I am a 38YO female seriously considering getting these suckers OUT. When I was pregnant with my second son last year, my tonsils seemed to be "activated." I had tonsillitis 4 times during the pregnancy, and now we are January of a new year and I can already log my tonsillitis episode of the year. I get those horrible tonsil stones too, they disgust me. I also have a brachial cleft cyst on my neck which needs to come out, so i was thinking of doing them both at the same time (the tonsillectomy and the removal of the cyst). I was just wondering if my case is really that "serious" to consider a tonsillectomy, and what others have been through before making that big decision to get their tonsils yanked.

Yuck. Tonsils suck. Why don't they just take everyone's out when they are children? Are they good for anything?
Donna

Yuck. Tonsils suck. Why don't they just take everyone's out when they are children? Are they good for anything?
Donna

I agree! I think it should be like a circumcision - a decision and procedure done at birth so we wouldn't be stuck with it later, but I guess it can't always be that easy!

I had my tonsillectomy 90% for the tonsil stones. I had had them for 3 years, and the horrible breath it gave me made me very self conscious. Also, after spending so many nights trying to pick them out with my fingernails, I seemed to have torn my tonsils apart even more. I finally saw an ENT when I had accidentally pulled a piece of tonsil off and it was just hanging there. I could feel it when I swallowed, and I figured it couldn't be good to keep it there.

10% was for recurring sore throats. It was a terrible experience for me, but I haven't had a sore throat since! I really think it's luck of the draw - some people on these boards had similar experiences to mine, while others were eating cheeseburgers by day 3. I didn't eat until 3 weeks later (kept alive with lots of water and Ensure shakes), but not every case is like mine. Weigh the pros and cons and be prepared to take at LEAST 2 weeks (I took 3) off from work. Good luck with whatever you do :)

Early last year I had a tiny lump the size of like a pinprick on the righthand side of my neck, I went to my GP about it & the man I saw said it was an insect bite, nothing to worry about & to go back if it changes. Four months on I woke up one day to see I had a much larger, red & very sore lump on my neck where the tiny lump had been. This happened at a weekend & I went back to my GP on a Thursday where I saw a much nicer lady who had an idea as to what it was but needed to refer me to a specialist, but she prescribed me anti-biotics in the meantime.
Went to see the ENT on the following Tuesday, over the weekend inbetween the lump got increasingly sore and leaked a horrible, foul smelling liquid. The ENT took some samples from it, sent me for blood tests and it turned out to be some infected glands from a throat infection I'd had sometime.
I'd also been having difficulty swallowing for a while & I mentioned this to him everytime I saw the ENT - in December last year he confirmed that my tonsils were enlarged, had been since I first saw him & they hadnt changed - they were bigger on the right hand side where the lump was too. So to help me out he recommended that he removed them as all the time they were enlarged the lump could return on my neck. He offered to do it before Christmas but I didnt want that so had it done on the 16th Jan.

I developed glandular fever when i was 19 at the same time I suffered from a quinsy that needed to be lanced. After that I was struck down with tonsilitis 11-12 times a year and quinsy 1- 2 times a year. I coped for 8 years til december last year when the quinsy was so bad I was in hospital for ages it was then the consultant told me it HAD to be done as I was getting ill without needing to be. I was so scared of the pain she told me id be ok as I had dealt with quinsy well. SHE LIED! I had mine out 12 days ago and its been awful Id say if you throats not agonising leave the tonsils alone!! Its just not worth it and for the stones you can get diffam mouthwash and just garhe after every meal a small task when you consider the alternative is 3 weeks of agonsing pain I swear it hurt more than labour!

I feel fine ( age 41) and am scheduled for tonsillectomy on Mar.1. I have a quite enlarged (and growing) left tonsil. It has been 18 mos. since it started, and the right side tonsil is nearly invisible. One ENT said right off the bat it needs to come out b/c it is very suspicious (Could be a tumor, or sign of lymphoma) to have only one tonsil enlarged at my age. The second opinion ENT said no if he were me NO WAY would he have it taken out. One year later the second opinion ENT (who became my regular ENT, and who now will no longer perform adult tonsillectomies) said it has to come out. His colleague will perform my surgery.I feel fine except for fatigue and joint problems so I now I'm going to go in ok and come out feeling like hell. That's why this is such a difficult decision for me.Mooncandy you got me scared!

:blob_fire Hi Guys,
I has my tonsills out a year ago (i am now 25).
I has psoriasis for years and was hospitalised because i was covery juts about .! My psoriasis came out in round spot like shapes...large ones lol.
It seemed that everytime my tonsills were inflamed and sore that my psoriasis would flare up more....so i was told by the ent to have them out and see if it was them causing my flares of psoriasis for years. After all i did have light therapy...gels ...creams...etc. the kight therapy worked but the psoriasis came back every time.
I had the tonsills out and they have gone!!!!!!!!! I have had 3 little spotsthats t ...nothing else its great.(O:
So if you now anyone who has psoriasis tell them to have them out lol.

I have got to say it was very very painfull!!!!!! a lot lot more painfull that having a c section but i suppose that because tonsills are connected to throat ...near the head etc......ouch...i was even re admitted becasue i couldnt swallow they got that infected....but it was worth it.

xmex

Tonsil stones and recurring tonsillitis....enough said! It was reason enough for me!