What's the longest you've ever gone without sleep ?

Jim Bob Scratcher

The world record is 11 days and 2 minutes. Fancy giving it a go ? :pac:

The longest I've ever gone is 50 hours. What's yours ?

Valentina

27 hours

diomed

4 days and nights, but not sure. I was in hospital.

Noveight

Almost 50 hours. I have the check in /out card from work kept safe as a memento of my own idiocy :P

Mint Sauce

Done 30 odd hours a few times. Do nights every few months, and the odd time during that stint, might just do one night on its own. Get up at my normal time, go to work that night, stay up when I get back in, and stop fighting sleep by about 9 or 10 that evening. Then sleep for about 12 hours.

The longest I have done doing this, is about 40 hrs, when I went out for the day and evening, after doing a night shift.

AllForIt

Back in my clubbing days I went out to a nighclub after work and stayed out so long that I had no time to sleep and went straight back to work the next day. I was so relieved my painful shift was over that I went out clubbing again. Finally got home to bed, my alarm didn't wake me up but my phone did - my boss wondering where the hell was I. Something like 60 hours approx.

Jesus Wept

3 days. Slept a full 24 hours then.

Persephone kindness

diomed wrote: »

4 days and nights, but not sure. I was in hospital.

I've had to get a sleep deprived EEG a few times to check for non-convulsive Status epilepticus . Other than that UNI during exams or for essays . Prolly two days...but it's . more like when you do that a few times or regularly. I would say 48 hrs ..doctors do it for much longer which is scary ! I kept reminding myself of that in hospital!

Persephone kindness

Jesus Wept wrote: »

3 days. Slept a full 24 hours then.

Woa.

jimmycrackcorm

Four days inclusive of three nights working as a 21 year old software developer to get a product ready for a demo. If I hadn't done it then the company would have closed and I'd have lost my job, had to move away from home. Drank gallons of coffee and Jolt cola.

Years later I wonder if I actually spent three quarters of that time fixing bugs I'd introduced during those four days due to tiredness.

Victor

At most about 36 hours. The things is, you tend to start micro-sleeping after about 24 hours without realising it.

Jim Bob Scratcher wrote: »

The world record is 11 days and 2 minutes. Fancy giving it a go ? :pac:

Some people have dropped dead much quicker than that.

diomed

I should say I was on a drug that made me hallucinate when I closed my eyelids, so I couldn't sleep.

Fathom

48 hours. Exam cramming. Last 8 were a waste. Kept rereading same pages. Daydreaming.

dodderangler

3 days on a bender and I slept for 21 hours when I eventually did sleep. Not young enough for it anymore

Absoluvely

Longest I've gone is about 8300 km when I went to L.A. Watched movies on the flights instead of sleeping.

PTH2009

Think I went 2 days I'm very sensitive to noise and won't be able too sleep if i hear noise. Hate sharing a room with snorers

dodderangler

Absoluvely wrote: »

Longest I've gone is about 8300 km when I went to L.A. Watched movies on the flights instead of sleeping.

Done similar 6 weeks ago. 10half hours to Utah.

Jim Bob Scratcher

PTH2009 wrote: »

Think I went 2 days I'm very sensitive to noise and won't be able too sleep if i hear noise. Hate sharing a room with snorers

I hear that man, It has to be total darkness and zero noise for me to get proper shuteye.

PTH2009

Jim Bob Scratcher wrote: »

I hear that man, It has to be total darkness and zero noise for me to get proper shuteye.

Ear plugs don't work

frag420

day after tomorrow...

Jim Bob Scratcher

PTH2009 wrote: »

Ear plugs don't work

Wax earplugs work, but be careful not to miss the alarm :pac:

LimeFruitGum

25-26 hours, due to traveling to California. I would rather get some kip and then start studying/working. I know I am not capable of doing usable, decent work in an all-nighter.

Arghus

About 3 days. Felt out of my mind by the end of it.

About 32 hours I'd say.. a full 48 hours seems incredible to me

Surreptitious

Nearly a week.

dodderangler

Up at 7 this morning and had few beers tonight. Not tired. Il let ya know how long I last

Tom Mann Centuria

About 30 odd hours is about longest I've gone, but do it every 6 weeks when I'm finishing set of night duty.

longshanks

Arghus wrote: »

About 3 days. Felt out of my mind by the end of it.

About the same, but I was out of my mind near the start of it.

SuperS54

Worse one I can remember was when moving to Asia first. Got up early on the day of the flight as had a million and one things that I hadn't gotten around to doing before leaving for 2 years, flight was late afternoon. First long international flight that I handled myself so hadn't a clue about good and bad seats and didn't put in any request at checkin. Ended up in a middle seat last row with no recline for Amsterdam to Taipei, was already knackered after a long day and a long transfer wait in Amsterdam, plane was way too hot and uncomfortable, couldn't sleep just remember sitting there staring at the seatback in front with sweat rolling off me for 12 hours or so, still shudder thinking about it now after the 2 years have turned to 17. Got met off the plane by new colleagues sometime early evening in Taipei, went straight to dinner, which turned into drinks which turned into night club until 4 or 5am. Somewhere around 40 hours without sleep. Finally got to the hotel and checked in, straight to bed didn't even bother with a shower, slept like a baby and woke up in the dark, flicked the curtain and it was still dark outside so went back to sleep. Did this a few times before finally finding my watch and the bedside lamp, 5 o'clock, still dark so assumed it was 5am, slept some more. Brain started to realise none of this made sense, got up turned on lights and realised the "window" was actually a picture window with curtains...No idea how long I slept but at least 24 hours, stayed in that room for over 2 weeks hating it's constant darkness!

Lorelli!

Not much more than 24 hours.

I slept once for about a day and a half though. Id returned from a holiday where overall I didn't sleep much and then a day or two after I was home, I went out and stayed out all night.

When i woke up, it took me about 10 minutes to figure out that I'd missed a day

Gael23

23 hours.
Got up at about 8am as I usually do and was at a party that night which ended at 6:55 am the following morning.

helimachoptor

Almost 2 days thanks to broken ribs and no painkillers

Lorelli!

Gael23 wrote: »

23 hours.
Got up at about 8am as I usually do and was at a party that night which ended at 6:55 am the following morning.

6:55 you're very precise

Your Face

About 2 days.
I was wired.

_Brian

I spent 13 years working nights, towards the end I was having awful time getting some sleep during the days with kids etc.
Would have gone maybe 36 hours a few times, but I'd have been having 10 mugs of coffee during my shifts.

I'd have gotten through the 4 shifts on about 6 hours total sleep quite regularly

Whispered

_Brian wrote: »

I spent 13 years working nights, towards the end I was having awful time getting some sleep during the days with kids etc.
Would have gone maybe 36 hours a few times, but I'd have been having 10 mugs of coffee during my shifts.

I'd have gotten through the 4 shifts on about 6 hours total sleep quite regularly

Same here. Three 12 hour shifts 9pm-9am, every week. Then with noise, light and too much caffeine during work, I'd maybe get one decent hour sleep when I'd get home.

I only lasted a little over a year and ended up fairly sick. Many a day I felt I was loosing my mind. Probably one of the worst years of my life. Night work is tough!

Penny Tration

4 and a half days. I had really bad insomnia at the time and had run out of my sleeping pill prescription.

I started getting super dizzy and was seeing flashing lights like stars at the end, fell asleep for four or five hours and then was grand.

shockwave

36 hours, did it for a bet with a mate to see who could last the longest with out sleep.

I won.

Imallrightjack

20 mins zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

omb0wyn5ehpij9

I can't remember ever staying awake for any substantial amount of time. Any time I've stayed awake for a good stretch would have been days I was up early for work, then went out that night and ended up staying up all night drinking, so anywhere between 24 and 30 hours

me_irl

"I haven't slept for ten days.... 'cos that would be too long." - Mitch Hedberg

Hector Savage

Im a bit of a pussy in this category, think I got to 30 hours exam cramming - but a college friend of mine when he was in 1st year just didn't go to bed for about 4 days - he said there was too much to do between partying hanging out lectures etc.

He said he finally had to go to bed when he saw snow falling in one of the lecture halls.

osarusan

I remember having a conversation with some students in Japan, but the question was different - it was asking what was the longest somebody had slept for, and why they needed so much sleep. Most answers were about 15/16 hours, usually because of jetlag, one was after an operation.

Then one guy said about 30 hours (something ridiculous anyway, more than 24 hours), and there was a bit of a silence while people wondered if somebody else was going to tackle him on his obvious nonsense answer.

But actually, it turned out that he had been a member of the Japanese self-defence forces, and his helicopter had crashed in the ocean somewhere, and he'd had to wait for something like 4 or 5 or 6 days to be rescued, with next to no sleep in that time.

jamesbere

44 hours, working night shifts and in the middle of that had to go to Dublin, was wrecked. I remember getting home home from work and just collapsed on the bed, woke 12 hours later in the same position

sbsquarepants

I'd say I've likely touched 100 hours plus in my partying days - I used to have quite the grá for the auld stimulants.
These days if I'm still up at midnight something has gone terribly wrong:D

I think about 35 hours. I don't do well with sleep deprivation, and I was out of my mind that time. I've done 24+ hours a few times, usually travelling. I'm not a nice person when I'm tired, I cant take any discomfort and I can't keep myself warm no matter the temperature, so I'm basically a shivering, complaining mess if I dont get to sleep at regular intervals.

G1032

33.5 hours

Kimbot

Jim Bob Scratcher wrote: »

The world record is 11 days and 2 minutes. Fancy giving it a go ? :pac:

The longest I've ever gone is 50 hours. What's yours ?

OP I just have to put this here for a bit more context:

Randy Gardner (born 1949) is the holder of the scientifically documented record for the longest a human has intentionally gone without sleep not using stimulants of any kind. In 1964, Gardner, a high school student in San Diego, California, stayed awake for 264.4 hours (11 days 24 minutes).

About 16 or 17 years ago I became insomniac. I got about 3 hours sleep over 6 months in total with no explanation why etc, it just happened. Im sure there are plenty of insomniacs that have gone without sleep for more than 11 days and 24 minutes.

jonnycivic

jonnycivic wrote: »

About 16 or 17 years ago I became insomniac. I got about 3 hours sleep over 6 months in total with no explanation why etc, it just happened. Im sure there are plenty of insomniacs that have gone without sleep for more than 11 days and 24 minutes.

Jesus. How do you function at all when you're suffering that level of exhaustion? I can't even imagine the cumulative effects over six months.

You poor thing, you really must have been in a desperate state, both physically and mentally.

valoren

11 days 1 minute 59 seconds
:mad::mad::mad:

Kimbot

Candie wrote: »

Jesus. How do you function at all when you're suffering that level of exhaustion? I can't even imagine the cumulative effects over six months.

You poor thing, you really must have been in a desperate state, both physically and mentally.

Suprisingly it didnt have too much of an effect on me (Physically, not too sure about mentally in the long term), it annoyed me not been able to sleep but the only other option was sleeping tablets and I'm not one for tablets so declined. I do recall i slept for nearly 3 days when I finally got asleep tho and my god it was the best sleep i ever did have.