Hi all. My almost 5 year old tonsils are huge, red and just nasty looking. She has suffered from allergies since birth and always has sneezing fits and stuffy noses monthly. Her tonsils have always been on the big side, but now they are just gross. We went to the ent today. She is not sick, eating and drinking fine, no fever, but i worry about sleep apnea. I do not want to take them out. BUT i have tried all i can think of to remedy this naturally. It has only been a little over a month since they have been this gross. We do saline spray daily, use a humidifier, eat organic. I have just purchased a air purifier but thats the last thing i can think of. Anyway i am rammbling. My main question is has anyone had any luck using prednisone and antibiotics to shrink their childs tonsils? From all i have read it seems as soon as the steriod is done, the tonsils come right back up. I dont want surgery or steroids for her but i have to do something. What is ur experience?
I would have them taken out before trying a regimen of prednisone and antibiotics. Yes, the tonsils purpose is to help to prevent infection but at this point it seems you would be better off having them out. What does your ent think? I think tonsils have basically served their purpose by early childhood years. I remember being on prednisone as a teen and did not have the most pleasant side effects from it.
I honestly would not put my child on prednisone if its not an emergency, it is SO bad for you and can change their personality!! They probably need to come out and the sooner the better. The younger they are the better the recovery!!
what did the dr say?? did he recommend prednisone and antibiotics// or did he want to remove them/
I would bet her tonsils will get better once it is summer and there are less germs floating around..
yes prednisone has side effects but a 5 day course of steroids might shrink them and then she can avoid surgery. I would rather take a pill for a few days than have surgery.. you can always have suregery later if the drugs don't work.
I had horrible tonsils for my childhood and I outgrew it as I got older..
Tonsils need to go. You have an easy fix to a big problem. I would not want to give my little one prednisone because this sounds like it will be an ongoing problem. Sleep apnea is a serious problem
My son's tonsil's did the same thing.
He was not sick (no fever) but when he was not quite 4 his tonsils were so large they almost touched each other across the back of his throat.
He snored something awful when he slept - he had constant dark circles under his eyes because you don't sleep well when you snore that badly.
He had trouble breathing, eating and swallowing.
We tried to shrink them with the steroids - they shrunk to about half what they were but were still very large - and as soon as we finished the steroids the tonsils swelled right back up again.
The ENT said sometimes huge tonsils just run in familys.
(I remember I had mine out when I was in kindergarten and mine were so big I could almost chew on them. - My sister, the same thing.)
Honestly for my son they had become an obstruction.
So right after his 4th birthday we had his tonsils and adenoids removed.
His recovery was fast - his breathing was SO quiet now when he slept I kept checking on him to make sure he was breathing (we'd forgotten how quiet breathing was suppose to be) - he was fine.
No more dark circles under is eyes!
He could eat, drink, swallow and sleep!
He did so much better in pre-school since he wasn't cranky and tired all the time.
It was the best thing we ever did - we have no regrets!
Prednisone is some seriously nasty stuff. It will probably do exactly what you want, but they'll just get big again and you'll have to start again. Take it from someone who knows prednisone all to well .... Do not go down this path.
Lots of kids and adults have their tonsils removed, why are you set against it? Especially if she continues to have problems ...
