What is the longest you've gone without sleep?

[intraman]

It's 4am in the morning here in the UK and I have decided to pull an all-nighter to get some work completed. It wouldn't be the first time!

This got me thinking; what is the longest you have gone without sleep? For me, I foolishly drank 6/7 cans of red bull in one night once and was awake for 5 days unable to sleep. I'd lay down, close my eyes and my head would be spinning.

1st day was not a problem, 2nd day was horrible, 3rd day I seemed to adjust but went a bit numb / spaced out, 4th day I felt ill, anxious, panicky and jumpy, 5th day I felt all of the above, plus I couldn't string a sentence together and started to have hallucinations.

Just a side note: missing any sleep is not advisable and I didn't do this intentionally. Sleep deprivation can seriously affect your mental and physical health.

So, what is the longest you have gone without sleep and, what did you experience?

[Shaggy Hiker]

I spent a night in the Pittsburgh airport, and ended up being awake for about 33 hours. I experienced a lonely college professor who wanted to describe such outlandish theories about law that I doubted his sanity.

On another part of that same trip, I spent a night in the Pittsburgh bus station where I met VASTLY more interesting people and had some of the strangest conversations in my entire life, only rivaled by the afternoon I spent with the deranged, knife-throwing, lunatic discussing biblical peculiarities and how to fight off The Beast (a.k.a. King James, according to my acquaintance at the time).

None of those encounters had anything to do with sleep deprivation, neither on my part, nor on theirs.

[Lord_Rat]

It was when I sat in the jail house. (Vindictive ex wife.)

I was up for a total of about 60 hours without "help" from any red bull etc. Then I face planted hard.

[baja_yu]

Besides being up for 60 hours I imagine you had your back against the wall as well.

For me it was about 6 days, but with help of some coffee. I finally fell asleep in the computer research lab on two chairs only to be woken up about 2 hours later by the cleaning lady/janitor. It was a while back.

More recently I groomed myself to sleep every other day, that is, be awake for 40 hours, then sleep for 8. It took me about a week to get used to it but after that it was great. Incredible how much more time you have available. I kept with it for about 6 months.

[honeybee]

So, what is the longest you have gone without sleep and, what did you experience?

About 400kms, I guess. And I experienced fatigue.

.

[Lord_Rat]

Besides being up for 60 hours I imagine you had your back against the wall as well.

Stainless steel flat mesh seats in a room about 10 degrees too cold for comfort and with a bunch of other people who were terrified to be there, drunk, smelly, cocky or a combination of all the above. I didn't sleep because frankly, I was afraid that if I did, BAD THINGS might happen.

Then I was given a cell. And I crashed promptly. I finally posted bail 2 days later than that and then fought the charges. (Violation of an Order of Protection. Long story. Manipulative ex.) I lost but was assigned probation for a year and time served. It's the only "criminal" history I have.

And I sure learned my lesson. And another one too. Never trust someone who will be sitting opposite you in a court room. No matter how much they promise to "be fair" or how much you want to believe them...

[abhijit]

@LordRat: There's a saying in my native tongue. Loosely it translates to "A smart person never climbs the steps of a courthouse".

<ThreadDerailment>
I have been involved in three lengthy litigation issues in my life. Two of them stand resolved. One of them still continues and will probably go on for another 20 years.
</ThreadDerailment>

[abhijit]

It's 4am in the morning here in the UK and I have decided to pull an all-nighter to get some work completed. It wouldn't be the first time!

This got me thinking; what is the longest you have gone without sleep? For me, I foolishly drank 6/7 cans of red bull in one night once and was awake for 5 days unable to sleep. I'd lay down, close my eyes and my head would be spinning.


So, what is the longest you have gone without sleep and, what did you experience?

Most healthy people would die or at the very least get a heart-attack from drinking that much red-bull in one night, unless you tempered it with something.

[wossname]

The longest I've ever gone without slee.... *YAWN*... ZZZzzzzzzz ZZZzzzzzzz......