Not a nice way to wake up every day...

JimJar

Some advice folks!

I moved into a place in September of last year, delighted with it and the location etc... On my 3rd morning here I was asleep but was awoken at exactly 7am by the sound of someone coughing incessantly. After the coughing stopped it was followed by 2 minutes of the person making loud phlegm/mucus sounds. Not very pleasant... I thought perhaps it was a housemate but came to realise it was coming from the house next door. The same thing happened the next day. And the next. Basically I saw the pattern that the person gets up at 7am Mon-Friday and does this. It often happens at weekends too. I started to have dreams about people coughing and getting sick only to wake up and realise that my mind was aware of it happening immediately before it wakes me.

I have moved back into the same place this year (accommodation was difficult to find and the location is perfect) in hope that this would not still be occurring but it is.

What advice would you people give here? Obviously I'm sure this person does not enjoy doing this but it's not a pleasant way to wake up 2 hours early every day. Anyone I tell just laughs it off but its actually driving me crazy now... I have bought earplugs but it is so loud they are non-effective.

Ideas??

catallus

I dunno what you could do there.

Autonomous

Ear plugs

certifiedcrepe

Silicone ear plugs

Chucken

It's probably not too pleasant for your neighbor to wake up like that either

catallus

Try earplugs OP!

JimJar

I meant to mention that I have bought earplugs but its actually so loud they're pointless

michael999999

Call them a doctor!

looksee

Could you make a kind of screen to put round your bedhead (assuming it is toward the party wall) of insulation board - its a very light polystyrene board that you get from builders providers - to baffle the sound a bit?

Heisenberg88

Record yourself coughing and loop it three hours. Buy a 1200W Speaker system. Turn it up full blast and direct the speakers towards the house. Leave it go 24 hours a day. That'll teach him to cough at a decent time of the day.

Tell me how

That's tough. The smallest things can be enough to drive you made. I'm not sure if there is any definite way to overcome this without moving but below are some possible options.

A = Get into the habit of having a radio on as soon as you wake up. Not effective if the person coughing wakens you before you intended.
B = Try sleeping with ear plugs. Definitely not for everyone but when you get used to them they are remarkably effective.
C = Move to a different room in the property. If you are in a room adjoining the neighbors room then it will be more noticeable. Being even 1 room further removed may help.

Good luck.

Molester Stallone II

Slip an anti smoking leaflet thru his door

doolox

Is it the next room or the next house in the block?

I would be worried about a fire risk if the walls are so thin to permit a person to be woken by coughing, especially if the cougher is a heavy smoker.

Merrion

Move your bed to the other side of the room (or just sleep the other way around if that is not possible)?

PixelTrawler

Move, unfortunately it's the only solution. Ear plugs never work well enough, especially as you are so aware of it now. Talking to the guy isn't going to change anything, he's entitled to cough in his own house. Neither of yer fault the place is built so badly.

Pumpkinseeds

Ear plugs are the most practical solution, although they can irritate your ears after a while, I know as we have nightmare neighbours so I use ear plugs on Friday and Saturday nights and hope that I'll get some sleep if they kick off. Is it possible to reposition your bed?

Mint Aero

You moved back in there despite knowing this?! You're an idiot OP. What should you do? Go see a doctor about your idiocy.

catallus

Shut up Mint Aero, it's the coughing he wants to stop, not the idiocy, pay attention would you?

YFlyer

Was it at 7 am the cough noises began the morning when the clocks went back?

Tail Docker

Take up smoking yourself OP, then the two of ye can wake up at 7 with a coughing fit. If you can't beat them, join them and all that.

aziz

Ride it out,if he's coughing like that every morning,he won't be around for much longer;)

Mark Tapley

JimJar

I wish it was Mark, at least then it might be funny! Mint, accommodation has been a nightmare to find this year, I'd have switched if I could. I can't reposition my bed from where it is so I will have to see if more effective earplugs exist than the ones I have. I live above another house with 2 other houses either side of me and this is the only sound I ever hear from any of them, which means the walls cannot be that thin which gives you an idea of how loud this is.

Feeling especially wrecked today from it, I really hope it can be resolved soon...

Nino Brown

I have the exact same problem with my neighbour (you don't live in Maynooth by any chance?). He doesn't wake me anymore though, good quality ear plugs drown it right out. Also putting a fan on at night, drowns out background noise making it easier to sleep in the morning.

I find these ones good
http://www.ebay.ie/itm/3M-ES-01-020-EAR-Soft-FX-Yellow-Uncorded-Earplugs-Variable-Quantities-/151247526240?pt=UK_BOI_ProtectiveGear_RL&var=&hash=item23370e1960

Gongoozler

My housemate keeps me awake often bbetween her leaving on her main bedroom light and/or talking loudly on the phone late at night, and using ear plugs gives me a headache for the day, so I've had to just stick a pillow over my ear. I mean I wrap the pillow I'm lying on around my head so that it covers my ear. It works quite well some times. You should give that a go along with the ear plugs.

JimJar

No I'm in Galway Nino! Gongoozler I've been using that technique as well, its amazing how someone can make so much noise though. At first I actually thought he was doing it through a microphone :-(

TheBrinch

1) Obtain vast supply of illegal drugs
2) Plant those drugs in his house when he goes to work.
3) Call the guards saying there is a drug dealer living next to you.
4) Sleep like a baby

Larianne

Cough bottle through their letterbox with a note saying: Hope it helps!

Nino Brown

Larianne wrote: »

Cough bottle through their letterbox with a note saying: Hope it helps!

Receive a return note --- "Stage 4 lung cancer, I doubt it"

suicide_circus

The builders who threw up houses with walls so thin you can hear neighbours coughing should be deported to Australia.

Nino Brown

suicide_circus wrote: »

The builders who threw up houses with walls so thin you can hear neighbours coughing should be deported to Australia.

Most of them are already gone

suicide_circus

Well spotted

RonanP77

Change your routine, go to bed nice and early, get up at 6:45 every morning and it won't bother you any more.

Gummy Panda

Sounds like a post nasal drip. Neighbour needs to go to doctor about infection and possibly loose weight

Dancor

Tell the authorities you think he has Ebola and get him quarantined for a few days.

Chickentown

Maybe you could call....The A-Team

Streetwalker

Metallica CD on loop and sound up and sleep somewhere else a few nights.

Lapin

Set your alarm for 06.50.

Then stick on a good set of headphones and listen your favourite music to drown out his coughing noise for however long it ususally lasts.

Then, go back to sleep for an hour or so.

Timmyctc

TheBrinch wrote: »

1) Obtain vast supply of illegal drugs
2) Plant those drugs in his house when he goes to work.
3) Call the guards saying there is a drug dealer living next to you.
4) Sleep like a baby

Dancor wrote: »

Tell the authorities you think he has Ebola and get him quarantined for a few days.

These two are 100% the best options OP

smcgiff

Being woke at 7am a problem? Shure, you'll finish college soon and have to get a job and you'll no longer need to worry about being a sleepyhead :P

jokettle

Could be someone with cystic fibrosis. I bet they don't love waking up with lungs like that everyday, but they have to clear their airway somehow.

DesperateDan

I've known several people that do this every morning. Fairly gross alright. Here's a couple of expensive an VERY expensive options (hey Christmas is coming up) from Firebox.

SleepPhones.
Aura SmartSleep System.

Now I'm not sure right, but I think it may be possible to have that smart sleep system train your brain into going into deep sleep mode right when the neighbour starts. It's not cheap and it might not work but if you've got some disposable income it could be an option

Aongus Von Bismarck

7am is very late to be lounging in bed anyway. Do you not work OP?

Cee-Jay-Cee

Get up at 6:45 ahead of your noisy neighbour and switch your radio on really loud. They might realise then how thin the walls are and go to their bathroom to cough/clear their lungs. If they do t take the hint continue to get up earlier and he out of your room when the coughing starts.

Sunnyisland

Just don't go asleep.

Simples.

take everything

JimJar wrote: »

I meant to mention that I have bought earplugs but its actually so loud they're pointless

Can you return them for pointed ones?

Son Of A Vidic

Mark Tapley wrote: »

The very man I was thinking about when I read the OP.:D

KVA60

I used to wake up the same way, either coughing (7am) snoring (11pm etc) , and singing (9am weekends). Guy had a bit of a weird schedule but was a lovely old man. In the end I just had to get earplugs, I know you said you've tried them but try the wax ones. The silicone ones never worked for me. Or try a white noise app if you have a smart phone.