I can cope pretty well with emotional regulation when I'm fully conscious but when I'm sleeping I find my sleep gets interrupted a lot still by startle responses to sounds outside (often things like car doors slamming or people loading something into a car in the early hours of the morning). And when I get woken this way it's a real shock and my nerves are on edge for a long time afterwards which makes it hard to get back to sleep (this morning I didn't at all). This is an autonomic reaction so there is no way I can use cognitive coping strategies like I can in the daytime for panic reactions. Neither does it help to put in earplugs as that just makes me feel more vulnerable, I do seem to need to be aware of my environment.

Are there any strategies for this sort of reaction?