Don’t bother with the mail-in test if you know you have hemorrhoids. It tests for DNA fragments from tumors and for microscopic traces of blood. If it comes back positive, they don’t tell you if it was positive for the tumor DNA or for blood, and you’ll have to get a colonoscopy anyways.
Cologuards are only good for 3 years at most, and a colonoscopy is good for 10 years if it comes back clean. Just save your money and go straight to the colonoscopy because the hemorrhoids will likely pop a false positive on the mail-in test.
Edit: Also! If you have a positive cologuard, the ensuing colonoscopy has to get billed as “diagnostic” instead of as “screening” and insurance pays for it differently.
They have something like a 45% false positive rate because of the microscopic blood test and really are more of a scam than anything else in my opinion.
Don’t bother with the mail-in test if you know you have hemorrhoids. It tests for DNA fragments from tumors and for microscopic traces of blood. If it comes back positive, they don’t tell you if it was positive for the tumor DNA or for blood, and you’ll have to get a colonoscopy anyways.
Cologuards are only good for 3 years at most, and a colonoscopy is good for 10 years if it comes back clean. Just save your money and go straight to the colonoscopy because the hemorrhoids will likely pop a false positive on the mail-in test.
Edit: Also! If you have a positive cologuard, the ensuing colonoscopy has to get billed as “diagnostic” instead of as “screening” and insurance pays for it differently.
Very very good advice, thank you.
They have something like a 45% false positive rate because of the microscopic blood test and really are more of a scam than anything else in my opinion.