Common channel length?

I am 5-7. Starting weight 240ish. Now, 135.  Common channel is 95.  I had/have no comorbids.

I sometimes wish mine was a little longer.  I find I don't have a big appetite and a longer channel might help with hydration.

I am only 1 1/2 years out, though.  Give more weight to the responses of those who have more experience.  I know my body is still going to go through some changes.

IMHO, it really is an individual thing.  My surgeon normally does 50 cc, and I knew from all the research I did on this what that would mean for the rest of my life - so I told him not to go that short.  I had a BMI of 41.

In hindsight, I should have listened to him.  He told me with my metabolic issues, my age, how much I needed to lose, and how long that fat had been on my body - that I would be better off at 50cc.  But he gave me what I wanted - I got 75-80cc. 

Now I'm not going to make it to goal.  A BMI of 25 means I would weigh 135.  I am struggling to get below 165.  Add in 'the bounce back' weight we will gain when our body adjusts to the surgery... and I will still be obese.  To have endured all of this, paid all this money, to still be obese - makes me sad.

So think long and hard on this if you are given a choice.  It's a trade off.  Maintenance with a longer channel is easier with less bathroom issues, and you have less absorption issues as you age.  But a shorter channel enables you to lose weight without extreme effort, and helps you keep it off down the road.  And keeping the weight off gets a little harder every year as you age.

Good luck with your decision. 

 

35.5 BMI had sleeve done.  Unsatisfactory weight loss, so at 31 BMI, had revision to DS with resized sleeve.  100 cm common channel.  Have lost 22 pounds in nine weeks and very happy with results.  

So i double checked with my surgeon's preop coordinator and he is planning 125. That seems like it should be acceptable. Thanks for everyone's input!

Hello dandm4life,

We did a search here on OH and found some previous discussions on the subject.

http://www.obesityhelp.com/search/action,search_oh/?q=Common +channel+length&cx=000946886326336472648%3Ae-vpeg4uyxw&cof=F ORID%3A9

Please let us know if we can be of any further assistance.

Regards,

Member Services Team

thanks

Same surgeon. Common channel 125cc, BMI 40, age 58. Reached normal BMI in under 10 months. Great labs. Lactose intolerance early on resolved. Diabetes resolved within days of surgery. Could not be happier with surgeon or his team.

I'd go for the 100cm common channel.

Mine is 75cm, and I'm happy with it, but the vitamin supplementation is *murderous* at my length, I need more of everything than the typical DSer.

Does your surgeon do the Hess Method, measuring out to your own body's specifications?  That's what I got with Hess. I started out asking for 50cm, which my surgeon doesn't do anymore, due to too many revisions for deficiencies.

People with longer common channels seem to have fewer issues with deficiencies.

If you have a tiny bit of regain with 100cm, you can just cut the carbs and kick your body into losing again.  I had a six-pound gain at my surgeon's visit Tuesday, so carbs are going away for a while.  It was the end of the day, so I'm thinking it might be fluid weight, since I drink a lot of fluids, and had fluids for the entire two-hour drive,  but I'm not taking any chances!

 

See my stats - I was a 150 cc. I also got pregnant 11 months after surgery, and have been pregnant again since - a total of 14 months pregnant out of 3 years and so was in NO way restricting any carbs. So that definitely impacted my total weight loss. However, my post-surgery lifestyle has been so good. I have zero food, intestinal problems and intolerances, no gas issues, etc. My vitamin levels are excellent. I hadn't lost anything in the last year or so, but then about 10 days ago I started a gluten-free diet in prep for a medical procedure and suddenly I've lost 5 lbs below my previous low in the last week! I was so worried about 150 being too long a common channel and actually asked Dr. Rabkin to make it less. He reassured me that with my intestinal length, height, etc., that I would be great. He was RIGHT. I have been told by docs that I have more than 20 lbs of skin that should be removed. With that I would be at my own goal weight. Also keep in mind - I have read many times on this board over the years that something changes in our bone weight if we have carried a huge excess of weight on our bodies for years. And even though many of us don't technically reach a normal BMI, the way we carry our post DS weight is not equivalent to our pre-DS weight. I've found that to be true. I weighed 176 as a senior in high school. I weigh nearly 20 lbs more than that now, but everyone (me included) agrees that I look much thinner now. And my measurements are smaller.

 

Mine is 75 cm. I started at 231 pounds with a BMI close to 50. 

I googled the topic and found this study:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/15862492/

Not sure if further studies have been done since then.