The Student Room Group

Staying awake for 24 hours, what are the effects?

So, you stay awake for 24 hours.
At the end you just feel tired, but somehow you get a bit of a buzz.
You're stuck in a "I'm tired, but I don't want to sleep" phase where sleeping seems pointless but is the only thing you want to do.

Going for 24 hours without sleep, what are the short-term and the long-term effects?
What if it's done on a regular basis?


So far I've been awake for 21 hours without any energy drinks or copious amounts of coffee xD

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Reply 1
yawn
I do it regularly and I'm fairly healthy :dontknow:
Who cares? You only live once.
Reply 3
I've no idea about long term, but these were the short term effects of my sleep deprivation:

* I no longer cared/needed sleep, i was just content to stay awake for the sake of it.

*However, once I reached this state, I puked about 5 times, and my mouth tasted like pure caffeine.

* I went through a couple of hours just laughing at everything, I.E. my friend sneezed, I laughed, my mate went to the toilet, I nearly fell over laughing.

* Incredibly horny, I would have actually boned whatever someone had put in front of me, but that may have just been the two incredibly hot girls that stayed up with me.
Reply 4
caroline147
I do it regularly and I'm fairly healthy :dontknow:
Who cares? You only live once.


It's when been awake for so long you start hallucinating that it becomes worrying...


And I agree with the only living once thing.
Who needs sleep, eh?
Reply 5
Pfft 24h is nothing, I do it at least once or twice a week. You accumulate a sleep debt, and suffer from mental and physical fatigue. You will look tired (bags under eyes, etc). You will become irritable and concentration begins dwindling. Amylase activity increases with sleep deprivation.

Depends on how regular we're talking. Most sleep deprivation effects are only short-term and go after repaying your sleep debt. I suppose long-term could be you look older (since you will always look tired and have a dull complexion) and it may detriment on your memory (since we process most things in our sleep) and general mood.
Reply 6
i.am.lost
Pfft 24h is nothing, I do it at least once or twice a week. You accumulate a sleep debt, and suffer from mental and physical fatigue. You will look tired (bags under eyes, etc). You will become irritable and concentration begins dwindling. Amylase activity increases with sleep deprivation.

Depends on how regular we're talking. Most sleep deprivation effects are only short-term and go after repaying your sleep debt. I suppose long-term could be you look older (since you will always look tired and have a dull complexion) and it may detriment on your memory (since we process most things in our sleep) and general mood.


Hmm, this probably accounts for the taste in my mouth.
Reply 7
nicky_innit
It's when been awake for so long you start hallucinating that it becomes worrying...


True, but that takes quite a few days to set in for most people.
Reply 8
i.am.lost
True, but that takes quite a few days to set in for most people.


Yeah. It's such a scary thing.
One of my friends stayed awake for 3 days and ended up hallucinating in the middle of a lecture.

Not the best place to hallucinate xD
Reply 9
calvinuk
Hmm, this probably accounts for the taste in my mouth.


Being quite retarded in the biology department, would this account for the sickness that staying awake often creates?
nicky_innit
Yeah. It's such a scary thing.
One of my friends stayed awake for 3 days and ended up hallucinating in the middle of a lecture.

Not the best place to hallucinate xD

LOL I've managed four days without sleep and luckily no hallucinations. I once read about the guy who holds the record for not sleeping for 11 straight days, and on day 4 or 5 he started imagining he was some football player winning the superbowl.
Reply 11
i.am.lost
LOL I've managed four days without sleep and luckily no hallucinations. I once read about the guy who holds the record for not sleeping for 11 straight days, and on day 4 or 5 he started imagining he was some football player winning the superbowl.


I don't think I'd want to stay awake long enough to start hallucinating.
It happens enough without sleep deprivation!

Sleep deprivation is a b***h. Messes with your miiiiind
nicky_innit
Being quite retarded in the biology department, would this account for the sickness that staying awake often creates?

I highly doubt it. Amylase is just an enzyme present in saliva that breaks down starch into sugar. I THINK the sickness is ppsychological and has more to do with your brain activity as the brain goes out of alpha and into low beta/theta which also accounts for lack of concentration.
Reply 13
i.am.lost
LOL I've managed four days without sleep and luckily no hallucinations. I once read about the guy who holds the record for not sleeping for 11 straight days, and on day 4 or 5 he started imagining he was some football player winning the superbowl.


Wow, four? I've managed two and a bit and I thought I was hardcore.

Was there any alcohol involved in your efforts to melt your mind?
24 hours is hardly anything.

48 hours plus jetlag from 2 flights. WOAH. And just to add to it, the wonderful melancholy feeling you get after visiting a Nazi death camp. Not to account for the bloody freezing cold weather and the fact you will probably be expected to go to school/college the next day...

Anybody going on the Lessons from Auschwitz trip, (you've just searched this?) You know what you face ahead of you. (:

Back to the topic. :smile: Sleep is important. I'm going to stay awake until 9-10pm now to try and get my sleeping pattern back on track! Feels so good to wake up at 2pm, but it's not so fun trying to go to sleep at a normal time after. :frown:
Reply 15
i.am.lost
I highly doubt it. Amylase is just an enzyme present in saliva that breaks down starch into sugar. I THINK the sickness is ppsychological and has more to do with your brain activity as the brain goes out of alpha and into low beta/theta which also accounts for lack of concentration.


Now we know!

And knowing is half the battle...G.I. Joe!

Christ, I remember what amylase is now xD
I remember it from a looong time ago.
calvinuk
Wow, four? I've managed two and a bit and I thought I was hardcore.

Was there any alcohol involved in your efforts to melt your mind?

LOL definitely not as alcohol causes drowsiness so I wouldn't have made it to 4! A lot of coffee and just sitting in front of my computer typing without letting my mind rest made it happen (+ at least a dozen cans of Kenco coffee - yuck, in retrospect).
Reply 17
moneyballs2
24 hours is hardly anything.

48 hours plus jetlag from 2 flights. WOAH. And just to add to it, the wonderful melancholy feeling you get after visiting a Nazi death camp. Not to account for the bloody freezing cold weather and the fact you will probably be expected to go to school/college the next day...

Anybody going on the Lessons from Auschwitz trip, (you've just searched this?) You know what you face ahead of you. (:

Back to the topic. :smile: Sleep is important. I'm going to stay awake until 9-10pm now to try and get my sleeping pattern back on track! Feels so good to wake up at 2pm, but it's not so fun trying to go to sleep at a normal time after. :frown:


I don't understand how hopping over to continental Europe and back can result in "Jet Lag."

Jet lag is a result of messing up the body's internal clock, not from travelling on a plane
Reply 18
nicky_innit
Now we know!

And knowing is half the battle...G.I. Joe!


Christ, I remember what amylase is now xD
I remember it from a looong time ago.


Family guy quote?
calvinuk
Family guy quote?

I knew that I had heard that somewhere. Thank you! :woo: