Tonsillectomy

[breanna cobler]

I recently had my tonsils out. I'm on day 5 of recovery and am wondering if others have had theirs out and what their experiences were. I was told I won't be able to run for 2 to 3 weeks because of the risk of bleeding. I'm also nervous about the scabs falling off because I hear that is the worst pain. How long did you guys have to take pain medicine. My mom is very concerened about getting addicted to the pain medicine and wants me to get off of it as soon as possible even if that means being in a little bit of pain. My main concern at the moment is being comfortable enough to swallow. Even when taking the pain medicine I'm still in pain. What are you guys's thoughts/experiences on tonsillectomies and recovery.

[Bonnie]

Hi Breanna,

I am sorry to hear about your recent surgery.  In general pain should subside little by little every day, if this is not happening then you might need to consult with your doctor (a few days of pain might be expected, but there should be at least a little relief).  Did he give you a general timeframe that you should expect to see some results in terms of being able to swallow without pain?

How many days of pain medicine did your doctor prescribe you? Generally, it takes more than one prescription's worth of medicine to get "addicted", especially when you are in pain.   

We are all different, both respect to how easily we recover and our tolerance to pain (and pain medication) - but I don't think a week would an unreasonable length of time to be on pain medication.  I did not have my tonsils out, but I did have major surgery fairly recently, I know my experience was different than many other people who had the same surgery.  Your doctor needs to inform you about what to expect and you should feel comfortable asking them these questions.  Don't be nervous about things that you hear may hurt, they are usually not as bad as what you expect when you are worrying about them!

Good luck, here's hoping you are back to your winning running ways soon!  Get lot's of sleep it will help you recover more quickly.

[breanna cobler]

Thanks for the advice Bonnie. I talked to my doctor today and he said since I also have mono right now my pain might be worse than others. He also gave me a new full prescription of percocet and said that hopefully by the time that is gone I will be able to switch to vicoden till the pain is completely gone. He said recovery is usually about 2 to 3 weeks. It's almost been a week now and he said the worse pain will come in a few days when the scabs come off but after that it will begin to get better. Hopefully it won't be too bad.

[Superfly]

I had mine out my Sr year of high school and it was brutal. I wasn't really running and training every day during that part of the year so I'm not sure how it would have messed with me there. However I was a good 7 days before I felt healthy and spry again.
Get well soon!