Those who are sensitive to noise, how do you fall asleep?

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I'm sensitive to noise when I'm trying to fall asleep. I have Thalassemia Minor anemia, which basically means that I'm always tired and if I don't get enough sleep, I feel sick. Also, I'm night person in a society largely consisting of day people.

I live in a neighborhood that has two noise modes:

1) Near total silence
2) World's loudest construction site

And it sometimes shifts from one to the other without warning, usually at the exact moment I was about to fall asleep. All of my neighbors all seem to own power tools. There are also some more predictable noises that nonetheless cause problems for me, such as our condo complex's gardeners coming once a week with their loud, grinding machinery, or the bells from the church on the corner, which play a circular melody that seems to go on forever when I'm trying to sleep.

Another scenario is...everyone in the house is asleep. Everything is quiet. My head hits the pillow. At that exact moment, my parents suddenly decide to get up and make a snack, opening and closing cabinets, banging and clanging silverware, etc.

Despite this, my parents have really made an effort to try and make it quiet when I sleep, even watching TV on mute with subtitles. Sometimes, due to some extremely minor noise, I still can't fall asleep anyway.

What set off this post is that my stepfather currently has a cough, which he can't help. However, this means that at literally any moment of the day, he could start coughing. Sometimes he even wakes up suddenly when he's sleeping and starts coughing. I don't know what this is going to do to my sleep schedule. The idea of not getting enough sleep causes me a lot of anxiety.

What really irks me about these "sonic assaults" as I call them is how they seem to be perfectly orchestrated to occur at the moment I'm about to fall asleep. Sometimes I imagine a "Truman Show"-style control room, where a director is just waiting to cue up these sounds in order to mess with me.

I'd like to be able to fall asleep, even when there is noise. Sometimes people tell me, "Just relax and fall asleep!" but that doesn't work. I've thought of ear plugs, but I don't think I'd be able to sleep while feeling them in my ears.

Other people who are sensitive to noise, what do you do to fall asleep?

35db foam earplugs -- I'm so used to the feeling I miss the sensation without them.

Ten years of daily prescription Ambien, now switched to other prescription sleep meds.

Not having anyone in the room with me.

I used to live.In a.place with similar noise level. It was.awful.
When I.moved.out looked.specifically for a quieter area. So now.where I live is more.rural.

Though the days when the apartment gardeners mow.the lawns are still hard. So I have some over the ear noise reduction headphone type things. They were made for.construction workers who.work.In very noisy areas. They don't keep all noise out but it helps.

I tried doing ear.plugs but the sensation of having them.In my ears was uncomfortable.

I also.use.my fan to.kind of.cancel.out some.of the outside noise. Personally the sound of the fan to me.is soothing most of.the time so that helps.also.

I.take.melatonin also to assist.me.In sleeping.

Have you tried masking those annoying sounds with steady pink noise?

See Can Pink Noise Help You Sleep?

Silicone earplugs. I can't lay down with headphones on as I find them too bulky. Earplugs probably aren't doing any good to my ears though but I have no other choice. I can't use the spongey or self-moulding ones because they don't seem to block sound out much and just get loose and fall out my ears. The silicone ones are the best and they block out most of the noise from the weird as*holes upstairs.

I can't use silicone.
My cats always want to eat them for some reason, if they fall out or I leave them on my dresser.

I will never use Silicone ear plugs again as little bits would get dislodged in my ear and spend hours in ER having them taken out. Wax earplugs are far more effective in reducing noise and they also hold their shape.
Subsequently, I have been using them every night for the last 30 years.

I usually don't fall asleep till I'm absolutely exhausted. If it's not some random noise keeping me awake, it's my own unstoppable thoughts.

My daughter wakes up at 5am and puts on classical music to drown out the call of birdcalls in the morning

I love hearing any sound of nature. Most noises produced by people are the most annoying noises, such as stomping upstairs neighbours, drunk people shouting in the street, kids shrieking, loud motorcycles or car engines, etc. Mind you I like the sound of a lawn mower.

I would rather hear a dog barking than a baby screaming.

Your zip code has unusually loud birds?

I have heavy sound-blocking curtains on the whole exterior bedroom wall, a background noise machine, and use earplugs. it works well for me as the curtains also block light which is also bad for me when trying to sleep. The combination works well, I can hear things like the smoke alarm, but can sleep through upstairs neighbors fighting, and even gun-shots from down the street.