Sometimes if I get a status effect (ie blinded) then die, I am still blind upon reloading. The only solution to this situation is to reboot the game. Any reason for this? Anyone else get this problem?

TES games do not properly clear data upon reloading. For this reason I never reload from in game. I always restart the game. Helps keep your saves pristine.

You need to go back to an earlier normal (not autosave/quicksave) save that hasn't got the blind effect stored in a save and continue from there.