaw 🙁 the stitches are still there and annoying me! I too suffered bad anxiety afterwards from the ordeal but I’m slowly beginning to worry less, but it’s still there in the back of my mind! What if it does bleed again 🙁 ….. How are you now? Did u have stitches at all? X
That’s horrible, you poor thing! I was pretty lucky considering, the bleed stopped on it’s own so I didn’t require cauterization or stitches. I haven’t had another bleed, just some clotted blood on the back of my throat when I’ve woken in the morning but the hydrogen peroxide gargles helped to clean that. My left tonsil bed was where my bleed happened too and I had a lot more pain from that side afterwards and occasionally still do get a sharp pain. I hit three weeks yesterday and it mainly feels like bad muscle pain in my throat apart from the pain and scratchiness cause by doing too many hydrogen peroxide gargles.I have only the slightest ear pain now which is a relief. I went back to work last night and that was tough, it was really hard to find the motivation and energy. I’m just getting concerned about Christmas, I don’t want to spend the day unable to eat or share a glass of champagne with my family, but mainly I’m concerned I simply wont have the energy to get out of bed. I can tell my anxieties are frustrating my family and I suspect they may think I’m being a drama queen, they’ve been so wonderful the last few weeks, it must be so draining for them to be around a bundle of worries. Hope your throat heals up quickly and with no more problems x
Our son had his tonsillectomy 17 weeks ago and hasn’t been the same since he had three months of infection and severe tonsillitis every other week on September 4, 2014 they removed his tonsils. He has been depressed since and still talks so quiet not because it hurts he’s just null. He is 35 married with two children 7&6 years of age. Please any advice would be so appreciated as his mother I am sick with worry.
I am on day 6 after having my tonsils out, I have constant panic attacks and crying a lot and I feel like no one understands how I feel right now, I am scared I wont feel normal again and will always feel a discomfort in my mouth. my tongue hurts when I eat like its bruised, and the uvula is so enlarged it touches my tongue! when I swallow I have a constant saliva feeling which makes me feel claustrophobic.. anyone else experience these things?
Amy, 35yo f here. The 26th was my day 6 too. I think that might have been the very worst day. I was feeling the similar to you, helpless, anxious, like this surgery made me a shell of a human. The feeling of the massive scabs that felt like they were blocking my throat was so upsetting. this has been a bigger mental challenge then I imagined. Thankfully, I somehow woke up on day 7, spit out my first small scab, and have since seen relief. Almost like every hour i feel slightly better then the last. I hope you are starting to experience this too. If not, know it will come soon, and when it does it happens swiftly, and lifts the heavy mental burden with it. I should note that until day 7, I was unable to eat anything & until today still taking 2 Percocet every 4 hours. Oh, and in hospital on day 3 due to days of vomiting post procedure. Man, this surgery recovery is rough!
Im on day 16 and still got a bit of pain, had a massive bleed on day 12 which was so scary and now on antibiotics as the hospital said i have an infection. When i look at my throat i can now see a small hole on one side, has anybody else had this? For the past few days iv just felt so fed up and down and so scared of having another bleed, it feels like its never ending.
Hi Nat how are you now…. I know ur op was back in August but just wondering how the recovery went from there? I have too had a bad bleed on day 7 and had to go back to theatre for stitches….. I am constantly on edge and anxious incase it happens again and just want to cry all the time 🙁 apparently it’s like starting from day 1 again now!?!
I’m on day 21, I had a huge bleed on day 8 and spent three more days in hospital, i got sent home with antibiotics and told to do hydrogen peroxide gargles four times a day. yesterday i went to a dr who told me the hydrogen peroxide gargles are irritating my throat, it’s now all scratchy and i have a dry cough which is incredibly unpleasant. I know I’m three weeks post op and the chances of a bleed are slim now but I’m still terrified of having another one. I’m still so tired and now that it’s been a little while since i did a gargle my tonsil bed has a yellowish tinge to it-I just can’t help being paranoid i might have an infection. I’m just so hungry and sick of feeling anxious. Any insight into when I’m going to feel properly human again? when I’ll actually have energy and be able to eat normally?
As far as having a gross smelling scab stuck back there, that’s mostly due to food being stuck in your throat. I took a Q-tip swabbed after every meal to get rid of the food lodged there. Not only did it help rid my mouth of that foul odor but it also helped with that “there’s a rock in my throat” feeling and the thick saliva that chokes you. I never got that huge scab that fell off in one piece either. It didn’t hurt my throat any worse than it already was.