13 ms·

Here's my story: Three (or was it four?) day non-stop coding stint to get a robot ready for a conference. No sleep at all. Almost non-stop coding and the usu

Here's my story: Three (or was it four?) day non-stop coding stint to get a robot ready for a conference. No sleep at all. Almost non-stop coding and the usual coffee+sugar+pizza binge. Got on a plane to go to the conference and continued coding in flight. Got to the hotel, checked in and decided to get some sleep. I woke up about three or four hours later. I started to hear a nearly perfect 1KHz tone as my field of view slowly (30 sec?) faded to full bright white. By this time I was sitting on the bathroom floor: I could only hear this tone and all I saw was a bright white light. Somehow I kept my cool and could, also somehow, navigate the room. Over the following few minutes the tone started to go away and my field of view returned to normal. Freaked the crap out of me. No permanent damage that I could identify. Now I keep my overnighters to just one night, only if there's absolutely not choice at all.

pavel_lishin 14y ago
My instinct would have been to head straight to a doctor.
its_so_on 14y ago
I was afraid your story was one of a stroke. we should have a good thread on sleep deprivation. (e.g. someone should submit a story.) visual hallucations are pretty standard after a certain period of time that isn't even so long. (i.e. I would get them around, say, the 28 hour mark from when I last woke up and started staying up by pulling an all-nighter. So if I get up at 7 every day but then simply not go to sleep one night but try to start the next day - by 11 AM it's hard not to hallucinate. In case you get up later the following is equivalent: If you get up at 11 every morning after calling it a night at 3 am or so, then if one night you don't sleep at all then working past 11 am and on by 3 PM you will be very out of it and may easily hallucinate.) I'm very skeptical whether there is any amount of productivity to be had what-so-ever as for me, personally, it would easily take me 2 minutes to do 30 seconds of (any kind of) work at the end of that time, even moving a box from one place to another or whatever. So I'm very skeptical how a 3-4 hour nap at 22 hour mark could possibly not make up for lost time after waking up. going on 3 hours of sleep each night for several days (e.g. 2-3) is possible and easy. like I said, it would make an interesting thread and someone should submit a story on this subject (sleep deprivation and whether it's even worth working after a certain time mark). as for your story, it sounds like a simple dream/waking dream. it's really hard to tell dream and non-dream apart under conditions of sleep deprivation.
- robomartin 14y ago
  For all I know this was a mini-stroke of sorts. I wish I had gone to the doctor but I was younger and much stupider than I am today. After I regained my senses (meaning sensory abilities) I slept and woke up on time to present my paper. Years later my though is always the same: What a dumb-shit! Things you do when you are young and stupid.
- sp332 14y ago
  Try this series by Steve Pavlina http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2005/10/polyphasic-sleep/ http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2005/10/polyphasic-sleep/
- dkarl 14y ago
  There doesn't seem to be a sharp line between sleep and wakefulness. I once fell asleep while driving and was awakened by something I saw. It's an odd sensation to be woken up by something you see instead of by something you hear or feel. I had fallen asleep with my eyes open but was staying upright in the driver's seat, maintaining my speed and staying on the road. It was an extremely frightening experience, because I was very keenly aware of not being conscious a few seconds earlier, and having no sense of how much time had passed. I couldn't even remember what I saw, because duh, I was unconscious when I saw it. It freaked me out so much that even fifteen years later I think about it every time I get the slightest bit sleepy behind the wheel. A few times in extreme states of sleep-deprivation, I've been lying down or slouched on the couch and realized, after being startled into getting up suddenly, that my memory of what I had been thinking about was fading away just like a dream. My eyes were open the whole time, and unlike when I was driving, I was conscious of seeing and having a consciously driven train of thought. Yet in some way I was asleep, so my mind let my memories slip away as if they were dreams.
  - its_so_on 14y ago
    we need to have a thread about this.
  - nessus42 14y ago
    Ducks and dolphins routinely sleep one hemisphere at a time. It doesn't seem improbable that humans might also from time to time.
blhack 14y ago
I'm sorry, but what? You're telling me you're an engineer, and your very first reaction to this was not to immediately call an ambulance?
- jlgreco 14y ago
  Some engineers can have a (dangerous) tendency to want to either fix themselves or diagnose themselves.
- robomartin 14y ago
  Well, there's the part about not being able to see and hear. I was exhausted and most-definitely not thinking straight. I pretty much collapsed into bed and probably slept ten hours. I woke up feeling just fine and just in time to present my paper. I was younger and definitely stupider. No, I didn't go to the doctor. Dumb. Lived to tell about.
- nitrogen 14y ago
  Some engineers may have been raised in an environment of distrust of doctors, or of scorn upon those who call the doctor for anything less than a confirmed broken bone or heart attack. Edit: for such people, it would be useful if schools taught what sorts of issues are doctor worthy, and which should be ignored or dealt with by over-the-counter remedies.
  - heretohelp 14y ago
    >Some engineers may have been raised in an environment of distrust of doctors, or of scorn upon those who call the doctor for anything less than a confirmed broken bone or heart attack. Are you me?
    - nitrogen 14y ago
      Are you me? It's doubtful ;). One of my parents was a coach when I was young, always complaining about hypochondriac players who were "faking" their injuries just to avoid playing. This same parent still refuses to get treatment for an easily treatable ailment after years of low-level pain and annoyance. As a result, I have an instinct to avoid doctors, and don't really know what requires a doctor and what doesn't. Despite my conscious awareness of this, I still have difficulty overriding the instinct.
run4yourlives 14y ago
I've done a lot of over-nighters and more (3.5 hours in a week in the Army) and never, ever experienced something like that. I'm not a doctor, but you were either dreaming or having a stroke in my mind.
WiseWeasel 14y ago
Sounds like hypotension, a drop in blood pressure, like when you get up "too fast" sometimes from a relaxed state. Maybe hypoglycemia otherwise, or as well, especially if you hadn't eaten in a while.
- StavrosK 14y ago
  Yep, same thing happened to me when I was 16 (hypotension from standing for too long). Everything faded to white, but I could still somehow navigate the space well enough to go sit down. Or, at least, that's now I remember it now (or remember thinking about it then). It's been a long time.
  - goblin89 14y ago
    I had this happen to me in similar age a few times, only with things fading to gray instead. Once blacked out totally and was later surprised to find myself having managed not to drop in place but seat myself beside the bed.
postfuturist 14y ago
Sounds like a migraine: look under "Aura" : http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/migraine-headache/DS00120/DSECTION=symptoms http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/migraine-headache/DS00120/D...
- joshu 14y ago
  I've gotten this. You can get (painless) ocular migraines.
citricsquid 14y ago
That hasn't happened to me recently but it used to happen to me when I was a teenager, I'd wake up and be unable to see for a few minutes (although no hearing problems). It happened every few months. For me it was never related to too much / too little sleep.
moheeb 14y ago
This is an exact description of what happens right before you pass out(faint). If you are unsure of the cause I would see a doctor. In the final stage the field of vision gradually fades to black from the edges in.
weekendlogic 14y ago
That has happened to me before, exactly the same tone although I had the sensation of running in a desert before awaking on the floor. From your mention of the bathroom floor, I can only assume you were urinating while standing, which is a very common trigger for http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasovagal_response http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasovagal_response. For more specific definition see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micturition_syncope http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micturition_syncope Not a big deal really, but as always might want to get it checked out to rule out more serious conditions.
- Auguste 14y ago
  I've had a syncope like that before when I was younger. I had the flu at the time, and one morning I immediately got out of bed and went to the bathroom. On the way back to my room, I started to feel dizzy and noticed my eyesight fading. First it seemed to go black and white, then to tunnel-vision, as if I could only see what was directly in front of me. My hearing faded as well - I was on the verge of collapsing (unbeknownst to me) and I could hear my family shouting out as if I was listening to them through a poor AM radio signal and speaker. My father grabbed me before I collapsed and hit my head on the corner of a desk. After going to the doctor, we determined the causes: * Standing up too quickly (jumping straight out of bed) * Low blood pressure * Possible dehydration * Going to the bathroom The trick to prevent passing out when you start feeling dizzy is to get blood flowing back into your head. The easiest way to do that is lie on your back and lift your feet high in the air. And of course, keep hydrated and avoid standing too quickly.

pavel_lishin 14y ago

My instinct would have been to head straight to a doctor.

its_so_on 14y ago

I was afraid your story was one of a stroke. we should have a good thread on sleep deprivation. (e.g. someone should submit a story.) visual hallucations are pretty standard after a certain period of time that isn't even so long. (i.e. I would get them around, say, the 28 hour mark from when I last woke up and started staying up by pulling an all-nighter. So if I get up at 7 every day but then simply not go to sleep one night but try to start the next day - by 11 AM it's hard not to hallucinate. In case you get up later the following is equivalent: If you get up at 11 every morning after calling it a night at 3 am or so, then if one night you don't sleep at all then working past 11 am and on by 3 PM you will be very out of it and may easily hallucinate.) I'm very skeptical whether there is any amount of productivity to be had what-so-ever as for me, personally, it would easily take me 2 minutes to do 30 seconds of (any kind of) work at the end of that time, even moving a box from one place to another or whatever. So I'm very skeptical how a 3-4 hour nap at 22 hour mark could possibly not make up for lost time after waking up. going on 3 hours of sleep each night for several days (e.g. 2-3) is possible and easy. like I said, it would make an interesting thread and someone should submit a story on this subject (sleep deprivation and whether it's even worth working after a certain time mark). as for your story, it sounds like a simple dream/waking dream. it's really hard to tell dream and non-dream apart under conditions of sleep deprivation.

robomartin 14y ago
For all I know this was a mini-stroke of sorts. I wish I had gone to the doctor but I was younger and much stupider than I am today. After I regained my senses (meaning sensory abilities) I slept and woke up on time to present my paper. Years later my though is always the same: What a dumb-shit! Things you do when you are young and stupid.
sp332 14y ago
Try this series by Steve Pavlina http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2005/10/polyphasic-sleep/ http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2005/10/polyphasic-sleep/
dkarl 14y ago
There doesn't seem to be a sharp line between sleep and wakefulness. I once fell asleep while driving and was awakened by something I saw. It's an odd sensation to be woken up by something you see instead of by something you hear or feel. I had fallen asleep with my eyes open but was staying upright in the driver's seat, maintaining my speed and staying on the road. It was an extremely frightening experience, because I was very keenly aware of not being conscious a few seconds earlier, and having no sense of how much time had passed. I couldn't even remember what I saw, because duh, I was unconscious when I saw it. It freaked me out so much that even fifteen years later I think about it every time I get the slightest bit sleepy behind the wheel. A few times in extreme states of sleep-deprivation, I've been lying down or slouched on the couch and realized, after being startled into getting up suddenly, that my memory of what I had been thinking about was fading away just like a dream. My eyes were open the whole time, and unlike when I was driving, I was conscious of seeing and having a consciously driven train of thought. Yet in some way I was asleep, so my mind let my memories slip away as if they were dreams.
- its_so_on 14y ago
  we need to have a thread about this.
- nessus42 14y ago
  Ducks and dolphins routinely sleep one hemisphere at a time. It doesn't seem improbable that humans might also from time to time.

blhack 14y ago

I'm sorry, but what? You're telling me you're an engineer, and your very first reaction to this was not to immediately call an ambulance?

jlgreco 14y ago
Some engineers can have a (dangerous) tendency to want to either fix themselves or diagnose themselves.
robomartin 14y ago
Well, there's the part about not being able to see and hear. I was exhausted and most-definitely not thinking straight. I pretty much collapsed into bed and probably slept ten hours. I woke up feeling just fine and just in time to present my paper. I was younger and definitely stupider. No, I didn't go to the doctor. Dumb. Lived to tell about.
nitrogen 14y ago
Some engineers may have been raised in an environment of distrust of doctors, or of scorn upon those who call the doctor for anything less than a confirmed broken bone or heart attack. Edit: for such people, it would be useful if schools taught what sorts of issues are doctor worthy, and which should be ignored or dealt with by over-the-counter remedies.
- heretohelp 14y ago
  >Some engineers may have been raised in an environment of distrust of doctors, or of scorn upon those who call the doctor for anything less than a confirmed broken bone or heart attack. Are you me?
  - nitrogen 14y ago
    Are you me? It's doubtful ;). One of my parents was a coach when I was young, always complaining about hypochondriac players who were "faking" their injuries just to avoid playing. This same parent still refuses to get treatment for an easily treatable ailment after years of low-level pain and annoyance. As a result, I have an instinct to avoid doctors, and don't really know what requires a doctor and what doesn't. Despite my conscious awareness of this, I still have difficulty overriding the instinct.

run4yourlives 14y ago

I've done a lot of over-nighters and more (3.5 hours in a week in the Army) and never, ever experienced something like that. I'm not a doctor, but you were either dreaming or having a stroke in my mind.

WiseWeasel 14y ago

Sounds like hypotension, a drop in blood pressure, like when you get up "too fast" sometimes from a relaxed state. Maybe hypoglycemia otherwise, or as well, especially if you hadn't eaten in a while.

StavrosK 14y ago
Yep, same thing happened to me when I was 16 (hypotension from standing for too long). Everything faded to white, but I could still somehow navigate the space well enough to go sit down. Or, at least, that's now I remember it now (or remember thinking about it then). It's been a long time.
- goblin89 14y ago
  I had this happen to me in similar age a few times, only with things fading to gray instead. Once blacked out totally and was later surprised to find myself having managed not to drop in place but seat myself beside the bed.

postfuturist 14y ago

Sounds like a migraine: look under "Aura" : http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/migraine-headache/DS00120/DSECTION=symptoms http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/migraine-headache/DS00120/D...

joshu 14y ago
I've gotten this. You can get (painless) ocular migraines.

citricsquid 14y ago

That hasn't happened to me recently but it used to happen to me when I was a teenager, I'd wake up and be unable to see for a few minutes (although no hearing problems). It happened every few months. For me it was never related to too much / too little sleep.

moheeb 14y ago

This is an exact description of what happens right before you pass out(faint). If you are unsure of the cause I would see a doctor. In the final stage the field of vision gradually fades to black from the edges in.

weekendlogic 14y ago

That has happened to me before, exactly the same tone although I had the sensation of running in a desert before awaking on the floor. From your mention of the bathroom floor, I can only assume you were urinating while standing, which is a very common trigger for http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasovagal_response http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasovagal_response. For more specific definition see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micturition_syncope http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micturition_syncope Not a big deal really, but as always might want to get it checked out to rule out more serious conditions.

Auguste 14y ago
I've had a syncope like that before when I was younger. I had the flu at the time, and one morning I immediately got out of bed and went to the bathroom. On the way back to my room, I started to feel dizzy and noticed my eyesight fading. First it seemed to go black and white, then to tunnel-vision, as if I could only see what was directly in front of me. My hearing faded as well - I was on the verge of collapsing (unbeknownst to me) and I could hear my family shouting out as if I was listening to them through a poor AM radio signal and speaker. My father grabbed me before I collapsed and hit my head on the corner of a desk. After going to the doctor, we determined the causes: * Standing up too quickly (jumping straight out of bed) * Low blood pressure * Possible dehydration * Going to the bathroom The trick to prevent passing out when you start feeling dizzy is to get blood flowing back into your head. The easiest way to do that is lie on your back and lift your feet high in the air. And of course, keep hydrated and avoid standing too quickly.