Monday, July 31, 2006

Recovery Day 5

Yesterday I thought I had finally started on the road to recovery; today I woke at 4 AM with the worst pain yet. It feels as if a scrub brush was thrust down my throat and the last four days never happened. The pain starts two hours after taking the Codeine and increases until a half hour after taking the next dose. The only problem is the next dose isn't scheduled for two more hours; or every four hours.

The best medicine is sleep. I seem to make it about two and a half to three hours if I can fall asleep after taking a dose of Codeine. Otherwise it's just suffer through it.

Eating doesn't hurt any more than swallowing water but it does hurt a lot, about a 8 on a 1 to 10 scale, which really makes me not want to eat at all.

My worst thought is that I made the pain worse myself. While I was taking a shower I spit up some thick pieces of white stuff, something that was coating the back to middle of my tongue. So, when I got out of the shower I brushed my teeth and scrubbed my tongue a little to clean it to. I thought it was dried saliva, like when you have a cold and snore a lot and get dry mouth, but now I'm thinking it is like a scab. I think I loosened it up and that is what is hurting so bad now.

I'll have to ask the Doc to find out for sure.

All I want to do is sit and breath. I have no desire to eat, drink, or talk.

I hope tomorrow is better.

77 comments:

  1. Sorry to hear about all the pain you are going through.May be you should just take it easy by taking your mind off the pain and watch some favorite movies.The bright side of the situation is you can be lazy and do nothing which most of us don't do that much.

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  2. Im 37 and I had my tonsill's removed on Aug 14th @0900. Its day 5 and I couldnt sleep after waking up at 4:30 am, I just missed my liquid meds at 3:00 am. I went to google and put in tonsillectomy at 37 and your post came up. I'm on the same course. I think day 3&4 were the worse, but I've had much worse when the tonsills were inflamed in the winter months. I like to read whats coming ahead for the next few days. I sleep alot but I thinks it the liquid roxicet. I am glad I had the operation, I would do it again, knowing I got those nasty things out. I believe I can take in more air..
    Archie in KC

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  3. I'm not quite sure why they give out horse pills for pain meds when our (most of our) throats are swollen shut. I've been mushing up the oxycodone and putting it in a tiny spoon full of icecream the taste is bad but it goes down. another thing that has really helped, i told the dr i had a sensitive stomach (with all the meds and no food for 5 days its not a lie) he gave me some liquid med for nasuea. i'm sure it has saved me from throwing up numerous times. i've had a c-section, spinal meningitis, and numerous broken bones. Tonsillectomy pain is no joke! Today was the first day I was able to drink any soup broth. i'm sure i'll loose 10-15 pounds before this is over!

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  4. I am 33, and I had that weird tongue thing, too. By about day 6 or 7, my entire tongue was covered with this strange, white layer of something. I spoke to my ENT's nurse who said that is normal- it is a reaction that some people have to all the medication. She also said the tongue sort of has to rebuild itself after the trauma of surgery. I was just glad to hear it wasn't an infection. It went away on its own after about 3 days.

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    Replies
    1. The white on your tongue that wont come off is actually thrush, a yeast infection.

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    2. The white on your tongue is thrush, a yeast infection. Antibiotics can cause it. I'm 7 days post op and just started getting it.

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  5. I am 19 years old and got my tonsils out 5 days ago, now I am getting ear aches... ouch... and my pain medicine doesn't seem to be doing much! It is 4:30 am here, I am hoping to sleep through most of this painful day ahead of me.

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  6. sorry to hear you and all the readers are in so much pain.
    I am a 18 yr old male and I am currently on day 5 of my post tonsillectomy recovery.

    Although todays pain is probably the worse of all 5 days, the pain is very bareable. Now, every individual is different and there are many variables that can sway the reocovery outcome so don't expect everyones day 5 to be A O.K.

    This surgery was well worth it. Since January 2008, i started coming down with what looked like bacterial tonsillitis. As time went by I started to get it every 30-40 days. By the 15th month I had a total of 12 cases of confirmed severe tonsillitis cases. Every single infection resulted in high fevers, pain and etc. I still have a cabinet full of empty antibiotics bottles.

    During the last 3 infections, before I went to seek for further advice from a otolarynologist, I develped peritonsillar abscess (a complication of bacterial tonsillitis). The pain was horride with extream ear pains and even swallowing my own seliva felt like hell.

    So far my recovery hasn't been like that and I'm crossing my fingers It won't ever be.

    I have been very cautious these past fee days. I have a 1L water bottle and I down 3 of those in a day. Plus jello, soup and gatoraid = alot of liquids.

    I have worked very hard to help the healing process by dampening my coughs, lightening my teeth brushing and avoided spitting and horking like the black death. I guess it paid off.

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  7. hi, im in day 5 as well.. my biggest problem right now was my tongue, it was swollen for days and now that swelling came down its as if i have 10 cancre sores all over from where they clamped it.. then i read somewhere that i should try oragel, that was a friggin godsend, not only did it get rid of my tongue pain, it allowed me to eat some colder foods again like ice cream and popsicles, which were much too painful otherwise, and all in all, today is turning out to be the best day so far, even thought it started off horribly when i woke up this morning... im not done with the recovery by any means, but just to let everyone out there know, the harder u try to force urself to drink a lot of water, popsicles (id avoid ice cream at first at it creates phlegm and will make u wanna cough it up, which can be not too pleasant) but just tough it out, i guarantee u the first 5 sips of water, hurt more than the next 5, and so on.. goodluck to all who have this brutal and caveman'ish procedure done to them, its too bad they couldnt just put us all in an induced coma for 2 weeks.. oh well! barbarian doctors!

    im definitely going to complain to the ENT about the tongue thing, as there was 0 mention of it happenening, and it seems quite normal for everyone who has the surgery.. especially cause he gave me 0 tips as to what to do if it is a problem...

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  8. I am 25 and had my tonsils removed last Wednesday. It's now Monday and last night was the worst yet (about 5 days later). The ear ahces are terrible but have been told it's normal. My pain medication is not working anymore but I am continuing to take it. I agree that sleep is the best medication. I can only sleep 2 hours at a time and wake up in a pool of slobber, but those 2 hours are peaceful. I have been told dairy isnt the best to eat because it creates mucus but string cheese is amazing. It's one of the only solid things I have ate on a dairly basis. I love chicken broth, hot tea and pudding as well. I ate pizza last nigth after taking a lot of the numbing medicine. The medicine sometimes makes things taste weird. Mac and cheese might be something you want to try if youre ready for "solids'. I have managed mac and cheese a couple times as well.

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  9. its day 5 for me aswell and its 5:30 am. Woke up due to the most painful night of them all. The pain was so bad last night it knocked me out, but then it decided to wake me up again too. I came online cos i didnt sleep due to pain in my throat and my ear. I read your post on the days to come and it seems this is the worst of it. There are also many other posts that say that day 5 is the worst, so i feel like this is (hopefully) going to be the peak of it all. I can't wait until this pain is over. It feels like i have a stick lodged between my throat through to my ears. I can't move or breathe without feeling it.

    On a lighter note. I've been finding that soft pasta has been my solid food of choice. Although i'm tempted for some 2 min noodles. During the day i've been snacking on baby-food jelly, it comes in lots of flavours and is very soft on the throat, i barely have to swallow it. I've also purchased some paracetamol/codiene that comes in a dissolvable form. Its alot easier to take than pills as i find gets lodged between my throat if i don't drink enough fluid. I coughed up half of my anti-biotic pill the other day. Not nice.

    Anyway, all the best everyone!
    Can't wait til this is all over. I'm thinking a i made the right choice. Looking forward to a healthier mouth with no tonsiliths.

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  10. I am 19 years old and I am on day 5. I am developing ear pain now. I have also started coughing and am now wondering if I am getting sick! ( I hope i am not!) I cannot eat ANYTHING! I literally have eaten only Popsicles and applesauce. I am wondering when is it normal to begin to eat solid foods. I am dying to eat REAL food! I have been reading a lot of complaining to do with the scabs, I have been way too freaked out too even look at my throat. Do you know when the scabs begin to fall?

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  11. Im 16 years old and I have been getting worse after surgery every night. The first 3 days were decent, some pain, then the fourth was absolutely HORRIBLE. I think since my parents both worked I forgot to drink a lot and only drank about 8 oz. from when I woke up until 2 PM. I got dehydrated and started getting dizzy. By 7 PM I had thrown up once and would do so 3 more times that night. I was to the point where my throat hurt so bad I couldnt drink, and my stomach couldnt hold down my vicodin. I threw up all night and after that I was finally able to recover the next day. So let this be a warning-DRINK DRINK DRINK! Throwing up when scabs are forming is not fun!

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  12. 32 here. Today is my 5th day and I have to agree...it is the worst! I'm just taking it easy drinking lots of liquids (gatorade & water) and eating whatever I can like apple sauce, jell-o. I have lost about 8 pounds so far.

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  13. I read the first 2 sentences of this blog and it is me. It is the worst pain yet, the codeine wears off after 2 hrs and doesn't kick back in until 30 minutes after next dose. "All I want is to sit and breath, I have no desire to eat, drink, or talk"

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  14. I'm 15 going on 16 this month. This surgery is awful. I can hardly eat anything and this is my second day after surgery and I hear it gets worse on day 5. I haven't been using my Codeine as my doctor told me the pain would increase, so I started with a different Tylenol, so when it gets worse I have something stronger. Last night I has some blended soup and swallowing was torture but I guess when you're hungry it doesn't matter.
    My throat is itchy so I'm going to start sucking on hard candy to avoid the need to cough.
    I have stitches on my left side and that's torture. My tongue is also all swollen and painful and when I talk my tongue is all over the place and rubs the stitches.
    Good luck to any one going through this surgery, it hurts like a bitch but drink as much as you can! It's worse when you don't.

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  15. So I am 22 and had my tonsils removed July 23rd, and am on Day 5. All in all---this sucks. I am hungry, and in unbearable pain. I keep yawning and that alone feels like it is ripping the back of my throat apart. I can't wait for this to be over.
    Days 1-4 weren't TOO bad, I was able to eat jello, mashed potatoes, pudding, and some popsicles. I've been drinking lots of water to try and stay hydrated. I couldn't sleep at all last night and woke up with horrible pain (day 5) this morning. So I am hoping that tomorrow is going to be better. I am supposed to go back to work on Saturday (I work in a call center and main thing I do is talk--which I can't do right now!). Best wishes to everyone,

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  16. My nine year old is on day 5 and is doing well. This is the first day she has wanted food. Ate more today than any other day. Ear pain has started so I gave her the liquid paid med prescribed. She has had a lot of vomiting. We use the humidifier all the time. Pushing liquids even if they they get thrown right back up 20 minutes later. Sore in mouth that appeared tonight. Weird.

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  17. On day 5 now... Sucks but it's a toss up btw yesterday and today for pain. I've been falling in and out of naps all day- and seeing as I was too scared to sleep the first few nights sleep has been amazing. Today has been the worst on eating.. All I can manage is pudding and yogurt... And even drinking is uncomfortable.

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  18. Im on day 5 now, being 14 people tend to think i'll recover faster, i doubt it. Yesterday was great! i could eat foods like rice pudding without it hurting and drinking water wasnt a problem. But today all i want to do is sleep, ive tried eating some mash but it hurts and knocks me sick, i cant even drink water. I'll try and sleep it off, hopefully tommorows better. Fingers Crossed.

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  19. Hay I am 17 and I am also on day 5. I was actally able to sleep til 6 today but I've run out of codine and the doctor wont give me anymore!! So not only am I on the worse day but I have no help to get throught it. I like reading your posts cuz I'm doing around the same thing that you went through, even though your older than me :)
    I would also like to say that I'm not as swollen anymmore, my uvula and toungue are normal size, and that my jaw finally started being sore yesterday. My ears are still achy and I'm praying for pain meds haha. I would try to sleep it off but i have no assistance I just pray for it to end soon!

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  20. well, i am on day 5 and its the worst dat so far, i pray that i will be better starting tommorow, really cant take anymore of this pain for more days, im hoping this is the last of it, taht white stuff on my throat scared me but after reading all this i see its normal, havnet had any ear pain, thk God, but my throat and tongue are so swollen, well ,my uvula, omg...cant really swallow anyrhing, lost 8 lbs so far, ive been eating lipton soup after its cool...jello...and like 2 popsicles, lots of water when i can, no pain meds they get me nauseas, gonna try the orajel, i just read how it helped someone with their tongue, thx

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  21. I am 21 years old on day 5 of my tosillectomy recovery. This is by far the best i have felt yet! I have been eating soups and mashed potatos for the past couple of days and think i might try some regular food today. I ave been drinking lots of fluids to stay hydrated. Overall day by day i have been getting better, and probly wont need any codeine today.

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  22. I am 19 and just survived the dreaded day 5. I haven't been able to eat anything with the exception of 2 melted popsicles over the past 5 days. I feel as though my tongue is completely swollen and covered in sores (though I'm not sure that there are any sores there). The pain medicine wears off about 2 hours too early and doesn't kick in until about 45 minutes after taking the next dose. Day 5 has by far been the worst because of the ridiculous amount of thick, clumpy mucus that I am choking on/trying to spit up. When I lay down to go to sleep, it is as though I can't breathe and am choking due to the mucus. My energy level is practically nonexistent. And I am just no where near I had hoped to be on the road to recovery. I pray to the good Lord above that this is the worst of it. Thank God for a Mother who has taken care of me. Best of luck to the rest of you. Hopefully, this is the worst...

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  23. Im 32 years old F. Today is day 5 and I woke up in bad pain. Took my med's went back to sleep for 3 hours and got back up in pain again... Didn't take my meds for another hour. After that I have felt fine today. Here is my run down

    Day 1- Surgery at noon ( got out at 2:15) I had sinus surgery as well.... Lucky me... Not. My husband couldnt see me until 4pm because I was in alot of pain and they had to get that under control first. He got to come in my room about 4:30. We got to leave about 7:30pm ( I felt pretty good) went to go see my 2 boys @ dinner with there nana and pop pop. Came home watch some TV and took some pain meds. Sleeping- WTF is that?? I got maybe an hour here an hour there... Took my pain meds every 4 hours the first night.

    Day 2- OMG I felt like Hell!!!! By the time 2pm came around I told my husband I needed to go back to the ER. I couldnt even drink water it was that bad ( pain level was at a 10) Worse day of mylife by far!!! ER gave my med's though my IV's. I went home about 10pm that night ( feeling better) I would say when I left pain level was about a 6. Only got about 3 hours of sleep all night!!

    DAy 3- Today was alot better then yesterday ( ALOT) My pain level was about a 5 all day ( I was drinking alot better) which help because I didn't take my meds every 3/4 hours like my Dr told me too... It was every 6 hours or so. I got about 3/4 hours of sleep at a time but was able to go back to sleep after a few hours!! I would really like to sleep like 6 or 7 hours straight.. I heard of ppl saying they sleep like 15 hours... WTH, How?? I dont sleep at all during the day... Not even 30 mins!!!

    DAy 4- Really bad day for me again( but not due to the pain) I was just down today!!! Like a pitty party for myself.( weird I know) I feel alone... Like noone understand's the ups and down's with this.... Ugh, it's hard to explain... My pain level was about a 5/6. Still taking my pain med's but not as soon as the Dr wants me too... They told me 3/4 hours but again every 6 hours or so....

    Today- ( Day 5) This morning my pain level was about an 9 at 4:50am my husband was getting ready for work and gave me my meds and i went back to sleep until 8am and took more meds at 9am ( still my pain level was about an 8 or 9) but after an hour I was awake it went down because I started to drink. I have been taking my pain meds every 6 hours now ( pain level is about an 5) Today I ate 1 small cup of apple sauce and now Im eating chesse fries from outback( only about 12) before it started to hurt ( so no more for me ) Im not sure if I lost any weight but I would like to think about 5 lbs or so...

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  24. I'm 15 years old. This is day 5 for me. As most of you have already established, you wake up with the worst of all pains on this day. Everyone is different, but for most people, it's day 5 that really gets to you. I'm hoping this pain will only be this excruciating for the rest of the day. Hoping for a better tomorrow. Good luck to all of you!

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  25. I'm 30 and today is day 5. Let me tell everyone who is thinking of doing this-- is not unmanageable pain. I had a tonsillectomy, septoplasty, adenoidectomy, turbinate reduction and a procedure that took cartalidge from my septum and transferred it to the inside of my nose forming something similar to internal breathe right strips. Yes there is pain. Yes it hurts to swallow but force yourself to drink. I've been drinking lots of smartwater, vitamin water and gatoraid. I force one can if chicken noodle soup down each day and eat pedialite icepops and jello in between. Take your meds every 4 hours! I was given very strong pain meds (hydromorphone) so I think that really helps to numb the pain. Ask for an antinausea med prescription-- your doctor should not have a problem giving this to you. Most of all REST!

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  26. I'm 21 and this is my day five. All that I can seem to do is crawl up in bed and sleep as much as I can. Everything that I try to eat has to be a complete paste of food.
    I went to the doctors today thinking that this much pain cannot be real. However, he says its perfectly normal and that by day eight I should be able to seek some comfort.
    Drinking is more painful than eating...or is the same pain level? Just note that I can barely breathe when I swallow and that it feels like electric shock signals get sent to the ear when I swallow also.
    Ice cream is not the best to eat, this film coating in your mouth makes it even more unpleasent.
    I never thought that taking my tonsills out could be this much pain...but note, this isn't a joke. It is some horrible pain and I just hope recovery goes faster for others!

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  27. I'm on day 5 as well. It's been the worst so far. Days 1-4 weren't that bad with day 2 being the worst of those days. I'm on 2 tablespoons of roxicet every 4 hours and I haven't been able to defecate in 5 days. I finally just did, but I'm being switched off roxicet and onto something different anyway. This is the worst pain. Yesterday I was able to eat really tiny bites of chicken and corn felt so good going down. Now I can barely swallow water without wanting to absolutely die. I just want these damn scabs to fall off so I can go back to living my life. Ouchhh :/

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  28. I am 20 years old and I am on day 8. Days one and two were the easiest and least amount of pain. Days 4 through 7 were the worst. On day 7 the medicine made me nauseous and vomit. It is not so much as the severity of the pain that gets me.... it is the fact that it's non-relenting. There is no relief! My favorite food ice cream, which I am told you are supposed to eat plenty of, hurts the most! At this point its excruciating to eat anything, even jello. It's not how hard the food is. It feels like an open wound (which it is) so it is the flavoring that kills me. Today on day 8 I noticed my tongue is covered in a whitish yellow substance. I'm worried this is not normal. They say you should feel yourself after a week... so far this is not the case at all.

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  29. I'm nineteen and am on smday five. Man, today us by far the worst day I've had I can't even breathe cuz I'm so swollen and phlegmy. Swallowing is some of the worst pain I have ever eXperienced. The only time I don't feel like I'm about to cry is when I'm sleeping. I've had severe pain in my ears since the surgery but I've found that a heating pad on my ears NOT My THROAT helps a lot

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  30. I am 30 and on day 5. And I must say its been an emotional roller coaster. Day 1 believe it or not wasnt bad at all. But days 2-4 I stayed drugged up on hydrocodone. The only relief I had was when I was asleep. Yesterday I could barely eat anything and was really nauseas. I also felt really alone and depressed, even tho my boyfriend is here and is really great. This morning tho (day 5) my spirits are much better and im actually hungry for the 1st time. Hopefully the healing gets better from here on out. P.S. You guys posts have really helped. I thought something was wrong with all the mucus buildup, bur I see it is quite normal.

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  31. I'm 29 and I had this tonsillectomy done about 7 days ago, I have had five other surgeries done since I've been in the military so I thought getting my tonsills removed wouldn't be a big deal. Man I was wrong my throat kills me mainly at night during the day I'm able to talk, drink and eat no problem but at night that's when the payback happens. All I can say to anyone who reads this post is take Motrin along with your pain meds. Motrin is an anti inflammatory so although the pain med however strong it is, is taking care of the pain its not taking care of your inflamed, swollen throat. Trust me Motrin is the key I take about 800 mg every 4_6 hours and I swear its a life saver. Tonsillectomy is the worst surgery I've ever had to deal with, but I'm making through and I know you can to. Goog luck

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    Replies
    1. Thank you for sharing your experience, even though it was a quite painful one. I must double cross you here in saying- DO NOT take Mortin. Your surgeon/nurse/doctor should have warned you about the effects of the drug, and it's a shame they didn't. Motrin thins out your blood very quickly, and once you start bleeding, instead of clotting, it keeps going. It's extremely dangerous to take while recovering and I advise against it- or ask your doctor before you do so.

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  32. Im 16 and got mine out 5 days ago! im fine! eating normal foods (as long as i chew them well) such as pomagranites, soup, fried rice, cookies whatevver! im doing awesome! but im scared for what the scabs will look like, feel like and how will i know when they come off? will it hurt? will it come off in one peice? IM SCARED

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  33. Im 19 years old and I am also on day 5. this day has been the best day for me so far, as long as i dont move around too much and eat ice chips. day 1 wasnt that bad, i was talking and sleeping fine but then day 2 i began to cough up blood every once in a while. then on day 3 it got really bad i woke up with unbearable pain i started coughing and spitting up blood and as soon as i made in into the bathroom i spit up a blood clot bigger than a ping pong ball and i had blood pouring out of my mouth for about 10 min before it finally stopped. Since then i have not had any bleeding and i thought i was going to get better, boy was i wrong day 4 yesterday was the worst day by far for pain and not wanting to do anything. i couldnt eat or drink water and my pain meds seemed to stop working i just had no idea what to do. so i literally just lied down on my couch and didnt speak or move for about 6 hours until i finally fell asleep. But then last night was the best night of sleep i have ever gotten and today like i said before is the best day for me so far and i hope it keeps getting better and better from now on and i hope no one has to go through what i went through on the first 4 days. Good luck to everyone this procedure is no joke

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  34. i am 21, and today is Day 5 for me aswell. All i can say is that yesterday, Day 4 mid afternoon around supper time, I thought my tonsils were pretty much healed. I was eating pasta like nothing and the pain was bareable. At about 12 ocklock the pain came, I was up till 3 am last night, And now today is day 5, the pain is pretty bad. I feel like just my tongue is making my throat hurt! this is terrible. I take mrphine and still I have lots of pain, so I take T3's and The pain is still here. I cant even eat right now. Day 5 is nt the worst day for me, but is not fun and definetly not eating anything but popsicles and applesause today, really sucks since i got to enjoy pasta yesterday and Im starrrving!

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  35. Okay..so I am going to speak for my 18 year old son because he is also on day five and is experiencing the worse pain to date...he is now trying to sleep it off. He woke up this morning and said he feels like knives are stabbing him in the throat. There is not as much mucous forming so his throat is extra dry...OUCH!!! Oxycodone takes a little bit of the edge off. Doctor also gave him a Lidocaine mixture to swish around his mouth and swallow (every two hours) - that helps to numb the tongue and throat. After his doctor's appointment tomorrow morning, he heads back to college - starts back to class (with pain and all) on Tuesday. He keeps reminding himself that in the end, this will be worth it (after having had three bouts of bacterial tonsillitis since starting college in September)!!!!

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  36. I am 22 and female.
    Worst surgery of my life. i would literally take it back if i could. i wish i had read all these stories BEFORE i signed up for this. i would have tried other remedies first. i knew it would be painful but not like this. ive been on three different types of pain medicine already. i can hardly sleep and the earaches put the icing on the cake. :(

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  37. I miss my old life and i just want to be normal again. I'm on day five and i keep spitting into a cup. My throat kills but the thing i can not stand the most is the taste of my mouth and when i spit the smell of it i gag so much.

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  38. Wow, it helped me so much to read all the comments here.I am 25 and today is my day 5, at a night I woke up with the most worst pain ever. My ears were ringing like crazy. I took one pill of advil extra strength which seems to work for one hour or so. I have been prescribed tylenol #3 with codeine but i cant take it. It upsets my stomach too much. Because of that I puked all day on my second day, so after that I decided to switch to lighter tylenol. Well apparently my body didn't like it as well. I puked this morning again. I was hoping to go to university today haha what i was thinking, I can barely move. I just hope it will end soon.

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  39. My 12 yr old daughter is on day 5 today with severe ear pain, same as yesterday. glad I bought the lidocaine ear drops. I make a trip to town pretty much every day, reading posts and buying everything that people post has helped them...my poor baby girl is in so much pain! I'd like to give her advil or motrin as suggested in this forum but the post-op form warns against it since those thin the blood and risk of bleeding is too high. Using therapearl ice packs for her neck helps a bit for the inflammation, not helping enough in my opinion. I know I probably shouldn't but I've been giving her more of the pain meds than prescribed. I think that saying to her that she has to wait another 2 hours for the next dose when she's crying and nearly fainting from pain is bullshit(excuse my french). If she's in that much pain, I'm giving her more meds. If she runs out, I'm going to persuade the doc for more. Great advice about the white film and being cautious not to scrape it or hork it out, going to warn my daughter not to attempt that!

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  40. Hi everyone! My name is Laura. I am 30 years old, and had a tonsillectomy 5 days ago. I am in a ton of pain, but have a wonderful boyfriend nursing me back to health. This is a pretty bad surgery,despite my excellent surgeon... I have, however, been privy to the experience of 4 other major surgeries... one of which was on my brain. This is not the worst pain you could feel. I was just crying 5 minutes ago, because I couldn't get sound out of my mouth, because of my swollen throat, and felt like the wind had been knocked out of me from the pain...but then reflected on waking up from brain surgery...and my headache was a lot worse...No, not many people have brain surgery in their life...but I am telling you...things could be worse, but dwelling on the negative causes everything to feel worse. I am not an expert on anything, at least not yet...but my breathing and pain levels changed rapidly...like with in minutes, due to dehydration...and literally, last night I was drifting in out of coherence from lethargy caused by the dehydration...and Gatorade fixed that. The only thing I can stress is, PLEASE!!! Hydrate!!!!

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  41. I'm 25 and had my Tonsillectomy done on the 6 of april so that makes it day 5 for me (GMT). I've woken up its like half 4am. The pain is the worst its been so far. It feels like my throat is on fire and the stinging just wont stop. I can't eat anything just drink sips of water at that. The medication does not last long either then its back to good old burning throat. Eating anything is not an option as its not worth the pain and the mental stress of psyching myself up before hand to bare the pain. The ear pains are effecting me as well but not as much as the throat pain. I'm sure all will have been worth it once I am healed and well but jeez I wish I could hibernate until all is well again. Hope y'all heal soon.

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  42. I'm 17 years old and im post-tonsillectomy day 5. One side of my face is numb and the other is extremely sore and I have massive ear and headaches. Its been extremely painful from when I woke up at the hospital, so much so that swallowing water is even a difficult task for me. I almost choked to death on the first set of horse-pills at the hospital and two nurses had to come in to aid me. It turns out, i had had an undesired reaction to the anaesthetic and my throat had swollen 4x the normal size. That was painful and scary. I dont really have much other operations to compare this too, but a few months ago i had all my Wisdom teeth removed surgically, because they were crowding and i have a condition were i have too many teeth and they were literally pushing each other out. Im aware that adult teeth, after removal arent supposed to grow back but over the last two and a half years ive had a total of 14 removed and i still have 31 perfectly healthy teeth - and counting accorind to my x-rays. My point being - THIS HURTS SO MUCH MORE! Whats worse is that the Painkillers and the antibiotics prescribed are doing nothing! I just it will all be over soon. The only thing good about this, is that they are finally gone!

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  43. my daughter is 12 and on day 5. she says she feels pretty bad today. her voice is diffrent, she is worried that it wont go back to normal. she can eat oatmeal, and mashed tatos, and she eat corn last night. i think she is healing well! she could not tollrate the codine so i just give her childresn pain meds. she is a tough girl for sure!

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  44. It really helps to read these posts, im 18 had my surgery 5 days ago and i have to say the worst part for me has been my swollen uvula and swallowing in general anyone know when is normal for the uvula to go back to normal? these five days have gone by pretty fast, im scared to go to sleep tonight but hopefully it will be better tomorrow.

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  45. Hi. I am on day 5, and I need prayer. Despite the fact that I've lost 6lbs, I can't keep anything down and my meds are making me constipated. My pain level is inconsistent day by day. I'm sorry I can't write anymore it hurts too much. Ttyl

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  46. I am 35. I agree day 5 has been the worst thus far. I woke up around 2 a.m. with the worst pain yet, it felt like someone had punched me in the throat, I couldnt hardly swallow the pain level was at 8-9. I tried to switch from vicodin to asprin yesterday thinking that the pain was getting less, I was wrong. I am now taking liquid vicodin again and the pain is somewhat managable. Only thing that I can recommend is take you meds, (you dont want to get behind on them)drink lots of fluids, and get plenty of rest! Thanks for your blogs they really do help.

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  47. Hi all, Im 32 and this is day 5 for me also. My surgery and recovery has went like this

    Day 1 - Op day
    I had my op around 12.30 and was pretty much out of it till around 11pm that night. The pain was bearable but because i was so sleepy i just had a drink and passed out again!!! - Except for 2pm when I made myself eat half a banana.

    Day 2
    I woke up aroud 6am (I was kept in hospital over night) was given pain meds and had toast and tea for breakfast (you have to eat or they won't discharge you) Was sent home with a huge bag of meds. Came home took my meds and basically slept and watched tv - drank loads of water and the pain wasn't that bad.


    Day 3
    Nothing really eventful this day either - sore and a but weepy but nothing I couldnt handle - I have been eating toast to help clear the back of my throat and this was the first day I looked and it wasn't pretty!!!

    Day4
    Now I woke up and I was really sore but as the day went on it eased off ad I was able to eat fairly normally, I did have a nose bleed so I called the docs and was told this was fairly normal.

    Day 5
    OMG - I have woke up this morning and can hardly open my mouth and my ears are stinging, my tounge is in agony!!! I have had my meds and some tea and forced down some toast and I am going to spend the day in bed with DVDs :) only up side is I have lost 8lb - result!!!

    I owuld say to anyone struggling do try and eat as normal as you can, drink loads of water - it may hurt but it makes loads of difference and relax, I know if I think I can do something I end up so tired after.

    Look after yourselves folks :)

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  48. Day 5: it's 5-43am I've been awake from 4am when I took my last codeine tablet. I have to wait for the pharmacy to open as I have none left. Up until now I thought people where over dramatizing the pain but today I am in agony. I can't eat at all, swallowing my own saliva is a mission and coughing feels unbearable. I just want to scoop all the scabs away. But in all this pain my tongue is the worse: it is half white and covered in blisters and sores making it almost impossible to chew. In all this negativity though I am still glad I had the surgery so I'll never feel the pain of tonsillitis again. hope everyone has a speedy recovery! Xx

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  49. I'm 18, a girl and 6 days post op. my experience has been up and down through my tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy. I'm going to make a YouTube video of my experience with pictures ande talking about it. All the side effects and what not. I'll post the account name soon!

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  50. My 3 year old had a tonsillectomy & adenoidectomy 5 days ago.. the first few days weren't as bad as it is now. The pain seems to be worse! My baby spent all night complaining, crying.. horrible for a parent to see their child suffer. Wish i can go through the pain for her.

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  51. Hello, I'm 17 and today is my day six. When I had the procedure they said my tonsils were huge and was smart to get them removed finally. Through the whole recovery I have had an extreme amount of pain but have forced myself to eat solid foods because they said it would speed up recovery time. Yesterday (day 5) was very painful as I was in tears a lot of the day but today may have been even worse. Today I found myself not wanting to drink at all because the pain was so bad and running to the freezer in tears trying to get a Popsicle to soothe the pain as fast as I could. I'm on lortab and I take it every six hours and also take ibuprofen every six hours, therefore taking medicine every 3 hours. I feel like my medicine starts to wear off an hour after I take it though. I think I'd call today the worst day personally for me but it's seemed that every day continues to get worse. If the pain continues to be unbearable tomorrow I plan to call my doctor and maybe go back in to get things checked out. I have been doing everything I should and drinking a lot so the pain I'm having is starting not to make sense. I wish you all the best of luck through the rest of your recovery!

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  52. Well, I am eating my words today. Day 5 has, by far, been the worst day of my recovery. I felt okay in the morning, but upon sitting up I realized that my ears and head ached terribly. My throat was filled with phlegm, and I found coughing and clearing my throat to be a necessary measure to make sure that I could breathe! Everything went downhill from the morning. My throat ached terrible, and my pain level never dropped below a 5 today. Eating and drinking took my pain level to an 8.5 or 9- I found the process so unbearable that I was unable to eat much today. The most substantial thing I ate was a Chobani greek yogurt. Drinking has also been excruciating and difficult today. I think that the pain I’ve experience today is a result of over-doing it yesterday…in retrospect, I talked way too much and was up and doing things too vigorously as well. At lunch, my friend made me laugh mid-bite, which made me choke and then physically cry for the first time from the pain. I am SO tired of being in constant pain, it’s exhausting. Then, while watching The Office, I laughed so hard that I must have cracked a scab, because I tasted blood and it was present in my spit. I controlled it with ice water, although ice water is now excruciating to drink. Back to room temperature drinks and foods I go. As a serious foodie, I miss eating terribly.

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  53. I am 21 years old and on day 5 post tonsillectomy. Last night was the first time I was able to eat anything besides frozed applesauce. Frozen applesauce was the best idea, I crushed up my pill to take in there and couldn't taste it one bit. Last night I moved onto the popcorn puffs (there almost like a cheeto but super soft and taste like popcorn) They melted in my mouth and I had no problem with it. I tried mac and cheese on day 3, big mistake my tonsiles acted like glue and I had my first and only bite of noodles stuck to it for hours. My ears hurt especially bad today. I would be lost without ice packs, I pretty much have one on all day.

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  54. I am a 26 year old female singer, currently on day five of recovery, if I include day one as the surgery. I was on a speedy recovery to whome doctors where even amazed, Until the worse happened. As the medicines can cause constipation, I suffered stomach pains before throwing up for over three hours. I am now in a lot of pain, my ears, neck, mouth, tongue and head hurts. It's this normal. I have never felt pain like this.

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  55. I must be special because I am on day five and other than a dull ache when not on percocet, I feel okay. The first couple of days I was taking percs every four hours, now I take a half of a pill when I need to eat, other than that the pain has been easy to deal with. Biggest problem has been constipation from the percs. Boredom sucks also. 31 male by the way.

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  56. 61 yr old male just starting my fifth day-there have been a couple times the pain was so bad I wordered why did i do this--have stayed on meds every 4 hours -used vaporizer-put vicks under my nose -I think it makes breathing easier-have had no bleeding other than dark chunks from surgery hoping the worst is over--going into work for a few hours today-had sore throats and stone so bad for years I think it helped prep me for throat pain

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  57. Hi
    Thank God its almost over!!!!ouch. Day5 cery sore. But like every one say drink a lot of water.
    Day1
    Not to bad
    Day 2
    Started to feel n little pain.
    Day3
    This is the day I started to take pain med..... I was @+- sore
    Day4
    Worse than day3
    Day5
    Worse than day5.....but there a light at the end if the tonnle.....please train kill me. This is the last time that I di this op. Good luck to the persone reading this. I'm 34 and my daughter is 4 same pain. Don't be fool to think if you are 4 its less pain. Its all the same. Again good luck, reading day 6 now

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  58. I am 58 years old and finally got sick of the constant funky tonsils and had my tonsils taken out. I was sick and lethargic all the time. The has been one heck of a recovery. Usually after a surgery.... (I've had 6) you start off bad and get progressively a little better each day. Not with this one...I thought people on these sites were wimps but have quickly realized it is worse than what they say. My breath smells like old band-aids. I am ready to go around that corner that I have heard so much about. :)

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  59. I am 51 and had a couple experiences with abscess tonsils and years of tonsil stones so I finally said "yank them out" which it feels like they did!

    Day one I felt better than I thought I would - probably just good meds.

    Day 2 I was nauseous and couldn't even keep down water. Didn't have to be put on IV, but did have to take something for controlling the nausea. Nausea makes me feel quite bad and I get dizzy and my blood pressure goes way down. Low blood pressure is a good thing usually, but when it gets too low, you feel sort of panicky.

    Day three I decided to just sleep as much as I could and took pain killers as often as allowed. It wasn't a great day, but I did get a lot of sleep.

    I am concerned about the day 4 and 5 I hear so much about. I think if the only thing I have to deal with is the pain I will be ok, it is the nausea that I want to avoid.

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  60. Nice to know im not the only one going through this! Im on day 5, woke up at 3am with a pool of blood in my mouth- disgusting isnt the word... i was awake till 8am just spitting out blood and saliva err it was nasty. Sis made me an emergency appt at doctors, went there and the blood had completely stopped, couldnt really open my mouth up but from what i had shown she said it seemed to be healing fine. Im now in bed, blood is back not too much though and im just swallowing it down. Scared of going sleep in case i wake up with that same shit bloody mouth. Anyways goodluck to all of you peeps, just think this time next month and this horrible journey will only be a faded memory :-)

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  61. I am on day 5 today and definitely not the worst day. 3&4 sucked. The mornings are bad but during the day after the steroids it is better.

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  62. I feel like I have been on Day 5 going on 4 days now. My recovery has been extremely painful to the point where starting on Day 5 I was unable to even sip water without screaming and my doctor advised me not to open my mouth at all anymore. I have read a lot about people saying how they take the medication and it wears off and then takes a while to kick in once you are allowed to take it again. I srtuggled sooooo much with that in the beginning. Becuase of my trouble swallowing I had to crush up my pain pills and mix them with a tiny amount of iced tea to be able to get them down (which was still extremely difficult). After about three days I came up with a solution. After I crushed up my alloted dose for the next four hours, I would add half to my iced tea and take it right away, this made me feel better. Over the next three hours I would keep adding small bits of the rest my alloted dose to small sips of iced tea and stagger it throughout the next three hours until my next dose. The advantage of this was I wasn't knocked out for the first two hours and writhing in pain for the next two. It also helped me be able to start taking less pain medication. I did not eat or sleep for more than an hour each night for nine days. If anyone is going through as rough a recovery as me I definitely reccomend trying this out. I was about to go insane before I came to this solution. Once I had the pain under control I was able to start slowly chewing gum which helped with the stiffness in my throat that was causing the pain. I was also using room tempurature saline solution and pouring it into my ears which helped a lot with some of the ear pain. I am now on Day 10 and can finally drink some juice without it being too painful. I truly hope no one else has to go through the agonizing pain that I did but I felt I would share my tip just in case it helps anyone. I know if I had figured it out sooner it would have helped me :)

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  63. Hello! I am 19, and I got my tonsils out Wednesday morning and it is now he following Monday night (about 6 days). Yesterday and today has been the worst pain thus far, staying in the 7-9 pain range constantly. Today I started to cough up blood clots and my ear pain started to become extremely worse. I learned to eat/drink whenever my body allows it and not to force soft foods-even icecream and popcicles- down, because I would pay for it later.

    Day 1 (Operation Day): No pain afterwards, was able to drink a lot, eat chicken broth, jello, icecream. Pain started around night and took Percocet 325 mg every four hours as instructed. Also started spitting in a cup. Easiest ways to take pills was to put the pill in a chunk of jello and just swallow the whole thing- anything else burned.
    Day 2: Very strong throat pains and spasms. Couldn't swallow anything, even my spit and ran high fever. Was then prescribed Vicodin 500 mg, which helped for about two hours. Con't the spit cup.
    Day 3: Still couldn't swallow any liquids. Jaw pain crept in, making it hard to talk and started mixing both my Vicodin and Percocet just to get some relief. Ended up extremely dehydrated and went to ER for fluids. They also gave my liquid Lidocaine to swoosh around mouth to numb.
    Day 4/5: Jaw pain was still persistent. The pain killers caused me to sleep-upright- most of the day. Finally got down a little noodle soup, broth, oatmeal, and runny mashed potatoes. Used heating pad to help with jaw pain and humidifier at night.
    Day 6: Jaw pain moved into ear pain that was crippling. Went to doctors and found out I had a throat infection. Took me off pain meds-which isn't going well, using 500 mg of extra strength Tylenol currently- and told me to continue drinking. Small blood clots are now coming up, as well as some bleeding, only after drinking/eating. Still using spitting cup, and drinking hot liquids. Tea's are wonderful- just Sleepy Time or Chamomile. Doctor advised only eating cold things so that left me with milkshakes mixed with Slim Fast. Lost 6 pounds thus far. Hope this helps someone along the way!
    Also, has foods and drinks burned for anyone else? I still can't get down Gaterade or baby foods because they burn so much. I really have only been drinking a light tea or hot water with a drop of honey. Even milk products burn.

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  64. would you please answer to me I had the surgery 6 days ago my toungue is all white like you were saying, is it anything bad? is it just scabs??? id like to know for sure..

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  65. Keep in mind that I'm not a doctor, so to be sure you should call your doctor and ask them. My guess is that they are scabs. I just know that when I was going through recovery I had picked one off and it make it hurt more, so I don't recommend picking at them.

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  66. I'm a 17 year old female and i'm on day 6. Today is by far the worst day I have experienced. Reading all these really helped though! I felt great last night, and woke up today with pain at 7/10. Called the doctor and he upped my pain relief to 100mg of tramadol, along with paracetamol and ibuprofen. I have never had an operation before, but this is the worst pain i've ever felt. I'm just glad i'll never have horrible tonsillitis again!!! Hope you all have a speedy recovery :)

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  67. can i eat real food with this white stuff in the back of my throat? i dont have hardly any pain, the only thing thats uncomfortable is the white stuff. i got them out monday the 11th & its friday the 15th. i need some real food. lol. but i dont want to eat real food if this white stuff is dangerous or something. i need some opinions!

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  68. I am 13. I have a bleeding disorder called Von Willebrands disease in which I bleed more. I am on day 5 and am perfectly fine. Barely any pain whatsoever. I have a home nurse that visits every other day to give me stuff for my disease. Honestly the first 2 days i hated. After that its easy for me at least. I am back on a normal diet. What i think helped most was i drank water nonstop which i think made my throat used to the pain of swallowing. Just dont worry it is perfectly fine you will be back to normal soon enough.

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  69. i'm on day 5 also , if you count the surgery day . the first two days were a piece of cake ! the meds didn't even make me nauses . but the third or fourth day something happened to my stomach . i mixed mashed patatos with mac n cheese , & about an hour later i was in tears cause of the pains shooting from my back around to my stomach . that was extremely painful & random . but today has been the worst , i woke up at 6am crying . the pain is def unbearable . the meds do a good job though . i take roxicet every four hours . actually i do every six . the only downside to all of this is the mucus . i always have to blow my nose every ten mins . & when i lay down , i feel the mucus just sliding down my throat . yuck . hopefully it all gets better . good luck to me & everyone who goes through with this procedure . & god bless . this surgery is no joke . pain takes a toll on ya .

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  70. This blog really helped, woke up in pain crying and its nice to read from a fellow sufferer. I had great first two days, eating alot and since then everything is downhill. 5th day is clearly the worst yet.

    Brgds,
    Anna

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  71. I'm 34 and on day 5 here and my Dr advised me to eat as normal as possible I've even had a few beers. Today I had a red hot curry which made me piss but I've come to the conclusion pain is in the mindset. Sadly my 3yr old has tonsillitis and hubby bronchitis so I've had to have a teaspoon of cement and get on with it. I coughed up part of my stitches today so that was fun and am looking forward to my next lot of meds. Up wards and on wards. Not looking forward to taking my 7yr old in to get his out next month. Knowing he has to go through this has made me suck it up because I don't want him to be frightened. Good luck all.

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  72. Day 5 was really bad for me. Woke up at 6am in pain and earache. Pain meds arent helping anymore but still take Sleep really is the only relief. My mouth hurts so bad i can only get down apple sauce or jello. Im STARVING , i would give anything to eat a cheeseeburger or something real. Im sure your all thinking that. I just really want to know when this pain will go away and i can feel better again.

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  73. im 18 and on day 5. nobody warned me how horrendous this would be! i think my throat is starting to scab as yesterday the pain had eased but now it feels tight and even swallowing my saliva is difficult. i also have a tickle in my throat like i need to cough but im fighting the urge to do that. my tongue is still incredibly swollen and i have ulcers all over my mouth too as well as those lovely ear aches. ive had that white layer over my tongue since day 2 but it's starting to go away now. the morphine in hospital was great, if only i could have it now because my pain meds are useless and doing nothing for me

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  74. Hello I am in desperate need of help. I'm 21 and just had my tonsils removed 5 days ago and I am in horrible pain. Everyday and been horrible I can't eat or swallow or drink I get so hungry but can't swallow. Someone please tell me what I can do to help me.

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