Night Blindness Tips

In dealing with and researching my new-founded night blindness, I came across the following tips from the Texas Department of Insurance for people who experience altered night vision but are still able to drive after dark.

They are:

• Remove sunglasses in dim lighting.
• Wear prescription eyewear as appropriate.
• Select eyeglasses with thin sides to increase peripheral vision.
• Slow driving speed as necessary.
• Ensure that all lights on the vehicle are working appropriately.
• Use high beams when other vehicles are not approaching.
• Use low beams instead of using solely parking lights or fog lights while driving.
• Focus on the outer edge of the road when another vehicle approaches.
• Adjust the rearview mirror to the night setting when vehicles are approaching from behind if the headlights are affecting one's vision
• Use the daytime setting on the rearview mirror when headlights of following vehicles are off.
• Keep the windshield and headlights clean.
• Turn off interior vehicle lights while driving.
• Dim lights slightly on the instrument panel if necessary.
• Avoid using items that produce light while driving at night, such as a cell phone or cigarette while driving after dark.

Daily Update

Well, after dealing with my headaches, fatigue and memory loss for a while now, I just got to the point where I had to make an appointment with my doctor ASAP. My next scheduled appointment was in October and I couldn't wait that long. On Friday, I called the office and had an appointment scheduled for this past Monday morning,

I say the PA at the office and we talked and she examined me and performed some quick memory tests. It turned out that she thinks that I have a really bad sinus infection or “something else” causing my headaches and memory loss. She said that she could see that my left eardrum was “bloody” looking.

She prescribed me with Amoxicillin and Prednisone as well as a steroid nasal spray to help clear up the infection. She said that if I didn't have any sort of improvement in 3-5 days that she wanted to do a CT scan to see if anything could be seen.

She also increased my does of Lyrica, which should help with the pain.

I am still experiencing a great deal of difficulty in getting to and staying asleep. I've been averaging 4 hours per night, which with fibro, makes the next day (including today) a very difficult day. 

I also noticed that now, driving at night is VERY difficult. It looks like I am having an issue with depth perception and being able to focus on objects. It's like my headlights, even when on high beams, don't light everything and I have difficulty in judging distance. This was a scary feeling coming home last night as I have to extra careful. It looks like I'll have to relegate future driving at night to my wife.