chapinjs

Hi folks,

I am 42 years old and had a tonsillectomy five days ago. My recovery has gone pretty normally, even though I have a few challenges in the form of food and drug allergies.

Since the tonsillectomy, I have noticed a great deal more free air flow when I inhale, however I am having difficulty exhaling.

Most of the time, when I am awake, everything is fine, but the moment I try to fall asleep, something relaxes back there, I try to exhale, and the flow of air just stops, and I wake up. It feels like I am performing a glottal stop, and it has prevented me from sleeping much at all.

My assumption is that this is due to swollen tissues at the back of my throat, and that it will pass in time. But has anyone else had any success with accellerating the reduction in swelling? I have been icing like crazy, taking my meds regularly and have people who are taking care of me. I have tried gargling with salt water, which seems to increase the pain quite significantly for several hours. I really just need to get a few hours of sleep.

For the first few days, if I sat straight up and tilted my chin down to my chest, I could breathe, but now that doesn't help anymore. I had some quite significant pain last night which also made sleeping difficult.