# Ask the guy who has been awake for nearly 30 hours **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 20, 2011, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-has-been-awake-for-nearly-30-hours/606856 "2011-12-20T16:14:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-has-been-awake-for-nearly-30-hours/606856/21 "2011-12-21T02:41:37Z")
> [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](#): > > Amateur. I used to stay up 30 hours straight twice a day, and three times on weekends! > _yawn_ > > -D/a \*\*\* Luxury!\*\*\* ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-has-been-awake-for-nearly-30-hours/606856/22 "2011-12-21T07:14:14Z")
After about 37 hours I went to bed, but had trouble getting to sleep. How is that even possible? Then I woke after only about three hours, and now I’m up again. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-has-been-awake-for-nearly-30-hours/606856/23 "2011-12-21T07:24:31Z")
I used to stay up for 30+ hours quite regularly. Say once a week or so in college, sometimes more when I was on break and/or young and unemployed. I functioned quite well except I’d usually get a annoying case of the trots. Not sure what the connection there is. Afterwards there was always some really hard sleeping, dead to the world for 12+ hours oft as not. Slept through lunch, dinner and even missed the group getting ready to hit the bars one Friday following an all nighter, I woke up about 2AM after being down for 16 hours or so. That was a weird weekend. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-has-been-awake-for-nearly-30-hours/606856/24 "2011-12-21T07:46:16Z")
Which drugs are you on? (seriously, I can’t even begin to comprehend how people can do some of these feats they’re talking about in this thread without drugs. I can’t even stay up for a “normal” 16-hour day without getting fatigued at multiple points throughout the day) ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-has-been-awake-for-nearly-30-hours/606856/25 "2011-12-21T08:07:04Z")
When you wanna stay up for long periods of time I find a few stiff drinks help, not many mind. ---
**Author:** ![Gretel\_burps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ea666f/32.png) [@Gretel\_burps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gretel_burps)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-has-been-awake-for-nearly-30-hours/606856/26 "2011-12-21T10:41:00Z")
My question is: Are you still awake? ---
**Author:** ![thirdname](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@thirdname](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdname)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-has-been-awake-for-nearly-30-hours/606856/27 "2011-12-21T10:50:43Z")
It’s said that sleep deprivation can result in hallucinations. My question is, true or false: mackdonna handheld shoehorn butterhorse? ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-has-been-awake-for-nearly-30-hours/606856/28 "2011-12-21T14:37:48Z")
In November, I stayed awake for about 90 hours while I was nursing my mother as she passed away. I slept on Friday night, and then I didn’t sleep again until Wednesday night. I must have been flooded with adrenaline, because I didn’t feel tired during this period, and actually didn’t sleep very well on Wednesday night (on Thursday night, I slept for 12 hours). On Monday, after going without sleep for two nights, I noticed I was having auditory hallucinations. I would hear music, but it wouldn’t progress at all – it was like listening to the same two measures over and over again on an infinite loop. This lasted for a day. On Tuesday night, approximately 65 hours without sleep, I had visual hallucinations akin to multi-colored after-images floating in my sight. In retrospect, the most interesting aspect of this sleepless stretch to me is the fact that I didn’t feel tired at all during the entire duration. In college, when I had pulled an all-nighter, I was dead on my feet the following day. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-has-been-awake-for-nearly-30-hours/606856/29 "2011-12-21T15:32:24Z")
The last time I stayed up for a very long period I was in the 30th hour before I started having sorta waking dreams, I’d be falling asleep a bit, and something in the room, I was on my own, would start moving, and I’d jump up and it would stop. Then on my way home around hour 36 on the bus I kept falling asleep and waking with a terrified start. ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2011, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-has-been-awake-for-nearly-30-hours/606856/30 "2011-12-22T18:48:09Z")
So, did you fall asleep yet, Mach Tuck? ---
**Author:** ![Purple\_Scottie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a698b9/32.png) [@Purple\_Scottie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Purple_Scottie)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2011, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-has-been-awake-for-nearly-30-hours/606856/31 "2011-12-23T03:23:32Z")
I regularly had to be up 36 hours or more in training and I was training after restricted work hours were implemented. Now that even more restrictive work hours are in place for residents, I hope they are warning them the number of hours up can actually be much worse as attendings – 56 hours up this past weekend except for two twenty minute naps on the floor of my office. Got through it with lots of caffeine plus usually around hour 26 there is a second wind. Having others on the same call pattern helped even if they were on call other days; complaining was a great hobby among most of the residents. Thankfully by later in my training (the year we had the hardest call) we went to a night float system. Basically the resident on call over night would do a week of 12 hour shifts and not have responsibilities during the day. Honestly as that was my outpatient clinic year, I tended to enjoy call much more than regular weeks. ETA: The above sounds pretty obnoxious on re-reading it – like the old timer physicians who add that they walked uphill five miles to work every day. However, I can honestly add I would walk through 3 miles during middle of blizzards to get to the hospital during fellowship and frequently had to dig my car out during blizzards and -40 wind chills to get to the hospital during residency. I’ll never be able to top the attending who would tell stories about having to cross country ski between the hospital and home to be on call. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2011, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-has-been-awake-for-nearly-30-hours/606856/32 "2011-12-27T18:25:25Z")
My experience with extended periods of no or little sleep, was that as everything became an effort you stopped doing unnecessary things (like facial expressions, voice inflections), it was very easy to succumb to carelessnes so you had to have a tight grip self discipline wise. You would convince yourself that certain actions were unnecessary as "there was no threat "to you, but would force yourself to do them, silently swearing to yourself if you had the energy. After several days you would often fall into micro sleeps while actually walking, and on one occassion I actually packed stuff into my rucksack and walked a fair distance before waking up. You start dreaming while you’re awake (these are the so called hallucinations) and if you concentrated on anything for a while you were liable to “trance”. It became increasingly difficult to do simple arithmatic, and you often had to do basic calculations several times over, which increased the sense of frustration due to your physical and mental fatigue. You would start making simple mistakes like dropping things or mistying knots. (Incredibly annoying) Curiousity in things all but died, and you increasingly just wanted to get it over with, one way or another. Non essential conversation was non existant. But these effects of course were over a time period a lot longer then thirty hours. ---
**Author:** ![Scubaqueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@Scubaqueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scubaqueen)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2011, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-has-been-awake-for-nearly-30-hours/606856/33 "2011-12-27T19:32:15Z")
> [@rachelellogram](#): > > Heh, nice. I stayed up for 30 hours not too long ago. I figured it was time to go to bed when I started seeing “things” moving out of the corner of my eye, then turned to look and nothing was there. I did the 30-hour thing a couple of times in college for certain projects, and yep, the ‘corner of my eye nothing there’ thing got really freaky. I wouldn’t want to attempt that today, some 30 years later. Probably kill me! ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2011, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-has-been-awake-for-nearly-30-hours/606856/34 "2011-12-27T19:45:23Z")
> [@Lust4Life](#): > > My experience with extended periods of no or little sleep, was that as everything became an effort you stopped doing unnecessary things (like facial expressions, voice inflections), it was very easy to succumb to carelessnes so you had to have a tight grip self discipline wise. > > You would convince yourself that certain actions were unnecessary as "there was no threat "to you, but would force yourself to do them, silently swearing to yourself if you had the energy. > > After several days you would often fall into micro sleeps while actually walking, and on one occassion I actually packed stuff into my rucksack and walked a fair distance before waking up. > > You start dreaming while you’re awake (these are the so called hallucinations) and if you concentrated on anything for a while you were liable to “trance”. > > It became increasingly difficult to do simple arithmatic, and you often had to do basic calculations several times over, which increased the sense of frustration due to your physical and mental fatigue. > > You would start making simple mistakes like dropping things or mistying knots. > (Incredibly annoying) > > Curiousity in things all but died, and you increasingly just wanted to get it over with, one way or another. > > Non essential conversation was non existant. > > But these effects of course were over a time period a lot longer then thirty hours. How long have you been up now? ---
**Author:** ![Theophane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@Theophane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Theophane)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2011, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-has-been-awake-for-nearly-30-hours/606856/35 "2011-12-27T21:06:14Z")
It’s possible to die from a lack of sleep. People have died from fatigue. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2011, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-has-been-awake-for-nearly-30-hours/606856/36 "2011-12-28T00:01:15Z")
> [@Theophane](#): > > It’s possible to die from a lack of sleep. People have died from fatigue. I did. Luckily, I got over it. ---
**Author:** ![UFC\_Is\_Sux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/46a35a/32.png) [@UFC\_Is\_Sux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UFC_Is_Sux)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2011, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-has-been-awake-for-nearly-30-hours/606856/37 "2011-12-28T01:39:22Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I did. Luckily, I got over it. The fatigue or the dying? ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2011, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-has-been-awake-for-nearly-30-hours/606856/38 "2011-12-28T18:42:30Z")
- tiptoes into thread, gently settles blanket over OP, tiptoes back out while turning off the lights \* ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2011, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-has-been-awake-for-nearly-30-hours/606856/39 "2011-12-28T18:49:56Z")
Hey, checking in. Started the day on Tuesday morning about eight o’clock after a three hour nap. Have been up since then working at my desk. Want to make a couple more deliverables before I take another nap and come back. Can anyone help make that sound glamorous? ---
**Author:** ![Stelios](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Stelios](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stelios)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-has-been-awake-for-nearly-30-hours/606856/40 "2011-12-29T20:00:40Z")
What the hell do you do for a living? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-has-been-awake-for-nearly-30-hours/606856.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-has-been-awake-for-nearly-30-hours/606856.md?page=3)