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one-time night blindness in one eye

Hi everyone,

To start with, I'm a 20 year old healthy female. I few nights ago something really strange happened to me when I turned out the light to go to sleep. A few minutes after I turned the light off, when my eyes should have adjusted to the dark, something didn't seem right with my vision. So I covered my left eye with my hand, leaving my right eye open, and everything went pitch black. I couldn't see anything out of my right eye. With my left eye I could see the shapes and shadows that you can usually make out in a dark room, but out of my right eye was just total pitch blackness. I turned my light back on, and everything was completely normal; I could see with both eyes. Then I turned the light out again, and once again, I had vision in my left eye but not in my right.

This happened a few nights ago, and it hasn't happened again since. This is probably irrevelant but I thought I'd mention it- I have a couple of enlarged lymph nodes as well as a swollen tonsil on the right side of my neck/head that have all been checked out by a doctor. I also have a new lump on the top of my head, also on the right side. As I said, this is probably all irrevelant to the vision problem, but I thought that maybe since all of this is on the right side of my head, which is the same side as the problem eye, it could somehow be involved.
Does anyone have any ideas of what could cause one-time temporary night blindness in one eye? Thank you for reading!
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Avatar universal
For anyone wondering, i can regularly do this by myslef in the dark. i have fully control over both eyes to do this. its just the way light is percepted and it gets altered. the color black is not actially a color its a lack of reflection of color so it can change in pitch darkness.
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177275 tn?1511755244
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Avatar universal
I am a 52 year old female who first noticed similar vision issues about 3 months ago. It has recurred fairly frequently over the three months.  It seems to be connected to using my mobile phone to read news / emails etc in the dark when in bed.  I switch off the phone and then cannot see out of my right eye (my dominant eye).  This lasts for a couple of minutes and then I seem to have adjusted to the darkness in both eyes.  

When it first happened I was advised to go to A&E and was seen by an ophthalmologist.  Also blood was taken for testing.  I was then referred to a neurologist and had more tests - including an MRI / MRA / ultrasound.  Everything was normal.  I was advised to take a daily aspirin - which I do. There was a concern that it was a 'eye-stroke' (TIA) or 'amaurosis fugax'.  I also have seen my optometrist due to usual check-ups for contact lenses and no issues were seen.

With all tests coming back clear and yet the issue repeating but only happening under a very specific set of conditions (use of bright phone in dark room) I believe that it is more likely to be an issue with my right eye adjusting to darkness from a bright light.

Reading other posts have helped me and I think that there is nothing sinister.  However, I would suggest that people are tested to rule out the possibility of medical issues first.

One more thought.  This stream of posts seem to be over recent years - when smart phones etc have become common use at night time.  I will keep an eye on this post and also I am going to not use my smart phone for four weeks at night and then use it again and see if I notice a pattern.

I'll keep you updated.
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177275 tn?1511755244
Those symptoms would require an evaluation by an ophthalmologist and your family doctor or internist.  It could be a TIA (transient ischemic attack) and due to disease of heart, blood vessels, eye or brain. Please make appointments to have this checked out.
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Avatar universal
I am a pre-diabetic over 40 female, extremely nearsighted (wear glasses or contacts), and just had this happen to me for the first time last night. Just the right eye, like a blurred/grayed out cloud in the middle of my visual field in the right eye, but it went away if I turned on the lights, then came back when I turned lights back off. A short time before, I had been looking at a very bright app on my phone screen, and then fell asleep briefly. My dog woke me up to go out, so it was very dark in the house, and that's when this "blur" in my right eye's vision occurred. Lasted about 5 minutes I'd guess.
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Avatar universal
I am a pre-diabetic over 40 female, extremely nearsighted (wear glasses or contacts), and just had this happen to me for the first time last night. Just the right eye, like a blurred/grayed out cloud in the middle of my visual field in the right eye, but it went away if I turned on the lights, then came back when I turned lights back off. A short time before, I had been looking at a very bright app on my phone screen, and then fell asleep briefly. My dog woke me up to go out, so it was very dark in the house, and that's when this "blur" in my right eye's vision occurred. Lasted about 5 minutes I'd guess.
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177275 tn?1511755244
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