Wellness

[conlt]

That happened to me in July. I took the Colaguard test and it came back positive. I had the colonoscopy. It was my 4th time so I knew what to expect. The prep was not too bad because I did not have to drink the quantity that I had to in previous years. 

My colonoscopy was fine. I had 2 benign polyps. 

Colaguard has a pretty high rate of false positives. I can't remember the exact number but take this 1 step at a time. I was a little worried then remembered my last colonoscopy was just 5 years ago so I was probably fine. I was. Truthfully, I would rather just do the colonoscopy rather than the cologuard. Good luck. Lots of water, Charmin. 

I have a crazy story about my Colonoscopy prep in July. I live in Florida, The day of the prep felt over 100 degrees. I was home in the middle of my prep, and my dogs started to bark. 

I looked outside and there was a man sitting in my chair by my front door. Oh great! I am in the middle of my prep and also have a computer meeting with my boss. I was scared and called the police, The officers came and found that the man was confused, he thought he was at his own house. They called the ambulance and took him to the hospital. He was also bleeding, I do not know if he fell or what happened. 

14 hours later, in the AM, day of my colonoscopy, someone pounds on my door. I go outside and 2 neighbors are out there asking me if I was alright. They thought that something happened to me. 

What an eventful time, I was happy to be put under with anesthesia. LOL. My nurse friends, as sassy as we get said. You would have been in rigor by the time your neighbors checked on you. That is true, apparently, the street was talking about it but they were afraid to ask. In the meantime, I was just trying to get through the prep. 

[NYwoman]

I had a colonoscopy and the prep was the worst part of it.  The taste of that drink was disgusting.   It's meant to dye your colon.  I asked for an antibiotic as I had a recent hip replacement (THA).   Everything was clear.  

[morganjen]

I got my first colonoscopy in June. I wish I had never gotten it. They didn't find anything, and it left me with chronic diarreah ever since then.

[vacagirl]

Interesting enuf I just came back from mine a few hours ago.  I agree the prep is uncomfortable (low fiber diet for 2 days; liquid diet for 1 day).  My appointment was at 7:30 am so I had to get up at 2:30 am to drink the other half of my solution.  BUT, the procedure itself is quick and painless and you are in kind of a twilight stage. Nurses and doctors were very kind and comforting.   Luckily this time I did not have any polyps to remove and had a healthy colon.  I am grateful that I didn't cancel it and followed my doctor's advice.  You will feel so much better once it is over and hopefully there are no major issues. 

[karen burt]

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@morganjen wrote:

I got my first colonoscopy in June. I wish I had never gotten it. They didn't find anything, and it left me with chronic diarreah ever since then.

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There is no reason you should be suffering with diarreah from the colonoscopy or the prep for so long.  Contact your doctor and get this sorted out.  Good luck!

[Shelbelle]

I took pills both times, so nothing foul to drink. 

[CJC]

If you are older, there is now a blood test available that shows markers for colon cancer. The success rate is about the same as that for cologuard. This blood test is covered by gov't Medicare.  Husband and I have both had it because we are in 80's and choose to no longer go the colonoscopy route. I did try the cologuard test one time, but the company notified me that they were unable to extract any DNA from my sample. Didn't want to do a repeat so went with the easy peasy blood test. It does not detect polyps, but it does detect colon cancer. At our age it's good enough. Colonoscopy is always the gold standard test.