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.
I’ve been awake for 8 days, no drugs, and I did not hallucinate. I did not feel close to death and I actually had tons of athletic energy. The main detrimental effect was a loss of logging short term to long term memory, like the movie memento I had to write notes.
Maybe you don’t remember your hallucinations, since you didn’t write them down? I’m thinking like how a lot people’s memories of dreams fade.
No, I had plenty of doctors checking in asking about my perception.