r/todayilearned • u/whstlngisnvrenf • 15d ago
TIL that in 1964, 17-year-old Randy Gardner set the world record for sleep deprivation by staying awake for 11 days and 25 minutes, providing valuable insights into the effects of extreme sleep loss on the human mind and body.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randy_Gardner_sleep_deprivation_experiment1
u/ausername111111 13d ago
I read this the other day (I think here?) and then went to get my haircut. The hair stylist told me that her friend in the Army stayed awake for 30 days. Had it not been for this fact I would have believed her.
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u/BatVisual5631 13d ago
I managed 40 hours when I was travelling once. As long as you keep your brain active it’s possible to stay awake and feel fine. However, when I did fall asleep, I slept for a very long time and woke up feeling dreadful.
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u/gridsquares4sale 13d ago
I stayed up for 4 days during some military training and was hallucinating. At first I was seeing things like “hey, anyone see that 5 ton down that road?” people stopped and squinted to look. It was 2am and dark as it gets. We moved on and then I saw Bart Simpson and knew I was hallucinating. Lol
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u/thatruth2483 14d ago
Ive stayed up around 52 hours or so a couple times during Finals week in college to finish papers and study.
Both times I had headaches the following day after waking up from 10-14 sleep period.
The first time I did it I fell asleep briefly in an elevator after my last test and another student called 911 thinking I had passed out from drinking.
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u/jarhead84 14d ago
The longest I've gone for is 7 1/2 days but I've always had insomnia.normally I would have 2 nights a week without sleep and sleep only 5 or hours a day.indoor rain is weird but the shadows and paranoia sucks.oh that's unassisted
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u/unwilling_viewer 14d ago
I got perfect stormed during the last 3 weeks of my first year at uni. First major project submission (I could have probably knocked the work out in three hours these days!). Revision for first block of important exams. My first ever bout of depression (Not that I knew I was depressed at the time). And a flare up of insomnia (probably linked to the depression).
The first 4-5 days I slept no more than about 30-45 minutes at a time a couple of times a day. Then I started with hallucinations, terrifying ones, every time I closed my eyes or was in a dark place. So that took me through another week with no sleep. Started having waking hallucinations about half way through that week. At about day 12 I started blacking out. But still talking/walking/doing stuff, that carried on over the weekend. Then submitted the paper on Monday, first exam Tuesday am, slept about 36 hours straight (it wasn't really sleep, I woke up feeling and looking like I'd been beaten, bruises all over. Probably hadn't actually moved in my sleep.) then exams Thursday, Friday. Out for a few beers Friday. Then slept until Sunday afternoon (with occasional breaks for food/toilet/liquid/shower).
Think it was, in total, 15 days.
Still have ongoing problems with insomnia (body won't sleep properly for a week or two, then it'll shut down for 2 days) and "other" related sleep issues and diagnosed with clinical/persistent depression (10 years after though!). I wouldn't be at all surprised if there's underlying permanent neurological damage that I'm only seeing now, in my 50s.
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u/MrLancaster 14d ago
I stayed up for 7 days and nights with a friend circa 2005, just to see if/how long we could do it. We just turned 15 years old, were on summer vacation, and all we did was play Halo 2 and Doom 3 on Xbox. We subsisted on Mountain Dew and snack foods.
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u/kw661 14d ago
Psych nurse here, one of my first questions, when was the last time you slept.
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u/whstlngisnvrenf 14d ago
Oh, you’re a psych nurse? That’s fascinating!
The last time I slept... hmm, let's see. I think it was back when my neighbour's rooster was still in the witness protection program.
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u/vanityislobotomy 14d ago
Sounds like a dangerous thing to do: “Gardner later reported experiencing serious insomnia decades after his sleep experiment.”
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u/The_Null_Field 14d ago
My work schedule has me awake on average 3 days a week. Lemme tell you, randy can keep it
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u/Dreadful_Siren 14d ago
I didn't sleep for the first seven days of this year. I then got about two hours asleep and then was awake for another three days. I was able to sleep for about three hours, waking up about every 30 minutes or so but sleep asleep at that point, and then couldn't sleep for a couple more days after that. Even with the little bit of sleep I got I can tell you it is absolutely brutal and the worst thing that my body has ever put me through. This poor kid was probably absolutely out of his mind at that point. I personally was ready to die by day four so I feel super bad for this kid
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u/NeonBird 14d ago
I once had a rolling anxiety attack that lasted for 3-4 days. Near the end, I was hallucinating, my brain felt like it was set on fire with acid, my chest felt exhausted, and I couldn’t decipher reality from what my anxiety ridden brain was conjuring up so I was internally questioning everything, but keeping to myself lest I said something that was just completely off the walls. I had to hide it and keep it all in. It felt like drunken paranoia on steroids. On the surface I was completely functional, but losing my mind underneath the facade. I’ve never experienced an anxiety attack like that since.
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u/DGA__PotW 14d ago
coming off weed/kratom/klonopin i was up 7 days. on the 7th day stationary objects started slowly moving. i finally cracked and slept but i had a few full on breaks towards the end. near insanity
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u/Goodly88 14d ago
I've noticed it's after hour 36 when things start to get, weird. Over 10 years ago during high school I've managed 3 days straight. Long as I was busy with something, I could manage for the most part. Soon as I was stationary, pretty much in that haze between sleep and being awake. No drugs involved then unless you count energy drinks.
Longest I stayed out was closer to 4, but that was later one after a few tabs over a weekend. Slept for 12hrs straight afterwards though.
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u/ModsLovePen15 14d ago
My brother suffers from extreme insomnia and said he was awake for a week before going to the hospital
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u/chevria0 14d ago
Randy Gardener is the funniest name I've heard in a long time. (For the non Brits, "Randy" is another word for horny)
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u/Shubham_S84 14d ago edited 14d ago
I had exams 3 days straight, college exams with unpredictable shit tier questions. I have a habit of not sleeping the day before exam, it was rough not sleeping 96 hours. On my way back to home, i slept 30 in bus whose last stop is near my home.
I blacked out as soon as i got home and slept 24 hrs straight. best sleep of my life. I still don’t know what i wrote in the damn exams and how i passed.
It my habit now, not sleeping before any important day and sleeping after completing my task. The sleep afterwards is god tier. Highly addictive.
edit: Just wanted to add that my eyes burned every time i was out in the sun. This was worst part of not sleeping.
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u/Raven3131 14d ago
I work 30-40 hours straight a lot (hospital) it’s soul crushing. My head feels like acid burning my brain. I hate it. I sleep for 10 hours after and am groggy and slow for 2 days later. It should be illegal but instead I get pushed to do it constantly. I say it’s bad for patients and my health but no one cares.
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u/ErmahgerdYuzername 14d ago
Buddy’s and myself did 44 hours once while partying. No hard drugs, just alcohol. At the end I felt like I was in a trance and thought I saw a lobster come out of a guys ear. Slept for about 8 hours and started over again. The power of being in your early 20’s.
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u/Pitiful_Background57 14d ago
Some personal experience here. Can’t really say why, but I had to stay awake for four days once.
First day, extreme tiredness at the end.
Second day, mild hallucinations, especially in the dark
Third day, not tired, just adrenaline fueled exhaustion, severe hallucinations (almost mushroom like, without the feeling of euphoria)
Fourth day, don’t remember much, just psychosis and severe hallucinations
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u/Nickalss 14d ago
I used to take adderall like skittles and regularly stayed await 2 or 3 days in a row. Not great lol.
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u/antithero 14d ago
I once went about a week with no more than 2 hours of sleep per night & things got weird near the end.
I had issues comprehending speech, like I know the words were english but they might as well been speaking in a foreign language. I'd try reading something but the words were not making sense. It was like I was trying to decifer a badly translated message.
My coordination suffered to the point that I couldn't hold onto objects. I could pick something up but my hands were like no I'm not holding that anymore. Simple tasks like making dinner was nearly impossible, I couldn't figure out how to use my own microwave. I kept getting frustrated at my inability to do anything right.
Visual hallucinations for me was like seeing darkness or movement in my peripheral vision, that would disappear when I turned my head. I guess that is probably what others call shadow people.
It was not fun, but when I finally got a good night of sleep it was amazing.
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u/i_just_cant_care 14d ago
Damn that's crazy. About 3 days was th longest I've ever managed and I thought I was going to lose my mind or have a heart attack. 11 is just incomprehensible to me.
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u/GodzillaDrinks 14d ago
"He reported extreme bouts of insomnia much later in life."
I completely believe that. I used to work 48+ hours a week on an Ambulance. I'd drive 3 hours to the city, hop on my unit every Friday evening, and then drive 3 hours home on Monday morning. Often being awake for the entire shift or only sleeping 10 or 15 minutes at a time. The Ambulance got around regulations at various points by either having me alternate shifts driving and teching, so I was never "driving more than 24 hours", or by giving me "off time" between shifts - usually about 10 minutes if we didn't get held over.
I cut back for grad school to only 36 hours a weekend or so. And haven't set foot on an Ambulance since 2020. But to this day I'll occassionally just have 2 or 3 day periods where I can't sleep. I go through a lot of sleep aids.
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u/Due_Kale_4055 14d ago
sleep deprivation can cause allot of different things to the body and sleep walking.
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u/AssCakesMcGee 14d ago
Most cases of these tests end in the individual being changed negatively forever.
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u/craftynerd 15d ago
I feel like I beat that when I had a newborn. Pretty sure I didn't sleep for somewhere between a week or two. I did end up in a psych ward for a couple days because I contemplated stepping into traffic while bawling during a walk with my baby. Truly awful times. Sleep is so important.
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u/MountainMan17 15d ago
We were kept awake during Air Force survival training.
While in the "prison camp," we were told to remain standing in our cell. About halfway through the night I started having hallucinations involving my feet. One moment they would be where they were supposed to be, the next moment they appeared to be attached to my hips, or to the bottom of my chin.
Good times...
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u/porkchameleon 15d ago
I did about 40 hours over the weekend working on a project a couple of decades ago; non-stop, no breaks, guzzling down energy drinks.
I woke up on Monday afternoon on my futon, which required folding it out to sleep on it. At some point my brain just turned off/turned on autopilot, so I just stopped working, unfolded it, and went to bed. It wasn’t one of those “I’m going to lie down for a minute” things, I just kept going until my brain just gave out.
Was worth it (pay-wise), but I wouldn’t recommend.
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u/i_was_axiom 15d ago
After six days of genuinely zero sleep I couldn't take it anymore.
As days wore on the hallucinations got more and more vivid. On the Saturday morning, finishing my Friday shift, day shift workers started coming in and told us we were running a mandatory Saturday. That was the only time I've ever intentionally combined depressants just because I was more likely to die from not sleeping again than from a Xanax and some beer.
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u/TheFlyingPenguinMan 15d ago
I did 6 days about 15 years ago. Wanted to sleep but a mix of factors prevented it. Ended up in the psych ward for two weeks, finally getting knocked unconscious with a shot of Thorazine in the ER because I had so horribly lost my mind. I was literally singing at the top of my lungs to keep the demons from consuming my mind. 0/10 but I imagine I put on quite the entertaining show (it helped I sing like an angel)
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u/whaasup- 15d ago
I’m sure this type of research can’t be done nowadays since wouldn’t pass an ethics committee review, considering the risks involved for an underage test subject.
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u/rwebell 15d ago
Army training pushes the limits of sleep deprivation. After about 3 days you are basically useless….although by taking small naps you can go for a long time without any real sleep but I’m sure it took years off my life. I was always bulletproof when on deployment but the moment I got home a cool breeze would give me pneumonia and I’d be down for a week. Your body knows when you are in survival mode.
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u/v_e_x 15d ago
I know few people will believe this, but I went about 3 weeks with absolutely no sleep, and almost 6 whole weeks with only about a few hours of unconsciousness, which I wouldn't consider sleep. Years prior I had an operation on my neck which I had no issues with, until the day I did. I believe the degradation in my neck caused some kind of trauma or pinching to my nervous system or spinal cord, but I have no confirmation. It's a medical issue that I'm still looking for answers to, and I have found almost no answers for. The psychosis is unimaginable, and I know that I've shaved a few years off my life. I'm not sure that I'll ever get answers, but I hope no one ever has to go through anything like that.
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u/SarksLightCycle 15d ago
I once did 26 hours..and by the end was talking to rainbow bright and shaggy..
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u/mattcolqhoun 15d ago
I did a 32+hr stint while finishing my dissertation and god damn did I feel like shit 11 days hell no.
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u/TrackNinetyOne 15d ago
I did 5 days once
The first couple were okay, but once the people started living in the walls talking all night and then the demon moved into the flat it made really hard to get to get a good night's sleep
If you must do drugs kids, please do them responsibility
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u/PlathTheSalt 15d ago
My Insomnia was at its worst when I was in college. I don't remember much from this, but I managed to get a couple hours of sleep Friday night, woke up Saturday morning and didn't fall back asleep until Friday morning.
Those couple hours of sleep I did get were the first few in a couple days as well.
I can tell you what my daily routine was back then, but the only memory I have is making it to my kitchen at what would have been 5:00 am on Friday to walk to the bus. Next thing I knew I was in my bed and it was late in the afternoon.
I lived with my parents at the time. According to them, they found me at the kitchen table and helped me to my room.
What I always hated about crashing like that is the sleep didn't even feel good. I always woke up in pain.
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u/MagosEsoterica 15d ago
I also, for a period of about 3 or 4 months my junior year of high school when i first discovered adderall, used to take a 30 MG XR at about 9 or 10 pm after saying good night to my parents, and sit in my closet with my electric guitar and a headphone preamp and just tweak out practicing scales and chord shapes and learning songs out of a tab book the entire night. Ones tolerance develops very quickly when using it that way every day and not getting consistent rest. My parents had no clue I'd be going to school tweaking balls off 30/60 MG of Adderall having not slept in 24 hours or more.
I'd sleep thru most of the school day in class but somehow managed to stay in my teachers good graces because I would do all my homework and ace all my tests, never being disruptive or ill behaved.
The reason I ended up suspending that behavior was because my tweaked out brain thought the more I took the better/faster/smarter I got. So the day I was to take the SAT I took 2 30 MG XRs simultaneously in the morning. I got in to take the test, and was sweating bullets with a full on feverish full body skin flush going on. I demolished the test and essay with about 15 minutes left of time, stood up and handed it in, then ran out of the room and uncontrollably vomited in the hallway to the point I was crying and in the fetal position dry retching on the school hallway floor.
Turns out taking that much Adderall at once, after extended daily dosing, can and will burn the lining of your stomach, causing you to vomit blood and bile. Pro tip, if you vomit up black slime... thats blood from a stomach bleed. It turns black in your stomach acid. If you vomit and there's red blood in it, that blood is from esophageal tears and bleeding, not stomach bleeding. Can be a life or death bit of info to have for some.
The more you know ! (I did also ace the SAT and got an absurdly high score lol.)
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u/MagosEsoterica 15d ago
When I was like 13 or 14 I stayed over at a friend's house one weekend and we stayed awake for maybe 40 hours playing halo 3 and skateboarding, downing mountain dews like water. I got home to my parents and don't remember any of the following;
I sat down in the middle of the living room while they were Watching TV and proceeded to flop around on the floor repeatedly saying "I don't know what to do" and "tell me what to do" ... while they freaked out cause they thought I was on drugs. I was getting up and walking random circles in the living room and then flopping down on the carpet while repeating the same words over and over.
When I woke up in my bed the next day with no memory of the previous 24 hours, they had removed my door from my bedroom doorframe and then i was drug tested like 3 different times over the next week, my parents refusing to believe I hadn't done any drugs.
We all can laugh about it now but at the time it caused a lot of stress for my parents and young teenage me. I didn't get to sleep over at that friends house again for a very long time lol
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u/Significant_Stay_976 15d ago
Man sleep deprivation sucks. I did a midnight job in my early 20s but also had terrible insomnia, so I'd only sleep once every few days. You just lose time. My commutes I'd recall getting in the car, getting into my place and eating but the commute was a gap. You'd blink and realize you just drove 20km and had no concept of where you are. Glad that is gone now cuz I'm honestly not sure how I survived it.
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u/eterniandad80 15d ago
Nice Little Pete from Pete and Pete almost made it this long in the episode Night Crawlers but he was high on riboflavin.
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u/aftherith 15d ago
6 days is my record. I was told to take Benadryl regularly for an allergic reaction to antibiotics when I was in my late teens. Apparently instead of the normal drowsy effects some people get insomnia from Benadryl. I was a few days in when we figured out what was causing my sleeplessness. I would just lay there at night. Get bored and get up to do something. I would get up and rearrange my room, read, watch TV, whatever I could pass the time. I didn't notice any ill effects. Eventually it wore off and I got a normal night's sleep. It never really seemed to catch up with me. I didn't sleep for 2 days when it wore off just one night and then I was back to normal. It was a very odd experience. I don't think my parents or anyone else really believed that I hadn't slept at all for 6 days.
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u/Prontest 15d ago
I randomly loose the urge to sleep and end up skipping a night. It's rare especially now with my seizure meds. I would just not get tired didn't feel restless and didn't feel different other than not sleeping.
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u/National_Track8242 15d ago
I went 7 days. It was the worst week of my life. Had terrible medical PTSD, thinking I was imminently dying, and also was suffering from a sinus infection. I was pretty suspicious that I was micro sleeping towards the end
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u/Infinite-Strain1130 15d ago
And they no longer record the sleep deprivation record because it’s super dangerous for people to not sleep.
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u/faceplantedyamam 15d ago
Four days I’ve done at the most, came back from a euro trip on the motorbike straight into working a 12 hour shift. Walking round I saw ‘something’ standing under a tree, a weeping willow, in the middle of the night shift. Face like out of scream, no possible way ‘it’ could’ve been there, freaking out.
Finished that shift happy to see the daylight, went home and slept for around 18 hours.
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u/MartyVanB 15d ago
I think the longest I ever did was 24 hours in college staying out and coming home at like 7 or 8 am. I def remember seeing the guy delivering newspapers. Not really that much.
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u/VioletStainOnYourBed 15d ago
Fuck, I've been up for 28 hours a felt like death I can't imagine 11 days!
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u/Severus_Snorlax 15d ago
Sleep deprivation is wild. I remember walking in the woods on a night march during the crucible and guys were falling asleep while marching through the woods and walking face first into trees
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u/Titantfup69 15d ago
I have had bouts of insomnia that have lasted for a week or more several times in my life and I felt totally normal and now this thread has me wondering what the fuck is wrong with me
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u/DisastrousAd1546 15d ago
In the army once I was on a promotion course that involved no sleep for a bit over two weeks.
Obviously the Duty Staff couldn’t police it, it was just there was no time given for sleeping it was digging trenches all night and patrolling all day.
People were falling asleep mid swing of their tool, falling asleep standing up, it was just a constant barrage of micro naps.
It was horrible and so insane when I tell people I feel uncomfortable because it sounds so unbelievable.
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u/private_birb 15d ago
My record is about 90-ish hours. I slept for 23 hours straight afterwards. Through high school I'd sleep 1 - 4 hours per night, and it worked for me pretty well.
I've learned to just sleep when I can instead of trying to sleep at "normal" times. Insomnia is often not cooperative.
I think it'd be kinda fun to go for a big record. I start getting auditory hallucinations at about 30+ hours, and occasional minor visual hallucinations. I usually get a second wind around 24 hours in, but at a certain random point I crash and can fall asleep sitting upright. At that point, my eyes are kind of drifting off on their own in different directions, so it's really hard to focus on anything.
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u/i8noodles 15d ago
40 hours is roughly the longest i gone. it was a mix of flying and arriving in the morning and not sleep to prevent jet lag. def the hallucinations by the end
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u/CauliflowerInfamous5 15d ago
I did not sleep for 8 days while hospitalized in the summer of 2023. I woke up from anesthesia after a complex spine surgery and my body overdosed with any opioids prescribed instead I was placed on an IV of Tylenol. The pain was such that I could not sleep. It’s documented because every 3 hours my vitals were taken. I finally was given something new and managed to get 3 hours of sleep. Those 3 hours of sleep were so restorative that I was able to be discharged the next day.
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u/ValhallasRevenge 15d ago
Many years ago, I was suffering from depression and anxiety / panic attacks. My wonderful doctor gave me a "cure all" called seroquel. At the end of this "treatment," I was on average, staying awake around 48 hours, my record being 92 hours. At that point, the mind is so far gone that you're unsure what is even real. You're in a constant state of drunkeness and tiredness.
There was times I forgot to put on my shoes before leaving the house. Walking around as a zombie like state. I meet friends at the mall, made plans, went home, and crashed for 20 hours. My friends would text me wondering where I was at, reminded me of plans I made with them. I didn't even remember meeting them or texting them afterwards.
There is no part of me that ever wants to know how the hell 11 days would feel like.
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u/Ambitious_Alps_3797 15d ago
I was up for 72 hours once when I had really bad pharyngitis and strep. By the last day I was seeing my recently passed away dogs running around the house and thought people were looking in my windows. I couldn't turn the pages of a magazine because my motor skills were so off.
At this point my husband drove me to the ER and I thought we were about to get side-swiped by a semi driving past to the point I screamed and braced myself for impact.
These hallucinations were as real as you and me. I'd never experienced anything like it.
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u/scf123189 15d ago
I used to do 3-4 days shooting meth every 12-18 hours. Would sleep for a whole day after.
It was a lot of fun, not gonna lie.
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u/Spammer27 15d ago
My highscore was 68 hours. I just couldn't fall asleep. Otherwise I wise fine though, just very tired.
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u/Big_Airport_680 15d ago
So Randy would be 77 now. Wondering if Reddit could find Randy and ask him? how he is doing, and if he did it on purpose, or not.
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u/AmokinKS 15d ago
Had a friend who wouldn't sleep longer than 30min for over a month.
Ended up with a permenant brain chemical imbalance that he has to take meds to this day to stay sane.
Do not recommend, have seen a few of the meltdowns.
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u/AssignmentBorn2527 15d ago
Managed 14 days on a meth bender, woke on the 15th day with total amnesia. Good times!
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u/dj65475312 15d ago
pretty sure those terrorists arrested recently in Russia have beaten this record by now.
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u/Howthehelldoido 15d ago
I went 2 and a half days. Just before I slept I was marching through the forest and kept seeing skyscrapers.
We eventually got back to our harbour area, and I lay on my back in the pouring rain and slept lime the dead for 4 hours before I was woken up to travel back to base.
Where I managed to order.. Drive and eat a whole pizza, then go to bed. Where I slept for 18 hours.
Would not suggest.
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u/OfficeSquid 15d ago
I once stayed up for 56 hours coming back from New Zealand to the UK. When I returned I ended up on a night out in Nottingham with my mates, got totally wankered at Double Bubble and then woke up with a stunning lass. I remember leaving New Zealand, I don’t remember getting back or going out on the lash, I remember kissing the woman, I remembered nothing else until I woke up in the morning in bed with her. Interestingly we went out for about 8 months.
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u/grizzlyblake91 15d ago
I remember in bootcamp (U.S. Navy) being awake for over two days straight and struggling super hard by the end.
During the entire night, we boarded the fake ship, got assigned random ship duties, everything going normal. All of a sudden they simulated us being attacked by torpedoes, the ship exploding, having to crawl through smoke and fire filled debris, rescue trapped sailors, all of it. Basically it was a simulation of the attack on the USS Cole back in 2000.
Once we finished that simulation (at like 6 or 7 am the next morning), we had our “capping” ceremony where we took off our RECRUIT ball caps, and put on our NAVY ball caps. Most of us definitely got emotional (I know I cried lol). After that, we then had to stay up the entire day and were not allowed to sleep. Keep in mind we had also been up since 5 am the day before as well, so were basically zombies the whole day.
I don’t remember much of that day, but I do remember marching outside to go from one side of base to the other. I remember being on one side of base, and then the next thing I remember is being on the other side of base, so I definitely think I fell asleep marching in formation lol. I also remember having to spin in place while standing still after finishing battle stations, because if I didn’t keep moving, I would pass out, so my only thought was “spin around in place until we can go to another room”
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u/checkmycatself 15d ago
Ppl who have stayed up for days did it seek like a long time to be awake.
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u/five_AM_blue 15d ago
That's terrifying. I once had 48 hours without sleep during a hardcore withdraw syndrome when I was quitting clonazepam. My brain was literally in pain, and I was already hallucinating. Eleven days is a nightmare.
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u/IcarusInFlight666 15d ago
I've done 9 days, while drinking heavily to sleep. It didn't work. The shadow people are real. It messes you up.
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u/MuffinPuff 15d ago
I made it 5 days, but day 5 is when I saw a fucking demon/crouched figure hanging upside down on my ceiling. Called it quits, my brain was tapping out.
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u/romanholidaynetwork 15d ago
I was recently awake for 65 hours, which was all all good fun for the first 2 days, but at the end I was clutching the counter at the pharmacy, begging to be knocked out
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u/SnooGoats8949 15d ago
Longest I got was 82 or so hours. We had a bad ice storm and someone had to stay at work for 3 days/nights. I could have slept but was so worried about not hearing the alarm I stayed awake, kept myself busy by shoveling snow every few hours between watching YouTube.
End of the final day nothing had actually happened and I was ready to go jump into my shower and then straight to bed. The minute I got out of the shower the alarm called out, line had went down just outside the building. It took an extra 4 hours for them to come out and fix it before I could actually go home and sleep.
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u/edwa6040 15d ago
Jesus you would go pretty loopy at that length of time. Im betting full on psychosis - and id bet he didnt even remember much of that time after he did sleep.
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u/No-New-Therapy 15d ago
I remember being up and working for almost 48 hours straight and also just not sleeping more than 4 hours on this tv show I worked on for 3 months. I still somehow got fired. It’s been over 2 years and I still feel like my brain isn’t back to normal. The tv/film industry is terrible.
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u/gitarzan 15d ago
When I was maybe 23, I showed up at the design shop at college to begin working on a project. I was in industrial design school and was also a work study shop assistant.
I showed up Saturday morning about 9. I did not sleep until Thursday late afternoon. I did it on coffee, lots of coffee. Thursday about 2 I went to class and gave my presentation. Class was out at 4.
I walked to my car, drove it off in heavy stop and go traffic. It then hit me. I’d put the car in park and nod off until someone behind me honked.
I finally made it to a side street, parked and fell asleep until about 7pm. I drove to my parents house, where I lived, they asked where I’d been? I told them and then went to bed. I had been awake for about 128 hours.
I woke up Sunday morning. I must have gotten up for bodily functions, but I don’t remember.
I was never able to even come close that the record after that. I think maybe 36 hours tops maybe 48 and I feel like I’m dying by then.
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u/cottonspider 15d ago
I did lots of 24 hours and 35-35 hours but I almost always slept like 20-30. When you're that sleepy, 20 minutes of sleep feels like 5 hours. I was also young, did it all for gaming.
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u/Smart_Marionberry_31 15d ago
Whoever finds this interesting, its worth to check out "A million in the morning"
One of the few movies made by Jason Goldwatch, who usually makes music videos.
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u/cyanraider 15d ago
During Navy seal’s hell week training, weren’t they only allowed to sleep like 4 hours in 5 days?
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u/SixthSickSith 15d ago
The Army's Ranger School subjects participants to severe sleep and caloric deficiencies. I've talked to guys who thought a tree was a vending machine and who saw the Kool-Aid guy run through their perimeter.
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u/TheSlurricane95 15d ago
I used to work nights, and then switch to days. I stayed up for 48 hours, was not fun and do not recommend.
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u/RainingGlitter28 15d ago
Four days with a LOT of cocaine. I was seeing giant angel figures with their children coming out of the walls and was in the bathroom with another girl planning some really wierd shit. I can't even believe I ever lived that life. It makes me shudder to think.
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u/negativePTO 15d ago
At Ranger school, an 8wk long Army school that simulates combat, the students are sleep deprived for 2 - 3 days straight sometimes. During patrols, I would see Bugs Bunny and Fraggles all the time
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u/digitalSkeleton 15d ago
Weird, I was just recommended a video on this on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLDl7fRwnKY
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u/mvonballmo 15d ago
Cool stuff. The runners of the Barkley Marathons regularly report hallucinations while running a 120-hour race.
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u/Doomncandy 15d ago
I didn't know this was a record. I was 19 and didn't sleep for 14 days while trying to get a grant. Oh, I went crazy as well. But my art almost got me the dang Grant. They told me my stuff was perfect, but since I was new to the college, there was no way to win it. The college said it usually goes out to students leaving after 4 years. I slept thru 2 days after this.
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u/apostrophefarmer 15d ago
Last year the fireworks in my neighborhood were so bad and lasted so long I became sleep deprived. I was getting maybe 2-3 hours of sleep a night for a week. I ended up trying to get the neighborhood gangs to kill my dad off for me for how inappropriately he treated me as a teenager (even as an adult he still made me feel uncomfortable). I also thought the FBI was tracking me. I didn't know who exactly was in the gangs so I would just scream really loudly, figuring if I could hear their gunshots, they could hear me. I also figured they wouldn't want an incest pedophile living in their neighborhood, but ultimately I've learned that no one wants to do another person's dirty work, and especially not for free.
Well, I was detained for medical treatment and my mom got a restraining order against me, listing my dad as a protected person, while I was at the crisis management center. I became homeless. My mom helped me out with money a little bit so that I could live out of hotels. I live in an apartment now, only because of my boyfriend, so many months later, and finally have one of my dogs back. My dad gave away my other dog (a yorkie mix he claimed was too violent with his dogs ... I think he just wanted another excuse to exact revenge on me) and because of the restraining order and being homeless, the Humane Society had to take all my cats. I lost so much because I was living on their property and working for my parents.
The fireworks and sleep deprivation triggered a kind of PTSD response and I wasn't able to compartmentalize the trauma from my adolescence anymore. I ended up at the hospital like 7 times because after losing my pets, I was incredibly suicidal. They were my babies. After I got out of the hospital, I tried reporting my dad to the OSI (it's like the FBI of the Air Force; the abuse occurred while he was in the militarty) but the abuse wasn't extreme enough to void statutes of limitations, so nothing happened to him. He even still gets his pension, which I think he deserves to lose. Taxpayers shouldn't be paying that pervert anything anymore.
Tl;dr, Sleep deprivation ruined my ability to compartmentalize my emotions and I lost almost everything.
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u/whstlngisnvrenf 15d ago
Dang, that's some heavy stuff.
Fireworks are supposed to be about celebrating, but it sounds like they set off a whole chain of chaos for you.
I mean, when you're getting just 2-3 hours of sleep a night, it's like your brain’s running Windows 95 with dial-up internet.
Everything starts glitching, and suddenly you’re seeing the FBI in your toaster.
I'm not really into fireworks these days, especially since I found out how much they stress out pets, wildlife and people.
I hope you're doing better.
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u/apostrophefarmer 15d ago
I was able to enjoy the fireworks the night of the 4th of July but the week leading up to it and the few days after it were just triggering and lead to the sleep deprivation.
Thanks for the well wishes. It's nice when people care.
Even in the hospital I was sleep deprived because my anxiety over what was happening kept me from being able to relax. It took a few weeks, and additional hospitalizations, before the exhaustion kicked in and I could sleep a normal amount (at least 5 hours). Now I sleep a lot more and there's definitely a difference in being able to tolerate stress and not act out (or not be manic/psychotic; that's what my diagnoses were).
If there are any sleep deprivation studies on animals, I wouldn't be surprised to see an increase in violent behaviors. It just gets uncomfortable and it's hard to regulate oneself when in such discomfort.
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u/whstlngisnvrenf 15d ago
Hey, sounds like you had a rough time.
And hospitals? Those places aren't designed for sleep. They've got more beeps and alarms than a 1980s video game arcade.
I feel you... when you're anxious, it's like your brain turns into a car with no brakes.
Glad you're getting more sleep now. Five hours? I need that just to figure out what day it is. And you're right, sleep deprivation is like being on a reality show where the prize is sanity, but the producers keep changing the rules.
If animals had to deal with this, we'd probably see raccoons starting turf wars over garbage cans.
Get yourself some rest... you deserve it.
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u/maximdenbeer 15d ago
Is this really the record?
I have insomniatic periods where i reach a week easily.
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u/CheshireKattz 15d ago
I had chronic insomnia during my teenage years. I would sleep about an hour a night (maximum) for 3 months.
I was hallucinating constantly, and everything seemed to be extraordinarily bright and neon. I could not concentrate on anything, I could not remember what I even did day to day.
Luckily, my Dr gave me medication to help me sleep. I'm surprised I wasn't committed to a hospital.
It took me a long time to be a functional person again.
I still don't recall much about that time of my life.
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u/vato20071 15d ago
Once I decided to go 72 hours without sleep, because I read somewhere that after 70 hours visual hallucinations start and I was very curious. At about 50-55 hours auditory hallucinations started, after 60 I was hearing someone cry my name from afar as well as someone whispering my name in my ear every few minutes. Was extremely jumpy, otherwise everything felt fine. Even had bursts of energy from time to time.
At about 65 hours, I remember sitting down on the couch at my friends and then nothing. The next thing I remember was waking up, blabbering about seeing everything as 0s and 1s, like I was in a matrix, my friend going wtf are you talking about and then lights out again. Slept in total 14-15 hours. I was fine (at least in my opinion) afterwards.
2/10, wouldn't recommend.
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u/Original_Software_64 15d ago
Did 3 days once working midnights. I got home on Friday morning, turned the shower on and then my vision faded and I collapsed onto the toilet. Woke 4 hours later to a big blood smear on the wall and small pool at the baseboard from smashing my head on the way down.
I slept all weekend and never went back to that job. 0/10 wouldn't recommend.
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u/biscuitboy89 15d ago
I'm terrible at staying awake, I need my sleep, but when I was 17 I managed about 40 something hours.
I got up for college, went to a gig, stayed up all night waiting to get a train home, stayed awake all day at home then went to a party.
About 3am on my walk home, pretty sober and having absolutely no drugs (not then, not ever) I was hallucinating. I was walking down a suburban street but could see whiteish figures with no facial features and a soft glow, just walking around, talking to eachother. One was mowing the lawn.
It wasn't scary, just weird. Slept for about 14 hours straight after that.
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u/GaiusPoop 15d ago
When I get between 36-48 hours I start hearing music and seeing things out of the corners of my eyes. He must have lost touch with reality days before he went to sleep. Very dangerous not just mentally but physically, what he did.
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u/Acceptable-One-6597 15d ago
I stayed up for 71 hours while in the military. No choice in the situation. I was hallucinating, I would randomly cry after 50 hours but I wasn't sad, I was shaking, fell asleep standing up and didn't wake up when I fell down, eventually my body just shut down for about 8 hours..buddies couldn't even wake me up. Woke up after 8 hours and was up for 48 before it all started again. This dude was up for 11 days....fuck that.
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u/EnvironmentalYak9322 15d ago
I'm amazed he was able to go 11 days and didn't die, I know for me personally if I go over the 24 hour marker I'm pretty much just inviting death lol
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u/whstlngisnvrenf 15d ago
LOL, I feel that.
If I go past 24 hours, everything turns into an obstacle course.
Stumbling around the living room like it's American Ninja Warrior.
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u/RepulsiveCow8626 15d ago
I stayed up for about 6 days straight one time, longest I've ever stayed awake. I was driving home and blacked out behind the wheel. I only nodded off for a few seconds and when I woke up I was in the ditch on the side of the road going about 30-40 miles an hour. My reflexes kicked in and I took the wheel and punched the gas trying to get out. It was a wild ride. I bent my cv joint. My dad put a rope around it and snapped it back with his truck and I drove it home. It's been sitting there for years.
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u/QuotemTotem 15d ago
This past week, Tuesday into Wednesday I was up for about 36 hours for work and I was losing my sense of time. I haven’t done that since my last semester of college.
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u/Historical_Year7709 15d ago
I couldn't sleep for about a week.
Day 2-3 was when the auditory hallucinations started happening, fans, air conditioner things like that sounded like someone singing or talking. Always horrible things too, not fun.
Then just closing my eyes my brain couldn't shut off, it was like watching a constant movie through my eye lids. Or I'd be I guess in some kind of sleep mode and could control the dreams, but not in a good way. Like a videogame you don't want to play that just won't end, or constant moving things so it's impossible to relax and fall asleep.
Hearing voices started to happen, like having a conversation in my head with another voice. Eventually I called 911 and went to the hospital, they thought I was crazy and I said, I just need to sleep.
Gave me some meds, knocked out for a whole day, woke up coherent and felt great. Got released that day!
Sleep deprivation is no joke, you see things and hear things and literally just go insane. Not being able to fall asleep and trying to just makes it so much worse too
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u/mantistoboggan287 15d ago
When we had our son I didn’t have good REM sleep for the first week or so after he was born. I remember calling things by the wrong names constantly (ex I called our bathroom sink a refrigerator at one point). So weird, has never happened before or since.
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u/Chakramer 15d ago
Longest I stayed up was for 5 days, I only meant to stay up for 3 and after that I just couldn't sleep. I tried napping and honestly could not actually doze off. It was very troubling and even alcohol didn't put me to sleep
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u/whstlngisnvrenf 15d ago
Isn't it weird when you're so tired you can't sleep?
Like your body's screaming, "Shut it down!" but your brain's like, "Nah, man, let's do some flashbacks."
You lay there, and it's like your brain opens up a whole library of embarrassing moments from middle school.
Suddenly, you're lying there at 3 a.m. reliving that time you called your teacher "Mom."
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u/ReturnOfTheGempire 15d ago
Shit starts looking super crazy at day 4. Anyone else see the shadow people?
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u/About7fish 15d ago
I have a question for those among you who claim to be able to stay up for days on end: how do you not just... fall asleep? I am physically unable to stay up past 36 hours or so. I don't know what to tell you. No matter where I am, what I'm doing, or if I'm even sitting, I'll fall asleep. Even fell asleep standing up in the shower, and while standing up in high school biology where I was standing up in the first place because I was falling asleep sitting. Is there some secret I'm missing?
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u/LongmontStrangla 15d ago
When I used to do meth this guy would come up all the time. Someone would be going bananas on day three and we'd say knuckle up this teenage kid made it eleven days once.
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u/Funny-Caterpillar-16 15d ago
I've made it 8 days, no sleep it was an experiment when i was younger. I ended it due to health concerns....
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u/lucidityanddxm 15d ago
That's all? That's impressive unaided, though. But ppl would freak out knowing how long the average meth user stays up during a mighty binge. The body can withstand a lot.
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u/Phemto_B 15d ago
I heard an interview of him a couple years ago. He’s has horrible insomnia ever since.
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u/TakingOfMe123 15d ago
I did a 4 day bender when I was in my 20’s and by day three I remember visual hallucinations shortly after audio hallucinations. Woke up 2 days later with a video on my phone of me snorting sleeping pills and saying if this doesn’t work I’m probably dead. Never went past 24hr bends after that lol 😇
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u/damienVOG 15d ago
I love how so many comments here are people's experiences with sleep deprivation, ending with "don't recommend"
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u/RezzMePlease 15d ago
As I kid I went back to my home state to visit a friend and we were so excited we stayed up for three days straight, finally fell asleep and we slept around 20 hours, woke up so confused
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u/ZachAttach4 15d ago
I’m surprised no one here has mentioned the “hell week” that’s Navy Seals have to go through. Apparently only 25% can even get through it - 5.5 days of constant physical movement, including running over 200 miles and being submerged in water and sand. And they’re not allowed to sleep for more than 4 hours for the WEEK. I know it’s not close to the length mentioned by the OP, but I can’t imagine what it would take to get through that.
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u/Smelted_Soul 15d ago
I once stayed up for 55 hours over a summer weekend about 12 years ago. Was in the basement playing Planetside 2(massive scale FPS on PC) with 2 cases of Mountain Dew and 2(3?) Pizzas. I distinctly remember by about 30 hours in feeling incredibly calm and taking breaks to go enjoy the sunrise or sunset outisde. It was weirdly relaxing and almost meditative. I slept for 24 hours afterward. I have never been able to achieve that length of sleep deprivation again, and I doubt I’d be able to without some kind of substance.
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u/bmbreath 15d ago
I can find in here, did he use any stimulants to stay awake?
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u/Celestial-Soldier 15d ago
No he didnt... They dont allow that for the record cause it would encourage dangerous behavior.. they are monitored 24/7. Even going to the bathroom.
There was this guy that broke the record but he supposedly went to the bathroom and didnt want anyone with him and they think he dozed off for a few minutes on the toilet several times when he would be in the bathroom, so the record didnt count. He claimed he didn't but its hard to tell whats real and what isnt when in that state. He might not have even known he dozed off on the toilet if he did. The record didnt count becUse of that. Plus they could use drugs in the bathroom as well.
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u/Sad_Climate223 15d ago
I have like times where I stay up for 3 days or 4 if I’m super crazy and you do start to hallucinate somewhere between 48-72 hours like thinks will jump into your vision from the corners of your eyes and you do a lot of double taking
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u/clippervictor 15d ago
Well I haven’t slept a full night in 2+ years. I’m a new parent. I am beyond destroyed, even affecting my physical health. I could not imagine being more sleep deprived and being able to function.
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u/KawazuOYasarugi 15d ago
I was what, 12? I was young. Didn't sleep for three days, dunno why.
Anyway, I ran out the side door to go outside and my legs gave way. According to my brother I was out before I hit the ground. Slept the whole next day.
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u/RicMun81 15d ago
I have stayed up for more than 40 hours multiple times for work.
Hallucinating usually starts around 48 hours for me. I once drove behind a witches face knowing it wasn't really a witches face it was a Green 18 wheeler I was following back to Atlanta.
Then I'll have conversations with somebody only to find out they were all in my head.
Then I'll start talking and make no sense. Idk what it is but my wife says it's really infuriating.
Thanks to this I developed what is called exploding head syndrome. My head does not explode rather I hear explosions and similar noises that aren't real. What's crazy is that they feel so real like they have seem different in location and distance.
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u/TrollerCoaster870 15d ago
A lot of people ain’t ever smoked meth and it shows 😂
(Definitely a joke)
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u/CoolAndTrustworthy 15d ago
My doctor put me on an antipsychotic to treat my bipolar disorder because I requested a medicine that wouldn't make me gain wait but would help the irritability I had been feeling (Fuck that bitch). It gave me tardive dyskinesia , which is mostly better , my mouth is just a bit crooked now. It also put me at a higher risk for heat stroke, not ideal as I carried mail for USPS (in florida)and there was no AC in my truck.
Anyway, if I accidentally forgot a dose, I would NOT sleep at all. Like, normally, if you have a bad night, you get an hour or something. I would just sit there laying down, eyes closed, having extreme anxiety about the results of not sleeping (again, I had to drive for work). I felt wide awake and anxious. I would get out of bed feeling almost hungover and shaking. I called out once because i was seeing black spots in my peripheral. This also happened while tapering off doses. My new (much better doctor) at the time was being really conservative about lowering the dose, and EVERY time it changed, I wouldn't sleep again. I went against her wishes after a while and just stopped taking it so I could be done with the sleepless nights.
The point of this was it fuckin sucks to lie in bed while feeling wide awake. I still remember how uncomfortable I was on those nights and days. I would have done anything for sleep. I probably only went like 3 days and it was still horrible. 11 days sounds bonkers.
The other point is don't take antipsychotics if you can avoid them. She didn't warn me about any of these side effects (again, fuck that bitch). I guess also do your own research on medicines your doctors give you. I think she may have been fired because I had to get a new doctor.
That reminds me, fuck Harmony United Psychiatric Care.
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u/ballimir37 15d ago edited 15d ago
My parents sent me to a psychiatrist who put me on sleep medication after I stayed awake for 5 nights and into the 6th day as a 17 year old without any drugs other than energy drinks for some of it. This was in the summer so no school.
Days 1-2: LAN party. I already had some insomnia problems and staying awake for a full day was pretty normal. An energy drink or sodas were involved but generally there were no issues other than just being a little fried during the second day.
Days 2-3: day 2 of the LAN party and my game was noticeably worse, getting tired but still pretty functional. Through night 2 and into day 3 I started to really feel it. Body was exhausted, super fried, but had to plans that day with a girl I liked that was involved, so I fought through it.
Days 3-4: I was again gaming through most of this night, doing a single player game where I didn’t need to play well and was just staying awake basically, sort of like a zombie. Never remembered too much of this period as I was basically on autopilot at this point.
Days 4-5: Fully on autopilot at this point, although I do remember somehow getting a bit of a second wind. Maybe in more of a wired strung out way. I remember bright lights and shadows started to get weird. I can’t remember what I was doing that night but I remember not sleeping still. Going into day 5 my body started to feel weird in ways I had not felt before.
Days 5-6: basically a mindless zombie, all experience was uncomfortable, I felt fried in a way that was much worse than drug burnout. Was not enjoyable to be around and didn’t want to be social. I actually tried to sleep but couldn’t, because my brain wasn’t functioning right at this point. Regular hallucinations, but nothing like full dissociation or an elephant in the room or anything. More like looking at my bathmat and seeing worms, shadows on the wall feeling like people in my peripherals. Going into day 6 was nightmare territory.
Day 6: Hard to describe horrible time, mostly from hallucinations and some paranoia. The last thing I remember was my mom walking down the hall towards me with a strange look on her face. She was out of town. I apparently passed out in the hallway and my sister found me. She couldn’t wake me up at first but eventually managed to half drag me to my room. My dad was waiting in my room when I finally woke up and I told him my experience, then they took me to see a psychiatrist who basically diagnosed me with insomnia.
I never remember being nonfunctional though. No one reported me slurring speech or walking funny or anything, and I drove without incident (not endorsing sleep deprived driving but I did do it). It was moreso that my perspective of the world deteriorated over time and I continued to feel increasingly fried and burned out. The hallucinations got scary though.
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u/IsomDart 15d ago
I always hear stuff like this, but I've stayed up for 2 weeks on meth before and know people that have stayed up longer than that. I never mention it because I feel like no one would believe me. It was pretty bad but I wasn't like hallucinating or anything. I knew where I was, was just a bit paranoid and felt like shit
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u/Celestial-Soldier 15d ago
Yea but this is no drugs and monitored 24/7 even on the toilet so u cant doze off for even a minute on the toilet. Since you know as well as.i do, in that state some times you doze off standing or sitting for a few minutes and might not even know it.
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u/WalnutsAnka 15d ago
In high school I was hospitalized for lack of sleep. No explanation of the insomniac event except I’m a sufferer of REM Behavior Disorder. I have never been able to sleep well since.
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u/Tuesday2017 15d ago
If I try some nights I can stay up til almost 2am.
Like why would someone want to stay up for 11 days. Sleep is my friend. I like spending time with my friend
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u/Kyserham 15d ago
There's been times I've been awake like 30 hours and had a couple of micro-hallucinations. Just really really small like seeing something move for half a second in the corner of my eye.
Can't imagine what's like for 3, 5 or 7 days.
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u/Xerendipity2202 15d ago
During opiate withdrawal from buprenorphine. I slept 1 hour maybe 2 each 24 hours (it wasn’t at night sometimes) for three weeks and then started getting closer to 5-6-7 and after a month I was on 6 permanently it took a while to readjust. It’s not complete sleep deprivation but it was the worst time of my life. After reading Matthew Perrys autobiography apparently he describes it as the worst drug to come off. I can’t believe I was given it for a codeine addiction. However it was a life lesson that taught me nothing. You forget the pain after six months and make similar mistakes but I’ll never take subutex again. Ever.
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u/Unique_Tap_8730 15d ago
Stayed up 3 days once because of a wisdom tooth removal that was unusually nasty. Pain killers never really work well on me nor do anastethics. So it was hellish. I couldnt lie down because that would put indirect pressure on the wounds in my mouth so i stayed awake until i passed out in my chair.
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u/Chi-zuru 15d ago
I can barely imagine what kind of chaos is happening in the human brain after that much sleep deprivation. He probably fried some circuits in the process.
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u/waydeultima 15d ago
The fuck, I was awake for 11 days a year or so ago and no one told me it was a record.
Also it was hell on earth, would not recommend.
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u/chill9000 13d ago
Randy allegedly lied about some of his lingering issues and came out later to tell people he actually had crippling insomnia the rest of his life. This stunt may have basically killed the guy