I just turned 53. Had first one at the age of 50, which used to be the old rule. They changed that recommendation to start them at 45 right around the time I had passed 45. I had so many polyps on the first colonoscopy that my gastroenterologist had to prioritize to remove the largest ones and then come back a year later for the rest. Total polyp count between those 2 procedures was upper 20’s. Some of them were pretty good size, but no cancer. This was my first real follow-up, and I was down to 4 small polyps.
While I waited until 50, I wouldn’t recommend that. I lost a high school friend to colon cancer two years ago. He had some stomach pain, went to see the doctor, and he had stage 4 colon cancer. He passed away about 3 months later.
The colonoscopy itself is nothing. It’s the prep (cleanout) that sucks.