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What's your record for going without sleep?

I generally don't go for the marathon, but I pull several all-nighters a term, be it for social :)D) or academic purposes. Also, depending on how I schedule my classes I have a very strange sleep schedule. I was going to bed at 5am and waking up at 1pm every night last spring. Sunset to sunrise baby.

I'm not sure how long my longest marathon was, but it culminated in me going to my morning classes, then eating a massive taco salad for lunch, puking it up all over the quad and falling asleep from 2pm to 9am the next day.

One night during a particularly long sleepless spell I was writing a huge paper in the library around 4am and started to head bob—nodding off for a split second and catching myself as my head started to sink. What was different was that each time I started to nod off instead of simply falling asleep I would vividly hallucinate that I was sitting in an armchair a few feet away watching myself fall asleep. As soon as my eyes closed I was transported to the other chair to watch my head droop. Blew my mind. All the while I kept typing my paper...it went something along the lines of "the campaign financier est un des plus magnificiently ornate if one considers the impact of under the guise of". :D
 
Flying to California totalled being up for 35 hours, couldn't sleep on the plane (Bratty kid in front of me kept jumping all over the seat, throwing things about etc...)

Flying back from California came to 40 hours, couldn't sleep again (on the plane) and it was too bright to sleep once I got home...

I used to have insomniac periods that would last a few days, the worst I got it I totalled about 4 hours sleep in a week, towards the end I was like a zombie :p
 
Some years ago I had to work on a small project. I started working on Friday at 9am. On Saturday 11:30pm I went to sleep for 6 hours. Sunday morning, around 8am I resumed work and I went to sleep on Tuesday 11pm.

I did sth similar a year after that, where I stayed awake for 72 hours in a row...
 
I love sleep. But my sleep pattern gets gradually more and more messed up, so I end up going to bed later and later. It gets to 7am when I want to get to bed sometimes, and when I sleep I want my 8 hours, so find it real hard to set the alarm and get up after 2 hours.
So what I do is stay up, say from 11am on Sunday morning all day and right through the night, and through the next day. Then by about11pm I can get to sleep. When I do I have the most wonderful sleep and wake up feeling so good.
That works for a few weeks, then the sleep pattern goes all wrong again, so I guess I go without sleep for 36 hours every three months or so. Doesn't do me any harm. I eat food, drink coffee, smoke a few cigarettes, go long walks with the dog.
One tip..do not have hot bath or shower/listen to chill-out music/get too bored/eat a real big heavy meal....you won't be able to keep eyes open if you do!
Hallucinations....? Give 'em to me baby! Just so long as the dog doesn't get upset about it I'm happpeee:D
 
I think I made it around the 29 hour mark. Got to love late night into early morning recording sessions!
 
I've done 46 hrs straight a few times recently. Worst was Monday 7AM GMT, to Wed 11PM PST, with 3 hrs sleep on the first night. That's being awake 69hrs out of 72.
 
Old thread! I think I set a new personal record (since my last post 2 years ago) while writing my undergrad thesis last winter....but I have no idea how long I was up. Certainly sucks to not be able to sleep even after an extended time awake because deadlines are ringing in your head like church bells.
 
The longest i've ever stayed awake is 172 hours... it was the worst experience of my life. It was my first week on duty (im a doctor in the army) and i had received a emergency call, a couple soldiers had been injured by an IED (improvised explosive device). We were under constant fire and had been stuck in a little shack/bunker thing for 1 week straight. I couldn't sleep unless i wanted to die. We were dieing of dehydration until luckily we were saved by an disaster response team.
 
Just about 36 hours. One weekend on a saturday I was awake until four in the morning, for whatever reason. Unfortunately, it was summer time, and the sun had started to risen. i find it very difficult to sleep during the daytime as it is, and suddenly had the urge to go for a jog. So I went for a jog around the field behind my house. I returned, and never went back to bed. That sunday evening we went to the pub, and I was so tired I could barely do anything. When we finally got home at about 9pm I went up to my room and collapsed and fell asleep instantly on my bed.
 
Last summer I was a night steward at a place with 14,000 14-18 year olds. It basically involved driving around the site and carparks in an off-road buggy, with a big arse torch stopping trouble and scaring away local thieves that try to break into cars...so much fun! Anyway, I digress....

Because our hours were 8pm to 9am, by the time our shift ended all my other friends we getting up to start the day, so naturally I'd join them for breakfast and to chill out. The fact it was stupidly hot and that the tent was like an oven, combined with wanting to hang out with my friends meant that I stayed awake for the first 72 hours (Monday morn. to Thursday morn.)...then managed to get some kip while it rained. That week I slept about 10 out of 120 hours.
 
ethical said:
Last summer I was a night steward at a place with 14,000 14-18 year olds. It basically involved driving around the site and carparks in an off-road buggy, with a big arse torch stopping trouble and scaring away local thieves that try to break into cars...so much fun! Anyway, I digress....

Because our hours were 8pm to 9am, by the time our shift ended all my other friends we getting up to start the day, so naturally I'd join them for breakfast and to chill out. The fact it was stupidly hot and that the tent was like an oven, combined with wanting to hang out with my friends meant that I stayed awake for the first 72 hours (Monday morn. to Thursday morn.)...then managed to get some kip while it rained. That week I slept about 10 out of 120 hours.
Click to expand...

Other than the lack of sleep, it sounds awesome!
 
20 hour shifts are normal for two months per year since I'm working, sometimes I worked 10 hours at one company, drove (by train) to the other company I also sometimes work for and make 10 to 20 hours there and get back to my first workplace for another round of 10 hours, but I get to sleep on the ride (1h) and can sometimes shut my eyes for 10 minutes or so.
Gladly it's simple work and I don't endanger anyone.

Once I was the driver for some actors and had only five hours of sleep and 16 - 18 hours of work, that was quite exhausting.

Back at university I was up for three days, also some say it was four, but I can't remember that. The three/four days up were not for studying purposes but to finish a short film we made and it had to get ready for a competition, where it was hardly understood anyway.
 
Probably around 30 hours, as a result of me flying to London, landing at 11 in the morning, and being unable to sleep on the plane. I made it back to the hotel that evening just in time to watch Top Gear and ended up falling asleep in the middle of it. If I can't stay awake through Top Gear, then that means I was pretty damn tired.
 
I believe around 36 hours or so. Being up Thursday morning and pulling an all-nighter for a project/exam, and then crashing Friday evening 8ish after a little nap. :eek:
 
A total of 72+ hours during the first three days we crossed the border into Iraq. Back here in the states, 37 hours going from working a normal shift then having to stay late to wrap up paperwork then going straight into a week long school.
 
Went to sleep the third night. 2 1/2 days doesn't seem that much, but holy crap. That's a feeling I never want to experience again.
 
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