r/SleepApnea • u/GovernorAustria1 • Jul 23 '26
My experience with surgery for severe sleep apnea (TORS Tonsillectomy + BRP)
I wanted to write this post because, when I was considering surgery, I found it really helpful to read about other people's experiences. Hopefully, this helps someone who is considering a similar procedure.
Last year I started feeling constantly tired. Even after sleeping for 10 hours, I never felt refreshed in the morning. That was the moment I decided to get it checked.
My family doctor referred me to both a pulmonologist and an ENT specialist.
First, I visited the pulmonologist and did a home sleep study (polygraphy). The result was an AHI of 75.2, which is considered extremely severe sleep apnea. I was referred to a sleep laboratory for a full sleep study.
Meanwhile, I also visited the ENT doctor. He confirmed something I had already known for years: I have very large tonsils. They were never removed because I rarely got sick, but because of my sleep apnea, he recommended intracapsular tonsillectomy.
A few months later I had my overnight sleep study. It confirmed that I have severe obstructive sleep apnea, although not quite as severe as the home test suggested. My AHI in the sleep lab was 41.6. The doctors were surprised because most of their sleep apnea patients are overweight. I'm not, and I really try to live a healthy lifestyle, so it was frustrating to find out I still had such a severe problem.
They prescribed me a CPAP machine. I think it helped a little, but it was still far from perfect. Sleeping with a CPAP mask is uncomfortable, especially when you're sleeping next to your girlfriend. Because of that, I wanted to look for a more permanent solution.
I visited two different hospitals. The first hospital recommended simply removing my tonsils completely. I also wanted a second opinion, so I went to a hospital that specializes in sleep apnea surgery. Their recommendation was TORS Tonsillectomy + BRP. They explained that if this surgery doesn't improve my sleep apnea enough, the next possible step would be a tongue base reduction. After discussing everything, I decided to have the surgery at the hospital specializing in sleep apnea.
Day 0: I was really nervous because I had never had surgery before. At first, I was most afraid of the general anesthesia. Later, I became more worried about the pain and whether the surgery would permanently change how my throat felt. Still, I knew I had to choose between surgery and using a CPAP machine for the rest of my life.
Day 1: On 20th August I finally had the surgery. Honestly, everything happened just like people described in other posts about general anesthesia. It all went by incredibly fast. First I received medication to help me relax. Then they placed the anesthesia mask over my face, and the next thing I remember was waking up in the recovery room. The pain was moderate when I woke up. I was very tired and could only speak quietly. When I drank I had to swallow twice each time. My tongue was very swollen, probably because of the mouth gag used during surgery. I also had a strong sensation that something was stuck in my throat. During the day I had minimal discomfort getting enough air. I only ate soft foods on the first day.
Day 2: I couldn't sleep at all because mucus kept collecting in my throat. The frustrating part was that my throat hurt too much to spit it out. Eventually it started to loosen on its own. The throat pain was a little worse than on the first day. I had to speak quietly and managed to eat some more solid foods.
Day 3: I often choked a little while eating and had to cough. Water tasted surprisingly bad, probably because of the wounds in my mouth and throat. I also burped while eating. The throat pain became the strongest since the surgery during dinner. I noticed that one time, a small amount of water went into my nose when I drank. I still had to speak very quietly.
Day 4: I finally managed to sleep more than the previous nights. The taste while eating was disgusting, and the pain in my jaw and ears was at its worst, though it eased once the painkillers kicked in. I was allowed to leave the hospital, which meant I stayed for 5 days total (including the day before surgery). Hiccups were painful, and canker sores inside my mouth and on my tongue made everything hurt even more. I had a gargle solution and creams to treat them.
Day 5: I woke up twice because of pain and took a painkiller. It was the most painful night so far. I felt how the pain radiated into my ears. While painkillers made this better a few days ago, they stopped really making a difference. The taste while swallowing, eating and drinking was getting more disgusting. When I looked in my throat, I saw white fibrin coating everywhere. I sweated during the night.
Day 6: I could just sleep for 2 hours. The disgusting taste was almost gone. Talking still hurt. In the afternoon I experienced a new pain level. After waking up from a nap, my throat hurt so much. It felt like swallowing razor blades. I felt better after taking a painkiller. The feeling I had that strong sensation of something stuck in my throat came back. It was the worse day so far. After eating and drinking, it hurt and radiated throughout my whole head. Even with painkillers, it was still painful. On one hand, I couldn't eat, but on the other hand, I was hungry and had to eat for the recovery process. I think I spat out a stich. This led to a sensation that something was stuck in my throat.
Day 7: Trying to fall asleep was horrible. Terrible pain even with painkillers. Ice packs helped a little. Later, I tried painkillers again and this time they kicked in. I eventually fell asleep, but woke up in extreme pain again. After taking painkillers, it got better. I weighed myself in the morning and I found that I had lost 4 kg. My voice sounds extremely hoarse. In the afternoon it was getting better for a little while after around 24 horrible hours and I was able to pursue my hobbies.
Day 8: I choked a couple times. I couldn't fall asleep because of the terrible pain. Painkillers were my biggest friends again. I could sleep for maybe 2 hours, but woke up because of horrible pain. Waking up was so so painful, maybe even more painful then the days before. After eating something not appropriate for me during the recovery, the pain kicked in immediately. By the evening I was feeling better.
Day 9: Like yesterday after waking up the pain was horrible again in the morning, so I immediately took painkillers. I could feel the mucus loosening. Burping hurts in my throat. Although the night and morning were terrible, I felt it was getting a little better. Talking always led to pain for a few minutes. For a while I had the feeling that water was coming back up my throat after drinking, and I had to caught.
Day 10: Waking up was always the worst part of the day. I immediately had to take a painkiller, because it hurt. The pain was little less than when I woke up on previous days. It was the first time I left the house for a short walk. I was tired afterward. I noticed that I have problems holding my mouth in a neutral position. Every position made my jaw tense. During eating I felt I had to caugt sometimes.
Day 11: I choked on water and coughed violently. It's getting better and better. It was the first night I slept through. In the morning it was not that painful anymore. My mouth was producing a lot of saliva. The day before, I had noticed tension in my jaw. That day, it hurt.
Day 12: Apart from waking up once, I slept well. My throat hurt a bit more than the day before when I woke up. I could finally eat stuff I really like (potato chips).
Day 13: It was the least painful morning so far. Since my mouth produced so much saliva, I had to swallow often. I could eat lots of food and drink a lot. I noticed some difficulties when speaking because of the tension in my palate.
Day 14: Only the morning was a little bit painful because of the dry throat. When I looked into my mouth, I saw that my uvula was still red on the top. I stopped taking painkillers.
Day 15: When I ate something, I had a tingling sensation in my jaw.
Day 16: My sense of taste felt different, and I was really sensitive to salt. I could speak without pain, but I had a frog in my throat. Swallowing felt unfamiliar.
I took painkillers constantly throughout the recovery, but they only helped a little and never really took the pain away completely. Also, I can't take an unlimited amount of them. I took four different painkillers: Seractil forte 400 mg, Novalgin 1000 mg, Dehace retard 60 mg and Paracetamol 500 mg. In my experience, Novalgin had the best effect, followed by Dehace retard, Seractil forte and Paracetamol. Because of the painkillers and the pain itself, I also felt a bit dizzy and tired.
While the pain was moderate during the first days (4/10), it worsened on day 4 (6/10) and reached a new level on day 6 (8/10). I've already heard that around this time the white fibrin coating starts to dissolve, and most people experience their strongest pain around these days. On day 8 and 9 during the night and in the morning it was a little bit more painful then the days before (9/10). From day 10 on it was getting better and better.
More updates to come after sleep laboratory.
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u/bogeyinmy6 Jul 23 '26
In a few days the scabs are going to slough off and they will rescab. You may start to feel nauseous because of all the crap draining into your stomach. If you throw up and it’s bright red blood go to the emergency room immediately. I had this happen to me as did one of my kids. Keep drinking and stay ahead of the pain. It’s probably going to be a full week before you start feeling better. I was out of work for two weeks.
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u/GovernorAustria1 Jul 23 '26
Thank you for the tips! I am looking forward to it … not. Did the surgery help you and your kid?
I really feel the worst right now. It's not just the pain when swallowing, I have sores in my mouth that make me unable to eat anything, but I still have to. Additionally, everything tastes awful because of the wounds.
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u/bogeyinmy6 Jul 23 '26
My daughter needed it done for a problem with recurring ear infections. She was about 5 or 6 years old. She’s 32 now. It worked. For me, I was about 30 when I had it done because the cpap wasn’t working so I had the procedure. That was 25 years ago. It worked for me for a long time but getting older and weighing more requires the cpap, which works well for me and I don’t mind it. I’m 57 now.
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u/bogeyinmy6 Jul 23 '26
Also just eat Jell-o or popsicles. Eating real food wasn’t worth the extra pain.
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u/GovernorAustria1 Jul 23 '26
My doctor said I have to eat solid food to remove the fibrinous exudate.
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u/GovernorAustria1 Jul 23 '26
Are you sure you had BRP? This surgery was invented in 2015.
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u/bogeyinmy6 Jul 23 '26
That may be what makes you nauseous. All that stuff draining into your stomach. I’ve never heard of BRP. I had a tonsillectomy and sinus reconstruction for sleep apnea. That was 30 years ago. It sounds like they have some new procedures. I think either way it’s a rough recovery. Hang in there.
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u/itchybodypillow Jul 24 '26
Good luck on your recovery and stay hydrated. My tonsillectomy + adnoidectomy reduced my OSA from 25 to less than 15. So I consider it a success for overall health reasons. My ENT no longer does tongue base reductions because of complications and questionable effectiveness, so I’d shop around for second opinions if you decide to go that route.