Today, after years of going through hell to get my tonsils removed as an adult, I found out that they were my first line of defense against allergies. I used to have a very light reaction. Now my doc is making personal calls to get me to an allergist immediately. FML
reyah49 tells us more.
reyah49 15
OP here.. my "years of hell" were years of having strep throat, tonsillitis, etc at least 4 times a year, usually more. You cant go to work with this more often than not so i was constantly missing school and then work. No one outright said "I'm not taking your tonsils out", they'd just treat the symptoms and move on. Finally i asked to be sent to an ENT and there was no doubt in his mind that they needed out. He said it should've been done when i was constantly being sent home from school (over 10 years ago). Since i got them out I've now found a new primary doctor who I'd recommend to everyone. He is the one who called his allergist buddy on their personal cell phones during my appointment and scheduled me in before the clinic even opened. Turns out I'm allergic to every kind of grass that grows here in "the natural state". Honestly explains a lot.
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Top comments
ChibiChibi_fml 28
What they could mean by "Went through hell" is that they were constantly in pain and constantly dealing with swollen or infected tonsils but the Doctors were reluctant to have them removed until the situation recently got worse. It used to be that they pretty much took your tonsils out after the second time you came down with tonsillitis. Now a days, they will let you just keep getting sick over and over and over again, and be dealing with constant miserable sore throats that aren't really helped by anything, and basically wait until your tonsils start swelling enough to suffocate you before deciding to remove them. I get why, but I would very much also consider that going through hell to get them removed.
Dustin Allen-Duwayne Lakey 16
Had mine removed when I got tonsillitis. I know the feeling man, allergies when from 0 to 100 in no time flat.
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Comments (23)
devi_916 39
Well, that explains a lot for me, such as why my allergies are so much worse than they were when I was younger. I had to have my tonsils removed 6 years ago.
Spiritbird 17
Happened with my brother too. No organ in the body is 'extra' or 'optional'. This kind of BS was fed by big pharma to push ppl into endless cycle of medical bills, generating more moolah for these a-holes.
MandySkittles 18
Except OP said he was already in an endless cycle of bills and spending money because of how sick he as WITH his tonsils, so your conspiracy theory about 'big pharma' is a stretch. I had my tonsils removed because of how sick they made me and I'm perfectly fine now, it differs from person to person. Take your tinfoil hat elsewhere.
fluffy_gummybear 13
That isn't true. I live in a country with free healthcare and people still have their tonsils taken out here, so how can it all be about money?
pjsr 33
Comment moderated for rule-breaking.
It sounds like you didn’t listen to your dr. Didn’t you think there was a reason you had to ‘go through hell’ to get someone to take them out.
ChibiChibi_fml 28
What they could mean by "Went through hell" is that they were constantly in pain and constantly dealing with swollen or infected tonsils but the Doctors were reluctant to have them removed until the situation recently got worse. It used to be that they pretty much took your tonsils out after the second time you came down with tonsillitis. Now a days, they will let you just keep getting sick over and over and over again, and be dealing with constant miserable sore throats that aren't really helped by anything, and basically wait until your tonsils start swelling enough to suffocate you before deciding to remove them. I get why, but I would very much also consider that going through hell to get them removed.
fluffy_gummybear 13
Read the follow-up.
Dustin Allen-Duwayne Lakey 16
Had mine removed when I got tonsillitis. I know the feeling man, allergies when from 0 to 100 in no time flat.
Dave_Davington 34
Whatever you do, do NOT get circumcised.
joeyl1990 28
Will that make the allergies even worse?
Davros 12
Nothing like waking up after 2 hours of sleep because you can't breathe so you instantly jump up and go into a full on panic attack and you dont know if you can take Zyrtec and Afrin with Xanax.
DanielleinDC 34
Why were you so determined to have your tonsils removed? Unless they were causing problems, leave 'em alone.
KittyMack 13
It's pretty safe to assume they WERE causing trouble.
ChibiChibi_fml 28
They probably weren't determined to get them removed. They were probably determined to stop having to suffer from constant, searing sore throats and breathing troubles caused by infected tonsils. They have become way more reluctant to remove tonsils in the past years, doubly so when it comes to removing them from adults, so when you spend years dealing with the problems caused by being prone to tonsil infections and the fact that nothing works, and trying to get your doctor to understand that just constantly giving you cough medicine and throat coat stuff is not helping, only for them to finally break down and do what they technically could have done years before to cut down on your suffering, than you have gone through hell to get them removed as an adult.
KittyMack 13
This sucks for OP but it's very interesting to me. I've always wondered why drs are so reluctant to do tonsillectomies. My buddy for instance had his chronically infected for 2y before they took them out. Hard to eat, hard to drink, and he says he reeked from tonsil stones (hard on the social life in highschool!). He sure does wish he'd got them out promptly. But now I see why it was worth waiting to see if they'd heal up.
Migole 36
They're so reluctant because there are lots and lots of big blood vessels in direct neighbourhood to your tonsils and bleeding is a very common complication which can get pretty bad pretty fast.
Uniquestar7 20
I've seen a child die from a tonsillectomy that was necessary and seemingly went fine. Tonsillar tissue usually regresses after early childhood, which also when you most need your tonsils' immune functions, so doctors wait until a bit later even if they HAVE to remove them.
MrsBugi 21
Sorry to hear OP. I had tonsillitis chronically as a young child. My parents brought up removing them to my doctor (it was something normal that all the kids were having done) but he refused and advised that they were the only thing stopping the infections from moving further into my body and becoming respiratory problems. "first line of defense". I didn't get it then because I was so overwhelmed having tonsil infections every other month. I guess my doc was ahead of the times, or just did his job right lol Most are reluctant to now because they know the importance of our tonsils.
lucasj23 11
I'm not understanding why you would go through years of hell to get your tonsils out.
tmj25789 23
doctors won't just take them out anymore. they want to see it's a constant trend instead of a one time deal.