How long can you go without sleep

Without going crazy? I mean without any special things like caffine pills or anything like that. Just you and a wanten insomnia.

Well, in a drug nduced state (which I do NOT recommend, I was young and naive) I spent three days and nights awake. Towards the end, I imagined dirt on a window were leprechauns dancing in the yard.

I knowof insomniacs going for a few days, but nothing longer than that. I believe you can have severe mental problems should you stay awake too long. Your body needs to reboot, in efect, to restore energy.

One tried and true recommendation is to never do anything in bed other than sleep and have sex. This way your mond attributes sleeping with bed, not watching TV or reading.

Good luck to you. I suffered from insomnia before, and it is exhausting.

Good question. The longest I've gone without sleep was 3 days....

Once a week I'll go 24-36 hours without sleep......it depends on what shift I'm working before my off days.

Later

I have suffered from insomnia before as well. Bet it was different for me. I felt better than normal, but I can never even reach 2 days of continuous awareness.

I can't go that long. I can probably go about 8-9 hours without sleep, then I'll just drop.

like 2 days...i get angry easily when i dont sleep for a long time.

40 hours, a little bit of coffee.
I drove from Orlando Florida, to North of Boston Mass.
Flew to Washington, tried to nap ojn the plane, but couldn't.
Followed it all up with a trip to the company Christmas Party, in Virgina.

THEN, I slept for about 2 days..Waking up, only for the basics.

I remember very little about the Christmas party, I was told I had a good time, and was very happy..I think giddy would have been a better word!

The longest I have gone without sleep is 4 days (well, 3 and a half). By that point, amongst other things, I saw a pair of legs without an upper body.

It's not good, and it's definately not something to try doing. It can seriously unbalance your mind, and it will also affect your physical health. Like someone else said, your body needs rest to get it's stuff together.

On the other hand, quite often I have found that I am at my most alert, intelligent and "spongey for information" (soaking it up ) aorund 2 hours or so after the 24hr mark. That lasts for around 3 or 4 hours and then the exhaustion sets back in. I think at that point staying awake any longer is harmful, but the occasional "28 hours awake" does wonders for *me*.

Your body and mind know when it's time to rest, thats why we get tired (I presume :lol. Realisticly, staying up any amount of time past the point where you feel "exhausted" is probably going to do you harm.

P.S. Insomniacs, or anyone really, should NEVER drive without proper sleep. Driving while tired, or with a lack of sleep, can be as dangerous as "having a few pints" before going out for a spin. You wouldn't drink and drive, so don't starve yourself of sleep and drive

The longest I've stayed awake for is about 3 days. After about 30 hours, my eyes go really itchy though. I don't think I've ever seen things that weren't there.

I get insomnia quite often but I don't have it at the moment and I love my sleep. I find it weird that I always sleep for exactly ten hours, unless I'm woken up.

The best thing to stop insomnia is by doing LOTS of physical activity during the day.



[edit on 12-4-2006 by xeroxed88]

24 hours if im active. Without that I need something... Havent tried more than that, while doing things though..

terrible sleeper myself, easily gone 48 hours before

Roughly 5 days, before you will begin to have hallucinations. However, there is an illness which stops people from sleeping all together. After about a year, you tend to drop dead as your mind/body can't take it.

Can fear keep you from going to sleep? I hate to go to bed. It makes me feel weak. I get very little sleep anymore, but I rarly feel that I need any. I am just worried about permanent effects.

I have never been what one would call a "good sleeper". I have periods of insomnia or sleeplessness on a regular basis. I don't know why. However, the periods of insomnia or sleeplessness that I experience are also periods that I could only describe as having a tremendous creative aspect.

I don't nap or snooze except very rarely. I might "rest" my body by putting my feet up for a while as I listen to a radio program or music but aside from that I have easily stayed away for 48 hours or even longer. Nevertheless, unlike "true" insomnia, I know that I "could have" fallen asleep effortlessly had I but "wanted" to. Perhaps I am one of those people who simply does not need sleep as much as others might require.

longest ive gone with out sleep is about 55 - 58 hours , soon as i sat down in a chair i was out like a light and didn't wake up for about for about 14 hours with serious neck ache.

I went 2 days without sleep, but I only did because I was camping with homies and having too much fun. If I had not actually TRIED I could've stayed awake longer, probably. The trick is to stand the whole time! If you sit down, your eyes will close and you won't even notice! One time I was at a friends house and tryin to stay up ( I was quit tired) My eyes kept closing over and over. So he spilled cold water all over my head. BOY WAS I AWAKE! 5 hours later at around 4:00 in the morning I finally fell asleep.

It's probably around 28 or 30 something hours for me. In college I went to sleep for just one hour on a couple of different occasions. I remember one time after sleeping for just 1 hour, in a PE class, everyone seemed to be moving in slow motion but I could still move normal speed. It was a weird sensation. Another time after only getting one hour of sleep, I went to an archery class. I guess it threw my aim off but I thought it was amusing that I got the bullseye in someone else's target. I only missed my target by about 8 feet. The look when the guy about to shoot suddenly saw an arrow in his bullseye, priceless. I decided I don't want to watch everyone in slow motion so I get more sleep now.

The longest I've ever went was something like 72-73 hours without a nap. This was about 20 years ago during vacation. Did a lot of skiing(water) and it wasn't without help. Had a few amps on me at the time and it helped out with all the beer that was consumed. Ski all day and party all night.

When I finally went to sleep, it was 20 hours straight.

I go 36-46 hours on a regular basis now. It only happens when I visit my hometown and you know how them all night bars are. *Whew* I really got to slow down, but I'm skeered I'm going to miss something!:w:

EDIT: I heard somewhere that if a person were to go 10 days without any sleep, their body would just shut down and the person would die. I don't know how true it is.

The USMC recruit training has motivation week and it consists of a 72 hour sleep deprivation period.

The Navy SEALS has a motivation week (Hell week), and during a 5 day period, they trainees may average 3-4 hours of combined 'catnaps' in this period. Their senses are severly depleted by day 4 though.

[edit on 17/5/06 by Intelearthling]

I don't want to ever go to bed. I am trying to find some way to keep my thought processors up during these strives toward a personal goal. I just do not want to use any illegal drugs. I already enough sin on my plate.

ive gone 4 days, then i ended up just passing out watching tv, although ive never started to see things