I've tried using the the solution posted here:
How would I stop a while loop after n amount of time?
but that loop doesn't end with the function im running that accepts inputs. How do I force function5 to exit?
    while True:
                test = 0
                if test == 5 or time.time() > timeout:
                    print "time's out!"
                    break
                test = test - 1
                function5()
   def function5():
                receiver = raw_input("enter something: ")
 
     
    