Tonsillectomy for recurrent strep?

[Janie Grace]

Has anyone BTDT? I think we may be on this path for ds. He's on his fourth round of strep since September and he recultures positive as soon as he finishes an antibiotic. Everyone else keeps getting it over and over again but everyone else at least tests negative after antibiotics. So I think he may be some kind of asymptomatic carrier and it's just STUCK in his tonsils and never leaves. Or something. I can't get a straight answer from the pediatrician and am going to an ENT next. This is just craziness.

 

Anyway, I would love to hear if anyone went this route and if it fixed the problem.

 

Edited November 29, 2015 by Janie Grace

[amy g.]

My oldest was very sick with recurrent strep infections. She never had another one after she had her tonsils out. I don't know why it worked, but in her case, it did.

[zoobie]

I did and my DS did. They were constantly so enlarged it blocked his airway and was disturbing sleep. He has rarely been sick since we had them removed. The ped did try a longer dose of antibiotics and something else (4 yrs ago...) that didn't resolve the issue. We waited 6 mos to see if he would outgrow it, but the sleep apnea-type symptoms worsened.

[Lolly]

Dd had recurrent strep. She did test negative after antibiotics, but it would just come back again after a short while. Tonsils out and she has had strep once since; that would be in 18-19 years.

[Katy]

Yes, worked like a charm.

[jengjohnson]

Yes, worked for me!

[gardenmom5]

I've a friend who did.  the dr didn't think her tonsils were that bad, and said it was an option, but he didn't think it was necessary. but if she wanted it, he'd do it.

 

then they did the surgery - they were *really* bad, just the outside looked fairly minor.

 

she was much better afterwards.

[mom2scouts]

My son had recurrent strep infections. He had his tonsils out and hasn't had an infection since then.

[SparklyUnicorn]

My sister had that for that reason.  It worked for her. 

 

 

[Rosie_0801]

I did. Definitely one of the least fun weeks of my life, because tonsil surgery makes wisdom teeth dance.

 

No regrets, though my patterns of illness changed and that has taken some getting used to. It's bloody brilliant not to have a constant low grade infection.

[cera2]

I had mine out for recurrent strep during freshman year of college.  I had strep 5 times in four months and haven't had it once in the 16 years since my tonsils were removed.

[happypamama]

I had my tonsils out at nine because they took out my adenoids at the same time. I don't know if I had strep before that or not, but I have not had strep since then. Fwiw, DH just had strep a few weeks ago (a rare thing for him), but despite plenty of opportunities to share the germs, I did not get strep myself, not even a hint of a sore throat. So maybe not having the tonsils meant that it couldn't settle?

[wapiti]

I think it's definitely worth a discussion with the ENT.  I'd probably go for it though I'd like to know the odds of success.  I would also consider looking at immune system function.

Edited December 3, 2015 by wapiti

[redsquirrel]

It worked for my niece and I suspect the same is about to happen to her brother, my nephew. I've never met kids who get sick, especially with strep, as often as they do.

Edited November 30, 2015 by redsquirrel

[JFSinIL]

Had one of my boy's tonsils  out when he was about seven, his tonsils were impacted with strep. Once it was over, our frequent strep-a-thons amoung all four kids went from several times a year to maybe once every few years.

 

Had a family friend who once  boasted how her oldest dd never got ill, even though their doctor said her tonsils were full of strep.  Gee, lady, don't you think she might be infecting other kids?

 

Another mom told me after the fact that one of her twins had just been diagnosed with strep...mere hours before a birthday party held at one of those ball-pit places.  She had of course let her son in the pit with all the other kids, despite his fever and being very contagious, since she didn't want to spoil his brthday!

 

If you wonder why you don't really see a lot of those ball pit places around anymore, that is why.  Parents realized they were simply germ pits!

[trulycrabby]

DS11 was getting strep every two weeks, but hasn't had it since the tonsils were removed.

[JulieA97]

DS had a lot of strep when he was younger but too young to have the surgery. Every time they tested with the quick test it came back positive. He had other symptoms of course. The pediatrician sent a culture off and it came back negative during a time he didnt have any other symptoms but the quick test came back positive. She gave him a super strong antibiotic and he has only had strep once in the past 2 years. Quite a difference from having 8 seperate cases of strep in a year! I do know they will recommend having his tonsils removed if it starts up again now that he is older. They wanted him to be at least 3 years old and he was less than 2.

[TeenagerMom]

I basically insisted DD had to get her tonsils out after 6 strep infections in a year.  She had them removed and has had strep once in the 11 years since they were removed.

 

She was also CONSTANTLY sick with ear infections, sinus infections, etc prior to removal. 

 

She has only needed antibiotics 3 times in the 11 years since removal also.

 

A couple of other odd things are that she was a very picky eater prior to removal & almost immediately after she would eat anything & everything.  She also was a teeny tiny thing who wasn't on the growth charts.  After removal?  Was in the 50th percentile within a year. 

 

I truly think she was so ill that her body was focused solely on functioning and not growing.