Has anyone been cured of obstructive sleep apnea after tonsillectomy?

[WWu777]

Is there a way a doctor can tell if removing your tonsils would cure your sleep apnea or prevent it? Is there a way to scientifically predict it? Otherwise, it's better not to remove it. I think the medical industry now agrees that no organ is truly vestigial. Even the appendix has a function and helps prevent infection I hear. Is that right?

[Sleepster]

Is there a way a doctor can tell if removing your tonsils would cure your sleep apnea or prevent it?

I think the only way to make the determination definitively is to have the tonsils out and then have a sleep study done.

However ... If one or both of your tonsils are enlarged and infected and have to come out anyway, there's a good chance that it could remedy sleep apnea.

[SarcasticDave94]

It is possible tonsil removal might reduce or eliminate apnea. I am one that am skeptical of surgeries to remedy apnea. I'd stipulate if a sleep study before and after would show AHI under 5 on the afterward study, then you're in the treated area. But even "treated" via a PAP with 0-5 AHI means you still have apnea.

[rata]

I had huge tonsils - large enough that I've been told a number of times it was at least contributing to my apnea.  

I had them out at the start of Sept - so am fully healed up (and wow, what a painful and long recovery!!) 

I had a pressure reduction a month ago based on machine readings and just talked to my doctor today.  She is reducing pressure again - and wants me to retest, as the machine isn't showing a lot of apnea.  While I doubt I'm cured - it would be great to have non-severe, need less pressure - and may low enough low incidents to not have to always travel with the CPAP!

I'll post back after my study next week - she wants me to go without the CPAP for 3-7 days, to "reset baseline" - anyone ever hear of that? I was retested a while back and didn't need to do that....

[joeyjernigan]

I had the UPPP surgery which involved removing my tonsils, adenoids, uvula and parts of the soft palate and pharynx.  I was an extremely painful surgery, and it did not improve my AHI very much.  The recovery is not fun either.  CPAP (actually ASV) is the only thing that has helped me. If I had it to do all over again I would not have had the surgery.