Well, it's been exactly one week since my tonsils were yanked. I've had a few 'good hours' and lots of bad ones, especially during the nite. I'm starting to feel a bit like a junkie. I can't seem to swallow anything, even water, until about 15 minutes after I've taken pain meds. I switched from tylenol w/ codeine to hydrocodone, which seems to work a bit better and longer for taking the edge off. Still have intense bouts of pain, especially about 2:30am, my new daily 'wakeup call'. Thank goodness for TVLAND. I get really hungry at times but when I do try to eat anything remotely solid (noodle soup, light pudding, etc.) the pain from trying to swallow hardly seems worth it. I'm trying to space the hydrocodone out to at least five hours between doses. When did folks feel good enuf to cut back? I tried for a day or two, when I had a false sense of recovery! But geez-- when that pain struck again-- it struck hard! Anyone else still feel extremely tentative about eating anything other than shaved ice and broth after a week? Could you tell when the scab was formed...or falling off... or 'disintegrating'? Did the pain get better or worse? Sorry for all the questions in the midst of my bitter diatribe. I'm getting real tired of water and sugar water. :-)

I had my tonsils out 4 weeks ago. I barely remember much of the first week except that it was the longest most painful week of my life. I ate VERY LITTLE for the first week. I was taking Vicodin (hydrocodone) every 4 hours around the clock for about 10 days. Then I finally tried cutting the Vicodin in half to begin with, then switched to Tylenol during the day but Vicodin at night. I took my last Vicodin 3 weeks after my surgery. Let me tell you, I can sympathize with what you're going through. For me the scabs fell off around days 8-10. It took a good 2 weeks before I tried to eat anything "real". I lived on chopped up popcicles, and instant mashed potatoes for the first 2 weeks. I know swallowing is soooooo painful. I also found that room temp. fluids were better than cold. Cold water and gatorade hurt even more, but swallowing even my spit hurt. It seemed like after the scabs fell off the pain got better. I am now 4 weeks post op and I still have a little bit of a sore throat, but more like a "normal" sore throat, not the tortuous pain from earlier. My big problem now is that my taste buds are all screwed up, but the pain is finally better. Hang in there because it gets better.

I had my tonsils out 4 weeks ago. I barely remember much of the first week except that it was the longest most painful week of my life. I ate VERY LITTLE for the first week. I was taking Vicodin (hydrocodone) every 4 hours around the clock for about 10 days. Then I finally tried cutting the Vicodin in half to begin with, then switched to Tylenol during the day but Vicodin at night. I took my last Vicodin 3 weeks after my surgery. Let me tell you, I can sympathize with what you're going through. For me the scabs fell off around days 8-10. It took a good 2 weeks before I tried to eat anything "real". I lived on chopped up popcicles, and instant mashed potatoes for the first 2 weeks. I know swallowing is soooooo painful. I also found that room temp. fluids were better than cold. Cold water and gatorade hurt even more, but swallowing even my spit hurt. It seemed like after the scabs fell off the pain got better. I am now 4 weeks post op and I still have a little bit of a sore throat, but more like a "normal" sore throat, not the tortuous pain from earlier. My big problem now is that my taste buds are all screwed up, but the pain is finally better. Hang in there because it gets better.
Thanks. It really does help to know that I'm not being too overdramatic about the pain. I'm going to try to switch back to Tylenol during mid-day. Most severe pain is in the morning and through the nite. Question about the scabs: Do you feel them falling off, or cough them up? Or swallow 'em? Any bleeding? Just trying to prep myself for whatever's next.

Thanks. It really does help to know that I'm not being too overdramatic about the pain. I'm going to try to switch back to Tylenol during mid-day. Most severe pain is in the morning and through the nite. Question about the scabs: Do you feel them falling off, or cough them up? Or swallow 'em? Any bleeding? Just trying to prep myself for whatever's next.
The scabs are actually the white crud in the back of the throat. They are moist, not hard like other scabs. I did not feel them come off. I just noticed that there was less and less white stuff back there over the course of a couple of days. No pain, in fact I think about the time the scabs came off the pain started getting better. Don't feel like you have to stop taking pain meds. Like I said, I took narcotics until week 3. I didn't sleep through the night either for about 10 days. I would wake up at about 3 am when the pain med wore off and have to sit up and watch tv until the pain med kicked in again. The important thing is to make sure your pain is under control enough so that you are taking in enough fluids and getting some sleep so your body can heal. Definately don't try to wean off the pain meds at night or you will be sorry. I seemed to have worse pain at night and in the morning and I think it was because I was breathing through my mouth and my throat got dried out. Anyway, I hope this helps.

Hi SWefel,I read your post and the part about your taste buds being messed up caught my attention.Almost 2 months ago I had my tonsills out and I have had problems tasting my food and a mettalic taste in my mouth.The doctor said its from the surgery and should go back to normal but Im a little scared it seems like it will never be right again and I feel like Im the only one who has had this problem.Does this seem anything like your problem?Am I crazy?

Hello Everyone:
I have had my tonsils out a year ago, Just to give you a little piece of advice, i don't really remember what the name of my pain medication was, but I did take it until I was completly pain free, but it was so strong that it made my stomach hurt like crazy! So, if its been a week or two and you think you can do without the pain medicine, you probably should.