New contact wearer "night blind"

[OPsDad]

I am 55 years old and had great vision and wore no lenses of any sort until about 2 years ago.  I have developed presbyopia and was diagnosed with a bit of astigmatism in my right eye then.  For most of the 2 years, I had glasses, which I seldom wore.  I got by with the cheap reading glasses from the pharmacy and seldom wore my prescription glasses, since they would only stay clean for what seemed like a few milliseconds.
A month or so ago, my optometrist gave me contacts (Gas Permeable "hard" ones) that correct for the astigmatism and have a bifocal built in for the presbyopia.  They work great, with one exception:  If I drive in a city at night, all of the street lights and lit signs, etc. create so much glare / flaring / halo that I am functionally too blind to drive.  I noticed this on a trip while pulling off the interstate and looking for the hotel where I had a reservation, a couple hours after dark.  It was truly awful!  I checked in to my room, took out my contacts, and went out to dinner.  No problem with my "bare" eyes!  The contacts don't seem to bother me driving down the interstate, except when I'm in a city with a lot of "external" light sources (again, street lights and business signs).
Would wearing any kind of "night driving" glasses over my contacts when I'm in that situation help?  I've read enough to know that they are not recommended for driving at night because they reduce overall light transmission, but if I put them on when this situation arises (when driving in a lit city) and took them off when outside of that situation, would that be a good thing to do?
I'd also be grateful to hear any other suggestions from qualified folks, such as optometrists or opthamologists.  I will be asking my own OD as well, but multiple opinions to weigh can't do any harm, right?
Thanks, all.
OPs Dad

[JodieJ]

Options for correcting presbyopia with contacts are much more limited with astigmatism.  Your OD should be aware of the available soft contact lens possibilities.  I'm sure that Gelflex would be happy to send a "starter kit" for the Trition contacts.  But don't overlook the possibility of doing monovision.  It's the cheapest and most comfortable option for most people, and it probably involves the least compromise.  

[OPsDad]

Jodie,
Thank you for your posting.  I've emailed my OD to ask him about those Triton lenses.
Dave

[OPsDad]

Doctor,
Did you mean to post?  All I can see of your post is a hyphen.
Regards,
Dave

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

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[JodieJ]

Any correction for presbyopia with contacts involves some compromise.  The night vision problems you've experienced are due to the design of your contacts (which is similar to the design of a multifocal IOL).  You could ask your OD about trying a different type of bifocal contact.  (For example, the Triton soft bifocal contact by Gelflex corrects astigmatism, provides crisp distance/near vision, and doesn't have night vision issues, but intermediate vision is slightly compromised.)  Another alternative is monovision, which works well for many people.