Anyone have a positive Cologuard test?

Posted by dazlin @dazlin, Nov 21, 2019

My test results came back positive. I asked what did it show, because they test for 11 different cancers or categories. They said, it just states either negative or positive for cancer. I had problems a few years back and did a colonoscopy, which came back ok. Now this!! I'm reading theres a 13 percent chance of false positive. Right now I'm extremely distraught about having to go through all Consults, tests, and dreaded preps. Orders are in for Consult with gastro, but they're booked out through January or February in Mayo. I have not received any notice for appointment yet. Dont know what to think or do.

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I had a positive Cologuard test and had a colonoscopy at age 84. The doctor found a small, benign looking polyp which came back negative. The doctor told me that he doesn't think I need to bother with further Cologuard tests, probably because of my age (still 84).

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I am a 53 year-old-female. I had a routine Cologuard test come back positive in Dec. 2022. It was recommended to follow up with a colonoscopy. I had told myself it was probably positive from possibly hemorrhoid. The colonoscopy had a positive finding for a 60mm mass in my cecum. The biopsy confirmed cancer adenocarcinoma. I am awaiting further testing for Lynch Syndrome and will meet with the surgeon next week.

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That is the MAJOR problem with the Cologuard tests!!!. You may have a false negative or false positive reading so how good is that if your potential life depends on it? From what I have read, the test cannot differentiate between benign or cancerous polyps present so either way I believe it is prudent to get a colonoscopy. The last time I used magnesium citrate in ginger ale along with laxatives for a prep, but for whatever reasons, somehow the magnesium citrate got contaminated and it has been pulled off the shelves everywhere.
I had a colonoscopy two weeks ago and since I am now 73, this will be my last one unless something unusual comes up. This round I ended up using a split prep of Miralax and Gatorade zero (flavor of glacier cherry which has no red coloring) along with Ducolax and, overall, the prep went better than expected. My major problem with these preps is that I am not a person who drinks a lot of fluids and getting 64 ounces down in a limited period of time is the real challenge for me. This time I drank 4 8-oz. glasses of the mixture in the evening and the same amount in the early morning since my appt. was at 2 p.m.
Fortunately, for me, this time I had zero polyps. I feel good that I got it done because if I had polyps presumably the dr. could have removed them successfully since I had my last colonoscopy 9 years ago. Even if one has cancerous polyps that are relatively small, they can be removed before they proliferate and cause life threatening problems.
I hope you good forward in getting the colonoscopy to see what is really happening and get it taken care of promptly. Best of luck to you!

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@medicar

I am a 53 year-old-female. I had a routine Cologuard test come back positive in Dec. 2022. It was recommended to follow up with a colonoscopy. I had told myself it was probably positive from possibly hemorrhoid. The colonoscopy had a positive finding for a 60mm mass in my cecum. The biopsy confirmed cancer adenocarcinoma. I am awaiting further testing for Lynch Syndrome and will meet with the surgeon next week.

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@medicar, while I'm very sorry you were diagnosed with cancer, I'm glad that it was caught early because of screening.

Have you testing positive for Lynch? How did the meeting with the surgeon go? What are next steps?

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@dlc69

I also had a positive Cologuard and just had my first colonoscopy yesterday at the age of 52. The doctor told me that there is a medium sized polyp at the base of my appendix that couldn't be removed safely due to risk of perforation and the fact that they cannot be sure that the polyp doesn't extend into the appendix. So I now I am waiting to hear the result of the biopsy. The doctor said that the polyp needs to be removed even if its just benign or precancerous (which I thought was the same thing) either by a highly skilled gastro surgeon or via an appendectomy. He said he'd be surprised if its cancerous but that would be a different conversation. I'm so confused and upset by all this.

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My diagnosis sounds like exactly what you went thru. Had a colonoscopy last week after a positive colorguard. Flat polyp at appendix and colon. Scraped polyp for biopsy. Waiting for results.
Thanks for sharing your journey.

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That's the hard part trying to get a doctor's visit which takes months. Why? Years ago, people were sick, and you didn't have to wait that long. Something is not right about this at all.

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@carol32605

My diagnosis sounds like exactly what you went thru. Had a colonoscopy last week after a positive colorguard. Flat polyp at appendix and colon. Scraped polyp for biopsy. Waiting for results.
Thanks for sharing your journey.

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How were your test results?

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Not cancer but polyp could develop into cancer. They could not remove all of the polyp because it was flat. Wants me to have another colonoscopy in November.

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@foreigngoddess

Found this forum as I was trying to alleviate my worry from a positive Cologuard test. I am 45 and this was my first testing for this sort of thing. When they called me they just said it was positive for either blood and/or altered DNA but cant say which it is. The follow up "dr" they have you can chat with says that blood is unlikely due to hemorrhoids (but I have seen the opposite on other health websites). Either way, I do have my first Colonoscopy scheduled for Friday. Wish I had never done the Cologuard test and just stuck with the Colonoscopy because now I am truly worried especially with so many people dying from Colon cancer in the news the last few years.

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Yeah but had you NOT done the Cologuard test would you have scheduled a colonoscopy? Or would a Doctor even have recommended a colonoscopy?

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I had a cologuard test in 2018 and that came back "negative". I had another cologuard test in 2022 and that came back "positive". I personally was not in a hurry to get a colonoscopy and endoscopy and because of my weight (220) I had to get it done in the hospital so the first available date was March 14th. I feared and endoscopy more than a colonoscopy because of a friend telling me she was awake when she had one. Needless to say that was this week and my colonoscopy was clean as a whistle. The doctor gave me pictures as well, it was indeed very interesting. However, I had very minut bleeding in my stomach which resulted in the "positive" cologuard result. I got pictures of that too. I did take a lot of Aleve (like PM nightly - 2 years) and sometimes daily as well for my osteoarthritis and I asked my regular doctor to put me back on Celebrex in October which she did. My Gastroenterologist said that Celebrex was better for my condition than Aleve. I was on 1/4 to 1/2 a pill of hydrocodone daily 325-10 mg for my joint pain and osteoarthritis for 14 years and never had a problem. My doctor said the insurance probably wouldn't approve hydrocodone anymore because of all the drug overdoses so that's when I switched to Aleve daytime and PM and Tylenol on top of that. It's a shame that people that really need certain medications can't get them because of the misuse of drugs in this country :-(. So the moral of my story is that other things can cause a "Positive" reading for Cologuard and not cancer or polyps, etc. I know the prep is unpleasant but once it's done it's done. I'm 70 yr. old female. Hopefully that was my last colonscopy in my lifetime. Good luck to you.

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