Good night vision with cataracts - anyone else?
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I am 64 years old. In September 2016 the optician told me I had the beginnings of cataracts in both eyes, but at a very early stage. I was checked again in Sep. 2017 and there's little change. The strange thing is, that I can see perfectly with my presciption glasses outside at night, but during the day, everything is wavy. .The supervisor rechecked the presciption and it was correct. I could read the chart perfectly in the bright office, but couldn't see clearly in the distance outside.
The good night time vision is a mystery to me and to the optician! - no problem reading signs in the far distance and all details clear. I thought people's vision got worse at night with cataracts! The optician says she never heard of this before and can't understand it. She suggested I try experimenting by putting dark sunglasses over my presciption glasses (eventhough I do have sun reactive glasses), during the day, to see if the same result could be achieved, but the experiment failed.
Question:. Did anyone else ever have this good night vision with cataracts, when the daytime vision had deteriorated?
0 likes, 6 replies
derek40125 mary67362
Posted
Hello Mary:
Other than glare, my night vision was better than my day vision as my cataracts progressed. During the day, the cataract caused a substantial haze and this wasn't nearly noticeable at night. For example, I could clearly read license plates on cars ahead of me at night while during the day I couldn't.
However, I did have major problems with headlight glare so while I was able to see better in general, my vision would suddenly get very bad due to an oncoming car or other bright light sources. This is ultimately why I decide it was time for surgery.
Another effect I noticed is that my contact lens prescription actually went down by 1.5D as the cataract progressed, so my vision was actually improving by that measure, but I could only make use of this under certain specific lighting conditions.
Sue.An derek40125
Posted
mary67362 derek40125
Posted
Derek,
Sounds like you were almost exactly like me. Better vision at night but I don't yet have the glare from headlights. That may come later. How come my optician never heard of this? I was afraid I might have something else wrong with me!
Derek, Did you find it easier to see without glasses during the day? This is another weird/unusual symptom I seem to have.
derek40125 mary67362
Posted
Mary,
I wore contacts, but if I removed them, my natural focus point was 8" to 10", which is very nearsighted, so I really didn't spend much time without corrected vision.
What I noticed most of all was that my vision differed greatly depending on the amount of ambient light. I have a cataract in my other eye, but it's not affecting vision yet, so I was easily able to compare the two. I'd look at a tree and I'd be able clearly see the outside edges of the tree but I'd lose all the internal details, so contrast sensitivity was poor. I'd look across my office and not be able to see someone's face but if I turned on or off the light, the detail would come back, so very really depended on the actual lighting level and objects I was looking at. It got worse over time and when I decided that I was a danger driving at night (because of glare due to point light sources) I decided it was time for surgery.
Yes, my night vision has improved dramatically post surgery. I went with a low-add multifocal IOL to give me some reading vision and the tradeoff for this is that I do see halos around point sources at night (like headlights) but they pretty small and don't distract at all from driving. I've driven extensively in a big city, on crowded freeways and on very dark country roads and I now feel comfortable driving in all these environments, so I'm satisfied with my results and I'm no longer a danger to other drivers (and especially pedestrians and bicyclists).
freeman62151 mary67362
Posted
Hi Mary
I had cataracts and would see halos and a star type light from vehicle headlights.I proceeded to have the cataract surgery.Things didn't go to well for me I have this cloudiness during the day and still have issues at night with the bright vehicle lights and halos.
I went back to my eye surgeon and had the YAG treatment done,it still didn't improve my vision.Along with that I experienced a shadow in the corner of my eye and flashing lights,it's very annoying ,not something I would have gotten done if I would have know the outcome.Hopefully your night vision is good when and if you have cataracts removed.
mary67362
Posted