Should I get a Colonoscopy

[sqwak1200]

I am a 44 year old male.  No one in my family has a history of colon cancer.  I recently completed triple therapy for H. Pylori(breath test came back negative).  Here are my symptoms
1.  Constipation for a 9 days(releived by use of laxative and stool softner).
2.  Had blood drops on toilet paper after passing some big feces.(This was for a couple days)
3.  Abdominal pain and cramps below the navel.
4.  Diarreha for two of the last three days.
5.  But no blood in the stool.

At this point I'm not sure if my insurance will pay for the colonoscopy.  I belive the total cost for the colonoscopy, the Doctors fee and lab will be about $4000-$5000.

[ebjb]

Yes a couple of drops of bright red blood is pretty much a sign of a tear, especially if you have strained to pass a large stool so I wouldn't worry about that. How are your symptoms now? Have they subsided any? As girlvet says a basic stool test would show if any blood coming from further up within bowel before you go ahead with the colonoscopy if you need to.

[sqwak1200]

thanks for the info ebjb and girlvet.  To ebjb, the blood was bright red and it was a just a couple of drops on the toilet paper. After going through  the hassle with my insurance company I wished I lived in England.  At times I feel like the doctors are looking at how much they can bill the insurance company everytime I go into his office.  Eveyrtime I see my Primary care(which on average is about 3 to 5 minutes with the doctor) her office bills the insurance company $65(my copay is $59).  The GI  doc will bill the insurance company $200 for an office visit(average time is about 10 min with the doc).

At this point for peace of mind I'll probably get the conlonoscopy anyway.

[girlvet]

Has your doc done any basic stool tests?  That would be an option insurance should cover, just to make sure you have no other type of bacterial infection, prior to a colonoscopy.  Im not sure, but I think for men its age 50 most docs do a colonoscopy as part of a general physical (should be covered then), unless of course something is suspected before then.  May wanna just ask the doc about testing samples if your symptoms dont subside on their own.

[ebjb]

Was the blood on your toilet paper bright red? Could have just been caused by the passing of some big stools which may have caused small tear on their way out. You may just have Irritable Bowel Syndrome but if I were you I'd have the colonoscopy - your health is more important than money and having a clean colonoscopy would take away the worry you obviously have. You should try to claim on your insurance for the fees - they really should pay up - that's what you pay into it for.

Here in the UK we have free National Health Service (NHS) which means when we need these tests we get them free, but I still say with the constipation, pain, cramps and diarrhoea, having a colonoscopy would either allay your fears or catch anything in early curable stages. Good luck to you. Come back to let us know how you are.