The Student Room Group

Sooooo tired

I posted a similar thread in GD about my noise problem... Short outline: I get woken up at stupid o'clock (known to some as 6:30-7am) every morning apart from Sunday due to building work. Have complained but no chance of getting moved. Can't sleep during day because of noise. Can't work during day because of noise. Have to work at night. Have insomnia, get to sleep around 2 or 3am. Then get woken up around 4 hours later. Am near breaking point and feel like I'm going to collapse despite many expressos and much coffee.

Any advice? Is caffeine powder any good? I am shaking right now with tiredness. Help?
Reply 1
Wow, I feel really sorry for you! Got anywhere you can stay for a few days to get some real sleep? Thats the only thing I can think of atm!
Danny
Reply 2
Madness!! What will happen if you do??
Reply 3
Erm, you could well be shaking because of the caffeine rather than the tiredness. It sounds like a ridiculous situation to be in though; there's not much I can offer apart from sympathy.
Firebird
The reeeeally funny thing is that I'm not allowed to stay out of halls for more than two nights! :dong:

How come?
Reply 5
Doesn't really matter if it annoys them, if it's good for you then go for it!
Is it the university telling you that you can't stay away for more than one or two days or your parents/guardians?

You're not in prison and you are paying for your room so stay at a friend's house until the university do something about it. I have to say University of Portsmouth are very good when it comes to student welfare, shame it isn't the same nationwide.
Reply 7
Firebird
Just spoke to someone who lives on the other side of the building site and he says the noise is really bad despite posh new windows. Guess there's a lot of people suffering.

Have no idea why I can't stay away. Don't see why I should have to - room is well expensive. Might stay at my friend's, it'll probably annoy the powers that be but I just want to cry :bawling:

Is caffeine really bad for you?


Using large amounts of it to keep you awake won't be good, no. And it will make it harder for you to sleep when you finally do get to crash out.

Just go away to your friends' or bf's and don't tell them - they most likely won't know, and if they do challenge it, tell them why you're doing it.
Reply 8
Good point!
Reply 9
try getting some good ear plugs. I'm in halls too, they work wonders for me when I want to get an early night.
Get some really good ear plugs and an eye mask, and if all else fails, open the window and yell at the builders to go away and leave you alone!!:mad:

Sounds like you're in a bit of a sticky situation though :hmmm: I just hope it improves for you soon!:smile:
Reply 11
Couldn't you work soemwhere else e.g. a library in the day time so that you can sleep at night? I know it's still not ideal, not as nice as your room etc, but it would help you to get some sleep.
Firebird
I posted a similar thread in GD about my noise problem... Short outline: I get woken up at stupid o'clock (known to some as 6:30-7am) every morning apart from Sunday due to building work. Have complained but no chance of getting moved. Can't sleep during day because of noise. Can't work during day because of noise. Have to work at night. Have insomnia, get to sleep around 2 or 3am. Then get woken up around 4 hours later. Am near breaking point and feel like I'm going to collapse despite many expressos and much coffee.

Any advice? Is caffeine powder any good? I am shaking right now with tiredness. Help?


What a terrible predicament. :eek:
Caffiene will keep you awake. Not great if you want to sleep. Considered earplugs for the noise?
Reply 14
Ditto to all above- definitely don't use caffeine, will leave you strung out, adding to the insomnia and stress you're feeling.

Earplugs are a definite must. They don't block out absolutely everything, but should dull the noise enough for it not to wake you straight away.

If the noise is genuinely starting before 7am most mornings that counts as within antisocial hours, so if the noise level is as bad as you describe and affecting your health, what they're doing is illegal- call the council.
Firebird
Is there a law student here who knows about the laws of making noise like that? Is there a set time they're not allowed to start before? Or a maximum decibel thing?

Consult the halls staff first lol.
Reply 16
I know the time classed as 'antisocial' for domestic noise is 11pm-7am (due to the woman in the flat below us constantly complaining about the volume of our tv/voices!), but i don't know about industrial noise- i image they'd be the same, so there might not be much you can do about the start time.

The only way to tell if the noise constitutes noise pollution is to get the council in to assess the volume, time and duration of the noise. If they decide that the level of noise would affect the health of an average person, they will do something about it.

Surely others in the hall must feel the same way? If lots of you collaborate in your complaint to the council it will hold more weight than just one person, making it more likely they will have to do something.
Reply 17
I'm in the same situation at the moment, I just go to bed at 9pm and wake up at 6:30am so I'm not woken up by their ****ing banging, you should try the same, it really isn't as drastic as you're making it out to be.
i found this on the bbc website. hope it might help

The damage to hearing depends not only on the level of noise but how long it lasts. So hearing can be damaged by very sudden short bursts of extremely loud noise, such as an explosion, or by prolonged exposure to lower levels of noise, such as if you work in a factory surrounded by machinery without ear protection.

As well as this direct damage to hearing, constant unwanted noise is very stressful, even at lower levels, causing rises in blood pressure and heart rate, or disturbing sleep (even noise as low as 30dB can affect sleep if it's continuous).

Research has shown that:

at 55dB to 60dB noise creates annoyance
at 60dB to 65dB annoyance increases considerably
above 65dB serious damage caused by noise occurs


Numerous legislation laws

The problem with legal noise control is that no single agency has overall responsibility for all aspects of environmental noise policy and legislation. So there's no one single piece of legislation which makes clear what noise levels are allowed. Instead there are more than 100 different noise-related laws controlling different types of noise in different places, all of which may contribute to background noise.

The World Health Organization has suggested a standard guideline value for average outdoor noise levels of 55dB, applied during normal daytime to prevent significant interference with the normal activities of local communities (also 50dB for indoors, 30dB for bedrooms, and more specific limits such as a 100dB for a four-hour period for concert halls).

If you're bothered by background noise you should seek advice. The experts should assess the noise to find the sources and see whether individual restrictions apply or where controls may be brought in to resolve one-off noise problems.