Blurred vision and night driving

[Ocean Blue]

I am new to this forum. Am I the only one who experiences serious blurry vision as a result of dry eye syndrome? I can't read street signs when I'm driving!
Also, I haven't been able to drive at night for the past 4 years as my dry eye has progressively gotten worse. Is anyone else dealing with this issue? Or, better yet, has anyone found solutions for these problems?

[Kyle]

Boy, can I relate to this! I am 10 months out from having lasik surgery and have not been able to drive at night since then. It sucks and I truly feel like I'm handicapped. I was just talking to Rebecca about this the other day and she asked me if I had big pupils...I said I did. She said it was common for people with big pupils to experience this after surgery. I am so sick of all the halos and glares...it drives me crazy!

I did get a prescription from a past eye doc, but then was told by my new eye doc (and I think Rebecca agreed with this) not to take it. They both said it would aggravate my dry eyes even more. The prescription was for Alphagan. You might want to look into it.

[Rebecca Petris]

Hi Ocean Blue, and welcome to Dry Eye Talk!

I was just glancing at your profile and see you've got quite a few reasons for dry eye... including Sjogrens, which probably puts you at the severe end of the range. I think that although dry eye induced vision problems don't get talked about here all that often (managing pain seems to be the chief topic!), reduced vision is definitely a well known and documented symptom of chronic dry eye. In fact, vision symptoms are quite prominent on the OSDI, which is a well validated (and very useful) questionnaire for assessing the severity of dry eye symptoms. More about OSDI here if you're interested.

I'm afraid this may sound like a silly question but just to make sure the bases are covered here, have you checked this out thoroughly with your eye doctor to determine whether it's all attributable to the dry eye - as opposed to some slight alteration in your vision itself (glasses prescription)?

[Rebecca Petris]

Whoops, one more thought, forgot to add it before I posted that. - I think that many, perhaps most dry eye patients experience aggravated symptoms while driving. It's like reading or using a computer or watching TV - your blink rate goes down. And maybe heating or air conditioning not doing good things either. I have personally found protective eyewear, such as Panoptx, Wiley-X or other types with foam lining around the frame that seals in moisture, to be very useful while driving as they keep my eyes more comfortable and reduce the light sensitivity. I am wondering if also by improving moisture they could do anything positive for your vision?

[halfmoonbaygal]

How about a blinking eye on the dash?

When you were talking about reduced blink rate while driving, an image of one of those blinking eyes popped into my head. Every time we go to Pasadena to see The World's Most Perfect Grandchild (except for everyone else's on this board, of course--and how about those two gorgeous children of Diana's? Wow!), my poor husband, who insists on doing most of the driving, ends up with the most horrible red, painful eyes the next day. Can we get an blinking eye for the dashboard?

[homes]

yes i have the same problem, plus i have to deal with glare, star bursts and halos. i tend to avoid night driving whenever i can.

why don't you try night vision glasses? for me they improve my vision somewhat.

[dianat]

I also vote for protective eyewear. I've noticed that the car is VERY dry. Gosh, and if you're driving at night...not good. I invested in a pair of Panoptx with light lenses for this very purpose. It's expensive, but on the occasion that I need them, I'm happy to have them. Now that I think about it, one wouldn't really need anything as nice as Panoptx for that job...

My light lensed goggles are also helpful for movie theaters and nighttime outside. The downside is that being clear, I REALLY look like a nerd in them. Buddy Holly doesn't begin to describe them.

[Lucy]

Buddy Holly doesn't begin to describe them

The original Buddy Holly glasses were lost somewhere in Michigan around the 4th of July (2005). Possibly near, or in, a casino. I've had to resort to some Panoptx with RX, progressive bifocal lens. They are also "transition" lens. I'd better keep a chain on these.

[Gaye]

Blurred vision while driving

Hello Oceanblue - blurred vision while driving was one of the first symptoms I had. I had blurred vision all the time and I started to feel like I might be a hazzard on the road. I also had trouble reading street signs. When I went to my eye doctor (who was an idiot and is no longer my doctor), he told me I had glaucoma and started me on glaucoma drops. This of course never changed anything, because I did not have glaucoma. For a year he treated me for this and basically told me I was crazy, because there was no reason I should have blurry vision. I started thinking I WAS crazy. My eye tests showed that my vision was fine. He never did a tear test and finally referred me to an ophthalmologist/neurologist to make sure there was not some neurological problem. The first thing she did was the Shirmers test and told me I had severe dry eye syndrome. This was my problem. She couldn't believe my doctor never tested me for that. Needless to say, that doctor is long gone. Using proper moisture drops has made a major difference in my vision and comfort level. Though, first thing in the morning, I experience some of that same blurred vision and it is sometimes noon before I feel like I am back to normal. I hate to sound like a commercial for the Dry Eye Zone drops, but they have made such difference in my life. Before that, I tried everything I could find in drug stores, the internet, etc. Nothing worked as well. I think you should try the samples to see if they might not help you too.