I go crazy with floor boards creaking above me but I work best in a co-working space. I prefer silence and coming home from work just increases my anxiety. It's not only the ambient noise I need but also a healthy transition from "productivity noise" to "useless noise". I enjoy reading these articles and stories that justify my condition but it frustrates me that I can't do enough to optimize my lifestyle sustainably for it.

In case anyone's interested, here's some research showing the benefits of a small amount of ambient noise (7dB) helping creative cognition: http://www.jstor.org/stable/full/10.1086/665048