u/ThadCastle221

I (21M) got my tonsils out now 8 days ago (surgery day is day 0) and it has been a wild ride. I know everyone says, "days 5-7 are the worst pain days" but honestly my healing looked really different (so far). I had the worst pain from days 2-4, the painkillers didn't even work well enough to blunt some of the pain. I got to day 5 and my scabs were already decently thin and the pain wasn't as bad, I was more sensitive so I switched from ice water to room temp water. Overall I was doing great though on days 5-6.

On day 7 I had complications. I woke up in the morning and after some hydration and OTC meds, I felt amazing! I actually had 2/10 pain at baseline and didn't even need painkillers. But surprisingly I saw halfway through the day I started bleeding slightly. Too little to be a hemorrhage and too much to deem negligible. According to doctors orders I had to go to the ER. They got me back in 30 minutes and the bleeding seemed to halt fairly well. I almost regretting going to the ER until I randomly started bleeding intensely. They already admitted me so I hit my call light and the staff ran to get the appropriate treatment. I used suction to control the blood in my mouth and eventually they gave me neutralized Transexamic Acid (TXA) to help me clot. I breathed it in well and it worked pretty fast to clot things off.

They sent me for a ct to see if I needed surgery again, and I was unable to lay back without blood pooling into my airway. They switched it so I laid prone so they could quickly do the scan without me choking. They then in the meantime gave me Ondansetron (Zofran) to help with the nausea from the blood I inevitably swallowed on accident. They gave me TXA via IV and IV fluids to help with clotting even more and hydration. Lastly they gave me Oxymetazoline (Afrin) to GARGLE (yes GARGLE not inhale) in order to constrict the bleeding vessels. That combo worked like a charm and after not very long, I was under control with only an estimated blood loss of 200-300ml.

Thankfully, I didn't need emergency surgery again, they were able to control it conservatively. My throat eventually cleared with water and after an hour or so the doctor saw my clot had completely disappeared with no more bleeding (I assume it clotted off internal and the external clot got spat out or swallowed). They even sent me home the same day. I was super nervous to go to bed that night because sleeping means no hydrating, I didn't want to bleed again. I slept for 1-2 hour increments and woke up to hydrate.

Now on day 8, the ENT office called me to check in after my ER visit and they basically said I got unlucky and just so happened to be the rare case of hemorrhage, but it was good news it didn't need surgery. I am still at risk for another bleed until day 14, but risk drops significantly by day 10.

All this to say, I just thought I turned a corner and it got worse, keep ahead of all the meds and hydration so this is less likely to happen to you!

If anyone would like to share your experience please do so, I am glad to know im not in this alone!

Edit: It is day 8 still and I am having little to no pain whatsoever (even while only using tylenol 500mg Q6), from what I can see in my mouth I have a small amount of scab left and whats there is super thin. The nurse I spoke with said I could have had a rare occurrence of healing faster than expected which would have lead to my scab coming off and causing the secondary hemorrhage. This just goes to show my point on how everyone heals differently and how strange this surgery really is.

(21M) I’d rather stay up throughout the night and only get 20 minutes of sleep at a time than fall asleep for the recommended 3hr time period between pain meds.

Context: It’s early morning (5am) of day 3 (surgery day is day 0)

I took Norco and went to bed around 9pm with 0/10 pain because I was hydrating and tbh the pain med did wonders. I slept till 10:50pm before I woke up with a dry throat and 12/10 pain in my throat and ear. I was only able to ice my neck and drink water until my 12am Advil. I genuinely disassociated between 12am and 3am because I don’t remember falling asleep or waking up, just being in a dark room and hearing my alarm tell me I can take Norco again. After that kicked in, I was back to sleep until 5am, waking up with the same issue, 12/10 pain.

At 5:30am with ice and water I’ve gotten it down to a 7/10 pain at rest and almost a 9/10 when swallowing.

I honestly think it may be beneficial for me to just not sleep until the acute phase of recovery is over, when I’m managing well my pain doesn’t get above a 5/10 and I can get it as low as nothing. I think I’d take insomnia over that pain if I had the choice. Has anyone had a similar experience?