r/colonoscopy

I've had a pretty persistent change in bowel habits over the last year or so, going from previously every day but then moving to sometimes daily but quite often every 2-3 days with the odd period of diarrhoea in between.

Got a referral to a GI who recommended a colonoscopy to check everything out. And while I definitely didn't lie about my symptoms and say I had blood in my stool like some people suggest, I feel my health anxiety about the rising prevalence of colon cancer in younger people played a huge part in me getting this procedure.

Thought I'd feel super relieved to get the results, especially since I have young kids, but I dunno just feel ashamed for pushing for this at such a young age and without huge major red flags.

Anyone else feel like this after a similar situation?

My 69 year old mother is scheduled for her first colonoscopy. She's really scared and nervous because she's lost about 2in in height and 30lb in the last 5 years specifically since she retired during COVID-19. She's currently 5'6 and only 106lb. She had a negative Cologuard 3 years ago (2023), and the last one was positive from January of this year (2026) hence the doctor scheduling colonoscopy. Her first prep was with MiraLAX and didn't end up working because she was still passing solid stools pre-procedure so her colonoscopy was rescheduled with the Go lightly prep which has to do with drinking 2 gallons of fluids and she's dreading it even more because the first prep was rough and didn't require the consumption of so much fluids. I'm trying to keep her positive and in the right mind space and just be a good support system and keep the energy positive but the worst possibility has crossed both our minds and we have been open with each other because honestly my mom is my bff and leading role model especially since the passing of my dad/her husband in 2009. So it has been a tough topic. Please, your insight, advice and stories are most welcome if you've been in similar situation or know anyone who has.

were you still rushing to the toilet the day of the colonoscopy due to the preparation ? I have a fear I’ll crap myself on the way to the hospital

I’m 37F and have had bloody mucus in my stools for 3 months now. Not on the toilet paper but on my actual stools. My PCP did a work up that showed slightly borderline fecal calprotectin and positive FIT. The bleeding is pretty scant and I don‘t have anemia or anything. I also have a lot of lower abdominal cramping and terrible constipation, though that has been lifelong. I was referred to GI and seen by a PA. He basically immediately said it was internal hemorrhoids (without any examination) and that no further follow up was needed. I’m shocked by all the people on here in their 20s or 30s who present to the doctor with rectal bleeding and get colonoscopies. I told the PA I’ve had hemorrhoids before and that this bleeding is different but that didn’t seem to persuade him much. When I told him about my cramping, he said it was probably uterine cramping and to follow up with my OBGYN. He was incredibly dismissive and condescending… I mean, I’ve had a uterus for 37 years and know the difference between uterine cramping and GI cramping. Anyway, did anyone else have trouble having their rectal bleeding taken seriously?

Hi all,

I just had my colonoscopy today. I came home about 7 hours ago and have been resting since. I am in the mid-30s and they just found 1 polyp, rest was all good.

I was very lucky to work from home yesterday during my prep. Tomorrow I am supposed to be at the office, in 12 hours exactly.

My stomach hurts and im kinda scared of moving around too much. I have not passed much gas but have been having lots of burps. The idea of having to go sit at my desk for 8 hours tomorrow + commute time is so unappealing. I'd also have to pack my lunch tonight and I feel too tired for any of this. But I also feel like im being a baby as I was given no post-op instructions or told to take it easy.

Is it normal for people to take up to 3 days off ?

I have a colonoscopy tomorrow at 10:30 am. My cut off time for eating is today at 1pm I had my normal breakfast which was porridge 😬 as I didnt realise I had to change my breakfast aswell as my lunch. I am worried this will affect my procedure tomorrow.

I’m not worried about the procedure itself at all since I’ll be sedated, but from the posts I’m reading on here the prep sounds HORRIBLE. The drink they give you is nasty, meanwhile I’m hardly able to get through a pepto-bismol without gagging, and non-stop diarrhoea to the point where you need to apply Vaseline sounds terrible too. I haven’t had diarrhoea since I was 5 so I can’t even imagine what it’s going to be like. Did it hurt for you much? Did you throw up or pass out (Especially since we’re supposed to starve ourselves during this too). Will I be stuck to the toilet for hours or can I take a break and walk around for a bit?

I’m 18 so the doctor said it’s unlikely that I have anything sinister, but since I’ve been having blood in my stools and unusual habits he thinks it’s good to check it out anyway. and of course it’s good to be safe but the idea of the prep is turning me off it a bit…

Hi all,
I’m halfway through drinking the prep - it’s the gallon you drink in two parts. 8oz every ten minutes, I’ve had 8 glasses over the last two hours and nothing is happening. Obviously I feel full and uncomfortable and very woozy.
Any advice would help! (I’m paranoid about water toxicity it’s crazy that we drink this much liquid so fast)

I still don't have my results back but it all went alright, I'm just wondering why they recommended me a high fiber diet if anyone might know.

35M. I was soooo nervous of doing the endoscopy and colonoscopy, kept postponing it since last June, but last week I decided to do it today. I saw so many people on tiktok freaking out about the prep, and I was so scared of that, I decided to go with the sutab pills. Which you take 12 pills a day before and another 12 pills the morning of the procedure. Lots of people complaint of having nausea and throwing up, for me it was sooooo easy, went a few times, tons of liquid I drank. Today the day of the procedures, I asked the nurse to play my favorite song, and went to sleep singing it, I woke up and the nurse played it again so I thought I just had closed my eyes but she said procedure had been done already. Everything so easy and not painful like I saw on some of the tiktoks. Thankfully only internal hemorrhoids and irritated stomach nothing life concerning. Doctor said see you in another 10 years!

31 f. Never had a procedure done before or been under anesthesia, I was absolutely terrified so hopefully someone else who's scared can read this and not be afraid, it went really well and was so easy.

As they all say, prep is the hardest part.

My prep consisted of 4 5mg dulcolax tablets at 4pm and then 64oz of Gatorade with an entire bottle of miralax mixed into it.

The dulcolax tablets induced some very intense and painful cramping but once that passed it was smoother sailing.

By 11pm the night before everything was very clear which is exactly what you are looking for.

Got to my surgical center at 9 and by 10 we were placing my vitals and putting the IV line in for my anesthesia.

The biggest hurdle for me putting off my procedures for almost 10 years was always a deep fear of anesthesia. Being forcefully put to sleep just freaked me out I can't explain it. It's a fully irrational fear.

I got to talk to my nurse, my G.I doctor and my anesthesiologist for a bit. I closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths and it was lights out. I woke up to what felt like moments. And was just a bit groggy.

All of the Colonoscopy aspects were the easiest part. I don't think this is as common but my throat is VERY banged up. Extremely sore throat. My chest hurts, and there's very thick dark brown/red phlem that i cough so hard I almost throw up and can't seem to get out of my chest. The endoscopy ended up being the more unpleasant part of all of this.

Over all. Not bad at all. I was deeply terrified and anxious and it went so much better than expected. So these are just my words of encouragement and my story if it helps anyone feel even slightly better about it all.

I suffer from major health anxiety. I had my first colonoscopy when I was 30 I was seeing blood and mucus so I went in. I had 2 polyps one was 1.5 cl and was bleeding it was pre cancerous. I should mention I have family history of colon cancer. From age of 30 I had colonoscopy every year till I was 41 now I am 46 so 5 years since my last one. I didn’t go for different reasons financial was main one. I am scheduled now for June 3rd and I very scared I have pain on my fright side just under my rib I am afraid I have colon cancer and it has spread to my liver or pancreas. I can’t sleep at night from stress. Has anyone with previous colonoscopy and polyp removal waited 5 years ? Please any input will be appreciated.

Colonoscopy and endoscopy scheduled for 5/26. Due to finding RED in my stool. To say I’m scared is an understatement. I picked up my prep today at the pharmacy. So it feels super real now. Any advice and kind words always appreciated!

Hi everybody, I'm 31 (M). I just had my first colonoscopy today.

I took an appointment with a specialist, and they presented me with two options: taking a treatment for internal hemorrhoids or getting a colonoscopy. Because I'm that young and didn't feel any discomfort except for the bleeding now and then, I was advised by my relatives not to go to this extreme. But I followed my gut a few months later and scheduled an appointment, even though I didn't feel any pain.

They discovered 14 polyps, and my doctor told me that it probably saved my life by requesting the procedure. I would advise you, if you feel anything unusual, even if it's mild, and if you have the option, do it, because you never know. I get the anxiety part of it, but it's better than living every day and navigating into the unknown, wondering every day what it could be.

The only thing that's left for me is hoping they aren't precancerous, but nevertheless, if I had ignored the symptom, whatever came from it would be worse.

So don't procrastinate; get the procedure!

I recently had my first colonoscopy done. The doctor found, and removed two flat 1 cm polyps. Scheduled for a follow up colonoscopy in 9 months. No information from pathology received. I'm 51, with a family history of colon cancer. I'm feeling pretty nervous.

i suffer chronic constipation so i started taking laxatives (Casenlax) 5 days before the exam. They didn't work(I didn't poop for 4 days) so I bought an enema and did it last night. Was horrible but survived. My appointment is at 5pm CET (Spain) at I took the first dose of Citrafleet at 6:00 am. It tool two hours but I've been having regular trips every 15 minutes. However, even after going 14 times and doing the diet, following all the instructions, the stool still isn't clear. It's very cloudy and very much brown. My doctor told me that if this happens I should do an enema but I feel too weak and nauseous to conduct it. It's an hour and a half until my colonoscopy. Should I still go to the appointment? Should I do the enema? Do I call it quits?

I am about to have my 2nd colonoscopy in 2 days. The first I had done 5 years ago, my GI had me take Plenvu. This time, he is having me do the MiraLAX prepping.

My question is if the MiraLAX prep is just as effective as the Plenvu. While the Plenvu wasn’t a great experience to go through, it did clean me out. My GI was very happy. So I’m concerned that the MiraLAX route won’t be as good. I just went to get this right so I don’t fail my colonoscopy and have to go through this again next year.

Gross warning! (?)

My colonoscopy is in 4h and I did round 3 of Pico salax. I went to the toilet just now and it looks yellow and clear but there's some sediment still. Im so scared it wont get any clearer and idk what to do 😭

I have until 8am (2 hours) to finish the last half of this entire jug. Last night I barely was able to do it and had to go far past the recommended time. This morning I finished one 16 oz glass and immediately lost the contents of my stomach.

Wtf do I even do at this point?

(TLDR at bottom)

For the past year or so I've had some on and off rectal bleeding (bright red blood, almost always on the toilet paper, never mixed in with stool except for one time with bloody diarrhea), and it only ever seemed to happen when I really went multiple times in a day (4+ times a day). This has not happened now for a good two months and the bleeding has been absent.

My dad is a physician and while not a gastroenterologist, he expressed worry with all the young people getting diagnosed with colorectal diseases (I'm 31). He's urged me to get a colonoscopy, even after my primary care doctor dismissed it with a quick examination seeing that nothing was wrong with me. I did have a telehealth visit with a gastroenterologist, and he chalked up all my symptoms and the fact that I hadn't had any issues for the last several months to hemorrhoids or rectal fissures, but he understands where my dad is coming from and did acknowledge that younger people are beginning to get diagnosed with colorectal diseases and cancers more frequently.

Either way, my health insurance will not cover ANYTHING until a $2,500 deductible is met. The procedure itself (facilities included) was going to be around $1,350, and I still have no idea how much the anesthesia would be. I can only surmise that adding that on would bring me close to the $2,500 mark, which by that point, yeah, I've met my deductible. But I can't even PAY my deductible. Technically, I could, unless I whipped out the old credit card and slapped on more debt (I'm not in crushing credit card debt, in only carry around a 20% credit line utilization, but there's been a fair bit put on there lately and I don't want to add to the problem. Even if I wasn't, I'd still have hesitations about doing that because $2,500ish is almost 20% of my credit line).

My mom and dad offered to help split the cost but I feel horrible in asking them for this because I already spent tens of thousands of their dollars on a college degree I have not used in the slightest, and I feel like I should not leech off them any more at this stage in life. We discussed possibly going through the ColonoscopyAssist route which had a flat rate of $1,200 (which I'm assuming includes anesthesia) or ColoGuard. But I'm more inclined to do nothing at all because the problems aren't really lingering.

TLDR: Am I fooling myself into a false sense of security in not getting a colonoscopy since my symptoms have lessened/weren't severe in the first place? Or should I actually get one on the advice of my physician father, even though I am wary of the financial hit I'd take?