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Are colonoscopies worth it?

asteriskmag.com

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Re: Are colonoscopies worth it?

#191

Post by denton-scratch »

b800h wrote: post #129
vladvasiliu wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I learned to skip past the general doctors to the specialist from this experience. What concerns is that where I live, it's my understanding that, with a few exceptions [0], you can't skip a GP and go directly to a specialist. And I'm not convinced that GPs here are any better than in the US or elsewhere. Bonus points for large parts of the country not even having enough GPs for their population. --- [0] You can go…

If you're in the UK (you used "GP", so I'm guessing), then you absolutely can. Just go private. ( https://www.nhs.uk/common-health-questions/nhs-services-and-... ). Don't bother with the NHS, it's a carwreck. See this, for example: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-67239548 Last month, after years of waiting, I got a letter again delaying my assessment for a growth on my neck, for the foreseeable future. It's a good…

> the lack of market incentives means that we don't train enough medics.

I don't think so; the number of medics we train in the UK is mainly controlled by the medical colleges.

Re: Are colonoscopies worth it?

#192

Post by bojan »

scruple wrote: post #87
sillysaurusx wrote: post #58

It’s time to share something personal again. When I was 20, I vividly remember being in the bathroom at my workplace when a large amount of blood started coming out. I did what any smart, effective 20yo would do: ignored it because I was embarrassed. Fast forward 10 years, and I’d been ignoring it for a decade. It had continued to happen every few months. Sometimes the blood was so bad I’d have to wait up to 20 minut…

I've had the experience that... I was told when I was separating from the military, at 25b(I don't know why and I didn't ask...), to expect a colonoscopy. It didn't happen. I mentioned it to my GP a couple of years later, he said probably between 30 and 35... Now I'm in my 40s. It's perpetually a couple of years away. I get the sense from this, and from other anecdotes in life, that preventative maintenance, of all f…

In the Netherlands they begin with preventive colonoscopies when you turn 55. Then you get one every 5 years.

The newest science says they should even begin at 45.

Re: Are colonoscopies worth it?

#193

Post by denton-scratch »

Zanfa wrote: post #180
balfirevic wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If you can sit through a visit to a dentist Do you mean with local anesthetics?

Yes, dentist with local anesthesia is worse than a colonoscopy without meds.

That's not my experience. Dental local anaesthesia has improved hugely since I ws a kid; the only really unpleasant dental procedure I've had recently was a root-canal. Routine filling replacements were uncomfortable, but painless, and much quicker than a colonoscopy.

Re: Are colonoscopies worth it?

#194

Post by temporallobe »

sillysaurusx wrote: post #58

It’s time to share something personal again. When I was 20, I vividly remember being in the bathroom at my workplace when a large amount of blood started coming out. I did what any smart, effective 20yo would do: ignored it because I was embarrassed. Fast forward 10 years, and I’d been ignoring it for a decade. It had continued to happen every few months. Sometimes the blood was so bad I’d have to wait up to 20 minut…

Pretty much the same thing happened to me but the bleeding started in my 40s and I was very embarrassed about it. The bleeding was so bad that I developed anemia and had to be on iron supplements. It would cone and go and eventually my doctors convinced me to see a GI specialist and to get a colonoscopy, but I kept putting it off because of fear - fear of the process and fear of what they might find.

The GI specialist I eventually saw turned out to be one of the best in the country and, based on my symptoms alone (especially the anemia), he was 99% confident it was just hemorrhoids but opted for the colonoscopy anyway. Since I have GERD as well he did an upper endoscopy at the same time while I was under. Turns my colon is completely normal, and I don’t even have any polyps (which my father had several at my age). Don’t need another one for 10 years.

Honestly my biggest fear was going under with propofol. A lot of people I spoke with said it felt great but I didn’t have that experience. I hated the feeling of slipping into unconsciousness in a way that was not similar to other anesthetics I had been under, and I felt like complete garbage the whole rest of the day. Other than that, the prep was perfect fine and I had never taken a more legendary shit in my life.

Re: Are colonoscopies worth it?

#195

Post by gilbetron »

surfsvammel wrote: post #106

I do regular colonoscopies because of a condition. People are worried about the procedure, as I was my first times. Here are some things that I wish someone had told me: - Taking the meds for cleaning out your system the day before is far worse than the procedure itself. - Have a lollipop to stick in your mouth after Each time you take a shot of the laxatives. It helps with the vile taste of it. - If you need relaxin…

For future colonoscopies, ask if you can do the Gatorade + MiraLAX prep. You can pick your flavor (but there are color restrictions) and it is way better than the other prep fluids.

Re: Are colonoscopies worth it?

#196

Post by denton-scratch »

theogravity wrote: post #140

I just got one two days ago because my family has a history of it. Other than having to go on a no fiber diet and ingesting specific sets of salts to empty the bowel for the procedure, it was pretty in and out, and no pain at all afterwords (probably because they didn't find any polyps). I went home with neat pictures of my clean colon. Also lost 10 lbs in the past week but already seemed to have gained back a little…

> (probably because they didn't find any polyps)

They found polyps in mine, and removed them; no pain after. The colon doesn't have pain nerves.

Re: Are colonoscopies worth it?

#197

Post by denton-scratch »

Vecr wrote: post #73
haldujai wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The problem with medical interventions, especially tests, is that they sometimes work. There will always be success stories. Do you prefer medical interventions that never work? > are there other paths to those same success stories. Yes, in the US other options include high sensitivity FOBT, FIT, sDNA-FIT and CT colonography.

CT as in X-ray computed tomography? If so, it's dubious if that's safer than a colonoscopy, depending on what ionizing radiation harm model you use.

For my procedures, they used a continuous X-ray to monitor the location of the equipment. I'm pretty sure I was more irradiated than by a CT scan.

Re: Are colonoscopies worth it?

#198

Post by fjfaase »

cfn wrote: post #126

I see several personal accounts and I could also share mine but given that colonoscopies "rarely — but not that rarely — have serious side effects" and that there was only an overall 1% difference of all cause mortality between the groups in the trial, is it worth risking the side effects if you are healthy and don't have any symptoms?

The side effects are only mentioned in the first paragraph of the article. I wonder how many people have died (or suffered considerable and possible lasting harm) as a result of colonoscopies performed during the period of the investigation and who were otherwise healthy.

Re: Are colonoscopies worth it?

#200

Post by touisteur »

timr wrote: post #127
dgellow wrote: post #100

Given people don’t read the full article, and that feels pretty important in this discussion, I will quote the way it ends: > One thing is clear: Screening works. If you’re of the appropriate age, please get screened. If your tubes are acting funny, please get screened without delay. The best method and the level of benefit are debatable, but we know it helps. Use a stool test if you want (multitarget DNA test if you…

> One thing is clear: Screening works. If you’re of the appropriate age, please get screened. If your tubes are acting funny, please get screened without delay. The best method and the level of benefit are debatable, but we know it helps. That's unfortunate, because it's a poor summary of the actual paper the article is discussing. If you bother to read the rest of the article, you'll see the actual summary of the tr…

Thanks for taking the time to distill the article a bit (more).
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