Question Amount of sleep

[ryan]

Hey guys, i've actually been awake now for around 42 hours from a combination of food poisoning, too much cans of coke, and not being able to shut down:facepalm:.

But i'm asking people is there a known limit on how long people can stay awake without going to a coma or flash sleeps i think their known when you dont know you're sleeping when your doing normal things (like cutting up carrots :thumbup
And whats the max you have stayed up (most likley on this forum or playing orbiter( we've all done it))
Also if your wondering why i'm not asleep, if i go to sleep now it'll totally stuff up my sleep pattern when i need to get up early in the next couple of days its just turning 4pm here in down under.
Ryan.

 

[Izack]

I don't know much about physiology, so I'll skip to telling you my record, which is ~64 hours, playing Tales of Symphonia of all things. Don't even ask. :facepalm:

 

[Ghostrider]

I've been awake continuosly for 72+ hours once, in the end I managed to fall asleep while standing on my feet and leaning on a wall, with my backpack and rifle on. After a while during that time, I felt some parts of me were sleeping and concentrating was becoming nigh on impossible.
However, I believe what your body does to cope depends on the activity. The body can do with some simple rest, but the mind doesn't function well without sleep. Go without sleep for enough time and you'll have trouble remembering your name.

 

[n72.75]

Passing that 72 hour mark is something that I wish to never do again.

 

[Pyromaniac605]

I find sleep annoying, keeps me away from Orbiter... I wish I didn't have to sleep...

Darren

Edit: Back on-topic, my record is a mere 24-25 hours, sad huh? :lol:

 

[IgnoreThisBarrel]

Haven't managed to break the 24-hour mark yet, mainly because of lack of trying. Also my body doesn't like it when I change my sleep schedules.

But I do anyway.

Regularly.

I'd say the limit of maximum hours awake can be increased through manipulation of your sleep schedule. I've heard from the internet (so I don't know if this is accurate) but you could theoretically stay awake as long as you wanted as long as you took regularly scheduled 20-minute "naps" during which you will experience REM. Star Trek and the internet both seem to agree that REM sleep is what you need, and the internet continues to suggest that REM can be induced by becoming really tired, and subsequently sleeping for just enough time without becoming lethargic and zombie-need-sleep-like (20 minutes).

If that didn't make any sense, it's because I'm a tad sleep deprived.

 

[Pyromaniac605]

20 minutes? How often? Might give it a go with the holidays almost here.

Darren

 

[Izack]

I dunno, between Star Trek and the Internet I'm not sure which is less reliable. :uhh:

 

[garyw]

Star trek & the internet and not authoritative sources on human health. Each person is different and the amount of sleep required for each person varies as they age.

Either way, 7 to 8 hours per night is a good healthly amount to aim for. Drinking things like coffee or coke before bed are bad idea, not just because of the caffine but because of the sugar.

 

[computerex]

It takes 4-6 hours for most people to go in REM sleep. Most people will pass out after 72 hours of no sleep, unless they take some stimuli, such as meth, in which case they can stay up for weeks.

 

[Pyromaniac605]

All this talk of sleep and the internet keeps making me think of the 'Russian Sleep Experiment'. :uhh:

Darren

 

[Artlav]

Guinness book lists 13 days, and with no ill effects.
I never gone longer than 48 hours.

It seems that the main problem is that the brain needs to reset every now and then. Once you run out of active memory, there is no way you could observe anything, it won't get recorded. And, if it starts emergency clean up while you're awake, welcome to hallucinations. So, in controlled environment you can live as long as you could stand it, while in the wild you're destined to kill yourself accidentally one way or another.

'Russian Sleep Experiment'.

Sleep deprivation was one of the KGB's favourite torture method.

 

[N_Molson]

No sleep at all for an extended duration (7-10 days) leads to death. Some cells, especially nervous ones, can only regenerate during sleep. But unless the subject is under drugs, this can't happen.

I'm practicing sailing and the most extended duration I stayed awake is around 50 hours. We were 3, the crew was sick and I had no choice but to stay awake.

 

[jedidia]

I've been awake continuosly for 72+ hours once, in the end I managed to fall asleep while standing on my feet and leaning on a wall, with my backpack and rifle on.

What bloody troop did you end up in?? :blink:

My record would have to be somewhere about 48 hours, also during service.

 

[Pyromaniac605]

Sleep deprivation was one of the KGB's favourite torture method.

Actually I was referring to this...

http://rip747.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/russian_sleep_experiment1.png?w=425&h=2399

Darren

 

[jinglesassy]

56 hours when we went to Branson. We had to leave at 3 am to catch our plane and i knew i couldn't wake up then so i just stayed up playing orbiter. Didn't sleep in the car(i have tried before but just cant)or in the airport and on the plane i was just so happy to be in the air(i love aviation). When we arrived in Branson the entire day we were very active and that night my bed was missing 3 legs(WHAT KIND OF A PERSON STEALS BED LEGS FROM A HOTEL?!?!)And the lights were replaced by potatoes. And the pillow wasn't a pillow it was old newspaper crumpled up and stuffed in the pillow case.

 

[IgnoreThisBarrel]

Actually I was referring to this...

Darren

An amazing piece of writing, for the first few lines I actually thought it was real.

I hear it comes from /x/

 

[orb]

Drinking things like coffee or coke before bed are bad idea, not just because of the caffine but because of the sugar.

And what if you drink coffee without sugar or any other sweetener?

 

[garyw]

And what if you drink coffee without sugar or any other sweetener?

Then you are strange..... :lol:

Coffee itself, in moderation, isn't an issue although if you aren't used to it then the caffeine can keep you awake or make you hyper.

I had one experience like that over summer. I suffered from a bout of hayfever and took a Piriton antihistamine. As this can cause drowsiness the manufacturer added caffeine. Not being a huge coffee drinker (last time I had a coffee was over five years ago) the caffeine made me very hyper and I couldn't sleep until the small hours in the morning.

 

[n72.75]

It seems that the main problem is that the brain needs to reset every now and then. Once you run out of active memory, there is no way you could observe anything, it won't get recorded. And, if it starts emergency clean up while you're awake, welcome to hallucinations. So, in controlled environment you can live as long as you could stand it, while in the wild you're destined to kill yourself accidentally one way or another.

This would not be a problem if the brain was written(well written) in C.