I have optic atrophy from past episodes of optic neuritis. When I was having my first attack it was as if someone was pulling a blind down and most of my vision was black. I have had problems seeing at night for about 30 years now. I need more light to turn my eyes on, and it takes longer for my eyes to focus. Now, the rooms do look darker, but it also looks as if I am looking through a veil. Colors are not as intense.

I have been put on IV steroids 3 or 4 times now. They were pretty high dose (1,000 mg for three days, then decreasing amounts of steroids beginning with 65 mg for five days, and decreasing till 0). It took a month to work through that. The explanation was to bring swelling down fast to preserve my sight.

Steroids have all kinds of side effects which was why I just went to bed for a week when I had double vision. I feel there are only so many steroid cards you can play before it starts wreaking havoc on your body, and I have played all mine.

If you are younger and still need to work, then that may be a card you choose to play. Be sure to protect your vision.

@A MyMSTeam Member I do think driving at night is more challenging. I try to avoid that for sure!

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A MyMSTea...

Keep a careful eye (pun intended) on this! I began my dx with Optic Neuritis. My ophthalmologist at the time thought I was an "hysterical patient" having gone to see her 3x in 5 weeks about my right eye.

At the time, I was seeing a pain management doc who was a neurologist. At my appointment the PA came in and I was holding my fingers over my right eye. She asked why and I told her my eye had terrible pain on movement. She immediately brought in the neuro who scheduled me for a stat MRI in 2 days. The next morning I woke totally blind in that eye!

If you begin to get pain on movement or if dark/black begins to creep into your vision either from the top down or nose side in, call your neuro immediately as those are symptoms of ON!!!

My vision has returned to a corrected 20/40 for that eye's vision is always darker (like a cloud or veil) and colors are not true or as intense as in reality.

Do know that people with green or blue eyes do take a longer time to adjust to changes in light.

Perhaps not wearing contacts for a period may be helpful??

I experience this all the time if you cover one eye in a well-lit room you will notice that one eye is darker than the other.... if you have optic neuritis and or nerve damage it will be present .....mine never leaves me it gets worse at times with an episode or flare up but then gets better with treatment and time one eye is always shaded darker night blindness is the worse

Just to throw into the mix: when I had cataract surgery, my Opthalmologist stressed that each eye is independant from the other, so that they have different reactions to changes in light is to be expected—-normal. When I leave a well-lighted room for a darker one really throws off my balance! I had my balance issues tested a few years ago. My balance is most affected by my vision. Both my eyes seem to have slowed reaction to light changes. I attribute their reaction time to my MS and think I’m lucky that both eyes seem to have that similarity, but maybe yours have different reactions to changes in conditions? I’d report the experience you describe to your Neurologist and/or Opthalmologist, if you have one.