Strep Throat

I have to agree with Lee P, my husband had his tonsils out 3 weeks ago. It was the worst nightmare i have ever seen someone go through. I hear it is MUCH easier for children. I am going to look into having my daughters out now before she gets older. Please do not wait...the doctors will tell you the older you are the more painful/longer recovery.

My daughter was the same way about 2 years ago. The pediatrician was not recommending that we get them removed yet, and put her on VERY strong antibiotics. We went to the ENT for a check-up with her tubes and I asked the ENT about it. She said that she doesn't even like to use the antibiotic my 5 yr old had on adults. They recommended that we have the tonsils removed because it was considered chronic reoccurring strep. Her tonsils were the size of adult tonsils and her adnoids were also enlarged. Her recovery took about a week, but she refused to take her pain meds. It was one of the best decisions that we have made. She has not been sick since then, and her asthma is much better now.

do you finish all the antibiotics completely? or just when she feels a bit better you stop? well i assume she's taking amoxicillin as i've battled with chronic strep all my life... but take it from me, if a doc says its a good idea to remove the tonsils, DO IT. dont wait, it will be painful for her, but i had military doctors and they didnt want to do it even though 3 civilian doctors said they should. now when i get strep its absolute torture because my tonsils are so scarred and easily infected. i plan on removing them when i get medical insurrance again. but i have ended up hospitalized for strep now, (im 22) so... regardless of possible pain, time to recover, pleeeeease remove her tonsils if the dr says you should. save her from a loooot of pain when she's older.

I have a 12 year old son who has has strep throat 3 months in a row and has had it 4x. He got it twice in April this last time. Will be calling ENT and seeing what he has to say. Not sure what he will say.

Hi B.~

As a child, (I am 36 now), I had recurrent sore throats/strep year after year after year. My tonsils were the size of large marbles, even when not inflamed, so imagine what they were like inflamed. Unfortunately for me, I grew up during the time period when the doctors were reluctant to remove tonsils, except for the very worst cases - can't even imagine what that had to look like... I was even evaluated by ENT's at Children's Hosp. in Pgh., and still no surgery. Anyhow, after dealing with this for basically my entire youth, finally at age 25, a doctor finally said enough is enough, and removed my tonsils. Well let me tell you, that was the WORST medical experience I have EVER had, and I have a bout with meningitis and a c-section recovery to compare it to...

The recovery from a tonsillectomy at age 25 was harrowing, to say the least. They told me I would need 14 days off from work, and I laughed, thinking I'd be down for a few days, and spend the rest of the time lounging by the pool... as it went, I spent the first 10 of my recovery nights sleeping upright in a recliner, because I felt like my throat was closing, and the mucous build up in my mouth and throat while I healed was so thick and gross, I felt like I was gagging constantly. I couldn't eat - not even broth or popsicles - for a week, it was so painful. Additionally, after the surgery, I had problems with swallowing. I was told that after living for so long with such large tonsils, that they had assumed some of the job of my soft palate, which closes against the back of the throat to keep food/liquids down while swallowing. Well, since my tonsils took up so much space in my throat, my soft palate became sluggish, didn't function properly after the surgery. The result was that frequently when I swallowed, especially liquids but it also happened with food, it would come up into my nose, sometimes even out my nose. Nice, huh? That has since resolved, I assume because my soft palate retrained itself, thank goodness. But it was years before this problem resolved.

I don't mean to scare you - great job, huh? - I am just making a case for having the tonsils removed at a young age because it is well documented that young kids have FAR LESS difficulty with recovery from this surgery. My cousin had the surgery at about your daughters age, and she was up and around in a few days with no residual problems and no significant pain. She spent a few days lounging around eating popsicles and ice cream, and she was fine.

If you have good reason to suspect this may be a lifelong problem for your daughter, and that surgery will be inevitable, I would highly suggest getting the surgery done sooner than later. Don't wait like I did.

Hope this helps. Sorry for being so graphic! :)

My daughter had her tonsils and adnoids removed when she was 2. It was the best move health wise that i think I ever made for her. She has only been really sick maybe 3 times since then and she is now 18. Before her surgery she was the same antibiotics all the time, meds constantly. With your daughters age I think she will be fine and the pain soreness. That is what ice cream and milk shakes are for! I would go for it the sooner the better for your daughters sake.

B.,
I, too, had recurrent strep throat at about that age. An ENT advised that my tonsils be removed. They were (are) enlarged and cryptic (wrinkly, making it easy for bacteria to lodge in them). My German grandmother rose to my defense saying that tonsils are there for a reason and she convinced my mother to let it go for awhile. I eventually outgrew it and cannot tell you the last strep throat I've had.
That said, strep is certainly nothing to mess around with.
If I were you, after a second, and maybe third opinion, if I was convinced they should go--I'd do it while she's young! I have a co-worker who recently had her tonsils and adenoids out and it was a L-O-N-G recovery. I've seen kids bounce back very, very quickly.
Good luck!

My daughter now 19 had her adenoids removed at the age of 8. That did help with the nasally sound of speaking. Her tonsils are huge, but were never removed. Her issue was chronic ear infections so be sure doc gives a long enough course of the antibiotic and or perhaps a different antibiotic. You also need to insist that doc checks the status when med course is finished to be sure the infection is gone so that no time will lapse if another course of meds are needed. This is something I learned when she was 12 after changing doctors. It took a really long course of meds to remove the infection completely.

It sounds like you have a plan in place, but here's one more response for what it's worth. If this is the first time she's really had a problem with strep (or she's only had it a few times), I would first ask the doc to make sure they are running susceptibility tests on her throat swabs to make sure the bacteria is going to be susceptible to the antibiotic being used. There have been more cases of resistant strep recently that require more than the usual amoxicillin. To me it sounds like your daughter's infection has never been fully treated and she needs a stronger antibiotic and likely a longer course to treat it.

If the strep has been a recurrent problem or continues to be one, I would definitely look into getting the tonsils removed. I'm another person who grew up with strep a few times a year and persistently inflamed tonsils during the time when they decided not to remove tonsils much. As a result I suffered throughout childhood until finally having them removed at age 18 after having them so enlarged during a case of mono that they threatened my breathing. This was obviously very extreme, but it can happen. At 18 the recovery for me was difficult, but not as bad as many have described. Still, I wish they'd come out earlier.

Good luck and I hope your daughter is feeling better soon.

time to see ent and get them removed. in/out of hospital 3-5 hours couple days of soreness and fine

also sounds like they should have done 2 weeks of antibiotics, sounds like same infection not cured.

Hi B.,
My daughter had to have her tonsils out when she was 7 (five years ago, as she will be turning 12 on May 7th!!)because her tonsils were so big that they almost completly obstructed her airway! he did have a few bouts with strep as well prior to the surgery, but in her case the main reason was her trouble swallowing,breathing and snoring!! We had her operated on at Nemours (A.I.Dupont) Hospital in Wilmington, DE. Dr James Reilly performed the surgery, which was outpatient. This hospital does a "Scraping" of the tissue as opposed to the traditional cutting and cauterizing they used to do. This way there is little bleeding and a very quick recovery. In fact, my daughter was eating the same night , and felt great the nextday!! I don't know where you live, but I highly recommend this Doctor and Hospital. Best of luck!

tonsils when they work right are supposed tp help us fight infection. if she has gotten strep three months in a row then it is time to think about getting the tonsils out. kids are very resiliant. she will probably not feel too well the first two to five days but should start to feel better after that. make sure to give her lots of liquid-lots of water so she does not have any bleeding. now she has an excuse to eat lots of cold stuff including icecream. good luck. i think in the long run she will be happier so will you when she does not have the strep throat all of the time.

HI B.

My daughter is 10 years old. She had her tonsils and adnoids removed 2 years ago. As a baby she had tubes put in her ears three times. As far as the strep goes, She had it so bad for so long we had her blood tested and she actually had the strep virus in her blood. Which is dangerous. We started her on medication, finished the medication and took blood work again. The strep percentage was higher then it was before we started the medication. With in a week she was in the hospital. I do not know where you live but her doctors name was Dr. Greenspan. He is located in Bethlehem, PA. He was wonderful. Her surgey was at St. Lukes. They did a small class for all the kids who were getting it done. Before the date. They made it fun for the kids, gave them snacks, took pictures etc. And also explained what was expected the night before, day of and after. The surgey took about 3 hours I think. It actually felt like forever to me. But when she woke up she was a little groggy. She did not talk for about 2 days. She was not in too much pain. It actually went better then I thought. Good Luck to you I am sure she will be fine. It was the best thing we ever did. She has not been sick since.

Bonnie

I know this is old, but for other moms, I used to be in the hospital, and dr.s offices every week, with throat infections, etc... my tonsils were enlarged, but the doctor did not believe in taking them out of young children, I was only 5.
then It got so bad it blew my ear drum, breaking the tiny bone and I lost my hearing. I can't even wear a hearing aide, it would not help. It ruined my speech and it was awful, still is since its hard to hear people obvioulsy. People did not sue in those days, if they did, my mom would have won that case, so after I lost my hearing, they pulled my tonsils, and now I am taking care of my kids strep! first time ever, that's why I am on this, so for all other moms, keep an eye on the ears!

Thats great that your takeing her back to the doctor. I would also suggest giving her a round of probiotics after all those antibiotics. Probiotics are the good bacteria in our gut and other places in our body that help our immune system by fighting for space against the bad bacteria. Once that balance between good to bad has been compromised it leaves your little one vunerable to all sorts of parasites infections, virises, bacteria, yeast, fungis. Yogurt has milk sugar(feeds yeast) and it doesn't colonize for long term benefits. A health food store will have ones that are age appropriate and a much better quality. Good Luck!!!

Last year my daughter had strep throat 6 times within a 10 month period of time. The last time she had it 2 months in a row. She had her tonsils and adnoids out in August and has not had strep again.(knock on wood) Anyway, she was in pain a few days then just sore after that. She refused the pain meds. I think she was sore for a week. You must push the fluids. They won't let you leave the hospital until a certain amount of liquids are consumed. You need to continue pushing the fluids at home. This really helped her to recover without complications. Good luck! By the way, my daughter was almost 6 years old at the time.

L.

HI B., You might want to take your daughter to an ENT and have her tonsils and adnoids checked out. My daughter snored, was always stuffy or seemed to have a cold and the Dr. was shocked when they took an xray of her tonsils and adnoids...they were huge and out they came. The recovery time is longer than I thought (2-3 weeks) although they don't have much pain at all after the first few days. The trick is to have them take their pain meds as soon as you get home from the hospital...don't wait until they say their throat hurts the pain meds they give kids are better at keeping the pain away than getting rid of pain. Have tons of jello, soups, popsicles and ice cream on hand (cold is usually more soothing than warm/hot things). Most hospitals have a program that shows the kids what is going to happen on "the big day" and I highly recommend you take advantage of that too. Best wishes.