I had an ear infection that had me lose my balance completely and start projectile vomiting anything in my stomach, including water. It was probably a good 36 hours before I was admitted to hospital; I was so dehydrated I was put on a drip. It turned out to be shingles, so no wonder the antibiotics didn’t work. I can’t remember how long I went without eating, maybe 48 hours? I was so ill I didn’t care.
So generally I do the following fasting schedule
- Daily: 18hr fast
- weekly 24hr fast
- monthly 48hr fast
- quarterly 72hr fast
- yearly 120hr fast
I don’t water fast as hydration is really important for good health and prolonged fasts make it really easy to get dangerously dehydrated.
How is it for me? Often the 24 hr fasts are the most difficult for me as a lot of hunger signals persist for me during that time, generally after that point I am all gravey.
For the quarterly and yearly fasts I try and line these up with time off from work because I like to do a lot of reflection and creation during these times for me. The reflection is usually pretty good, creation… well… results have varied.
Do you have a healthy body weight?
188cm and 103 kilos, though I’m aiming for stable at 93kilos.
About two days without food, a bit more if I remember correctly, and around one day without water.
I had to have a knee surgery with general anesthesia, so I wasn’t allowed to eat several hours before and couldn’t drink either. Due to the timing of the surgery the last time I would have been allowed to drink was like 1 am, but I’m a morning person and was anxious so I went to bed at my normal 10pm and also ate and drank at my normal 7-8pm or so. Or maybe I had to stop eating earlier, I don’t remember exactly.
Anyway, the surgery happened, my parents picked me up and took me home. My mother had one of her many many meltdowns. They hadn’t brought me snacks or drinks to the hospital and she just mocked me that I couldn’t hold it together for the 1 hour ride home. We get home, I hobbled to my bed. My mother refused to bring me food or drinks and forbid my father from bringing me anything. I could come to the kitchen and sit at the table “like a normal person” if I wanted to eat. In the evening my spineles POS father at least brought me a bottle of water, much to my mother’s dismay.
The next day I managed to hobble to the table, so I was allowed to eat and drink.
This wasn’t entirely new, my parents had a habit of locking me up in my room without food or water for an entire day when I was little. They never thought that was a big deal. My mother even told me after the surgery that she wouldn’t bring me food to not “enable my spoiled behaviour” and that it was a good chance to finally lose some weight. (I was just slightly overweight, maybe 80kg at 172).
In case you’re wondering: yes, I’ve been no contact with my family for years.
36 hours, and I wanted to die
I cant beat any of these scores. I went a few months on a super poverty starvation diet, but never more than 30some hours with nothing.
I did once develop diarrhea while being drunk, and being the pseudo-alcoholic I was I just moved all my drink and music to the toilet. After about an hour of constant toilet time and boozing, I was basically pissing toothpaste. I didnt think that was really a thing but it is.
I’ve fasted for a couple days when depressed and it was fine.
What I can never compare anything to is suffering food insecurity. When I was a kid the union my father was a part of went on strike. My mom didn’t work. I was in kindergarten, and I was starving all the time. Some days it was just flintstone vitamins and juicy juice. Sometimes just a pack of snack crackers. I remember being so excited to get those. Once I was so hungry I climbed the cabinets and was gnawing on dried out brown sugar because it was the only thing I could find. That earned another flintstone. I received a few granola bars from my teachers.
For a long time I used to go into any new house and explore the kitchen and make sure there was food. Also, I end up feeding all my hungry kids now. Costco saves me there.
Sorry you dealt with that level of food insecurity
You’re a good person for making sure those hungry kids kids eat now that you’re grown
✌️
I’ve gone three weeks and change without a single calorie of food. Not by choice - medical thing. Lost about 30 lbs give or take. Was hard to start eating again once I did. Lost additional weight beyond the 30. Went from fat to skinny. Took years to eat properly again. Now I’m fat again :)
Was interesting for many reasons.
- it’s possible if you’re injured to not be hungry and starve to death without feeling any hunger whatsoever
- while I lost fat, I lost more muscle. Crazy how the body canibalizes itself.
- still need water, that you can’t go without. But you can go a long time without food. I could have easily gone weeks longer I think without food.
- Hug your family and always tell them you love them. I lived through my ordeal and gained perspective, but many young people die without saying and doing the things they should.
How long do you think you could go without water as well as food?
No idea. I didn’t drink for three weeks either but I had an IV feed of saline. I think you die of thirst in a few short days.
Yeah the general rule is about 3 weeks without food, roughly 3 days without water.
Went two days without food. It was pretty horrible and I slept more to cope.
Sounds like a lovely vacation, how did you get yourself back up?
How come you went without for two days?
I was on vacation in a foreign country and my wallet and phone were pickpocketed.
Oh no :/
Had ulcerative colitis. Went about a month on Gatorade and clear vegetable broth. Another month or two on TPN after surgery with very little to no veggie broth.
Went from 175 to 115. 0/10 would not recommend.
Wow that’s amazing. I think I might have UC. Did it help your symptoms?
What’s TPN?
I hope you don’t. In my case nothing helped so I had my lower intestine removed. The made a facsimile with a section of small intestine and re-plumbed me. It was during that recovery period that I went on TPN to effectively reduce the usage of my digestive system.
TPN is Total Parenteral Nutrition. Basically it’s a large bag of glucose, lipids, vitamins and minerals that is fed through a PICC line (in you upper arm) directly above your heart for thorough dilution and distribution through your bloodstream. An external peristaltic pump doses it into you throughout the day. It’s a trip, albeit cumbersome. Oh, and it does spikeTF out of your blood sugars so you have to take insulin during the process, which sucks.
Did it help?
The surgery did, but it was a long recovery period. I think it was three months with a temporary colostomy bag while my intestine healed and then at least a year for my body to get used to the new setup. After about 5 years I noticed that I was closer to normal, or as normal as you can be after getting a j-pouch. But it’s better than going through continued episodes. I don’t think I would have survived more than a couple additional bouts. Plus living with UC really increases your risk of colorectal cancer. Fun stuff
I have UC too and was put in the hospital for 5 days on a broth diet. It was weird seeing how skinny my legs became.
Ha, oh man. When I finally got unplugged from everything, about two weeks later, I sorta sprinted up a small flight of stairs and felt every muscle in my legs tearing. It was a very strange and uncomfortable feeling. It probably hurt a lot but they had me on some gnarly painkillers. I did feel it the next day though when I got home. That was about 13 years ago. I hope they have better treatments for it now than surgery. It seemed like a better option than Remicade at the time. Oh well, what’s done is done. Basically back to normal after all this time.
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Yeah, this was the fourth recurrence of it and by the time I went into the hospital I had lost nearly half of my blood or something. I think I needed four pints iirc. I don’t remember exactly, I was near dead. Kinda sucked. After surgery and a year of healing I was able to regain the weight it and get back in shape. Haven’t had another issue with it since. Plus I don’t have a lower intestine, so no colon cancer! Silver lining and all.
Sounds like the J-pouch is also working out well, thank goodness. I’m sorry you went through that. Makes my own recent ordeal look like easy street in comparison.
I had terrible stomach cramps one night. I was so sore that I didn’t eat after that for 4 days. It’s actually way easier than I would have thought, no real consequences.
Do you know what triggered the cramps?
No idea. Never before or since, no terrible results in the bathroom after. It was very strange.
84 hours without food (that’s 3 full days plus the extra night after). Didn’t feel too bad since after 24 hours my body gave up asking for food so I felt kind of lethargic but not hungry. I did it as a kind of personal challenge, probably ill-advised, but it wasn’t too bad for me. I still drank plenty of water throughout that time. I wasn’t even that hungry when I broke the fast, I just had a light salad, then I felt really hungry in the hours afterwards…
Never really been without water, but I’ve avoided eating for ~3 days due to illness a couple times. It’s kinda easy when there’s a reason for it (nausea, mostly) - when you know the alternative is worse, short-term hunger is only mildly annoying.
I fasted about 48 hours to experience a semi ascetic acid trip. Was a good time; had some incredible break throughs. Dived into a pool, and it felt like I was diving into a kaleidoscope of colors. Can’t recommend anyone experience it that way, nor would I say I’d do it that way again, but taking your mind and body through moderated extremes can be pretty profound; assuming you have people around you to make sure you’re not doing anything particularly stupid to hurt yourself or others.
Five days without food. I had a bout of gastritus (damage to the stomach lining) and never once felt hungry during that time. I was going about my normal routine and felt completely normal otherwise. Kinda surprised by that.
There was a period where I would fast every thursday into friday, 24 hours, but I allowed myself water. No real issues. Less impactful than a single beer or smoking some pot.
That being said I have huge respect for those keeping Ramadan.
