Tapering Longest you've went without sleeping - did you become a lunatic street bum?

[JessFR]

I think the world record for not sleeping (without any stimulants/drugs) was 11 days.

I can't imagine doing it without drugs.

The longest I think I've been awake without drugs is about 30 hours.

 

[xxfreak187xx]

17 days...granted I'm positive i nodded out plenty of times but don't have any recollection of falling out or coming to. Ppl ive talked to that cld peice shit together said it was no more than 10 15 min. Crazy as it is i do accurately remember most of the experience..like I knew what was happening and no matter how hard I would tell myself I was in psychosis at the time it didnt mattet. I beleived what i saw and saw what i thought I believed. No idea how it didnt go totally south or ever got caught for different..random ass shit. Worst feeling afterwards, for like a month and a half i wasnt right

 

[Jabberwocky]

At this point in my stimulant career no amount of meth or speed will keep me awake longer than about 48 hours. 30 years ago I could fo 4-5 days but something has changed in my brain now and amps only work for short periods.

 

[Pinkbeam]

The longest I've ever stayed awake was four days a few different times while using meth. It was not a pretty sight. I was falling asleep while talking, in mid sentence, and falling asleep standing up, falling many times. I also did some sleep driving once, where I left somewhere, blacked out or sleep drove, and then got woke up by two cops, three hours later where i had drove into someone's yard and came to a stop, jeep still in drive. So lucky i didnt hurt myself or someone with that incident.

 

[andyturbo]

Have gone a few days. You will eventually get some sleep.

Why not just try removing 1 for now and see? Cold turkey double is never good.

However promethazine was just like a stronger dorm. Never took zopiclone. But since its a benzo that will be the issue. Don't think you will be running around the streets. Your health and other substance usage will mean a lot.

Great advice. Dont cut them both at once.

Its not important but zopiclone (imavane) and zolpidem tartrate (Stilnox or Ambien in the US) are not benzodiazepines they fall under Z-class drugs. They act on a different part of the brain than benzodiazepine.


Andy

 

[Jgovner]

I have always had problems sleeping since i was a kid.i just turned 50 and i still have trouble sometimes i dont sleep for a week and i start seeing shadow people and hearing voices.I dont do stimulants,i like to go slow but i have such a fast metabolism that drugs go through me in a couple of hours.just got a script for zopiclone.i hope for some sleep.

 

[LandsUnknown]

My experience with sleep deprivation is very limited. I do use stimulants, but I've never done the whole binge and stay up for days thing. Nor have I been tempted to abuse stims like that honestly, for some reason. The strongest stims I've done are Adderall and propylhexedrine. I do pull all-nighters from time to time if I have to get a lot done for work. Honestly, the mental effects of sleep deprivation can begin to set in at a low level long before the numbers that people are talking about here. There's definitely a change in mental state around 24 hours honestly, which isn't anything crazy but definitely is noticeable.

I've even seen stuff out of the corner of my eye, heard noises, and began getting a little paranoid around the 24 hour mark. On one occasion, I stayed up for around 36-40 hours or so. This was without anything other than caffeine. This is the absolute longest I've ever gone. I didn't become a lunatic or even come close to that, it was similar to the mild alterations that I notice at around the 24 hour mark (e.g. getting a bit batty but not outright losing it). No sleep deprivation hallucinations/delusions or anything like that. However, the day after when I had been up all night, I decided to take some edibles. And the high was very different than it would have been had I slept the night before.

It had a very psychedelic feel to it, and I even had actual visuals a little bit. I have used classical psychedelics around 40-50 times (e.g. mushrooms and morning glory seeds mostly, though I've also tried acid, 2C-B, and 25-I), and cannabis has had different effects on me as a result. For some reason, cannabis affects me much differently after I've taken psychedelics, has kind of a psychedelic-like quality to it. However, the sleep deprivation magnified these effects dramatically, and I actually started having visuals and everything. My friend stayed up for 48 hours and had a similar (but more intense) experience. So, yes, staying awake for long periods of time can definitely wreak havoc on your mind.

Somewhere around 72 hours or thereafter is where things begin to get really weird potentially, from what I've heard. I've never gone anywhere near that long myself, but you can start heading towards sleep deprivation psychosis after around 72 hours. And you'll start having "microsleeps" where you nod off for brief periods of time unconsciously. Though, it can take a bit longer for some people (e.g. five days or so). The actual effects vary greatly from person to person. Some people just get a bit paranoid and delusional, while others tend to have a more hallucinatory experience. It just depends. Also, staying up this long is very difficult. Eventually, it becomes impossible and you pass out involuntarily.

Theoretically, if you stayed up for long enough, you would die. Sleep is critical to vital functions in the body. The specific timeline of how long this takes is variable. Though, no one would ever experience this (with one exception). Because as I was saying, your body will eventually force you to sleep. However, there is a very rare genetic disorder, which runs in families, that causes the sufferer to become completely unable to ever sleep. The disorder is called fatal familial insomnia, and people who suffer from it will stay awake until the point of death.

It's a universally fatal prion disease with no known treatment, but it's incredibly rare. A healthy person would not be able to stay up to the point where death is a possibility. However, the whole experience of long term sleep deprivation is similar to deliriants, such as DPH and Datura. It's not pleasant and can result in serious problems. However, the problem resolves after you go back to sleep. You can't permanently go psychotic from sleep deprivation, but it can happen temporarily after 72+ hours. Cutting off sleep aids abruptly can lead to serious withdrawal that can make it very difficult to get to sleep, which can result in some of these issues (along with others potentially). So, definitely talk to your doctor to set up a taper schedule instead of going cold turkey on the sleep aids.

 

[LIE495]

Did 5 days on prob 2 hrs sleep on my last ct in Aug. Started to see shadows and lights.

 

[ions]

I spent a week just staying up with my thoughts once. The federal monster appeared to me and said “do you want to play racquetball?”

 

[December Flower]

 

[xdefiance]

Without actual sleep maybe 2-3 days tops even on stimulants. I eventually would succumb to those micro sleep sessions even minutes after redosing just due to the sheer mental fatigue.

Not sure what you're trying to achieve by attempting to never sleep. It's not going to work.

57 Hours is the longest I've stayed awake working on one singular task. However, 2-3 days is the most I've endured. Work ethic and others' semi-Machivellian type behaviors, of dilligence, is what motivated me to stay awake and alert. There are fluctuations in intuitiveness, and it peaks and plummets, as the restlessness continues. The abrupt interruption or disturbance of sleep from 'electronic harassment' must cease and discontinue, with rigorous exercise to burn energy prior to revitalizing slumber. Get some rest.

 

[Purposefull]

I've decided to discontinue my sleep aids - 7.5 mg zopiclone, and 75 mg promethazine.

I think that may be inhibiting my overall recovery and potential functionality.

I think my brain needs to be completely absent of interfering chemicals.

But I've depended on sleep aids for the last 6 years, previous to which I only ever slept 4 hours per night anyways.

Is it possible to go many nights with absolutely no sleep, or potentially indefinitely with no sleep, with this approach?

Is it possible I might turn into a raving street lunatic at 4 am, cause no sleep just makes a dude crazy?

I went 6 days once while hitch hiking from Montana to Florida which is not something I would recommend especially when standing out on the interstate freeways with trucks zooming past @ 80-90 mph.. There were a few times I forgot where I was completely and if not for alert drivers I wouldn't be here now. But that was many years ago. Now I'm lucky to stay awake longer than 12 hours at a shot. You really need medical help with this issue. Lack of sleep can leave your body in bad shape.

 

[Purposefull]

I think it was many years ago when I was coming home from a Lan party, I had been awake for at least two days with only caffeine keeping me going. Caffeine is one hell of a drug lol. Anyone that tries to tell you that energy drinks are healthy or good for you is a fool. I vaguely remember driving home and worrying that I was hallucinating from sleep deprivation. I didn't have any paranoid delusions or anything. I'm a good driver most of the time, so I made it home safely.

Years and years later now, I'm not into binging stims and staying up for days on end. It makes me feel like garbage to stay up and miss out on sleep. I know my body needs rest each night or the next day is gonna be rough. I guess that's one of the drawbacks of being on your feet all day at work and moving around a kitchen.

I did hallucinate driving sleep impaired one time. I drove off the road after seeing stars in the tail lights in front of me. I thought I was hitting the brakes, but was punching the gas full on and flew right off the berm into a grassy field. That was the luckiest moment of my life. When I got back on the road just a few hundred feet or so there were steep cliffs I nearly crashed into.. I will not drive sleep impaired again no matter how bad I need to get somewhere.

 

[wrenoct]

Not to be that guy, but many people here are very likely exaggerating their times. My time was 80 hours (a bit over 3) and I had to go inpatient coz of it. It was from a strange effect of withdrawal. This is considered an emergency situation, and is not normal. Just 3.

Lack of sleep seems to kill people in a way comparable to radiation poisoning. Your brain, without going into the lighter stages of sleep that "clean" itself, ends up falling apart at a cellular level. It's really disturbing, and I suggest you look into it. We know for a fact that it will kill you.

We also know that the world record for COMPLETE cessation of sleep remains at 11 days. I keep seeing people saying they did more than that, but to be frank that sounds... not true. You are legit telling me you beat the world record? No. You didn't. If you really did, go do it again and let yourself be monitored, coz you are one in a billion. & I don't think there are that many anomalous people on this forum.

This isn't to pick a fight; I just think we need to be real about this not sleeping thing. It's not a contest, and some of the claims here are beyond farfetched. Not impossible, just very very very very very very VERY unlikely.

Now, if they mean they only got an hour or a couple hours here or there, then okay. That is also hell and absolutely insomnia. But that isn't the vibe of what I keep reading. When I see someone say day 8 and acting normal... no. We have done experiments. Science says you are incorrect. It doesn't happen like that.

Some of this stuff is akin to breatheairian claims. It's not scientifically realistic.

Please talk to a neurologist about your situation, OP. I can only assume you've been getting no good sleep, but hopefully there's not a complete cessation or you would die a miserable death. Please get help asap.

 

[December Flower]

Not to be that guy, but many people here are very likely exaggerating their times. My time was 80 hours (a bit over 3) and I had to go inpatient coz of it. It was from a strange effect of withdrawal. This is considered an emergency situation, and is not normal. Just 3.

Lack of sleep seems to kill people in a way comparable to radiation poisoning. Your brain, without going into the lighter stages of sleep that "clean" itself, ends up falling apart at a cellular level. It's really disturbing, and I suggest you look into it. We know for a fact that it will kill you.

We also know that the world record for COMPLETE cessation of sleep remains at 11 days. I keep seeing people saying they did more than that, but to be frank that sounds... not true. You are legit telling me you beat the world record? No. You didn't. If you really did, go do it again and let yourself be monitored, coz you are one in a billion. & I don't think there are that many anomalous people on this forum.

This isn't too pick a fight, I just think we need to be real about this not sleeping thing. It's not a contest, and some of the claims here are beyond farfetched. Not impossible, just very very very very very very VERY unlikely.

Now, if they mean they only got an hour or a couple hours here or there, then okay. But that isn't what I keep reading. When I see someone say day 8 and acting normal... no. We have done experiments. Science says you are incorrect. It doesn't happen like that.

Some of this stuff is akin to breatheairian stuff. It's not scientifically realistic.

Please talk to a neurologist about your situation, OP. I can only assume you've been getting no good sleep, but there's not a complete cessation or you would die a miserable death. Please get help asap.

To be fair, most people who posted they had been awake for 6 days and more admitted that they probably had tiny naps inbetween that they didn't quite register because they were so sleep deprived

 

[Zephyn]

3-4 days, psychosis every time

 

[wrenoct]

To be fair, most people who posted they had been awake for 6 days and more admitted that they probably had tiny naps inbetween that they didn't quite register because they were so sleep deprived

Ah, yeah that's totally fair then. I skimmed this and a few other things.

I should clarify, then: my post doesn't apply to these people! That's entirely plausible and I'm sure happens often to people, unfortunately.

Kudos.

 

[Bella Figura]

4 days on meth and was hallucinating pretty wildly so decided to knock myself out before exacerbating any brain damage I'd done...

 

[JohnBoy2000]

Well, last couple days, prometh has stopped working dammit.

I double the dose (150 mg) and that KO'd me, but prometh also makes me aggressive, so might try discontinuing it.

3 am and we'll see how long I can last.

 

[JohnBoy2000]

First night without any sleep what so ever (no sleep aids taken).

Don't feel as terrible as I thought I would.

I assume at some point my body will just crash out and I'll catch at least an hour or two.

But yeah, 24 hours straight, no sleep.

Stage 1.