Migraine-like Auras but associated with stomach?

I had a grade 3 paraesophogeal hiatal hernia surgery...my stomach was 100% up in my chest. I had a only partially successful surgery (inexperienced surgeon, don't get me started). He successfully moved my stomach back to my abdomen. But the band he put on there to stop GERD slipped, and the result is that I have nearly constant acid reflux and nothing short of surgery will stop it. He also didn't totally close the hernia, so I still have a hiatal hernia.
That's background. My road has been very long...it's been over 2 years.

I have had these episodes ever since the surgery: it always happens after I eat. I haven't been able to link it to any particular foods. But sometimes I get light headed, and then I get HUGE auras, sometimes completely occluding my vision in half of each of my eyes. Both shapes are always the same. I'm sure it's a brain thing, not an eye thing.

But what is causing it? The surgery totally cut a bunch of nerves in my abdomen, and I ended up with gastroparesis (where the stomach won't pass food through) for over a year. Finally the nerves grew back and I was able to eat more than a tiny bit of food at a time.

I have no health insurance right now, so I'm hoping someone else can tell me why I'm getting ocular auras because of my stomach, or at least tell me they do too, so I don't feel crazy!

I was just wondering if anyone else had had the same phenomenon, and what their doctors had said about.
I did have health insurance when I had the surgery, but I don't right now.

Hi.

I’m very sorry that you experience this. I get migraines with aura after an episode of an upset stomach. I’ve experienced this maybe 5 times during the past two years and it seems to affect my left eye, completely obstructing my vision to the point I think I’m going blind. I have the same zigzags and the blind spot each time. I’ve not had the surgery you’ve mentioned, but I have been diagnosed with GERD and was wondering if these conditions are connected. My mother experiences migraines with aura w/ stomach issues and her mother did, too. They have both told me that it’s stomach or gallbladder related, maybe both. It’s definitely hereditary for me, but I would love to understand why and how to stop it. It’s a terrible thing to live with.

Best wishes in finding answers to this.

Post Edited (MelFel) : 1/13/2021 12:33:15 AM (GMT-7)