Adenoid Removal-Eek!

[trippingbillies]

Our doc is pushing for this-are there any natural alternatives to this surgery? Help!

[sebandg'smama]

Are there any strong medical reasons that he is giving you?
When my ds was 2.5 it was recommended that he get his adenoids removed and I tried homeopathic, chiropractic, elimination diet and in the end at 3 he had his aednoids removed. It resolved his health issues which were sleep apnea, snoring and a chronic runny nose.
I am glad that I waited until he was older and we were able to help him through the surgery process.
The only regret I have is if perhaps if we had done the surgery when he was younger, perhaps he would have learned to breath more through his nose and not continued to mouth breathe.

[trippingbillies]

Originally Posted by sebandg'smama

Are there any strong medical reasons that he is giving you?
When my ds was 2.5 it was recommended that he get his adenoids removed and I tried homeopathic, chiropractic, elimination diet and in the end at 3 he had his aednoids removed. It resolved his health issues which were sleep apnea, snoring and a chronic runny nose.
I am glad that I waited until he was older and we were able to help him through the surgery process.
The only regret I have is if perhaps if we had done the surgery when he was younger, perhaps he would have learned to breath more through his nose and not continued to mouth breathe.

Can you elaborate a little more about utiizing homeopathic, chiripratic, elimination diet? My dd does not have any of the symptoms your son had..she just can't seem to shake a cold

[Cinder]

We tried everything possible before taking out dd's adnoids and tonsils at 3 1/2 years old...the reversal of her symptoms (she had severe sleep apnea and because of it she had completely stopped growing) was almost immediate, we really wish we would of done it sooner!

[sebandg'smama]

Well, from day one he snored, I never needed a baby monitor! I didn't think much of it until the sleep apnea started. We approached the dr. because of that and his chronic runny nose, but no other symptoms. I'm talking a lot of mucus (all the mothers in the mommy and me groups would look at me in horror and i would just murmer "allergies"). We had him tested for allergies by a pediatrician and food sensitivties by a naturopathic dr. Nothing came up (well, lima beans...not that I or ds ever ever ate them! We now have a good excuse to continue avoiding them!). So we tried boosting his immune system and eliminated food like dairy and gluten to see if that would make a difference. Nope.
Meanwhile he had horrible dental caries and the dentist suggested adenoid removal as well. Lot's of reasons for the caries (whole other thread there!), one possible factor breastmilk plus mouth breathing.
I think that ds couldn't taste food very well and thus wasn't a big eater, but breastfed so I wasn't worried. Once his adenoids were removed he began eating so much more. He is small next to his peers, even though he came into this world at over 10 pounds.
As for chiropractic, the dr felt that she could help and worked on him for over 9 months but there was no obvious improvement either (we still go for adjustments, it just didn't help with his apnea or runny nose).

[wanderlost]

ds was suggested tubes in his ears and adenoid removel for recurrent ear infections as a baby/toddler. Because he had meningitis as a newborn (yikes!), he was a bit resistant to some antibiotics and so a simple ear infection would linger on and take 2 or even 3 courses of antibiotics.
I was a bit put off by how quickly the ENT doc wanted to remove the adenoids as well, as he never really explained why - it was more of a "as long as were in there" kind of thing.
After our consulation at age 2, I decided that if he had another bad ear infection I would go ahead and do it - of course, he never did.

[melanie83103]

My son also has enlarged adenoids. However, his pediatrician has recommended trying other approaches to shrinking them before we resort to surgery. Right now we are doing a nasal spray once a day - it has small doses of steroids in it, which shrink the adenoid tissue. I've read about this treatment, and many people have complete success and totally avoid surgery. Plus, because of how the steroids are used, very little, or possibly none of it gets into the bloodstream.

Anyway, if I were you, I'd definetely seek another opinion. It seems way too soon to jump to surgery!

Good luck!

Melanie

[melanie83103]

Forgot to say - my sons symptoms are a persistent cold with a cough. He gets sick more than is normal, which is due to the adenoids. So he doesnt have any of the more severe symptoms (like sleep apnea and failure to thrive). One of my friends had to have the surgery on her daughter, but the little girl was having major problems due to her adenoids. With my son, his symptoms are minor enough that we decided to try other routes before we resort to surgery. Also, the adenoids shrink on their own after age 5 or 6, so you only have to make it until then...

Melanie

[lisac77]

Some friends of mine had their daughter's tonsils and adenoids removed about 2 months ago. The girl snored a lot, was sick almost constantly, and had ongoing speech issues due to the enlarged adenoids. The surgery went well and she took about a week to recover. I have seen her several times since the surgery and she is just 1000 times better. Her mom also tried many other paths before deciding on surgery, but it made such a huge difference she wishes she'd done it sooner.

[pamelamama]

We did the surgery and were very glad that we did - I had put it off for a couple of years out of fear, and in the end it was really the best option.

[Mamatohaleybug]

My DD needs her adenoids out, too. We tried Nasacort but it made her hyper and we tried Claritin but it didn't help much at all. She's 4 and the adenoids have been problematic since she was a tiny baby. She has sleep apnea (snores and always tired, low stamina), always, always, always sounds stuffy, talks kind of nasal-y, mouth breathes (and drools). She has been sick a lot during her life, too. This will be her 5th surgery so I'm not thrilled but the time has come. Probably this spring. :

[hapi2help]

I had my own adenoids removed when I was 15-16 yo. I can tell you how much better I felt!!!! I still have ongoing sinus issues but nothing compared to before the surgery.

It was preformed as out patient, went home a few hours after surgery. I was most bothered by the anesthia(sp??) It felt like a minor sore throat for 2 days or so. My sleep improvements were almost immediate, according to my sis who I shared a bedroom with at the time.

WHen the adenoids are enlarged they tend to "catch" more bugs in the air, so I became healthier too. I rarely get colds now.

[oceanbaby]

Originally Posted by lisac77

Some friends of mine had their daughter's tonsils and adenoids removed about 2 months ago. The girl snored a lot, was sick almost constantly, and had ongoing speech issues due to the enlarged adenoids. The surgery went well and she took about a week to recover. I have seen her several times since the surgery and she is just 1000 times better. Her mom also tried many other paths before deciding on surgery, but it made such a huge difference she wishes she'd done it sooner.

This describes our experience almost exactly. He wasn't sick a whole lot, but did have horrible sleep apnea, to the point where it was stunting his growth. He also had no sense of smell due to the size of his adenoids.

[lucyem]

About a year ago my friend was told her son had enlarged adenoids and the surgeon (ear/nose/throat) doc was pushing to have his removed since he had sleep apnea & snoring issues. Her pediatricians at Dartmouth Hitchcock said to not do it, that he would grow into them. She did some more research and chose not too. I do not know all the particulars. He was on drugs for a short time.

OK about 9 months ago after my son had a year + of non stock stuffy/sneazing/choughing issues all night we went to an ear/nose/throat doc who said the exact same thing. Remove the adenoids. I asked if it could be an allergy and he said no way. I literally found myself pushed into a room and a nurse coming in to sign us up for surgery. Like I was in an adenoid removal mill. I refused. I am not about to put my son through major surgery for this especially after remembering my friends son who was worse then mine. This is when I started my own research.

And then I ran into info on dust mites. Oddly enough my son fit all the symptoms of a dust mite allergy. Even eczema can be a result of dust mites and he had that too. In one afternoon I covered his matress, boxspring & pillow in special dust mite covers. I washed all bedding in very hot water. Got rid of all extra stuffed animals and fluffy not needed bedding. Got rid of rugs. Vacuumed under everything. That night my son was better and every day he got better and better. He still has some extra sneezing at night but nothing like he used to have. His eczema went away. We are covering all matresses now in the house. And my husband had a small rash he always thought was dry skin go away too.

[dallaschildren]

Sleep apnea is dangerous. IMO it causes a whole heckuva lot more serious problems when comparing it to the removal of part of a child's immune system. I would suggest having a sleep study done and see what the test results come back with. I would be very hesitant to remove the adenoids/tonsils due to just repeated colds or general illness. I would most definately look to the diet for improvement (immune system strengthening) before I would consider surgical remedy in that case. Adenoidectomy isn't fail safe. Adenoids can and do grow back.

DC

[smalltownmom3]

My dd1 is going in for her adenoids and tonsils removed in a few months. She has always snored loudly and had sleep apnea. After talking with my doctor I feel that the sugury is the best choice. It is one thing trying homeopathics on a cold, but when dealing with something like this it is probably best to listen to your doctor.

[KimProbable]

Personally, I would find a really good naturopathic doctor and see where you can go from there. We've had so many good experiences with ours in dealing with allergies, sleep issues, digestive problems, food sensitivities, etc. I would very much hesitate to deal with it through surgery because so often there are other less invasive ways of dealing with ailments.

[Ravin]

With my DD, we got an ENT referral because DD had fluid in her ears (w/ and w/o infections). Her tonsils and adenoids are big, too. ENT wanted to take her adenoids. Well, at that time she had a neverending runny nose. We discovered she had some food allergies, and an elimination diet did wonders for her nose. We went ahead and got the tubes in her ears, which helped with her hearing and she had a growth spurt.

I told the doc I wanted a sleep study before considering adenoidectomy, and he refused, saying that with kids that age it was too much hassle and that if she snored, she had apnea.

She's still got a runny nose now after the flu just before Yule. But we finally got some rain to clear the air outside. We tried a run of Nasonex, that just turned on this scary massive mucous stream. Yeow. No, thanks.

We do take her to the chiro (which reminds me, need to get over there!), which helps some.

Both the ENT and the pediatrician said she'd probably outgrow it eventually. My thinking is, I'm not going to have surgery done for something she'll outgrow. If she gets into her teens and still has issues, that will be different.

I may look into that dust mites thing. We're in a rental house, though, so there's only so much we can do (can't rip up carpet, could shampoo it, though).

[dallaschildren]

Originally Posted by Ravin

I told the doc I wanted a sleep study before considering adenoidectomy, and he refused, saying that with kids that age it was too much hassle and that if she snored, she had apnea.

Sleep studies provide valuable knowledge and it is non-invasive. Change doctors if he refused. "Too much of a hassle" attitude in docs is frightening to say the least.

DC

[oceanbaby]

Originally Posted by dallaschildren

Sleep studies provide valuable knowledge and it is non-invasive. Change doctors if he refused. "Too much of a hassle" attitude in docs is frightening to say the least.

DC

No kidding. Our doc suggested a sleep study, but did admit that my son's sleep apnea was so severe, so obvious, that it was probably not even needed. But he was very supportive of us trying it if we wanted to. He was also encouraging of us trying all other avenues first - allergy testing, diet elimination, homeopathy, which we did. Heh, based on the bills we racked up trying all that stuff he was more supportive than dh was!