Is it possible to not sleep?

[MONXver2.0]

Lately i've been sleeping more and more. Gone from 7 hours of sleep to 10 - 12 hours. Its really starting to bug me that I only have time to eat and then go to work. Sure alot of people want to get rid of insomnia, but how would one get it? I'd think my health would degrade over a period of no sleep. Heck my body even shuts down shorta when I get say 4 hour of sleep.

Who ells is tired of sleeping? It really is a waste of time IMO. :S

 

[Pieter Paul Rubens]

My alarmclock is set to go off at 10AM.. Even if I go to sleep at 4AM.. I'll get up at 10AM.. I'm doing fine with 6-7 hours of sleep a day.. But ofcourse, if I don't set my alarmclock, I'll sleep for about 10-11 hours .. A human being needs sleep, but 8h average is enough.. Just go to bed a bit sooner and set your alarmclock so you have a few more hours to enjoy the day

 

[Optimus Prime]

I read a story about some chicken farmer somewhere in Asia who doesn't sleep anymore.

 

[frsrblch]

I get 4-5 hours of sleep per night because I'm having trouble falling asleep. I'm still able to function, but certainly not as well as if I were getting more sleep. Sleep is not, and never will be, a waste of time.

 

[Deman]

Possible to not sleep? You'll become chronically cranky, eventually you'll start to hallucinate, and in the end you may end up dead

 

[Skyrider]

I don't really have much problems sleeping 4 -5 hours a day. At first you'll notice that you are weaker, due lack of sleep. But you'd get over it once you are used to it

 

[MONXver2.0]

Possible to not sleep? You'll become chronically cranky, eventually you'll start to hallucinate, and in the end you may end up dead

How long dose it take to hallucinate and the dead part to take effect? Really I want to know. Also what about those hyperactive people and the insomniacs? How come they can function?

 

[Fire Phoenix]

How long dose it take to hallucinate and the dead part to take effect? Really I want to know. Also what about those hyperactive people and the insomniacs? How come they can function?

About 20 days of no sleep.

They did this test study and made it so one guy absolutley coun't sleep, and he did regular activities, and then another guy who would do vigorous work outs. They both weren't allowed to sleep. About 20 days in one guy died and the other was hallucinating and couln't concentrate on anything. You could ask him anything, the simplest question and he couldn't answer it.

 

[Deman]

In lab rats, it takes 28 days for them to die, though it's undocumented in humans. It takes a few days to hallucinate. Insomnia doesn't mean you get no sleep at all, it just means you don't get reasonably enough sleep.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Tripp
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randy_Gardner_(sleep_deprived)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shattered
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_deprivation

All interesting reads on sleep deprivation.

EDIT: Fire Phoenix, care to cite a source? Not trying to call you out, but I wasn't aware of such a study and would like to read it :O

 

[Pain]

You could probably go for two days straight with no sleep and still function normally. After that you'll start to find yourself not being able to concentrate and nodding off here and there. The longer you go without sleep the worse the symptoms will get. I don't think it has anything to do with resting your heart >_>. It is my understanding that sleeping simply gives the brain a chance to recharge / regroup.

 

[SailorAlea]

What Fire is talking about, I don't believe was a study. The Nazis performed all kinds of experiments on people during WWII, I believe sleep deprivation experiments were among them.

 

[Suh Dude]

I read a story about some chicken farmer somewhere in Asia who doesn't sleep anymore.

Yeah it was some vietnamese guy who hasn't slept for 30 years, and yet he has the energy to pick up things and crap.

 

[KarrdeKNR]

You don't need sleep per se. Just rest. If you lay in bed for eight hours resting, you'll recover a lot of energy. Sleep, though, is a lot better as it has a lot of physical and mental benefits.

 

[DiebytheSword]

I have permanent kidney and liver damage, as well as hypertention, from sleep apnea. A condition in which you never really sleep because you gag on your tounge while you snore. This had been going on for years, and the sleep study done on me showed that at it's worst I was "woken" from deep sleep 64 times in one hour. Lighter sleep was in the 30 range, but you get the point:

*I am now considered diabetic, but supposedly it can be controlled with diet, so I may not need insulin just yet.
*I have a problem holding potassium in my blood, which causes salt not to be excreted from cells and the blood stream. It also affects how well my electrolytes are distributed to my muscles, giving me severe cramps, and heart "weirdness".
*I have fatty liver disease from my body not properly ridding itself of wastes in the blood.
*When I finally got my blood pressure checked, I had a 200/120 BP, which can cause a stroke.

My doctor told me that had I stayed the way I was going, I would probably have a stroke (which can be lethal) at the tender age of 29.

 

[Zeonix]

What Fire is talking about, I don't believe was a study. The Nazis performed all kinds of experiments on people during WWII, I believe sleep deprivation experiments were among them.

Oh c'mon. Let's not get technical here. Nazi experiments were indeed studies and should be treated as such. After all, we have many of our modern day conveniences thanks to their awesome scientists (who were later stolen by the U.S.S.R and the the U.S.).

Anyway, I read the same article as Optimus. Some guy in Thailand or something hasn't slept in 30 years and hes a productive member of society.

For normal people, I think 3-4 days is the max amount of time one can go without sleep before you begin to fall apart. Personally, I stood up for 2 and a half days once and I was just fine. I probably could have stayed awake longer had I something to keep myself occupied with. I eventually fell asleep in a car during a 4 hour drive upstate simply because I had nothing else to do.

 

[MC]

Oh c'mon. Let's not get technical here. Nazi experiments were indeed studies and should be treated as such. After all, we have many of our modern day conveniences thanks to their awesome scientists (who were later stolen by the U.S.S.R and the the U.S.).

For one, everything that Mengele did in his experimentations were for the benefit of the Nazi's, such as the air pressure experiment in which they used someone to test how much pressure their body could take before they died, and the Nazi's used that to figure out why some of their paratroopers died before they hit the ground. Unfortunately, this thread is not the place to be discussing history.

So more on topic: The best thing you can do is talk to your doctor about such things, as he/she could give you a much educated answer than one that you would find on a message board (no offense to anyone that tried to help).

I would recommend that you should set your alarm clock so that you get 7-8 hours of sleep, and just find something to do to keep you awake. Over time your body will get used to waking up and not getting that much sleep; Personally, I don't even really have to set my alarm clock anymore, my body is very used to waking up at 5:00 AM that I am usually awake around that time.

 

[Zeonix]

Doesn't change the fact that we still use the "fruits of their labor", if you will.

My advice is stay up as long as you can and find out. I'm sure the effects differ from person to person.

 

[Devion]

Like I've stated, the main issue with sleeping is the fact you need rest your heart from time to time.

I think a lot of hallucination is somewhat related to an overworked heart.

No offense to you as person, but that is a load of bullcrap.

You're heart doesn't need the rest, your heart even keeps when you are asleep at the same rate.(If you arent running or anyother activity that may influence your heart rate)
Scientist think it's brain related and that the brain needs a "refresh".(The brain just keep working, but in a different way)

 

[ZeroNightmare]

people that sleep more than 9 hours a day die faster :O

you dont need to sleep. i find just laying on my couch for 5 or 10 minutes relaxes me, though for me its not the energy i need, but the motivation to get my ass up and do something.

 

[Raeku]

I would die if I didn't get my 6 hours of sleep every night.

The longest I have stayed awake was something like 35 hours or something. As far as I know your brain/nervers or something can only regenerate these weird little black stuff (thats what the picture in my biologie book looks like ok) while you are sleeping and you need them for reflexes and stuff like that..