Remove My Tonsils or No?

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Should I remove my tonsils now?

  • Yes, DO IT!

    Votes: 9 69.2%

  • Hold on, and let me tell you why.

    Votes: 4 30.8%
  • Total voters
    13
Jennifer

Jennifer

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Just saw the ENT and she said I fit the criteria for tonsil removal. Said it would be about a 2 week recovery of having to eat only soft foods and that I'll bleed A LOT. Ok, I asked about the meds I'll be taking soon and she said I cannot be on Remicade (still waiting for insurance approval) nor can I take Asacol (she said its like Aspirin a blood thinner, news to me but ok). She said Entocort was fine though but not the other two so if I'm going to do it, I've got to do it like now.

She said she may have an opening on the 27th but isn't sure and that I'd be getting a call sometime soon to schedule surgery.

I was supposed to start Asacol next week along with Entocort since I'm not on any meds until the Remicade goes through. I can't do this after I start Remicade as I can't stop the Remicade.

Maybe I just feel nervous about the whole surgery thing. She made it sound like a bad thing. I dunno, not a very good bedside manner you know?

I know I need to contact my GI and Rheumy about it first but I don't have a surgery date to give them. I feel like I should just schedule the surgery and cancel if I need to.

Any advice or input is appreciate. :)

Edit: Mine are not abnormally large, I just get recurring throat infections that last forever. Plus I'm 30 years old which makes the procedure much more difficult.
 
Last edited:
I'd do it. My tonsils were so big as a kid that I'd choke on spaghetti :rof: Had them removed at 9, it was a pretty simple procedure. It made eating/breathing easier for me, but mine were abnormally large
 
Mine are not abnormally large, I just get recurring throat infections that last forever. Plus I'm 30 years old which makes the procedure much more difficult. Think I'll add that to the OP.
 
Since you fit the criteria, and assuming the infections can indeed be put down to tonsillitis, then I would say have it done. You ended up at the ENT specialist for a reason. :)

I know having the procedure done as an adult is no fun but then I don't imagine that repeated chronic infections are any fun either. :(

Good luck with whatever decision you come to!

Dusty. xxx
 
Thanks! Ya I'm leaning towards doing it. Just the having to wait for insurance to approve it and having it stay off meds until then just sucks. Dunno how long its going to take. D:
 
I don't know much about this procedure but I Want to wish you luck! And make sure you talk to your GI about his opinion as he can help you with the descision :hug:
 
If it were me I wouldn't. I believe we have these organs for an important reason as I believe the appendix also has its use in the human body(too bad I had mine removed awhile ago! :(!). Just because science doesn't understand their role, doesn't mean one doesn't exist.

I read this article a little while ago and I thought it was quite interesting: http://ezinearticles.com/?Cut-Throa...-and-What-Happens-If-You-Lose-Them&id=7004765

It is mainly just a theory but a quite interesting one nonetheless.


Also there have been studies showing that throat infections will become less frequent for the first two years after surgery but will become constant again after the two years: http://oto.sagepub.com/content/144/1_suppl/S1.full.pdf

Although tonsillectomy for recurrent throat
infections in severely affected children has been shown in a randomized controlled trial to reduce the frequency and severity of
infections in the 2 years following surgery,
[31] the same cannot be
shown for less severe cases or for a period greater than 2 years
after surgery.
2
Click to expand...

It is a study on children, but I still think it is applicable here.

I guess for me, I wouldn't remove any organ unless it was life or death, or if it was something that was really bothering you.

If it wasn't bothering me, I wouldn't.

Good luck

Gianni
 
Well its definitely been bothering me. I'm sick for 2 weeks at least at a time and take antibiotics for it often usually about 8 times a year which isn't healthy at all. Often times I don't even go to the doctor because I know it will pass but I'll just be miserable the whole time. I do have crypt debris as well which is known to carry a lot of bacteria which can aid in recurring infections. The antibiotics wont kill the bacteria that's in the debris.

My mother in law had her's removed when she was 18 for the same reason and she's had fewer infections and less severe ones too. For many people they can cause more harm than good. That seems to be the issue I'm dealing with here.
 
I hope so. I always get nervous about surgery. Plus it sounds super bloody and horrible. D: I did have impacted wisdom teeth though and got to throw up blood after that procedure. I'm sure I'll live. ;)

Got the call today and looks like I'll be having it done on December 7th.

Now I just have to work around the soon to come Remicade. I'll be getting a call about that later today. I'll be seeing my GI tomorrow and we'll talk about the Asacol as well.
 
So you're definitely having the surgery done? Good luck with it! I hope it's not bloody like you describe - are there any other potential side effects? I remember being a kid, and other kids in my class would have their tonsils out and they'd get nothing but ice cream for a week, and I was really jealous of that. But I never had mine out so I don't know what the surgery is like. I hope you get lots of ice cream and everything goes smoothly. Best of luck!
 
:p It'll have to be lactose free.

When I was on the phone I was a bit scared to say yes. I asked if my insurance would cover it and she said yes, then I asked if I fit the criteria already (cause usually my insurance requires you to have a billion appointments with a certain doctor and certain tests done etc) and she said yes, then I felt like I was stalling. :p Cause right now I'm finally not sick and its great but I need to remember that this wont last long. I will get sick again. If the tonsils are the main cause then they have to go but I feel like I'll never know until I just bite the bullet and do it.

Possible negatives, I'll still get sick cause maybe its not my tonsils and I'll have gone through a surgery for nothing.

The tonsils aren't the only thing our bodies have to fight off infection so I wont get sick more often if they're removed and if they are the cause then I shouldn't get sick as often or as bad.

I can always cancel if I need to though. :p So far I think I'm gonna do it. People do tend to swallow a lot of blood during the procedure so I'm prepared for some bloody vomit. :p Too much blood in your stomach does make you throw up. Sounds like fun. :p
 
I had my tonsils out 4 years ago when I was 26 after I was getting tonsilitus every few months for two years and it was more or less chronic. The operation was easy, the recovery was not nice, but it was ABSOLUTELY worth it. It was the best thing I've ever done in terms of my overall health. I don't get sore throats now when I get a cold or flu. You can still get throat infections (i.e laryngytus etc because it's not on the tonsils as such) but very rarely. It made me a lot less sick of general coughs and infections, and I could swallow again. I never realised that I was choking most of the time.

Post op, I didn't bleed at all. The sites didn't bother me, and neither did the healing process. There were 4 days afterwards where I was reasonably uncomfortable, but nothing regular paracetomol couldn't fix. The pain was pretty much the same as a bout of tonsilitus. For the first 2 days, I couldn't eat much other than jelly and ice blocks, then a few days after I ate soft things like muffins and bread, then after about 6-7 days I was able to eat chicken, rice etc... and I was back to a normal diet within 10 days max. It's really no big deal, and I highly recommend it.
 
Thank you PhoenixBird! That's really helpful and good to know. :D You made me feel better about it already. *hugs*
 
Crabby said:
Thank you PhoenixBird! That's really helpful and good to know. :D You made me feel better about it already. *hugs*
Click to expand...

You're welcome! It's one of those things that are not nearly as bad as they're hyped to be. And think of all the puss your tonsils will be delivering throughout your already inflammed digestive tract. Out, I say! :tongue:

You'll be completely fine :)
 
Crabby said:
People do tend to swallow a lot of blood during the procedure so I'm prepared for some bloody vomit. :p Too much blood in your stomach does make you throw up. Sounds like fun. :p
Click to expand...

My surgeon told me this before hand (I suppose if you've been told the same then it's part of their list of things to tell patients about) and she even said that during the procedure I bleed more than she expected, but post-op there was absolutely no effect on my stomach, I didn't vomit any blood afterwards or have any worse bowel implications than normal. (Hell, we're all used to passing blood!) :ylol2:
 
Surgery got pushed back to Dec. 18th. Getting a little too close to my Remicade infusion. 3 weeks and 6 days exactly before the infusion.
 
Just wanted to wish you the best and hope it makes a big difference to you. I had mine out when I was a kid I was always of school and couldn't eat because of the pain. It was deffinatley the right choice for me, I still occasionally get sore throats but nowhere near what it used to be. And as others mention you can still get throat infections but I have only had this a handful of times since I had my tonsils removed which was many years ago.
I had a lot of blood right after the operation and did do the whole throwing up blood which isn't pleasant but it only happened once and they just kept me in hospital overnight to check it didn't happen again but it was still worth it x
 
Crabby said:
Surgery got pushed back to Dec. 18th. Getting a little too close to my Remicade infusion. 3 weeks and 6 days exactly before the infusion.
Click to expand...

Good luck for the 18th! I'll be thinking of you. Honestly, it's such a quick surgery, mine took about 40 mins I think. I was awake 2-3 hrs after I went under and home first thing the next morning. It will be a bit unpleasant afterwards, but enjoy the jelly and ice cream and make sure you have lots of DVD's and good books lined up for the 4-5 days afterwards so you can treat yourself and relax. My Dr gave me some liquid codiene to drink afterwards every 4-6 hrs and it was awesome!:ybatty: You'll be fine! :hug:
 
Thanks PhoenixBird. :) On the paper I was given I was told to have a "responsible adult" with me the night of surgery. So I'm thinking I wont be staying in the hospital for the night.
 
Getting my tonsils removed tomorrow morning (day stay). Should be fun. Already starting it off with an awesome headache tonight. Wish me luck! :D
 
With all the pain meds I had you'd think I'd be able to sleep better. Kept waking up all night about every hour. D: Maybe its cause I go some steroids after surgery, decadron. Sounds like a transformer or something.

My throat looks totally gross. Its been cauterized back there so its all white and black with giant caves now and looks all bubbly. :p

Does hurt to swallow but mainly feels like a bad sore throat. Nothing spectacular.

Got to wear a terrible gown and since the pain meds always make me act a bit drunk, I flat out asked the nurse if I could change into my underwear and pants. She said no one had ever asked that before, then asked me if I wanted a normal cloth gown as well. :p The gown I was wearing was paper with a plastic inside where they can attach a heater to it. I was sweating already just wearing the gown. Once I got changed I felt a lot better and more human. :p

They gave my husband a recliner to lay in next to me and we both napped and watched TV. Couldn't leave until 1:30pm but wasn't too bad. My nurse got me and him whatever we wanted. :D

Also one of my friends works at that hospital and my husband and I got to see and chat with him for a bit. While I was coming out of being put to sleep I realized he was there and he was taking off the sticky monitors on my chest. So I messed with him and told him to get a good look while he could. :p The nurse was like, do you know each other? She seemed concerned but he was just laughing. After that my speech was pretty crappy and he said that I was, "tossing up some word salad." :p I was trying to have a decent conversation but took about 3 tries to get the right words out.

Neither my husband or I got to talk to the surgeon afterwards but I was told it all went well by the nurses. I'm seeing her on the 28th next week for my followup appointment and to get a letter saying that its ok to start Remicade in January.

No crazy bleeding, no vomiting, pain is pretty minimal. Went smoothly and recovery is going well.

Thanks everyone. :D
 
I'm so glad it's going smoothly for you. Yeah, for me, I had such bad tonsilitus that the surgery pain was less painful than the tonsilitus itself! I had a few uncomfortable days after, but painkillers do the trick pretty well. I didn't bleed or vomit afterwards either. It was great to be able to swallow without feeling a giant lump in my throat, and to not have chronic tonsilitus dripping infection into my stomach etc. Such a great decision you made, well done for being brave and doing it. You won't regret it, I promise you!
 
Was nauseous today with a fever and a lot of pain so went to the ER. Got some IV fluids and pain meds and anti nausea meds in the IV along with the transformer steroid again. :p Told to take Motrin at home. They are aware of the Crohn's but I'm not bleeding from the surgery and the amount of pain I was in should make taking the chance worth it. I'm so tired and hot and sweaty. :p Glad to be back home though. Hopefully things will only get better from here.
 
Glad you're feeling better and that you have the pain under control. I just took regular paracetemol and liquid codiene to get me through. Hang in there! It's so worth it.

Yes, I was worse at day 5 after the surgery, I felt a bit like I was choking--apparently it's normal and just a bit of swelling in the throat as everything heals and settles down.
 
Apparently my mouth has been burned and that's not normal. So far its been 2 weeks since surgery and I still can't taste anything on the center of my tongue, only a little on the sides. I mostly notice texture instead of taste now. I'm hoping this isn't permanent. The doctor did not mention that this was a possibility (the mouth burns).

"Burns around the lips and mouth - primarily from the use of a cauterizing device -- are an underreported complication of tonsillectomy, and can result in long-term problems..."

"The most common cause of injury was a defective cautery device tip."
http://www.reuters.com/article/2008/01/30/us-tonsillectomy-burns-idUSTON00141920080130
 
Apparently it seems common. Looked it up online and found tons of people many months to years after surgery who still can't taste much or its been altered entirely. D:
 
Saw my ENT on the 9th. She said I was healing very well.

When I told her about the burns and she suggested that maybe it was thrush, I just opened my mouth and let her have a look. My tongue is 2 different colors. Purple down the center where it was burned. She just said, "Oh honey!" Then she told me that burns like that happen to 8% of people. How lucky. She said my taste buds should return with time and that the swelling in the back of my throat should also go down within 3-6 months. That's a long recovery.

Well, here's to snoring and not tasting much for the next 3-6 months! :D

Good news is I haven't gotten sick yet and will be starting Remicade this Monday on the 14th.
 
Thanks for the update Crabby. :hug:

Good to hear all is healing well but...whoa! That is a long recovery! I hope all comes back to normal and sooner than predicted!

Good luck with the infusion tomorrow...:goodluck:

Dusty. xxx
 
Thanks DustyKat! Not looking forward to it but I'm sure I'll be fine (just telling myself that :p).

Ya that's a long recovery. Don't know why that was never mentioned before the surgery... Or the possibility of being burned.
 
Knowing me, I bet I still would have done it but I guess there's no way of them knowing that. Would have been nice to know. :p

I mean its swollen enough back there where its hard to breathe laying down and I snore so easily now. My husband feels so bad at night cause he said it sounds like I'm struggling to breathe. I even wake myself up from my snoring. Its so annoying. Haven't had a good nights sleep in a while. D:
 
Hey Crabby just wanted to check in and see how you were getting on? Hope you are able to taste a bit more now and the pain has lessened.

I had my tonsils out last thursday had to stay in over night. Everything went well with the op, i'm in alot of pain and the pain meds only really help for 2 hours and i can really tell when my next dose is due. can slightly open my mouth, can barely talk so having to communicate via text with my husband as he is finding it hilarious to understand me!!

I have been able to eat some soup, mashed potatoes and jelly but thats about it, day 5 so hopefully in a few days i will have made a bit more progress.

Thanks for all your advice along the way :)

Rachel
 
Hey macdonald88, thanks for checking in on me. :)

Most of my taste has come back. I can still see a jagged line down the center of my tongue that is purple, so no taste there. But it has gotten a lot better.

Day 5-9 were the worst days for me and I did go to the ER one of those days because I had a fever of 100.4, was in extreme pain with some nausea. I was given more steroids, some fluids, anti nausea medicine and more pain killers through the IV and then sent home where I did feel better that night and the days after.

At some point through days 5-9 I couldn't even eat mashed potatoes and went back to a liquid diet for a couple days (no broth cause the salt burned too much). Anything I drank had to be close to my body temperature and no hotter otherwise that hurt. Even ice cream hurt for a few days because it was simply too cold which hurt a lot.

I still have some minor swelling in the back of my throat but my ENT said that it should go away within 3-6 months. I hardly notice it now but I do have to keep drinking otherwise I start coughing a lot because it gets too dry and sometimes it feels like my tongue gets stuck to the back of my throat. I've learned over time when to hydrate though.

I also noticed that the pain med only lasts for 2 hours. The first 2 weeks I would nap in the middle of the day everyday. Sleeping helped me not notice the pain as much. I also had to get up in the middle of the night to take more pain medicine because if I waited till morning it hurt to even drink water.

During week 3 is when I stopped using the pain medicine entirely and before then I gradually reduced it to only 2-3 times a day. Benadryl helps with all the itching the pain medicine causes if you're dealing with that at all.

Hope you recover well. :)
 
It sounds like you have had a really bad time from it but i am so pleased you are making progress now.

I am the same just now with the pain meds i'm now day 6 post op and they only seem to last 2 hours and i too have had to get up during the night to help ease the pain. I was only up for 6 hours yesterday, finding it a bit more managable to sleep through the pain. I am due back to work on the 18th of Feb so hopefully i will have made some more progress by then :)

I hope the swelling eventually reduces for you and your not left with too much discomfort.

Thanks for all the advice along the way :)
 
Yeah you should be feeling a lot better by the 18th macdonald88. For me things gradually started getting better after day 10.

Since mine were removed I still haven't gotten sick yet (even after starting Remicade) which definitely leads me to believe that mine were causing me to get sick. I think its possible I could give Humira another shot in the future if Remicade doesn't work out because my main problem with Humira is that I kept getting sick over and over after every injection, the same sickness I would get less often before I started Humira (I'd get sick about 8 times a year which I do believe was related to my tonsils, hence their removal).
 
Crabby, I didn't know you were having your tonsils removed. I'm glad that you're getting better. I hope you can start your Remicade soon.

You are in my prayers.

Blessings!
 
Hey Naturelover. :) I had them removed in December and started Remicade in January. So far I've had 2 infusions. 3rd infusion is on the 27th this month.
 
Is the Remicade doing it's job?

I've had so much to contend with with my health for quite some time now that I haven't been on here much or wander the site much.

I think I aspirated on warm apple cidar this morning. Haven't been right since. I was coughing so hard and gasping for air that it scared my kids. The episode of coughing lasted a bit more than it should have to say the least. Every time I laugh, I start coughing. My doc told me not to lay flat tonight since she was afraid that my acid reflux would end up in my lungs
 
End up in your lungs? That's crazy Naturelover! D: I've never heard that that's possible. I'm sorry you haven't been doing well. :(

So far Remicade seems ok. I think its starting to make me sick just like Humira did only the head cold issue is taking longer to actually manifest itself so I get sicker and sicker by the day but only a little at a time. Yet with Humira I was 100% sick the day after. Hopefully this cold will go away soon. I do have solid BMs now but thus far it hasn't done much for my joint pain yet. Humira was great for my joint pain. I'll give it some more time. My GI called and said my CRP was raised so I guess Remicade is working rather slowly for me.
 
Thought I'd update this. All my taste buds have grown back since surgery (probably been back for well over a month now, I just forgot to update this :p) and I still haven't gotten sick. :) Also the inflammation I had in the back of my throat is gone so no more snoring at night and no more coughing from having a really dry throat.
 
Jennifer said:
Thought I'd update this. All my taste buds have grown back since surgery (probably been back for well over a month now, I just forgot to update this :p) and I still haven't gotten sick. :) Also the inflammation I had in the back of my throat is gone so no more snoring at night and no more coughing from having a really dry throat.
Click to expand...

Read the whole post.. amazing. You are so strong.. I am considering getting my tonsils removed. I get tonsil stones every so often, no sore throats luckily, but my left tonsil is enlarged a bit. . My ENT says he is willing to remove them if I want but he has told me it is one hell of a recovery. Referring it to "swallowing glass " ...

I'm 26. I'm on remicade as well. I never really had this problem either up until getting my wisdom teeth removed a couple years ago. Which ended up in disaste..From getting an infection, having streptococcus bacertia , and having emergency surgery 4 days following my wisdom teeth removal. I feel my throat per say has never been the same. I also read that tonsillitis can come from the streptococcus bacteria.
 
Hi Charlieboyy and welcome to the forum. :)

My insurance wouldn't pay for their removal unless I got sick around 6 times a year (with tonsilitis or strep etc). Hopefully yours covers it. The recovery isn't fun and the Lortab made me itchy and quite inebriated but it was all worth it. If you do go through with it make sure you stay on top of your pain medication. Set an alarm if you need to. I went to the ER once after the surgery because the pain was so bad. It's temporary though. Try to sleep as much as possible as well.

Good luck! :D
 

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