Night Blindness, Anyone?

[oobiecoo]

Do any of you suffer from night blindness? Please tell your story...

 

[sap483]

Not exactly night blindness, but when I had my old contact lenses I would sometimes have a really hard time seeing at night, especially when driving. It got so bad that I actually had to call my DH and have him pick me up one time b/c I couldn''t see well enough to drive. It turned out that I had astigmatism, so I got a new kind of contacts for astigamatism and it''s been fine ever since. The oncoming headlights still bother me a little but it''s way better.

 

[Tacori E-ring]

Ever since I had PRK my night vision is pretty bad. I can still see/drive but it takes lots of concentration.

 

[sunnyd]

I found out I have astigmatism last year, so now that I have glasses it''s sorta better. My mom''s is really bad. She will avoid driving at night at all costs.

 

[Sabine]

I also have a slight astigmatism, but only in one eye, and my eyes don''t really respond well to the contacts for astigmatism, so I have trouble seeing/driving at night. I can still function, unless it is raining, and then I avoid driving at all costs.

 

[Linda W]

Yes, I have it. I haven''t driven at night in years.

 

[Miranda]

My night vision is bad, too. Like Tacori, I can drive, but, I really have to concentrate. Even when DH is driving I''m nervous because I can''t see correctly and it looks like we are about to crash!

 

[~*Snow*~]

I had laser eye correction and got the night blindness/headlights/bad vission afterwards. Went back to the eye doc and he said to wear yellow coloured glasses at night, works wounders!

From Google: The yellow lenses has ''Blue Blocker'' effect where they sharpen everything by blocking out the blue lightwaves. It makes everything high contrast.

 

[Tacori E-ring]

Date: 9/26/2008 2:13:05 PM
Author: Miranda
My night vision is bad, too. Like Tacori, I can drive, but, I really have to concentrate. Even when DH is driving I''m nervous because I can''t see correctly and it looks like we are about to crash!

And if the roads don''t have good lights...forget about it. Also I don''t like to (almost to the point of refusal) drive at night to places I don''t know well. I''ve almost hit a cement divider before

b/c I didn''t know the road well.

 

[sap483]

Date: 9/26/2008 1:55:24 PM
Author: Sabine
I also have a slight astigmatism, but only in one eye, and my eyes don''t really respond well to the contacts for astigmatism, so I have trouble seeing/driving at night. I can still function, unless it is raining, and then I avoid driving at all costs.

If it''s raining at night, and the roads are not well lit, I can''t see a thing. I have to pull over and hope that it''s going to stop raining soon.

 

[LAJennifer]

Date: 9/26/2008 3:16:39 PM
Author: Tacori E-ring

Date: 9/26/2008 2:13:05 PM
Author: Miranda
My night vision is bad, too. Like Tacori, I can drive, but, I really have to concentrate. Even when DH is driving I''m nervous because I can''t see correctly and it looks like we are about to crash!

And if the roads don''t have good lights...forget about it. Also I don''t like to (almost to the point of refusal) drive at night to places I don''t know well. I''ve almost hit a cement divider before

b/c I didn''t know the road well.

Ditto - I lose all depth perception.

 

[oobiecoo]

Thank you for all of your replies! I have the worst trouble seeing at night when I''m driving and I''ve been scared to admit it to my doctor because I don''t want to be banned from driving at night. And I''ve always had good eyesight so its kind of devastating. I had no idea that astigmatism can cause this and that there can be solutions! I''m going to the doctor tomorrow so I''ll mention my trouble. I''m so excited that we might be able to work something out to help me see better!

 

[sumbride]

I''m so glad to hear I''m not the only one suffering from this. I''d never heard that it was connected to astigmatism before, but that makes sense. My astigmatism is slight, so it isn''t being treated with my contacts, but when I told my eye doc that I had trouble seeing at night she said "everybody does", which wasn''t exactly helpful.

My DH gets annoyed that he always has to drive at night because it means that he is almost 100% the designated driver. I''m fine on roads with LOTS of light, i.e. a well-lit highway, or in the city, but out on the parkway, or out in the country, I can''t see a thing at night.

Maybe next time I go to the eye dr. I''ll mention it again and see if maybe it would be worth it to wear an astigmatism contact in my affected eye. Thanks for the camaraderie!

 

[oobiecoo]

I went to the doc Saturday and he discovered my vision had gotten slightly worse and that I now have an astigmatism. It was kind of upsetting to hear, but also comforting to know what is probably causing the trouble seeing at night. I had to get bifocals

. I think I will post on those actually...I have some questions.

 

[nytemist]

oobiecoo, my husband has night blindness too. When he drives at night, especially on a road with no streetlights, he can veer off course becasue he really can''t see the darkness of the asphalt. Even if there is ambient light in a room, he has to turn a light on to see where he''s going. I''m the opposite- when I was young I developed light sensitivity like my father had. I can''t be in the sun or bright lights for too long or my head will start to hurt and I feel like a pressure feeling behind my eyes, but I can see everything at night. I can function in our condo with no lights on and by fine, including seeing where the cats are in the room.

I asked my eye doctor about this years ago. I have an astigmatism as well and now wear contacts for the past couple of years. By what he told me, the astigmatism can make the effects of darkness worse since you can''t see things sharply, but astigmatism doens''t cause it. Some people''s eyes are naturally dialated more which lets in more light, hence why lights/sun are hard for me, but nighttime is fine.