The pain was pretty bad, but I also avoided opiates and just used tylenol/ibuprofen. It feels like the worst sore throat you've ever had. The worst part was when it was dry--you had to constantly keep drinking water to keep it from getting dried out, which hurt really bad, especially if it was already dry (like when you wake up from sleeping). I'd say it lasted around 2 weeks, I was back at work a week or so after the surgery though.

There is a risk of having a tonsil hemorrhage with adult tonsillectomies (which I got with my UPPP, I think most do?). There is a vein/artery that runs right behind your tonsils and causes them to bleed really bad. Your surgeon will cauterize it, but a week or two after surgery your scabs start coming off, and if they come off too quickly you'll start bleeding. This bleeding won't stop on its own, you need to get to the hospital ASAP. This didn't happen to me thankfully but it was weighing on me pretty heavily from an anxiety standpoint.

I would absolutely do it again. My sleep apnea is gone, I have incredible sleep quality and am no longer a zombie. I was a good candidate for the surgery though--I had a really big uvula and medium sized tonsils, so it didn't take much to block my airway while I slept.