Adenosine is a waste product of neurons and it is a potent nervous system depressant which is why if we don’t sleep for a long time we hallucinate, start to feel cold, and feel tired. We feel like we’re drugged because we kind of are. It also increases sleep pressure. Unlike other areas of the body the brain has no way of flushing out the adenosine unless we sleep which activates the glymphatic system. if we don’t sleep the adenosine keeps accumulating and it can kill us in a similar way an od of sleeping pills can.
Really needed to learn this at 3:43am on the second day of not being able to sleep.
No screens at all for two hours before bedtime. Hot bath and/or massage. Melatonin. That’s what I suggest.
Touching tourself continuously for height hours before sleeping help too
I had to type that alt text thrice because I was using my client’s “generate image markdown” GUI and had problems. The first time I got it perfect, but put it in the URL field and didn’t notice until I’d closed the browser tab (I’m on mobile and browse exclusively in focus mode, so the usual easy recovery wasn’t an option).
Then I tried again and got it right, but I’m still adjusting to FUTO keyboard and it just randomly closed the dialogue. If that was my fault, I have no idea what I did to inspire the action.
Finally I (think I) got it right on the third try, but the story of the odyssey amuses me more than the original meme itself.
Some much adventure for a joke
Working 9 to 5 🎶
Deep rhythmic breathing.
I once didnt sleep for 5 straight days. It was a horrible experience but you’ll be okay :)
Any hallucinations?
I couldn’t do it as an adult, but two separate times as a kid / teenager I stayed up for 6-7 days straight.
The first time I didn’t have any negative symptoms except nausea and, obviously, fatigue.
The second time I did have mild visuals starting around the fifth day. It was decades ago, so I only really remember one, which was goblin or green witch-like clawed fingers curling around my doorframe. I think I blinked hard a few times and did the stereotypical cartoon head shake and they were gone.
Maybe I can also chime in here
Was awake with some caffeine for like 3-4 days. After that the light of the sun got a strange blueish colour and I just couldn’t keep up anymore.
Years later I was routinely up for 2-3 days, but once was up for 5 days with some chemical help.
Major hallucinations with that.
Had a cleaning lady inside my apartment, which was nice.
A guy laying on my desk, that looked like the death smiling at me.
And after some time I, and a hash hot chocolate, which should have helped me to finally sleep, I had a full blown river beside my couch, separating me from my other stuff.
But nothing really troubling, just stuff that was there and could still kinda see through, that it’s bullshit.
I saw bats. Like that guy from bat country. Hunter Gatherer.
I hope you are able to sleep again soon.
I spent about a year practicing sleeping. I stay by telling myself that i deserve a good night of sleep. Spend several breaths feeling my bed, pillows, covers, and getting everything as comfortable as possible. Then i spend 3 breaths relaxing each body part, feeling the weight of it sink into the bed, starting with a foot. I focus really hard on this to keep my mind from wandering. I’m usually asleep by the time i get to my knees. It took practice, but now those 4am wakeups are usually brief. The hardest part is convincing myself that i deserve good sleep and can let everything else go.