I had just worked 7days straight. Averaging 18 hours a day. I slept in the couch that was in the rec room, next to the ping pong table. I showered in the employee gym. I was subsisting on the crappy snacks lying around the rec room / kitchen and occasional frozen dinners reserved for late nighters.

I noticed that I had just typed the same sentence twice, after staring at it for what seemed like hours, perhaps only a few minutes in reality.

I started convincing myself that I needed to go home and get a good night´s sleep. I was also debating if I was in a safe condition to be driving, especially at that hour.

Have you ever had floating sensations because of sleep deprivation?

Adults need seven to eight hours of sleep a night, and adolescents need about ten. When we sleep, our DNA is repaired and our bodies replenish themselves for the day ahead.

According to Cladua Aquire´s TED Talk,
Source: https://www.ted.com/talks/claudia_aguirre_what_would_happen_if_you_didn_t_sleep/transcript

"In 2014, a devoted soccer fan died after staying awake for 48 hours to watch the World Cup. While his untimely death was due to a stroke, studies show that chronically sleeping fewer than six hours a night increases stroke risk by four and half times compared to those getting a consistent seven to eight hours of shuteye. For a handful of people on the planet who carry a rare inherited genetic mutation, sleeplessness is a daily reality. This condition, known as Fatal Familial Insomnia, places the body in a nightmarish state of wakefulness, forbidding it from entering the sanctuary of sleep. Within months or years, this progressively worsening condition leads to dementia and death."

Can sleep kill you?

Damn right, it can. Read on.

Claudia Aquirre says, "During our waking hours, our cells are busy using up our day's energy sources, which get broken down into various byproducts, including adenosine. As adenosine builds up, it increases the urge to sleep, also known as sleep pressure. In fact, caffeine works by blocking adenosine's receptor pathways. Other waste products also build up in the brain, and if they're not cleared away, they collectively overload the brain and are thought to lead to the many negative symptoms of sleep deprivation."

"So, what's happening in our brain when we sleep to prevent this? Scientists found something called the glymphatic system, a clean-up mechanism that removes this buildup and is much more active when we're asleep. It works by using cerebrospinal fluid to flush away toxic byproducts that accumulate between cells. Lymphatic vessels, which serve as pathways for immune cells, have recently been discovered in the brain, and they may also play a role in clearing out the brain's daily waste products."

So think twice before you pull your next all nighter. It may be more harmful than you think!