Anyone had tonsils out?

[Data]

My chest consultant suggested that my tonsils are large and this could be contributing to my sleep apnoea. So yesterday I saw a consultant ENT surgeon who confirmed they are large and said removal could help the apnoea, but isn't a guarrantee. He said that a tonsillectomy can make CPAP more effective, and I've told him my goal is to eliminate CPAP altogether. He said that losing weight is likely to have an even better outcome than a tonsillectomy and I've lost around 10kg in the last 11 weeks.

The surgeon said that sleep apnoea can present increased risk during anaesthesia. So he is going to write to his anaesthetist, who may want to see me before any operation is carried out. Apparently the biggest risk is after removal of the tube, where I will still be affected by the anaesthetic, because the apnoeas can occur, reducing the oxygen to my brain.

I was wondering if anyone else has had their tonsils removed and if it improved their sleep?

[archangle]

First, ask yourself if getting the tonsils out makes sense even if you didn't have apnea? If so, no brainer.

Don't put too much hope in tonsils significantly improving your apnea, although some percent of people do benefit.

Doctors tend to oversell weight loss as the cure for various conditions. It may help, but there are plenty of skinny apneacs. In the old days, they wouldn't even bother to check a thin person for apnea, but we've learned better.

However, if you're like most of us, you'll probably benefit in a lot of ways for weight loss, so it's a worthwhile thing even if you don't cure your apnea. It might reduce the severity even if it doesn't cure.

Any apneac getting surgery or any kind of medical procedure where you'll be sleeping away from home needs to be sure he can use his CPAP. Lots of the medical community is incredibly stupid and arrogant about sleep apnea. Lots of these idiots think you don't need CPAP if you have oxygen. Oxygen doesn't help if you aren't breathing due to apnea.

Be sure the official hospital physician knows about CPAP and orders it. I think the term is "admitting physician," but whatever the term is, there's one and only one doctor who is "in charge." It doesn't matter what the other doctors say, the doctor in charge is the one whose orders get followed.

You also need to be careful about the humidifier. Some hospital people are arrogant and careless. If you have water in the tank, they'll probably move the machine without asking and damage your CPAP machine.

[Wonderbeastlett]

I had my tonsils out when I was fairly young around 10. The doctors told my parents if I didn't get them out I would suffer from infections and illness as I got older. Around 14/15 yrs of age was when I had the first symptoms of OSA but I didn't know it then. So, Having your tonsils taken out might help but most likely won't do too much. It will give you a little more room in your throat though. Sometimes we really don't know what is causing the apnea. I think my throat is very narrow because I have a very hard time swallowing even the tiniest of pills. Having them out will help but if they pose no immediate threat to your body (like infection) I dont see why you would need them out.

[acdodd]

I had my tonsils removed when I was a kid.
50 or so years ago.

If there aren't other reasons to remove them then I would not have them removed just because of apnea.
Way too many folks without tonsils that still have apnea to convince me.
Apnea increases your risk of complications with any general anesthesia.
Always make sure your Doctors know you have apnea.

[woodworkerjunkie]

I was sent to an ENT by my pulmonologist to see if it would benefit me to have my tonsils out. Much to my relief, the ENT said that even though my tonsils are a little larger than average, he didn't think I would benefit from it. He said a lot of Drs. that treat S/A are always in a hurry to get patients tonsils yanked out. He said he also treated patients for S/A and had not seen a great improvement in a lot of patients that had the procedure done. I'm 52, and he stated that at my age, unless i was having a lot of infections, he didn't see a reason to remove them. He stated "they are there for a reason!" He told me that the oldest patient that he had removed their tonsils was 62, and that it took him several months to re-coop from the procedure. He stated that the procedure is not to bad on a young person, but, that the older we get, the harder of a time the patient is going to have. I don't know what the pulmonologist is going to think about that yet, I have my follow up appointment with him next week.

[archangle]

I should say that there are probably some people for who tonsils are a large part of their apnea and removal will help. I don't know how you can tell whether the doctor has really figured out you're one of the fortunate ones.

[Journeyman]

Had my tonsils and adenoids out around age eight or ten. Yep doc said I would be better off, less getting sick, infections, and stuff. When I first learned about me needing a cpap machine, why my denial was like ringing the bell at the circus... Been close to a year now and been using about six months. I have come to grips with it mostly now. Fifty plus years of lifestyle got me to where I am today. Could be in my gene pool to a point I guess. I have lost sixty pounds over the last year and a half and have twenty or so more to go. I still cannot sleep on my back without my machine. Maybe I need to tone my neck mucles for airway support at this point. I'm working on that as well. Looking for a smoking gun is an option that could and or should be put down on paper. However, the list needs to have more than one area of focus. This forum has helped me a great deal. Spend some time around here and read read read. Sometimes I feel like I'm a textbook case. Just saying...

[jjlady]

I have wondered this myself. I am expecting my doc to recommend this, but I probably won't do it. One of mine is bigger than the other.

[codinqueen]

I did, along with UPPP, nasal septum and sinus surgery. Helped with snoring for about 6 months, but then didn't help any longer. So I am still a C-papper. But I get a LOT less common colds and sinus infections since I had those procedures done.