[erskine777]

I'm a really light sleeper. My first year of college was hell, since literally every noise that my roomate made during the night woke me up. A friend suggested that I purchase a white noise machine to help drown out unwanted sounds. Does anyone have any experience with white noise machines and do they really work? Any useful information would be greatly appreciated.

[Da Boss]

I feel your pain man. I have tinnitus for 3 years now (was a musician most of my life.)
The first year of having it was ridiculous. I dint get a full night's sleep for a long time.

While I haven't tried the white noise yet I can probably give you good advice to get some sleep.

First off is the problem actual noise or you just have a problem sleeping in general?

[JohnnyBuddha]

I sleep with a fan on every night and that gives some good white noise. Some are louder than others of course.

[erskine777]

It's the noise that disrupts my sleep. My apartment has pretty thin walls and I can hear everything that my roommate does- when he talks on the phone, watches tv, etc... Whenever someone opens the front gate and it clangs shut behind them, it wakes me up too. I'm just a really light sleeper and the smallest sound can cause me to wake up.

[magicman531]

Actually I did what johnny said. Sleeping with a fan on kind of drowns out a lot of the other noises.

[Salmonella]

Get a noisy fan or air purifier. It works. I've been there many times. I generally sleep with earplugs, although that is not comfortable for most.

[samurai4287]

I use a floor fan that rotates...it's not really a floor fan I guess...it's one of those tall skinny ones that rotate if you want them too...it makes a good white noise....I also used ear plugs for a week...until I slept through my damn alarm.....haha

[Da Boss]

Originally Posted by erskine777

I'm just a really light sleeper and the smallest sound can cause me to wake up.

I know you said noise is the cause but there may be a reason you are a light sleeper to begin with.
Have you always been this way or is this recent?

Health:
Stress has a lot to do with light sleepers. Stress causes anxiety. You don't have to be an ill person to get anxiety it happens to me all the time when I have a deadline to meet or shit on my mind.
Eating habits play a role as well. (caffeine, junk food etc) and definitely do not eat close to bedtime.

If you get into a healthy lifestyle (healthy eating routines, exercise etc) You may find it easier to fall asleep and stay asleep. If you are getting REM sleep you may wake up from loud noise but those "smallest sounds" you mentioned may not wake you if you an in a deep (normal) sleep.

Earplugs:
Earplugs work for some and may not for others. Those foam plugs can take some getting used to. When you move around and the plugs brush up on the pillow it will make muffled sound in your ear. Take your fingers and put them in your ears but not in the canal and move them around gently. the sound you hear is basically what its like & that sound can be uncomfortable.
The silicone earplugs (looks like wax) that you can mold yourself work better for this.

LOL at MagicMan with those huge earphones. I cant imagine that would be comfortable to sleep in dude.

Masking:
Like others have mentioned fans work pretty good.

For me I prefer a radio over a fan. I select an in-between station that all you hear is static. You can also use a TV for this. Just turn it up to a comfortable level but not loud enough to annoy you.

Sorry for the long post I just have some knowledge from research and talking to doctors. Hope this helps you out.

Good luck.

[sursh123]

here, just smoke a little of this :]

[samurai4287]

Originally Posted by sursh123

here, just smoke a little of this :]

I do that too...but I am on a break from it right now....I take breaks every once in a while.