Tonsils

General Discussion on any topic relating to CPAP and/or Sleep Apnea.
WildMtnHoney
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Tonsils

Post by WildMtnHoney » Sun Mar 29, 2015 5:58 pm

Was thinking about another one of my conditions (got a laundry list!) and remembered that I had a surprise! When they were looking at the size of my thyroid on xray, to ensure my airway is patent (upright, I'm having trouble swallowing) they mentioned that my palatine tonsils are enlarged, but not restricting airway when upright. That's great...except I had them removed 30 years ago

I may be seeing an ENT soon re: thyroid, so my question - has anyone had to have tonsils removed as an adult for OSA? Or do they not get as big as they did when we're kids? (Mine *were* starting to restrict my airway at age 8, and I had trouble swallowing back then too, was causing weight loss - had them and adenoids removed).

TIA!!

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BlackSpinner
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Re: Tonsils

Post by BlackSpinner » Sun Mar 29, 2015 6:24 pm

Having tonsils removed as an adult is a much bigger thing then as a child. My ex had it done and was home from work for 2 weeks and basically very sick and unhappy for the first week.

I didn't know they grew back!!!!

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WildMtnHoney
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Re: Tonsils

Post by WildMtnHoney » Sun Mar 29, 2015 6:33 pm

I dunno, I remember it being a big 2 week ordeal at 8, too! I know I was mostly on bedrest for the first week, because I didn't want to do anything.

There are some good pubmed articles out there on tonsil regrowth - mostly happens to kids who have too sugary a diet, and have tonsils removed after age 7. I did have a "typical" 1980's diet, and I was over 7, so yeah.

I really really don't want that surgery again, I just don't know what they do with adult with big tonsils, kwim?

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Re: Tonsils

Post by Guest1 » Sun Mar 29, 2015 7:17 pm

Get partial tonsil removal by radio frequency ablation. It's done on an outpatnt basis under local anesthesia. They will remove enough tissue to enlarge your airway but not too much to endanger your carotid artery.

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Nozzelnut
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Re: Tonsils

Post by Nozzelnut » Sun Mar 29, 2015 8:44 pm

I had mine out in May of 2014 at 40yo. Removing them did give me some more airway room. It dropped my average high pressure by about 2cm/h2o. I wasn't expecting it to rid me of xPAP; and it didn't. They were pretty far gone and after my surgeon said he wished he'd taken them out a couple years before when I first saw him. They were chronically infected and pretty disgusting.
(I'm also hypothyroid; Hashimoto's)

It was the most painful recovery I've been through. About 2 weeks on narcs for pain and another week or 2 on OTC pain meds. I lost about 20 lbs in those 3.5 weeks.

Overall I'm happy I got one source of inflammation out. It did give me some more room; but I still need xPAP. And talk to an endocrinologist about the thyroid; not just an ENT about the airway.

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