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My entire adult life I've had a very unstable stomach, and for the past 6-7 years I've experienced pretty much every red flag, but they'd often come in waves - which would give me just enough time to back off from calling my GP.
Last May a good friend of mine, 35 years old, was diagnosed with stage 4 colorectal cancer. He had experienced on/off constipation and stomach pain for a month, but otherwise healthy. When he went to the ER they suspected volvulus, but scans showed a huge tumor blocking. Long story short, it was cancer and it had spread to his liver and lungs.
He's still alive, and responding well to treatment, in the sense that the tumors are shrinking - but in general the prognosis is poor. And he's been completely ravaged by the treatment. If he survives, it is very unlikely he can go back working.
This prompted me to get myself checked. After telling my GP about my symptoms, he told me - yup, better get blood tests, stool samples, and a colonoscopy.
The colonoscopy turned out to be almost completely painless. If anything, the prep was more annoying than the procedure itself. And by far my biggest anxiety was the idea of getting my fears confirmed.
Luckily, there was nothing. Not even a single polyp. All other tests came back normal, too.
So, at least based on my experience, don't hesitate. It's really not bad.
EDIT: I took it without general anesthesia. I was asked if I wanted a mix of sedative and painkiller for the procedure, which I think was some benzo and fentanyl mix - to which I said yes. Where I'm from (Norway), propofol is not the standard for colonoscopy.
Honestly I couldn't really feel much difference when I was given the mix - I've been under general anesthesia before, and the second you get propofol you instantly from normal to "drunk".
Obviously it's individual, though. I've talked with people that have had the procedure without anything (because they had to drive there), and had minimal discomfort. And I've talked with people that needed sedatives / painkillers.
By greenavocado 2026-01-2315:211 reply I had United Healthcare PPO and I got hit with a $3000 bill for the colonoscopy because of the conveniently out of network anesthesiologist anyway.
> anesthesiologist
Were you even offered a colonoscopy without sedation? In the US, many providers often require sedation for colonoscopies, regardless of your age or lack of comorbidities--which, ironically, makes me less inclined to get one. Meanwhile, in other countries, the SOP is to only provide sedation is it's absolutely needed.
By TrackerFF 2026-01-2221:18 A couple of different stool tests, which look for blood. From what I was told, if these come back positive that alone if enough to warrant a colonoscopy.
If you are avoiding a colonoscopy because you don’t want to get knocked out, they can do it while you’re awake.
If for some reason you don’t want to be anesthetized you can just ask. It is also cheaper this way and you can drive yourself home.
Based on my limited research it seems like anesthesia is mostly there because people are prude.
The painful parts of procedure doesn’t hurt any more than having bad gas pain.
And it’s only a few less-than-ten-second points during the procedure that are anywhere near what I would describe as painful.
The insertion of the camera is rather jarring if you’re not used to having things stuck up your ass, but again surprisingly painless.
I was able to watch along with the doctor on a massive tv screen and see my own innards.
Worst part was taking preparatory laxatives before.
Overall not a bad experience for the piece of mind it provided.
Get a colonoscopy if you are due or have reason to believe you should get one.
Actually the greatest thing for me is the falling asleep effortlessly part!
By b2w 2026-01-2222:23 To me, it felt like some of the best sleep of my life! The gibberish out of my mouth afterwards thou...well it was a good laugh for my spouse, which is a happy sight seen upon opening my eyes.
By eszed 2026-01-231:15 Ask for novocain around your external sphincter - there's a high likelihood that the doctors won't think of it, because they're used to doing the procedure on sedated patients - unless, you know, you're otherwise prepared for that experience. That'll take care of ~75% of the discomfort. I otherwise endorse everything you say - it's a fascinating procedure to watch while awake!
It's a low specificity test. If you get a false positive you'll be getting a colonoscopy anyway, and (less of a risk, but still worth considering) if you get a false negative it's a bit of a problem. That's how my gastro explained it, and a bit of my own internet research supported.
I think most people are not used to having things stuck up their ass.
By kelseyfrog 2026-01-232:30 That's an incredibly easy thing to change. It takes little money, a flared base, and only mild curiosity.
By ggggffggggg 2026-01-2221:57 Lol. “Most” is doing a lot of work there.
By briandon 2026-01-2311:12 At least one decades-old study that had purported to show that the herbicide glyphosate posed no health (esp cancer) risk to humans was retracted in late 2025 (https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/02/climate/glyphosate-roundu...). Glyphosate may be applied multiple times in a season, both to control weeds but also onto the actual desired crop (i.e. the stuff that gets turned into food for humans and for other animals) as a desiccant a week or two pre-harvest. The official line is that glyphosate that isn't absorbed directly by leaves and other above-ground plant tissues "tightly binds" to soil and is quickly and completely broken down by soil bacteria, though it is also admitted that plant roots can absorb glyphosate and that it can subsequently be transmitted throughout plants. So I would not discount the possibility that some level of glyphosate accumulation in the soil and bioaccumulation in food crops could also be occurring alongside residues from spraying.
In other words, dietary fiber in general or specific forms (e.g. Metamucil aka Psyllium husk) could be effective in lowering CRC risk or could have been so in the past but consumption of real-world dietary fiber in the current era in which glyphosate-based herbicides are in increasingly wide use could now be increasing cancer risks.
