How long have you went without sleep?

[Dodie16]

So, I haven't been able to sleep very well at night here lately, and it got me thinking about all the times when I was younger that I would try to stay up and see how long I could go without any sleep.

My record? About 30 hours of staying wide awake. No cat-nap. No dozing.

I remember why I stayed up so long too. I had just gotten Ocarina of Time for the N64, and I lost track of what the actual time was. When my mom found out that I stayed up all night playing a game, she thought the best punishment was to not be able to sleep that day. So there I was, very exhausted from the night before, and having to do chores around the house so that I didn't go and take a nap.

It was the longest day of my life, and I could not wait until it was dark outside so I could go to bed.

I don't think I ever came close to that number since, and I don't think I want to either. I remember how achy my body was, and I just felt like crap the entire day.

So how about anyone else? How long have you went without sleeping and do you have a reason why you stayed up so long?

EDIT:: Okay, so apparently Alpha has taken it upon himself to point out that my grammar needs improvement. He didn't specifically say that, but he alluded to it.

How long have you gone without sleeping and do you have a reason why you stayed up so long?

Better?

[DragonHeart]

Last month I was awake for eight days straight. I don't recommend it. Ever. The weird part was that I never really got tired until the last night. Of course, I was bored out of my mind by that point as I wasn't able to do anything except lay on the couch and watch TV. I discovered that there is watchable TV on except for the hour of 5:00 a.m.

So, the reason why I was up? I had an ear infection so severe it basically made my eardrum self-destruct. It's even worse than it sounds. For one thing, I had...fluid...draining out of my ear constantly for several days. For another, I lost 40% of the hearing in that ear so I got the muffled block effect in addition to constant ringing. Between all of that and the pain sleep was simply impossible.

Thankfully the damage wasn't permanent.

~DragonHeart~

[Andromeda]

Eight days? Is that even possible? I'd have to believe you fell asleep during that point even if it was for like 5 minutes and that it just felt like you never slept. Don't human beings go insane or something after several days without any sleep at all? If you actually managed to do it, it sounds like a new record or something, but I don't know how long people have gone without sleep before.

Myself, I think I've done like 30 to 32 hours or something. I generally don't try to keep myself awake longer than I need and I only really tried once to stay awake for as long as I could when I was in middle school. The reason I believe which is going to sound cheesy, was to see mom come home in the morning. She worked nights and got back at something like 8 in the morning or something, so I stayed away to see her. The half was just to see if I could.

I could probably do better these days since I could just sit myself in front of some RPGs and play them. They usually do a good job keeping me awake, that or watch a lot of anime. The only thing is that don't intake any significant forms of caffeine. I do eat sugary or sweet things naturally, but coffee, soda and energy drinks I don't do. So my ability to keep wake or focused would be difficult after a certain point.

[Magi of Worlds]

Wow! You guys are good! The longest I've ever stayed awake is 22 hours! I kinda don't remember why I did it though...

[DragonHeart]

It's possible sure, but highly improbable given the circumstances. I was staring at the clock at least as much as the TV at night, trying to will myself to sleep. It was the most mind-numbing experience I've ever had and I got so sick of the damned TV I've only turned it on maybe once or twice since the infection.

I've done a few all-nighters before, but this was nothing like it at all. There was no feeling of being tired, physically or otherwise. Perhaps the pain and the damned ringing simply blocked out all other signals.

~DragonHeart~

[Andromeda]

All-nighters are pretty easy. But DVDs or in my case anime helps with the nothing good on TV issue, Dragonheart. I typically don't watch a lot of TV because there's not a lot good on, especially late night. I can't imagine how bad that had not to be not being able to sleep.

I get a constant ringing in my ears infrequently which is why I usually have something in my room that generates a low noise, otherwise I can't sleep. So I can't understand that. The longest time when I was younger I would stay awake for hours because the ringing would be too much to allow me to sleep.

[Ralz]

I can recall two instances where I almost went a whole day without sleep.

My first time was when I was in the hospital. I had gotten my tonsils removed, but then there were some problems because apparently I couldn't drink or something, so I had to stay the night. Anyway, I just couldn't sleep that night. I don't remember any pain, just explicit boredom. There was no TV or anything in the room, so I just... sat there for, like, 10 hours... I think I got a bit of sleep in the morning, but only an hour or so. I think the total time awake was... arouns 21 hours, give or take a half hour.

My second time was when I was a boy scout (Yeah, that... -_-). There came this one time when we would basically go out to an arcade, or whatever it was. Laser tag? What a LONG time ago, it was... Anyway, we stayed until 6 AM, and I did spend every waking moment doing whatever. I think I fell asleep on the way home, so, I'd say this one clocks in a 19 hours.

I don't think I've ever pulled an all-nighter by myself. And I don't think I'm going to try. Its no fun, you're tired, but you just can't fall asleep...

[DragonHeart]

Well I was actively trying to make myself fall asleep lol, the last thing I was going to do was put something of actual interest to me on. XD I watched a ton of Law and Order: SVU that week, it always seemed to be on. It's a show I enjoy but it's also familiar enough where I knew I'd seen most of the episodes and could simply use them as white noise to try and block out the ringing. Alas, it could not block the pain.

~DragonHeart~

[RagnaToad]

The longest I went without sleep most have been one of my nights out in pubs with some friends.

I remember me and a friend being at the pub where I had been DJing and he had been the bartender at around 10 in the morning. We decided to go to another pub and for some reason obliged ourselves to stay until we had been in pubs for 24 hours. I think I had been awake for at least 38 hours when I finally went to bed that day.

I think I've been awake longer than that, but I can't remember on what occasion that was.

EDIT: I just remembered I probably fell asleep on the toilet for about 5 minutes at some point.

[loaf]

Staying up for 1 or 2 days is pretty easy. I sometimes stay up for a day and a half almost every week.
The longest I've stayed awake would be for 5 days. Sitting in the hospital, I didn't sleep, hell it was hard to even rest after the 3rd day when I got a new roommate. I just stayed up and watched TV.

Another time I stayed up for 4 days at a friend's house one week and I played FFVII straight through.

[Elyon Seraphim]

Instresting question, My longest streak is 11 Days, But i pretty much cheated using Chocolade Bars... Well you NEVER said anything about eating enegry food.

Without enegry food... My longest streak must be 1 Week...

[Fate]

You people have got me beat. The longest I've ever gone without sleeping is 72 hours straight. I don't even recall getting tired. But after those three days, I slept really well. I wonder why. xD Although, if I really tried, I bet I could stay up for a really, really long time. I just need entertainment to keep me awake.

[Walter Sobchak]

Instresting question, My longest streak is 11 Days, But i pretty much cheated using Chocolade Bars... Well you NEVER said anything about eating enegry food.

Without enegry food... My longest streak must be 1 Week...

I don't want to call you out or anything, but the world record is eleven days exactly (264 hours).

My record would be probably 24-26 hours. I like to sleep.

[GypsyElder]

The most I've stayed up is two days, that's it. Usually around Christmas time is when I actually stay up straight like that with no sleep. Other than that I'll stay up super late until daylight, but I'll still sleep in till 12 p.m that day and then get up. I need my beauty sleep or else I'll get grumpy, and that's no fun for anyone.

Also O_O!

Last month I was awake for eight days straight. I don't recommend it. Ever. The weird part was that I never really got tired until the last night. Of course, I was bored out of my mind by that point as I wasn't able to do anything except lay on the couch and watch TV. I discovered that there is watchable TV on except for the hour of 5:00 a.m.

So, the reason why I was up? I had an ear infection so severe it basically made my eardrum self-destruct. It's even worse than it sounds. For one thing, I had...fluid...draining out of my ear constantly for several days. For another, I lost 40% of the hearing in that ear so I got the muffled block effect in addition to constant ringing. Between all of that and the pain sleep was simply impossible.

[Pete]

My longest is probably around 35 hours without sleep. I was pretty miserable towards the end of it. had to get up at 8am to pick up my now ex, had my friends birthday, and didn't fall asleep until 7pm the next day. I also happened to sleep for 17 hours straight after that. Going from about 7pm til 12pm.

[Maridia]

Around a day and a half. When I was about 14 15ish I was on Christmas vacation and as usual was staying up late. The day after was when my dad picked me up to hang with him for a few days. And thanks to a screaming baby I got no sleep in the car down there, but was busy walking around the mall til that night. I vaguely remember my dad calling delivery pizza having one or two pieces half asleep and back to bed. Terrible..

[Fluffy]

About 50 hours for me. Then I finally slept for 2 hours. As long as I get at least 2 hours of sleep, I feel fine after.

Just two all-nighters in a row, playing some games with a friend.

At the end of the 50 hours, I started having some minor hallucinations. It was a good sign I should get some sleep.

[Unknown Entity]

Don't human beings go insane or something after several days without any sleep at all?

I go batshit insane if I've not had sleep for a couple of days. That's with a few cat naps.

I've gone seventy-two hours with just five hours sleep before. It was in the holiday, and I tend to stay up late during them anyway (my record this holiday was five am).

I'm sure I've gone longer, but it's not to my memory at the moment.

[loaf]

I know after a couple days you eventually start to dream without closing your eyes. I've seen a few things on my many 3 day marathons.

[Magi of Worlds]

Ooh ooh ooh! I finally remembered why I stayed up for 22 hours! Me and my friend stayed up to play Gears of War #1. We beat the game!

[Treize]

I think that I've stayed up for two days straight a few times. It is kind of fun staying up all night, but then at about 3 or 4 o'clock the next day, I start to get really tired, and the fun ends. I don't think I could stay up for several days without any sleep. I would end up falling asleep in random places, which probably wouldn't be too good.. =/

I usually try to sleep at normal hours, but occasionally I'll get wrapped up in whatever it is that I'm doing, and eventually I'll realize that I forgot to sleep. That kind of sucks because I have to do things the next day, and then I'll be really tired, and I won't have time to catch up on sleep.