Cologuard Test Reviews

I hated my first colonoscopy taken about 15 years ago and vowed to never have another since I was well over 70 years and had no history of colon cancer anywhere in my family. When my doctor suggested the Colonguard, I accepted because it was non-evasive. The procedure was simple and easy to follow and I received the good news of a negative result within a week so I am very happy and would highly recommend it.

Bottom Line: Yes, I would recommend this to a friend

I wish I never contacted them. Save your money. A total scam IMO. And the worst customer service ever. Tried to get my results and put through total hell. Such idiots answering the phones and so unhelpful. I would never recommend using them. Save your money.

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

Was excited to find a non-invasive way to check for colon cancer but would never, never do this again or recommend to anyone. It is a scam, totally a way for Exact Sciences and the doctors to make more money at the patient's expense. Take note of the reviews. Notice that the majority of the reviews come back with a positive. They then go through more expensive, invasive testing and extreme stress for them and their families only to find that it was a false positive. In my case also, I changed Primary Physicians after the test was ordered but before I performed the test. The doctors who ordered it canceled the test and I was told the new doctor would have to place a new order which would cost me $649.00 as my insurance company would only pay for one test every three years. All that needed to be done was to change who the results were sent to. I gave them all the information, my new doctor offered to call, etc., but they refused to do it.

DO NOT GET TAKEN BY THOSE "CUTESIE" ADVERTISEMENTS ON TV!

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

I am 75 years old, have had 3 sigmoidoscopies, and 2 colonoscopies since age 44, all with negative results. In between colonoscopies, I have used the BioIQ Fit test with negative results. This year my GP recommended Cologuard with, guess what, a positive reading. So I had another colonoscopy yesterday with, guess what, a negative reading. My evaluation, a waste of time and money.

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

My doctor proposed that I take the Cologuard Test. Although I read through the brochure many times I went ahead and did the test. I got a "positive colon cancer" result. I have been in intense anxiety ever since. I went ahead and made my appointment with my specialist, he was great and reassured me as best he could. What this experience has done to myself and my family is beyond words. Both of us have experienced severe anxiety, increase in blood pressure and difficulty sleeping. I had my appointment with the surgeon this week (lived under the cloud of the positive diagnosis for a month and a half) where he found absolutely nothing! Praise God for this but I must ask why the Cologuard is even used? I discovered that there is a 41% false positive for this test. There is no telling how much insurance companies have paid for a largely inaccurate test. The pain and suffering, both mental, emotional and physical that patients go through should not happen. I have been so sick over this that I haven't been able to function in my normal manner. Not to mention the difficulty of telling my little grand-sons that Nana has something wrong with her tummy and must go to another doctor to find out if we can fix it. I told them in the most gentle way without alarming them but as it turns out it was a conversation that I should not have had to have. I would tell anyone who has been recommended to take a Cologuard Test to say a resounding NO!

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

I thought I’d skip the nasty prep of a colonoscopy, and do the Cologuard route. My test came back 96% positive. Waited for 3 weeks on pins and needles to get a colonoscopy done. The colonoscopy found 2 polyps...no cancer. Never again for Cologuard. Do the colonoscopy. If I would have done the colonoscopy in the first place, the wait and worry game wouldn’t have happened. They would have found the polyps, removed them, and done!

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

This company is a money grabber.

I do not recommend this company to anyone. Rip off. A step people need to avoid. It is best just to get the colostomy and get it over with.

Doctors and the rest of that system are pirates. Beware, they will take your money. Getting rich.

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

Once you get the box they begin calling you nonstop to send it back. Got a false positive and then had pay for a colonoscopy.

Wish I would have just been tough and went with colonoscopy to begin with - just didn't want to drink the colon prep liquid.

After getting the news that the Cologuard came back positive obviously I was worried that I had colon cancer. Big waste of time and money using this product. Never again.

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

I completely regret doing this and wish I would have read the reviews prior. My like many others came back positive. I fretted for weeks until being able to get a colonoscopy. My colonoscopy came back perfect. I am relieved now, but will never get those weeks back that I did nothing but worry, stress, and cry thinking I had colon cancer. This test is not the easy way out...just do the regular colonoscopy. It isn't that hard. I feel bad that my insurance company had to pay for both because this Cologuard Test is so inaccurate. If I could give 0 stars, I would do that. This company is deserving of NO star.

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

As a former cancer survivor, when I got my positive Cologuard results I panicked. Got a colonoscopy five days later and they found no polyps or cancer. I asked the doctor how reliable the test was and he said the older you get the worse the results. The same thing happened to my friend a month ago. Might as well just bite the bullet and get a colonoscopy. You’ll end up with one anyway. My vote is don’t bother. It’s not reliable.

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

The company is relentless in phone calls and letters. I have asked that they stop contacting me and yet they continue. After reading all of these reviews, I am not sure I will even bother with the test. I did do the cards which are offered by another company and the result was negative. The cards need to be done annually and Cologuard every 3 years. The three-year timeframe was the selling point for me. I am regretting my decision due to the relentlessness of the company. I can read and I can follow directions. Just stop the phone calls.

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

Had the test done, came back positive and had to have a colonoscopy.

They found nothing, not even a polyp. This test is junk! I will never have this again. Complete waste of time and insurance money. If I could give 0 stars I would.

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

Honestly I don't see how this can only get a 1.6 rating and some calling it a scam. I get having mixed results but calling it a scam is totally irresponsible. I would say the right decision to use Cologuard is based on several factors determined by your doctor, family history and your diet. For me, I am 64 and believe it or not never had a colonoscopy, my family was horrified (3 nurses) by this fact but I just couldn't pull the trigger on the big C prep and probe test. Bottom line, no prep, read a few easy to understand instructions, when nature calls have a BM in a container, send it off via UPS drop off location and 2 weeks later (today) get your results. Piece of cake! Fortunately for me, the test was negative! So I am thrilled and highly recommend this option!

Bottom Line: Yes, I would recommend this to a friend

The test is awkward. Hard to sit and go with the way this sits on your toilet. And everyone is right - TOO many phone calls. If I have a question I will call you. GEES. Of course today I get the results - positive. I also agree that they should inform the doctor of what part was positive. Fecal blood or DNA. Now Doctor wants a colonoscopy, sorry I can't afford it. And the Dr's office told my husband!

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

Like too many on this review site, I received a false positive result, "Abnormal" after having the Cologuard test done. My doctor then ordered an urgent colonoscopy performed two weeks later (7-day diet changes for prep etc.). Results, NORMAL, no POLYPS. Doctor shared, "I don't know just I feel about this test, we do get a lot of false positives, but also those with questionable polyps..." After receiving my Cologuard results till having exam my nerves were pushed to a point I never should have experienced. So I give this testing a ZERO. I'm incredibly grateful I missed this cancer diagnosis. At 60 years I do now advocate to go and have the colonoscopy at a Gastroenterology Center Specialist, not by your general M.D. Btw, my doctor has performed 35,000 in his career!

I had no family history of colon cancer. My previous baseline colonoscopy was done ten years earlier (age 50) by the same physician and I didn't have any polyps. My 85-year-old mother had to have one for what turned out to be gastric irritation due to her daily aspirin regime, but no polyps!

So I felt pretty good about turning down having another one at 60 and finally agreed to take the Cologuard test to appease my doctor.

Although this hasn't been a pleasant emotional experience I now recognize how important it is to have that 10-year screening as 60+ is when rogue cells of cancer can show their ugly selves. IF you still refuse to have a colonoscopy I'd have the stool testing for blood only. That's been around for years and can detect possible cancers.

So if you've just gotten back the results as positive, DON'T let your mind run away, chances are it's incorrect or just precancerous and you've caught it in time.

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

If you have hemorrhoids your test will come back positive. Then you have to get a colonoscopy to make sure it’s not cancer. Then you have to pay for your colonoscopy because now it’s diagnostic instead of a screening. I only wish I was told all this before I did the Cologuard Test. The Cologuard Test is about $650.00. Colonoscopy is about $4,000.00, which would you rather pay for?

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

The minute my provider ordered the test I got phone bombed! Relentless phone calls about the product. The test kit arrived, self-explanatory really. I got everything back in the box and found the box won't fit in the UPS boxes located throughout our towns. It's about 1 inch too big. I was not going to drive to a UPS store. Cologuard should have planned for this eventuality. Now, me and my box came home and I proceeded to deal with the UPS telephonic computer to set up a pick up at my home. No, the website was not helpful. 30 minutes later, I had my pick up scheduled. I wish I had read the reviews before I got involved with this product. I can hardly wait for the next chapter.

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

I’m 73 and had this test because my doctor recommended. It came back positive. For three weeks I thought I had cancer, because Cologuard indicated the test is 94% accurate. Well, I had a colonoscopy performed and there were no polyps or cancer detected. Since I had this test I have read articles from various institutions and doctors indicating this test is 78% false positive.

DO NOT GET the Cologuard Test!

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

My wife took her Cologuard Test, and had it back to Cologuard in Madison, Wisconsin less than 24 hours after taking the test. She was called the day after delivery with the message that the test had been processed too late on their end to be valid, they acknowledged it had been received the next morning but due to "luck of the draw" it had not been processed! REALLY! Heard "luck of the draw" several times.

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

My doctor ordered the test because I have never had a colonoscopy and has been after me for 20 years to have one. They kept calling me and sending letters even after I had done the test and gotten the results. One letter offered me $ 50.00 if I would do the test and since I had already done it, I called them and said asked why I was not offered the $50.00 before? They said no problem and they sent me the $50.00. The results were positive. After agonizing 7 months over the results, I finally had the colonoscopy and I am left with serious side effects from it.

I never should have done it. I don't know how the FDA can approve such a test without any detail of the results. A true scam.

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

I got screwed. The doctor said in my physical that since not been 10 years from the last colonoscopy then I had to take Colon jerk test because insurance covered it. Came back positive (which it will even if you have a hemorrhoid ) as it detects any blood (DNA). So I called BCBS and specifically asked on a tape-recorded line and was told that the follow-up colonoscopy would be a covered prescreening based on the fact that nothing was found. Nothing was found, I got billed $1695 because the "false positive DNA genetic lab test of Colon guard" was the prescreening benefit for colon cancer, so everything after is diagnostic even though there was nothing to diagnosis. STAY AWAY. And you will never get the results of what they tested or anything to show where their error was for a false positive.

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

My doctor suggested the Cologuard Test as an option vs. a colonoscopy, and I was on the fence. Then the phone calls started. Night, day, even SUNDAY. Calling, calling, calling. I read up on the test and a lot of insurance companies don't pay for Cologuard and you are stuck with the bill, the LAST THING I WANT! Plus, I don't appreciate getting bugged CONTINUOUSLY! They sent the kit without me even okaying it! TERRIBLE! Run run run RUN AWAY from these kinds of tactics!

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

I'm 67 and fully intended never to have a colonoscopy. When I told and told my PCP that, he talked me into at least doing the Cologuard test. It was easy to do and the instructions were thorough. The test came back abnormal; necessitating a follow-up colonoscopy. Just my luck. I had to wait 30 days for that, which was pretty stressful. I ended up having 4 polyps removed, one of which was precancerous. The gastro said it would likely have been full blown cancer within a year or two. I suppose just going for the colonoscopy in the first place would have been the best thing to do, but...

Bottom Line: Yes, I would recommend this to a friend

I followed the instructions, did the sample, mailed it in. Within a couple of days, my doctor's office called and said Cologuard could not give a positive or negative reading. I asked why? She said Cologuard said the sample was "too much."

Come on! Nowhere did I see in the instructions anything about the size of the sample.

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

My doctor talked me into getting this test sent to my house. Once I got the box, I opened the box and pulled everything out. Once I read the brochure, I said no way to this test. They want you to go to the bathroom in a cup, then scape your poop to get a sample, then put this fluid over it, and box and send it in. I think it is gross, nasty, and a waste of time to do this test. I called the next day to cancel this test, and to send the box back, I was told to just throw it away or keep it if I want to. I am 52 years old, and I think I will take my chances of getting cancer. I refuse to do this test.

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

I've completed both a colonoscopy and Cologuard. I found Cologuard to be a simple and easy test to complete in the privacy of my home. I won't miss the 2 stage prep over the course of several hours. I won't miss waiting in the colonoscopy factory hoping the G.I. isn't running too late. I won't miss the Propofol twitching my heart. I won't miss getting into a gown and bearing my lower half to half the staff. I won't miss having to take time off work in addition to my wife having to be present and missing work as well. But most importantly to me is I can do this in another 3 years and not worry that a busy doctor missed something growing and it won't be discovered for another 10 years.

Bottom Line: Yes, I would recommend this to a friend

First of all, the day I received the test the incessant phone calls began from Exact Sciences. Calls came in twice a day, 3 or 4 times a week, annoying me usually at work. I only agreed to this test because my doctor kept annoying me about a colonoscopy. (I have seen first hand some real tragic complications patients have experienced as a result of a colonoscopy, therefore, have avoided this test.) Of course, now my doctor wants me to have a colonoscopy because the test results have come back as positive.

I have checked and insurance will not pay for both. No colonoscopy for me! I can't afford it.

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend