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How long can you go without sleep until it's dangerous?

I'm just curious. I last slept wednesday morning, went to bed at 4am and woke up at 13:30pm. But I had a lot of coursework to do after stupidly leaving it over Christmas and such. Got everything done okay but stayed up last night to make sure I'd covered everything and planned on sleeping through tonight.

Just remembered I have some more work due in tomorrow and I might have to stay up again. I'm not sure I could. I'm running on energy drinks at the moment.

Would I be at risk of passing out or anything? I only need to last until tomorrow lunchtime then i'm free for sleeping all weekend.

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Reply 1
I've done four days without sleep before, but didn't get tired at all, and had no side effects. It was very weird.

Now, I think maybe...12 hours? :p:
(kidding, I manage 16)
Reply 2
It's not really dangerous, you're running on reserve energy though. I've heard some people stay up for 36 hours straight as their normal sleep pattern...
Reply 3
my record is 40 hours

i was doing my dissertation

had so much lucozade to stay up

it comes in spells - between 25 and 30 its so hard. Then it eases up a bit and then hits you harder. Went to bed for 14 hours after the 40 hour stint. Hopefully never again. Its a horrible feeling. Thought i was going to pass out and die at times but i had to write 4000 in one final night, do footnotes, bibliography, appendices and print the 15,000 word beast out

Somehow i passed!
I was sleeping about 5 hours a day for a week until my physics exam. Then i started getting shooting pains up and down my left arm and started feeling physically sick. Slept like the whole next day and now im fine
MrBigShoes
my record is 40 hours

i was doing my dissertation

had so much lucozade to stay up

it comes in spells - between 25 and 30 its so hard. Then it eases up a bit and then hits you harder. Went to bed for 14 hours after the 40 hour stint. Hopefully never again. Its a horrible feeling. Thought i was going to pass out and die at times but i had to write 4000 in one final night, do footnotes, bibliography, appendices and print the 15,000 word beast out

Somehow i passed!


You sir, are a man of sheer determination.

I've done five, yes five days without sleep. I was so ill with a bug, I simply did nothing but play Call of Duty most of the time. Everytime I tried to lay down to sleep, I suddenly had the urge to vomit. It was very strange actually but I managed to get some serious gaming time in.
In the end, the Doctor gave me sleeping pills and I slept sixteen hours without wake.

Out of choice, me and a friend stayed up three nights in the row when younger. I was destroyed come the third day and just simply crashed. You have periods were you feel fantastically energetic and then you'll feel horrid and want to die of exhaustion.

Thankfully, those days are behind me as I don't think they do any good to you. :rolleyes:
longest I've been is 42 hours. Flight to Kenya, stayed the night on the floor of the kenyan departure lounge, another plane flight, 3 hour bus journey. Then 2 games of football and a game of basketball.

Not even remotely dangerous :wink:
I think it's up to 10 days without lasting effects.

apparently puppies die after 4 days :frown:
I've managed 4 days, 3 nights....although tbh...I was on a night exersice...muchos adrenaline in one of those

normally though....I can do 48 hrs no problem
They used to do experiments on this before it got banned :p:
Apparently you are fairly alright up to about 4-5 days (really tired obviously but can still play chess etc. and function normally) but then your food starts to taste funny, you get paranoid and really snappy and irritable, you can't think at all and after about 7 days your heart stops beating regularly and you can die. People have gone for longer, all these things can be reversed if you then have a long sleep. Apparently they shut one woman in a room with no natural light so she couldn't tell what time it was (they got her permission first :p:) and she started following a 36 hour day, awake for about 24 hours straight then sleeping for 12.
I honestly think it can differ from person to person. And how often you stay up for huge amounts of time without sleep.
I have done 5 days when I was around 16. I get high if I don't sleep, it's weird!!
You'll be fine, just a little tired (surprise surprise)
Reply 13
Awesomesauce
Around 20 hours, for which I was constantly physically active.

But that's hardly a long day! I'm sure you can get more hours in. :biggrin:
Most I've ever done isn't that much, actually.. I think something like err..
35-40. Not more than two whole nights, anyway. I'm tempted to go and try longer in honour of this thread. I think I'll become horribly bored, though. I could just do **** AND **** LOADS of homework and return to school as a legend the following Monday.

:awesome:
Wasn't there a reality show where all the contestants had to stay awake, and whoever lasted the longest won? :woo:

Erm ... well it depends on what you count as sleep I've gone days with getting hardly any before (4-5 hours). :excited: Erm, probably like 36 straight though :h:
Reply 15
There use to be a program on channel 4 about bunch of people trying to stay awake to win money :ninja:
Reply 16
Anonymous
I'm just curious. I last slept wednesday morning, went to bed at 4am and woke up at 13:30pm. But I had a lot of coursework to do after stupidly leaving it over Christmas and such. Got everything done okay but stayed up last night to make sure I'd covered everything and planned on sleeping through tonight.

Just remembered I have some more work due in tomorrow and I might have to stay up again. I'm not sure I could. I'm running on energy drinks at the moment.

Would I be at risk of passing out or anything? I only need to last until tomorrow lunchtime then i'm free for sleeping all weekend.



I've managed to go 3 days and 14 hours. That was dangerous. I would not recommend any more.
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Reply 17
I have no idea. I like my sleep.
Reply 18
Anonymous0155
I was sleeping about 5 hours a day for a week until my physics exam. Then i started getting shooting pains up and down my left arm and started feeling physically sick. Slept like the whole next day and now im fine

I don't reccommend engineering then, 5 hours a night is something I can only dream of at the moment. :biggrin: If we average my sleep out it comes to just under 5 hours a night for a semester. :/
Skycat
I don't reccommend engineering then, 5 hours a night is something I can only dream of at the moment. :biggrin: If we average my sleep out it comes to just under 5 hours a night for a semester. :/


i was gonna apply for EEE but than i realised i hated physics. i like the maths but prefer something essay-based

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