Share your tales of bed bug woe, questions, etc.

Bugaboo,
No one here can say for certain–EVEN if they tried it, it is just their experience.
That said, I doubt it would help much. The problem with bed bugs is that hide inside electronics. Spraying the inside of your electronics would NOT be okay. You might get some iKleen or similar sprays designed for cleaning computer exteriors (at computer stores), and consider using that carefully, but remember, it is at your own risk.
Also, a barrier of DE around the outside of the base of the electronics, NOWHERE NEAR THEM, not touching–might be the best bet. They are going to come out to try and eat, and you can get them that way. Be careful not to get dust near your electronics though, it could also ruin them.

OH my god, I am excited right now. My PCO is so cool. My bedbugs have had everyone stumped, but I think we are finally going to outsmart them.

Recap – we are 3 months and 6 treatments in. I am averaging a bite a day – some days three, some days none. Most days, one. I’ve seen one dead adult and one live nymph. I’ve had one major welt and the rest of my bites are smaller and less itchy. They swell up like islands, then they go away. I find them on my face, neck, chest, arms and stomach. We find no definitive clues.

Our bed is isolated, our clothing is isolated, our stuff is isolated. Our apartment has been covered with various chemicals (Suspend, D-Force, Tempo dust, and most recently, Demand). At this point, the PCO figured, the only other way they are possibly reaching the bed, is by falling from the ceiling.

Our loft ceiling is 12 feet tall and made of wood. There are thin gaps between the planks. So today, he got up on a ladder and used masking tape to literally cover all the gaps between planks. Picture a giant striped rectangle. The sticky part of the tape faces up. This way, if they are living in the ceiling and dropping down on us, the tape will catch them. We also lined the outer edges of the rectangle with double-stick carpet tape, in case any want to try walking out on top.

It’s like a giant trap. I sure hope it works. He is coming back on Friday to pull down the tape, one piece at a time, and see what we catch. God I hope we catch something! I’m feeling hopeful for the first time in a while!!

Hey Tiago-

I, too, am sorry to hear that you’re going through this, and alone, no less. It’s a difficult process, but it IS a process, and you will find an end to it, eventually, I promise.

About your questions: I slept in two pairs of socks pulled up around my pants, a long sleeved shirt, mittens… I still woke up with bites in odd places (and blood marks on the sheets to prove that the bites happened in bed). My guess is that the bugs will crawl down the top of your shirt if they want to- if you’re asleep enough and that’s where they want to go. I remember, clearly, wearing to bed the tightest pants I could find, so that they could not get to my lower half, but they did anyway. Maybe they bit through those tight pants? Or maybe- since they’re so thin- they crawled down my shirt and up under the elastic in my pants? I’ll never know, and neither will you, unfortunately.

The best thing you can do right now, I think, aside from working with your PCO as a team, is try to protect your bed. I know your bed is new and it’s wood, so you’ll have to inspect it very carefully, but if you follow the instructions in our FAQ about protecting your bed, you should see good results. I know you’re not in the U.S., but hopefully this will help: you can find the bed risers mentioned in the FAQ at http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com under bedding/bed accessories/bed gadgets. You can also find good mattress covers at http://www.nationalallergy.com. You can purchase DE at many sites, and you can find them by Googling the term “diatomaceous earth.” And the mineral oil- which goes into the cups of the bed risers- that I prefer is tea tree oil, and you can find it wherever vitamins are sold.

Yes, you could be bitten during the day- but if you follow the suggestions the others have given, you won’t be.

Hope this helps, and I really hope you can order these things and have them shipped to you!

Thinking of ya.

Jess

S.-

YAAAAAAY for you! Hope you’re patting yourself on the back for the effort you put into helping your PCO think outside the box. And we REALLY need more PCOs like him around!

Celebrate- this is a victory for you.

I am not sure if I have bedbugs. I can’t even think about it without getting shivers down my spine.. Basically for a few months I have been getting bit every few weeks by a mystery bug.. Usually I get 2 bites on my arm, just last night I got one under my chin and another near my armpit. These bites normally take a long time to go away and if I itch them even a few weeks later they will flare up again. I have been paranoid of having bed bugs after hearing about them awhile ago and now I am starting to think it’s more than paranoia. I have repeatedly checked over the edges of my mattress and sheets and found nothing. Also I am the only person in my house that seems to be getting bit or atleast reacting to these bites. please help…?

OMG ladys,

I just woke up after sleeping on the couch…yes, the dreaded couch.

I have not even sat down on that thing in weeks.
I was waiting to be flat out attacked the moment I sat down.
I must have been sleepy, as I wound up, falling asleep for about 5 hours on it.

NO NEW BITES!!!!!

hey, I’m always itchy and scratchy…but it seems that I have no new bites yet.
(I always have swelling right away after a bite, unlike most of you who take hours to notice them.)

wow, the only thing that I’ve been doing differant is that I started to use Drion dust along with spraying.
maybe the dust has helped alot…I’ll sleep again tonight on the couch.

wish me luck.

buggedinbrooklyn

P.S. oh, and to all the kind emails and replys here to me in my darkest hours…I have not forgotten you ladys.

Hey all, thanks for your support! I am so incredibly nervous now, because if I do find a bite, it means they are biting me somewhere else (rest of the house, my car or my office). But I am trying to think positive and not jump to investigate every itch. I also bought a small mirror to keep at my desk at work, so that helps a lot. I keep checking my face, since that’s where many of my bites show up.

Just to clarify something from Nobugs’s comment – I did not switch PCOs, exactly, but I did get a different guy from the same PC company. I’ve had four guys, actually. From the first bites on December 2nd, I went through 3 guys who all did things a little differently. The third guy promised he’d stick with our case, but after he sprayed twice, I told him we had to think differently and he kinda gave up. That’s when he referred me to Andy, the company’s Technical Director. Andy is the one who has “thought outside the box” with me. He normally doesn’t make house calls, except in extreme cases. His job is mostly training the other guys. He isn’t even charging for his time, because this is such a crazy case and we’ve already paid them so much!

So it’s great, but also ridiculous. If this company didn’t have Andy, I would have found a new one.

NBOM,

ok, ok, I don’t think I’m bug free, yet I shout have gotten attacked with at least 10 to 20 bites after not sitting on that couch for 2 weeks or so.

anyway, here is what I did differently….

before I only spreayed the inside of the couch.
never on the outside leather.
sooooo, no real chemical that they must cross to get to me.
yet I did spreay heavy, and all over the insides.
what I used was D-Force, the same chemical as in Suspend…just in easy to use can form.

this time I sprayed the outside of the couch, in places that they must cross to reach the outside of the couch…or to reach me.
yet thhe places were not noticable as they were between pillows and armrests…places you can’t see.
the inside was only sprayed lightly this time, in places that should be good hiding spots.
YET I ALSO DUSTED….I used drion dust on the inside of the couch for the first time.

with that bellows thingie, the dust goes everyplace.
even the outside of the couch (due to the windows being open and windy, the dust flew everyplace,and I had to wipe down the outside of the leather couch with a wet rag to clean it off.).

ok, ok, I did dust extra heavy…you would too if you had the ATTACKS I had.

I think the dust whent in places that the spray never could, and helped kill off most of the bugs.

if they tryed to relocate to my desk just a few feet away, then they would have to pass a lot of dust and sprayings to reach me…haha to them.

anyway, wish me luck tonight…I’ll be on the couch again.

also, I’m thinking of washing down all my walls of the dust in a few days…then redusting the crown moldings again with new dust.
I’m sure this is a good idea as the dust must get old or not work as well in time.

buggedinbrooklyn

Brooklyn-

You know I just adore you, so you’ll take the following comments with that in mind, right? I’m just a little worried; bear with me.

I’ve read some comments from Sean (thebedbugresource.com) that make me nervous about using too much dust. I remember, specifically, that he said clumps of dust could scare bedbugs into dormancy- that they sense the clumps of chemical before they pass through it, and this could make them dormant for a long time. I think it’s a survival mechanism? Anyway, watch the dust, okay? No clumps! It should be a very fine layer, from what I understand, so that bedbugs will cross it without noticing. Because dormant bedbugs equal no bites for a long time, but also a guaranteed resurgence in the future.

Also, I know you know your chemicals, but promise you’ll be careful with the dust in your apartment? You know, I’m sure, that if you stir it up by walking beside it or vacuuming or opening windows to a stiff breeze, you will probably inhale it. I ended up with a nasty blood blister on my lip from exposure to Drione (vacuuming and stirred it up). Please be careful!

And to other bedbuggers- newbites and veterans alike- DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME unless you are experienced, researched and generally know what you’re doing. You could hurt yourself or your pets. The hand bellows mentioned by Brooklyn (it’s used to apply the dust) is almost IMPOSSIBLE to get right!

None of the above takes away from the sheer joy I feel knowing that Brooklyn has enjoyed some peaceful sleep and has set out to conquor his infestation in full-on war mode. Brooklyn, you’re a champ. Get ‘em!!!!!

hi everyone,

yes jess and NBOM,
WHAT I’M DOING IS NOT SAFE,AND SHOULD BE DONE BY A KNOWLADGEABLE PCO….
I take a lot of carfull planing and use a resperator, gloves, and full clothing.

also, as I’ve said repeatedly in the past…drion dust, suspend like products, and most other chemicals, are dangerous even if a PCO does the job.
please leave the chemicals alone, and don’t let kids and pets near them.
again folks, safety first.

with that said and out of the way….

night 2 on the couch with no bites. YEAH BABY!

I’ll say more later, but just wanted to say at least this.

buggedinbrooklyn

Thanks brooklyn. I’m not exactly sure what you meant by the “bedline of my body,” but I think what you’re saying is that they tend to bite the same areas repeatedly. They would go for the “easy areas.” Yes, my easy areas are my face, neck and chest.

But this new pink spot is in the exact same spot as the one from last week. I didn’t scratch it.

My pillows are new and my bed is isolated (from above AND below). We are therefore becoming more and more suspicious of my car and my office. This morning, I drove to work checking my face in the rearview every other minute. And I now have a small mirror on my face at work. I’m watching, but I haven’t seen anything.

Good point about washing the pillows, I’ll do that again tonight (it’s been a couple weeks). Otherwise, I guess I’m just hoping this bite is old.

Hi all!

My roommates and I are going to start the laundry tomorrow. The exterminator comes early Saturday. It’s the laundry that always makes me cry. But we’re going to try to have fun with it — get a little wasted, have some music — and just get it done! Could really use some good vibes to help us through it.

And my best wishes to you all still fighting. This is a nightmare, I know. There’s all kinds of advice out there about how to manage (for bites, I recommend hydrocortisone! really!!!), but what really helps the most is moral support … which is why we’re all here.

As we all know, the worst part of a bedbug infestation is the psychological aspect. It’s so lonely and maddening. I’ve been through it before. But you will bounce back once the bugs are gone! I did! You will too!

And now I have bedbugs again, and I am in a much saner, zen place. I learned a lot the first time that is making this time a breeze. Ohmm…..

We’re all going to get through it. Hang in there. There is a light at the end of the tunnel. A bright, bedbug-free light!

loosinghope,

I think we all have set backs from time to time in our quest to get rid of bedbugs from our homes.
please take the time to read to wonderful FAQ page, and many of the helpful hints and tips in the “tales…” threads/posts, that are listed on this page.

you’ll notice a trend, that tossing out your furniture is not alweays the best idea, and at best, only costs us more in the end.
before getting rid of anything else, I’d ask for any help and advice from many of the wonderful ladys here.

the best advice I could give is to get a blow up bed…the delux models that have a built in boxspring (or more like thay are raised up off the flore.)
then have your PCO spray the sides of it so that now, when the bugs come after you, they have to walk past the killer spray.
he should not spray the top were you sleep, just the sides.
using you as the bait, the killer spray will finish them off fast.

good luck, and ask more questions for help.
a full plan is needed to get rid of thies vampires.

buggedinbrooklyn

Hey loosinghope, glad you found this site.

Now is not the time to give up! Now that you realize the mistakes you’ve made you need to fight methodically like buggedinbrooklyn suggests. You need to interview another PCO, and then another, until you find one that is qualified, and you need more than one treatment. One treatment is not going to cut it. But you know that now, yes? Also you are sleeping unprotected, so you have to make sure that the bugs cross some poison or DE to get to you–so that every bite means certain death like Jess would say. No free bites for those mofo bedbugs!

We don’t like to see you using chemicals and DE on your own, in the absence of qualified PCO advice, but you have to do what you have to do until you get professional help. You could add plain old alcohol to your arsenal, but now that you have no furnishings–do you have any idea where they might be hiding? Where is the sleeping bag, on the floor? If you were not properly laundering and isolating your clothes, that is how you moved them to your new apartment. But that is in the past, so your focus should be on what you are doing now. Perhaps tell us more about your apartment, is it carpeted?

We are here for you and we know what you are going through.

(The sleeping bag worries me–do you have to wash it every day then?)

Question! Need help!

I am being exterminated tomorrow, and I am doing all the work I need to tonight.

Last time I was exterminated for bedbugs I didn’t have a rug. But now I do. What do I need to do with it? I assume they’ll want to treat it — but do I need to clear it of all furniture? Vaccuum it real good? Or rool it up and get it out of the room? I have no idea.I don’t think it’s infested that I need to throw it away.

Thanks!

Hi folks,

(I’m posting under a new name, I have found to my horror that a search on my last name brings up bunches of bb posts!)

I’m in a bit of a bind here, and I wonder if I could get some advice.

We are probably moving within the next two months. (Not bedbug related). Here’s the issue-

Though we think we have been successful with our treatment,

*see standard disclaimer at the end of my post!

I still have lingering doubts about the couches, and in general, really… I desperately want to regain my normal life. I want to be able to entertain my friends, who are such an important part of my life. I think that some of them believe we have become crazy recluses. I desperately want to be able to enjoy my home again. We had just purchased new living room furniture (including the couches in question) a few months before our infestation. I absolutely dread, and don’t even know if I could psychologically survive, an infestation in our new home. I want to be happy and whole there right from the start, and I want to be free of the oppression BBs have imposed upon my life, along with the residual (and pesticide resistant!) shame and guilt at having brought this all upon my family.

So, just for peace of mind, in preparation for the move, I am thinking of getting our house tented and treated with Vikane. Because it is touted as a means to achieve 100% eradication, including within all of the furniture and other possessions, I am getting a very strong urge to just do it and get it over with. Only then do I think I’ll really feel safe and whole again. Furthermore, because it has always been accepted by us, and known by our landlord, that we brought the BBs into the home, I feel it may protect us legally, just in case. Imagine if we were clean, and it just happened that a new tenant brought bedbugs into the situation…

So, here are the questions I have, and I would welcome any insight you can give:

1. Is it true that Vikane, properly used, is 100% effective, even in nooks and crannys of furniture, clothing, books, etc., etc.

2. If so, should we remove our stuff from storage, bring it back, and get it all treated at the same time?

3. This one is repetitive, but I’ll ask it again- will the Vikane REALLY, REALLY kill everything? Of course the company website says it will, but I want to hear it from any of you who might know.

Finally, I want to say that if we were not moving, we probably would choose to tough it out and move through this period of doubt with the confidence that our strategy is bound to be successful, given enough time and observation. So this rather drastic strategy of going for the big poison tent is not necessarily what we would choose if we had more opportunity to allay our own doubts and fears. But we are inspecting each other every single night before we fall asleep, in fear of finding that one of our little bumps or itches, or the petacea (sp?) that probably always showed up before, unnoticed, are actually really bites from tiny tiny nymphs who lurk and never get large enough to cause the reaction we got last October.

Please, fellow BBers, this is a huge and very expensive decision for us to make, and I would very much appreciate anything you have to share.

*(self- treated, I’m an experienced pesticide applicator, and even though I looked high and low for a good PCO, I found none in my area who had practical BB experience or knowledge. Please don’t try to do this unless you also have 25 years experience and training in pesticide application, unless you are under the direct supervision of a licensed PCO, and always read the label!)

Hi BBB,
I would ask this question on the yahoo group. But let’s post a FAQ on Vikane when you get your answers!

Nightshirt, Lou Sorkin of the AMNH is a good friend to us Bedbuggers. He has even posted many of his photos on this blog, and we’ve gotten a lot of good info from him.

Caryn, your laundry party sounds like the right spirit to have when dealing with this. At least you had others to commiserate with who understood and could say “what the heck?” and boogie your way through those hot wash and hot dry cycles. Life isn’t bad, we have to remember that!

Everyone else, Sorry I have been away since yesterday–very busy traveling on work. Writing to you from a hopefully bed bug free hotel room! As you can see, I now have internet access…

Thanks Maureen,
thinking outloud is good.
Vikane seems like a nice option for single homes and I suspect it will do everything you say, though only the PCOs will know (etc. etc.)
I wish we had something that would work well for apartments–a very sharp PCO recently told me heat will probably work (but the thermapure method’s illegal in NYC right now due to the materials involved.)

Nightshirt–Sorry you were robbed. Hope it wasn’t too bad.

Great news about the bugs, though–when was your last bite or sighting?

Hi Nightshirt,
If your last nibble was after your last spray, don’t you need one more treatment? Unless the last bite was from a male, or a female who was not pregnant and the sole survivor…
nobugs

Hey all, Lou requested on the Yahoo site that any caught BBs get sent to him in c/o the Natural History Museum, so if you find any…

(Editor’s note: correction: Lou will identify bugs if people are not sure what they are; other entomologists often do this too if you are not in NYC. But Lou did not ask everyone to send their bugs in–he was responding to someone who had something biting her and was not 100% sure it was a bed bug.)

also, we too are moving and even though it is expensive, we are throwing everything away except the free standing cutting board in the kitchen and something from the bathroom. I don’t know if Vikane works, but we don’t want to take any chances. We are spraying our shoes down with kleen free or steri fab right before we enter the new apartment, and everything we bring over will either be treated, or if its kitchen stuff or books, be placed in ziplocs after thorough inspection. It sucks (my antique furniture !) and is costing us thousands, but I would rather be safe than sorry and throw more money down the hole.

PS- There are so many apts affected in Astoria, NY you would not believe it!!!

Hey Jess, I was trained by the best.

One of the risks people underestimate when they choose moving as a solution is that the chances of moving into a bedbug infested apartment are increasing every day. I understand why you’re doing it, Bugaboo. Been there and done it, but just putting out there that everyone must realize there are huge risks involved and a hefty price to pay and you take the risks and you just have to pony up in tears, angst and plain dollars whether the move works or not. So, do it as responsibly as you can, for yourself and others.

Nomo, I just moved this to the comments of the new post.

Hi Can’t Sleep,
You’re in the right place, thanks for moving it here!
(By the way, when this thread reaches 100 comments, I start a new one, for this ongoing topic. Don’t worry–when that happens, I’ll add a link in a comment to the latest thread. And you can always find the latest one from “Need advice?” at the top of the screen.)

I am confused about your clothes–you washed them on hot, dried them on hot, and sealed them into bags with an airtight seal (recloseable bags like XL Ziplocs, or garbage bags sealed in such a way that they are almost airtight)? If so, they should contain no bugs. Your clothes should stay there until you are certain you do not have bed bugs.

When will you be certain? Well, it’s tricky. But the vast majority of cases do not respond to one treatment (there have been statistics on this, they’re on the web somewhere). Almost everyone needs 2 treatments or more, and we seldom meet anyone who does not need 4 or more. But even in the lightest infestations, you should have two, minimum.

Why? Pesticides do not kill eggs, and eggs hatch in 10-12 days and start biting you. They must be killed after they hatch and before they have time to grow, and lay more eggs. That’s why you need another treatment within 2 weeks, and one EVERY two weeks after that IF you either feel more bites or see any live bugs or new eggs.

If you do not proceed cautiously as I describe, you may not get rid of your bed bugs, and this could go on a very long time.

Don’t put the clothes away! And if they were not washed on hot, dried on hot, and stored in sealed bags before treatment and kept there, then do repeat the wash/dry/seal in bag sequence and KEEP them there, as you use them, until at least two weeks after you think bed bugs are gone. Some of us continue for a month, just to be sure.

Oh and make sure you and anyone in the home continues to sleep where they always did. You are the bait, luring the bugs to their death. If you sleep in a different room, they will follow. If you leave home, they will wait until you return.

Thank you soooo much for your advice. I will be patient.

Also, thank you so much for your support. I really appreciate it!