http://bedbugger.com/forum/ Bed bug support forums en Sun, 22 Nov 2009 02:26:02 +0000 http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/on-reclaiming-my-normal-life#post-62541 Wed, 18 Nov 2009 21:41:07 +0000 nycbedbug 62541@http://bedbugger.com/forum/ <p>My apartment was inspected and cleared by a certified bedbug dog in September and my belongings that were bagged up pre-treatment have now been bagged for over 3 months. I am ready to return to normal life, even though I am still hypervigilant and my skin is still very sensitive and often I have random itches (no clear bites like I had for the two weeks that I had bedbugs, though). </p> <p>I have begun Packtiting everything and am slowly unpacking, essentially moving back into my apartment. While I'm feeling pretty good, I would really like my apartment and the two on either side of mine to be inspected (theirs never were, which was upsetting although I'm 99% sure that I brought them back with me from a trip and caught them within about 10 days, so chances are fairly low that they spread). My PCO has tried calling my landlords to suggest these inspections and they have not responded. They are the type of people that are willing to do just enough to keep them from being sued, but wouldn't go out of their way because of the kindness in their hearts. Does anyone have suggestions about how to get them to pay for the dog inspection of the three apartments? It seems like such a small price to pay in order to have peace of mind and know for sure that the building is clear. If they say no, should I just pay? While I had thought about moving, I'm leaning towards staying now. My lease is up at the end of June. By then it will have been nearly a year since my bedbug experience. If the apartments were not inspected by then, would it be safe to say that if my neighbors have not noticed anything, we're all clear? </p> http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/you-want-your-bed-bugs-gone#post-62493 Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:24:56 +0000 bedbugsallgone 62493@http://bedbugger.com/forum/ <p>I really feel sorry for some of you still dealing with bed bugs...I myself went thru the infestation which was diagnosed on August 31, 2009. Truly I see many of you continuing to live with them and I say HOW? I certainly couldnt....I had to get a plan and figure this thing out... starting with NO experience on the subject it was tough but.....all worth it because now I have been living over a month with NO bed bugs....and when I tell you that I had at least 250 bites on my left arm alone, I am not exxagerating! My doctor had no clue what it was &#38; that only added to the time frame of these dirty little suckers being able to breed. During the process I learned alot and I am on this forum to help, if possible anyone else who wants to get rid of these and move on with their lives....This is what I did....First I contacted my local etemologist to hear from him who he would recommend for treatment &#38; when I tell you we have many pest companies, I ended up going with the most expensive one- the ONLY one who would give me a 100% guarantee...on a limited income, it was tough but I contacted my landlord &#38; he paid for 1/2 ....I then asked questions and learned....Terminix came in &#38; did several CO2 treatments &#38; I had to wait- almost a month for the eggs to hatch for another treatment....3 all together- before I could move anything out (yes, I moved) I got rid of every piece of furniture that I had &#38; the stuff I did bring was gone thru with a fine tooth comb----ALL clothes were washed and pics taken out of pic frames, etc....Yes, I had nice cherry &#38; oak furniture but I wanted this thing to be behind me &#38; yes, it is tough but I am now in a new place, yes I am sleeping on a queen air bed (instead of my nice pillowtop)and I have a loveseat instead of my sectional and....I know where THESE items came from as they are used----Big No No for me from now on! I am 43 &#38; feel like I am starting over, but hey, thats OK--- because I am Bug FREE! My life will never be the same as I check my bed ( air mattress)every night and am constantly aware of any bugs I see but I will chalk that up as a learning exp....Hopefully one day I wont feel the need to do that but for now I still am.... Hope this helps! </p> http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/found-a-strong-bedbug-killer-that-works#post-62292 Sun, 15 Nov 2009 12:12:33 +0000 zenmasterx 62292@http://bedbugger.com/forum/ <p>I found a strong bedbug killer after spending lots of cash on bad products that did not produce.</p> <p>I found this product a my local home depot and want to let everyone know i cant believe the results</p> <p>No bites at all after 2 days!! the product is BAYER ADVANCED HOME PEST comes in 1 gal for $11</p> <p>Now i can sleep spray baseboards under bed and in cracks you will love this product and dont smell bad either. </p> http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/4-months-all-clear-in-new-apt#post-62403 Mon, 16 Nov 2009 19:55:45 +0000 surrounded 62403@http://bedbugger.com/forum/ <p>just wanted to check in and report NO BUGS in my new apt, and i didnt bring any with me. yahoo!<br /> There is info in my other posts about the process that i used, but in brief: Packtited everything, anything that didnt fit in packtite got left behind. moved using plastic bins, one small batch at a time. this was long and arduous, and made my summer hell, but it was worth it.</p> <p>i still have climp up interceptors on the bed, and white sheets, and probably always will..... </p> http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/bed-bug-removal-recommendation-cesar-soto-of-freedom-pest-control#post-46929 Sat, 11 Apr 2009 07:52:47 +0000 wonderschnauzer 46929@http://bedbugger.com/forum/ <p>We had bed bugs in 3 out of 8 units in our building. Cesar Soto came in and immediately started addressing the issue. He isolated the bed bugs to each apartment and treated the rest of the building to ensure the bugs did not spread to the other apartments. He is very professional, his prices are reasonable and he's done a thorough job. There were lots of ups and downs among the tenants in the building and he even handled that with great fortitude. We've now been bed bug free for 8 months. I sincerely recommend Cesar and his dog Tre for dealing with bed bugs. Cesar Soto - Freedom Pest Control - 646.748.5501 </p> http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/there-is-hope-my-success-story#post-62055 Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:05:41 +0000 nightmare 62055@http://bedbugger.com/forum/ <p>I thought I would never get rid of my bed bug problem, but 7 seven months after my last treatment by a PCO and no evidence of them being still there, I think I can call it a success story. My house has been treated about 5 times by a certified PCO, and until the fifth time, I would still have bites after each treatment.<br /> But, since then, no more bites, no more unidentified spots on my new bed sheets, nothing on the walls and base boards... I still inspect my bedroom every month, but so far, nothing. And quite frankly, if they were still there after 7 months, I think the reinfestation would be easy to see. I am still a little paranoid and I have a thought for my tiny ex roomates every time I go to sleep... But it feels so good to be able to visit friends again without being worried and relax on the couch without fear!</p> <p>There is hope!!! Hang on there! Life in plastic bags do not last forever! </p> http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/i-think-i-may-have-a-glimmer-of-hope#post-61936 Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:42:01 +0000 ThisBItes 61936@http://bedbugger.com/forum/ <p>Well it has been 7 days since my last treatment and to date I have seen only five live adults (all unfed), about the same amount of dead ones, three nymphs (unfed), and one fed nymph which I squished with delight. For the last week we haven't been bitten and there is a weird calm in my house. The bugs I saw alive were all struggling and probably were dying from residual pesticide and the infested couch remains visibly bb free upon twice daily inspections. Are they truly "under control" as the PCO stated or am I hopefully delusional?? I,'m planning on keeping up my current routine of keeping most of our stuff out on the balcony bagged and daily hot launderings, etc. indefinetly at this point in time. The PCO is coming back in another week to do a follow-up inspection and said that given the life cycle of the bb and it's eggs that by then it will be clear if one last treatment is needed or not. Do I have a reason to believe I may be winning the war on these bastards?? </p> http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/finally-my-little-bedbug-success-story#post-59776 Fri, 09 Oct 2009 20:19:15 +0000 treesinbrooklyn 59776@http://bedbugger.com/forum/ <p>Hi everyone,<br /> I wanted to post my success story primarily because I used this blog to solve the problem, and I wanted to give encouragement to others who are in the overwhelmed stage of it.</p> <p>One thing I noticed is how varied the solutions are and that different things seem to work for different people.</p> <p>My concerns and main issues from the start:<br /> <ul>My landlord refused to pay for anything (yes, I know this isn't right).<br /> Toxicity (I have three cats and also live as natural a lifestyle as possible).<br /> Money (I'm unemployed).<br /> The Bugs (They are indeed horrible and caused great interruption to our lives for a solid few months).<br /> My stuff (lots of wooden musical instruments, records, books, papers etc...)</ul></p> <p>My story begins with my boyfriend and I moving into a new apartment which we were very excited about and had been planning to do for awhile in order to leave a bad living situation we had been in for a couple of years (noisy building, crime issues etc...).</p> <p>About one week after a month of unpacking, organizing, cleaning, hanging pictures etc... we started noticing weird bites or a rash or what... we didn't know. We thought it was something in the new water or spider bites perhaps? I should have taken pictures of the place then, because the newly arranged and tidy apartment became chaos for the next six months.</p> <p>We had once had a neighbor in our old building who had bedbugs (and had major treatment) but that was definitely over a year and a half ago, so we were doubtful that somehow we never got infested there, but would take one to our new place. Though ultimately we still have no idea where the bugs came from. The old tenant? A new neighbor, suspiciously the apartment below us moved out soon after we moved in, but I didn't see any items being thrown away. </p> <p>Finally, after a couple of weeks I found this blog. I spent hours simultaneously disgusted and fascinated by what I was reading. Then I went to inspect the bed. Hmmmm, nothing, I didn't see any signs. Still deep down I knew that bedbugs were probably what were biting us.</p> <p>One week later, clear signs. Bugs hiding in the corners of the box-spring just like those horrible pictures. I went into action mode after reading everything on this blog and devised a plan as fast as I could.</p> <p>My call to the landlord did not go well. Heated conversation in scraps of poor English resulted in threats and a clear answer that he would not pay for anything. Plus he said we could not say anything to anyone else in the building since how does he know it's true, etc... Rather than fight that battle, I started working on what I could do immediately on my own.</p> <p>I spent many many more hours on this blog. After several hits and misses, I found the combination of things that ultimately worked for me and without ever hiring an exterminator. I'm not saying don't hire one, because I know that the policy of this blog is that you need one, and I can certainly attest that I worked really hard to get rid of the bugs without one. If I had had the money I would have definitely thoroughly researched that option.</p> <p>What I did instead:<br /> Got the little red Reliable steamer... we love it! I admit my mom bought this for me since I was basically broke. Central Vacuum Factory shipped it the next day at no extra charge. We immediately steamed per excellent instructions on this blog. </p> <p>Next I began the tedious launder and ziploc bag process of clothes, blankets, curtains etc... In New York these huge bags are at all the drug stores now due to this epidemic. I found several live bugs crawling on my clothes in the closet and actually threw away a favorite skirt because I didn't know about steri-fab yet and couldn't handle killing it, so just threw the whole skirt away (sealed of course).</p> <p>Then, I got rid of my mattress, frame, and box-spring, which actually I was ready to part with anyway because it was all really old. We sealed it all up in heavy duty garbage bags with duct tape and marked with signs warning of bedbugs before putting them on the curb.</p> <p>Bought an Endura aerobed. This thing is amazing and actually super comfortable. We put it directly on the floor. It is camouflage and great for camping when we stop using it as our main bed. My cats have slept on it, jumped on it and kneaded claws into the blankets with no damage to the bed.</p> <p>Got Steri-Fab, Bedlam, double-sided tape, DE powder, spray bottles, caulk and excellent heavy duty clear duct tape.</p> <p>Over a couple of week period of time during which we still got bit a lot (turns out that the infestation was pretty bad as we were to find out) we implemented many things that began to give us relief.</p> <p>Steri-fab kills on contact. I could not live without that spray during the height of the infestation. We strategically sprayed a border of Bedlam a little above the base of our bedroom and hallway walls. I found a formula on this blog for spray-suspended DE that left a nice thin chalky layer. We have a molding that goes all the way around the bottom and three-fourths of the way up the walls around the entire room. We put one solid spray of DE on both of those which dried nicely with little visibility due to the color of paint on the molding (kind of cream color).</p> <p>We found a nest or accumulation of perhaps a hundred bugs hiding all over and inside the radiator in the corner of the room, and after steri-fabbing like mad to kill them all, thoroughly treated that area with DE and bedlam, after steaming and sealing with caulk, and duct taping any possible escape holes into the wall or floor. This was a pretty scary day and fortunately we were both home to work hard to deal with it right away. We also used face masks to protect ourselves from inhalation of chemicals and dust.</p> <p>We placed double-sided tape all around the bed. We just couldn't take anymore waking up with several bugs in the bed biting us. We woke up every morning and checked the tape for many weeks, finding a lot of bugs coming from all directions. I killed them with steri-fab to put them out of any misery in case they do suffer somehow stuck like that. We replaced the tape often.</p> <p>One danger of isolation that has been discussed on this blog happened. Or at least this problem didn't start happening until we started laying the tape down. The bugs went to the ceiling. Soon we had a step ladder at the ready, a couple more bottles of steri-fab and sprayed the overhead lamp base with Bedlam. They were already crossing the DE on the upper molding before reaching the ceiling.</p> <p>This was probably one of the more horrifying aspects of the infestation. I slept with a shower cap and ear plugs and after getting bitten on the eyelids, a little sleep mask to try to stop them.</p> <p>We stepped up the steaming, used Murphy's oil soap to clean the floor, and basically just cleaned, steamed, cleaned and inspected a lot with a high power flashlight. I got really good at spotting nymphs that were barely visible and killing them on contact. The aerobed was amazing. Every few days we thoroughly steamed it, steamed the floorboards underneath, and I think in that way killed a lot of eggs.</p> <p>We also completely sealed the floor molding with clear duct tape so that no bugs could come into the room that way and sealed any cracks we saw in the wooden floor that seemed troublesome. </p> <p>The ceiling phase probably lasted a few weeks at it's height.</p> <p>After that things got a lot easier. One life-saver was the Pack-Tite. I scraped money together to buy this thing and then systematically heated up everything I could and then sealed. Books, papers, CD's, DVD's, clothes, shoes, hairbrushes, everything that I didn't think would combust or be destroyed in the process. I had it running two times a day for a awhile.</p> <p>This allowed me to take trips to visit people after making sure my bag with all my stuff came straight from the pack-tite out the door with fresh clothes on my back from a ziploc, freshly-showered me and steri-fabbed shoes carefully isolated until I put them on.</p> <p>When we had a house-guest, he followed all the protocols and received no bites, and also pack-tited all his stuff before walking out the door. Then when he got home he took extra measures there as well and didn't have any problems.</p> <p>We haven't been bitten in about three months and the bugs are nowhere in sight, nothing on the tape either (a practice which we've been slow to let go of). In May, after being reduced to a trickle where we would spot an occasional bug crawling on the wall near the bed it seemed that our system was working to stop the breeding and eventually kill the ones still hiding. </p> <p>We are still using the aerobed. I like the simplicity of picking it up, turning it over, checking it for anything and cleaning if need be. After getting the pack-tite, I also heated up the bedding often to make sure nothing was hiding in it before using it for sleeping.</p> <p>I am just now opening the ziploc bags. I always pack-tite it first and then put the stuff away. We finally put all the books back on the bookshelf. I am still careful not to take anything out of the room that has been in the closet or wherever, without re-pack-titing it for extra safety.</p> <p>So that is my story. February, March and April were the worst months. By May we were fooled into thinking it was totally gone, but realized we had stragglers. By July we seemed to actually be in the clear but kept vigilant. Now I think that if there is one hiding somewhere, I feel totally confident in handling the situation with the right tools. Plus, as I've said I use the pack-tite a lot to be safe. So far, still clear. I also carefully watch what people put out for trash pickup to see if anyone else in the building has them. I don't think they do, so maybe we did bring one from the old building without ever having actually been infested ourselves, or maybe the previous tenants had them, but they hadn't spread to anyone else. </p> <p>We have kept all the tape down on the moldings as protection for any bugs coming in or getting out.</p> <p>I just signed a lease extension and am looking forward to finally enjoying the apartment. So far, so good.</p> <p>I want to officially say thanks to everyone here who's stories, knowledge and advice helped me deal with this. I think it's really good not to panic and get rid of things you can't replace. My wooden classical guitars, vinyl records, and favorite books are all ok. As many people here have said, understanding BB habits, breeding etc... goes along way toward figuring out what's going on with your particular infestation. Also, getting over squeamishness, which I definitely had to do, to actively look for them and kill as many as possible.</p> <p>Best of luck to everyone. I see what looks to be a whole family's group of mattresses out on the street pretty much daily now walking the streets of Brooklyn. Obviously, this is a really big problem. </p> http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/diatomaceous-earth-4#post-61320 Sun, 01 Nov 2009 12:18:21 +0000 BBSinSeattle 61320@http://bedbugger.com/forum/ <p>3 weeks bite free!! havent seen anything except a very few small flat critters...dry and DEAD. The only down side is the periphery of the apartment (a studio)is heavily sprinkled with Diatomaceous Earth...under my bed, and on the legs of the bed. My dog ate some one night and coughed a bit the next day... but she is fine. My vacuum cleaner had to be serviced so I am careful to sweep, with a mask on and then vacuum. The DE doesnt mean instant death, but with a little patience it DOES work. I bought food grade from Earthworks in Vermont...shipping was a little slow but it was inexpensive, and it DOES work. If you have pets be careful about them breathing it in, if you have asthma, same thing. As long as it is STILL under your bed, no fans going etc. it should be fine. DO NOT use pool grade DE it is different...Good Luck y'all..... </p> http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/hopeful-sucessneed-advice#post-60624 Thu, 22 Oct 2009 21:48:05 +0000 sunshine1583 60624@http://bedbugger.com/forum/ <p>Two weeks ago we recieved the final treatment from our PCO. These men told us we were BB free, which I did not really believe. We were in the process of moving so I had our things heated up in a moving van. The van reached temps of 160 degrees and held that temp for four hours. They made sure that even the insides of the books reached that temp and held for two more hours. We moved into the new apartment four days ago. I have been cleaning and inspecting like crazy and I don't see any signs of the little buggers. Am I really out of the woods? Everything, including my boyfriend, my cat and myself were sanatized before entering this apartment. Am I really safe? How do I know? I am seeing a couple little red bumps on myself but they hurt, not itch. They are not close together, and they really don't look like the bites I had been getting. Does anyone have any advice? </p> http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/thinking-we-are-bug-free#post-61198 Fri, 30 Oct 2009 12:37:10 +0000 offsides1971 61198@http://bedbugger.com/forum/ <p>We found them in our master bedroom and seemed to be isolated there. Frankly, we had no option but to move to the guest room as my asthma was triggered by these so badly we couldn't stay in the room. However, he did have us continue to shower in there so there was some people activity in the room. We threw away our master BR mattress/boxsprings because they were old and we were planning to get a new one anyway. Since we had to move to another bedroom, our PCO felt we needed to treat the entire area and we did. Master, hallway, son's room, guest room. He also sprayed the hall bath and laundry room up on that floor for safety(we have a split level and all of these were on that top floor of it). We threw out all sheets and linens we had, threw out all pictures in our room. Heck, even all my jewelry is still in the freezer since Aug 30 when our nightmare started..lol. We popped the carpet from the baseboards in all these areas also so he could spray under it. He used the spray that kills them and also one that sterilizes them. He also dusted all the dressers, etc. with that white dust. He came back a week later, another week later, another 10 days later. We saw some head up the walls after he sprayed the first time..so he sprayed also the top of the walls, vents, outlets, and lighting fixtures. During this time we saw some dead adults, we even had about 10 leave our master and go to the hall bath and laundry looking for a place spray wasn't..so he sprayed those to. But each week the bugs became smaller and smaller until right before the last time he sprayed all I saw was the beige nymphs and only 5. He told us this meant we were making progress, basically killing and also sterilizing so the big ones couldn't lay more egs. He then had us pay Steamatic to steamclean all carpets at 200 degrees. Then he came back and sprayed all the baseboards in those places. It's been four weeks now that he was here. We haven't seen a thing. We've been bite free in the guest room and my son is bite free so obviously spraying those rooms was the way to go because they didn't get to us when we moved out of the master bedroom. The tape around the legs of our beds is clear, linens have no marks. We are going to move back into our master after the painters come on Nov 16th. It needed painted anyway and frankly he sprayed the vents so much, etc that we had trails of spray running down the wall so it needs painted. I'm scared to death to move back..but know we have to. He assures us if there was anything left, we'd see it in these four weeks. We check day/night/flashlight/regular light/on the ceiling around the baseboard...I swear as many ladder steps as I've climbed in the last two months I should have buns of steel..LOL.<br /> If you are in the Kansas City Missouri area, I'll give you his name if you want it. He works for a national company but frankly..I'd specifically ask for this guy. He was not only good at what he did..but the customer service, responsivness was great. Frankly, also was his "counseling"..lol. He helped me stay sane even when I burst into tears in front of him the first day. </p> http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/declared-free#post- Thu, 01 Jan 1970 04:59:59 +0000 Anonymous @http://bedbugger.com/forum/ http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/success-1#post-60213 Thu, 15 Oct 2009 20:38:43 +0000 arielh85 60213@http://bedbugger.com/forum/ <p>Hey all,</p> <p>I was so depressed when I first logged on here a few weeks ago, and all the tales of woe here convinced me that I would be stuck with bed bugs for many months, if not years. But less than a month after my bed bug saga began, I am (fingers crossed) bed bug-free. Disclaimer: I realize not everyone can just pick up, move, and ditch their furniture. I was fortunate enough to be able to.</p> <p>My saga began about 3 and a half weeks ago. I was already planning to move to a new apartment when I discovered some strange bites. My landlord called Orkin (don't EVER call them), and sure enough, eggs were in my bed frame and bed bugs were in my mattress. So I panicked, cried, etc. and then got to the dirty work. I ordered tons of big zip locs, got a pack tite, and had Orkin spray my room, to no avail. So I started throwing out furniture in preparation for my move -- basically everything except a small lamp. I slept on the same mattress until the day I left.</p> <p>I tried to get Orkin to come back for a follow-up 2 weeks later (I was still being bitten like crazy), but they kept missing appointments. I eventually just gave up since I was moving anyway, and about a week before my move, started methodically drying, bagging, and packtiting everything I owned. I moved in 2 stages, both times by stripping in front of the dryer, putting on fresh clothes, sticking my shoes in the packtite beforehand, throwing them out the door , and then putting them on outside. The day after I moved (Oct. 4), I had a Pestec bed bug dog come (great PCO here in the Bay Area) and got the all clear. I felt great...until a few days ago when I started getting bitten. But the bites somehow weren't the same as my previous bites. Still, I freaked out and called Pestec for a follow-up, and once again got the all clear from the dog. Turns out I have a spider infestation in the phone jack behind my bed! Now *that* I can deal with. </p> <p>So yes, there is hope. And not just for those who can afford heat treatment or Vikane. </p> http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/experts-bat-bugs-bed-bugs-condo-and-success#post-59789 Fri, 09 Oct 2009 23:36:46 +0000 FThat 59789@http://bedbugger.com/forum/ <p>All - </p> <p>After finding ONE bedbug in my condo (weeks of random bites) and having the top two pest control companies in Minneapolis come tear my place apart (and identify it as a bed bug in a lab), they found NOTHING. They ripped into my couch and mattress/boxspring (with my encouragement) - NOTHING. They turned the place upside down. NOTHING. I have lived here for NINE years. NOTHING. I can not communicate the thoroughness of the search. Bites started two weeks ago. </p> <p>I only found the one BBG after doing insect "foggers" all over my condo, thinking I was being bitten by spiders seeking fall shelter. After the fogger, and my scrupulous eye, there it was on its back next to my bed, ew. However, because my condo is at the top of the building., there was some question by the PCO's about it being a Bat Bug (we have many bats in the rafters). </p> <p>Sadly, it was not. </p> <p>BUT. IF YOU LIVE IN A BUILDING THAT HAS BATS OR MAY HAVE BATS, BAT BUGS ARE A VERY REAL POSSIBILITY. THEY LOOK EXACTLY ALIKE AND CAN NOT BE DIFFERENTIATED WITHOUT A PROFESSIONAL AND A MICROSCOPE. </p> <p>HOWEVER. I was not so lucky. My bites started two weeks ago. I have lived in my condo NINE years. I do not travel. I do not have guests. I do not bring in used items. According to the PCO: friend or neighbors. </p> <p>Now. I have read SO many accounts on this site about people dealing with neighbors who had bed bugs. I asked for the scoop from the pros twice, and was given the scoop twice. Here is the reality: A neighbor's infestation would need to be RIDICULOUS before the bugs would come find you. To the point of law suit. The number of insects that can feed on 1-to-2 humans is massive, and would have to be a problem for so, so long before another host was needed, that these people either vacated or ignored the issue. It's NOT COMMON. </p> <p>If you get ONE, or TWO BBGs that you or PCO can find - and no more - after scrupulous searching, it is far more likely that a) there is an infestation "starting" around you. If you are a condo/apartment owner, demand inspections for all surrounding units, and/or b) you traveled/stayed at a friends' home recently (I did not) and brought a few back, or had a friend stay with you (I did not) who brought a few with them or c) had someone in your home briefly that brought them. Note that this last scenario is so rare as to not really be a reality. </p> <p>Know though, that once there is one, there will be more. </p> <p>Next step? Ensure there is not an infestation near you. It would be next door or below/above you. If none of the scenarios above is possible, screw your pride and demand your landlord/association do an inspection and as needed, a thermal-heat treatment to all units - AT THE SAME TIME. Or, alternatively, move, naked, leave all of your belongings behind, and start your life over. </p> <p>Targeted pesticide treatments do not cause them to spread, but do not keep them from coming back. Items bought at the drug store do NOTHING. </p> <p>Thermal heat treatment is about $1200. From what I have read about the people on this site NOT doing this, they must be insane. It will kill EVERYTHING. If you are in a position to know that someone else will not re-introduce them, do it. WHY NOT?? Take out a loan! </p> <p>If you have few and can not identify a source (travel, hotel, guest, neighbor) DO IT. Otherwise, they WILL spread - lots more to you, and then to others. Be responsible. If you have more, again, DO IT. What, I ask, is stopping you????</p> <p>There is NO scenario other than potential neighbor infestation where thermal heat is not THE solution. </p> <p>Do NOT let your landlord/association tell you that pesticide will work, unless the problem has been 100% identified as your unit only. Even then, not guaranteed. </p> <p>I feel like I have read a lot of posts where a) someone has not spoken to a pest control professional, b) has spoken only to a pest control*inspector*, and not an remediation expert, or c) has spoken only to pest control *experts* assigned by their landlord or association.</p> <p>All three are just ridiculous. You CAN combat this. Take the situation into your own hands. DEMAND the units around you be inspected, by YOUR inspector. And take it from there. If they are infected, DEMAND thermal heat treatment all around. Pay for it, and sue them if you have to. If it is just you, do the thermal heat, and get a good night's sleep for the first time in FOREVER. Then decide what you want to throw out. You have given your neighbors fair warning. If they choose to ignore, they can not come back at you weeks/months later and say you infected them. They may have traveled, etc. </p> <p>Do not throw out/buy new furniture before you do any of this. You know that much, right? </p> <p>It is solvable. I see so much hopelessness on this site, it makes me sad. Take charge. </p> http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/the-best-exterminator-ever#post-59952 Sun, 11 Oct 2009 20:06:54 +0000 LisaShu 59952@http://bedbugger.com/forum/ <p>I hope all of you that are struggling are reading this. Worry no more. Bennett at Positive Pest is the smartest and best and most decent man around. I can tell you that I have had crazy bug issues and many friends with bed bug problems and in every case, they got taken by exterminators who pay a publicist to get a lot of press but just leave them doing a lot of the work themselves and never get rid of the problem (and keep charging money). Bennett is so clever, his method works like a charm. I havent had bugs in over a year (of any type) and everyone else I know is bug free as well.<br /> I felt funny writing this but I am so grateful to him I finally bit the bullet and wrote in to share my gift. </p> http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/declaring-the-big-v-in-the-war-on-bed-bugs-1#post-46926 Fri, 10 Apr 2009 23:05:59 +0000 hgv001 46926@http://bedbugger.com/forum/ <p>They are gone. I would first like to take this time to profusely thank the creator of this blog and everyone who has posted/contributed. My boyfriend and I used this blog as our primary source of information, from diagnosing our bites to how to get rid of the bugs, and I feel like we owe it to all of the readers out there to post our success story to give others hope.</p> <p>Our story:</p> <p>My boyfriend and I decided to move to the city of Philadelphia from Virginia at the very beginning of September 2008. He moved up mid-month and I followed a month and a half later, but was visiting almost every weekend. Due to our financial situation, or lack thereof, the apartment we ended up taking was in a very old rundown building consisting of 3 apartments. Our dwelling was on the 3rd floor. The place was not well taken care of and by that I mean there were humongous holes in the wall behind the refrigerator and behind all of the furnaces. Not to mention the toilet did not even have a seat, but we won't get into the rest of the house. The neighborhood was not the safest, and our landlord could barely speak English. He owned the entire building. Things were already not looking good.</p> <p>In the month and a half I was still at our old house in Virginia, and my boyfriend was at the new apartment in Philly, like I said, I'd visit each weekend. I started coming home with little itchy bumps on my arms, legs, and feet. I didn't think anything of it until I woke up in the middle of the night one weekend with four giant red welts on my face and one on my arm. I was convinced I had some sort of virus. My boyfriend had nothing on his body.</p> <p>After two trips to the doctor in VA before I moved to Philadelphia, we chalked it up to fleas from the dog (never saw a flea on her or noticed her itching) and left it alone until the number of bites accumulated and the itching became so unbearable, it made me literally crazy. I started noticing more bites at work and had the first panic attack of my life, tunnel vision and everything, because it seemed as though the bites would appear right before my eyes all through out the day and night. I was losing my mind and I was scared.</p> <p>About a week after I moved into the apartment with my boyfriend permanently, I was home alone and noticed more bites on my legs. My head was spinning, I was freaking out because I had no doctor in the city and I had been panicking about this for over a month now. I got on Google and as soon as I started realizing they may in fact be bed bugs, out of the corner of my eye, I saw something crawling on the wall. I looked up a picture. There it was. Flat, rust colored, obviously recently fed. We had bed bugs.</p> <p>I looked up what to do, and began by notifying the landlord. He obviously did not understand the severity of a bed bug infestation, I believe because of the language barrier. He proceeded to tell me that he had never had complaints from the other tenants within the building about bedbugs and somewhat implied that we had brought them with us into the apartment...which was impossible. The building was already infested, which was obvious from the lack of upkeep and from the sight of our 2nd floor neighbor's clutter, but the neighbors must not have cared about the bugs, or they must not react severely to the bites. After this conversation with the landlord, he called one of his friends who works for a legitamate extermination company who came to spray the house twice in December. The bugs stayed at bay for no more than 1 week after each treatment. My boyfriend and I realized our only choice was to move. Now, I understand that this may be bad news for those of you who are home owners and for those who are not financially capable of moving, and let me just say we had to wait months before we were financially stable enough to even look for a new place. This forced us to live with the bed bugs for 3 more months before we could finally get out, and it cost us a lot of money, but it had to be done. This was hell on earth.</p> <p>The infestation worsened from January-February 2009 and we could not get a hold of the exterminator to come spray again, surprise surprise. Meanwhile, we were doing everything we thought we were supposed to do, we covered the mattress in plastic, sprayed the baseboards with black jack spray, and washed our clothes often. During this time, we were also avidly looking for a new place for 2 months. Nothing fit our standards, we were scrutinizing cracks between the baseboards and the floors, dismissed anything with carpet, and judged each landlord/owner up and down. We finally were lucky enough to find a great place.</p> <p>Now here's how we left the bed bugs at the old place:</p> <p>All of the precautions we took, we got from this website. Thank you, thank you everyone. Let me please take this time to warn any readers seeking advice on escaping these bugs... you MUST accept that you will have to part with most of your belongings. This was easy for me and my boyfriend, because we caught the bug problem early enough after we moved in to not buy any furniture for the place. Yes, we lived in an apartment with only a kitchen table and a bed for 4 months. That still did not make this any less of a painful experience, since we had to get rid of personal things that had been in each of our families for decades. Two nights before moving day, we filled what seemed like 30 garbage bags full of stuff to be tossed - linens, pillows, tons of clothes, electronics, literally everything except necessary clothes for work and sentimental family items we simply could not part with. We tossed it all to the curb. In one night.</p> <p>The move out date was March 5th, a Saturday, which was a whirlwind of a day. Nothing, absolutely nothing can go from the old place directly into the new place. We took precautions with everything...</p> <p>1. We first dropped the dog off at the groomer's...we booked her for a bath and an extremely short haircut just to be safe. </p> <p>2. Next was a trip to the laundromat with all of our clothes where we washed everything that could be washed in scalding hot water. We dried each load for no less than 60 minutes on high heat. Everything that could not be washed, we dropped off at the dry cleaners. Over $100 dollars in dry cleaning. The plastic laundry basket was sprayed and wiped down with clorox bleach. Our batch of clean clothes was the first thing to enter the house, and I literally pushed it through the front door without stepping inside.</p> <p>3. A trip to the store was in order - we bought an air mattress to sleep on, more trashbags, black jack bedbug spry, and big ziploc bags. Ziploc makes huge bags that hold gallons. Find them. We then went back to the old apartment, black jacked everything we had to take with us, placed into the big ziploc, and double-bagged with trashbags. This stuff included shoes, laptops, necessary books, a big tool bag/kit, jewlery...everything we had to bring that wasn't clothes. **I have since read a lot of good stuff about black jack. This is the spray we used when we first discovered the problem, and I have to say that if you plan on fighting this battle without moving, the spray stinks up your house forever. The smell never goes away, but didn't seem to stick to our belongings after we froze them for 2 weeks. I recommend it for those who are moving. It kills on contact. I have read tons of reviews on other sprays which are of higher quality, we just could not afford the wait or the price for these products.</p> <p>We were in the new house after one day. And had basically a few clothes and personal items to our names. We fit as many of those ziplocs into the freezer as we could and put the rest downstairs in the basement. We kept the bags in the freezer without opening the door for 2 weeks, then unpacked. We have had 3 shifts of this in all. Everything has come out fine, including the laptops. We just let them dry out completely before turning them on by setting them over the heater for a day. </p> <p>It has been a little over a month that we have been in the new house. All of our belongings are out of the freezer and the ziplocs, and I have not had even one bite or seen one bug. I will say that this experience made me hit rock-bottom mentally and I'm sure it will have a long term effect on me. Every speck of dirt I thoroughly inspect, any new little bug I see I put in a small ziploc bag until I can diagnose it (2 small spiders), and I still very vividly dream about bed bugs. I cannot tell how long this will last. I do not know what I would do if they returned. I am confident that we escaped the problem and did not bring them with us. These past 6 months have been the worst of my life, but I want to be the voice that all of you hear that says it is possible to escape it. IT IS POSSIBLE!</p> <p>One of the worst things about this is that this apartment has now been posted on craigslist since we abandoned it. Nothing is being done about this problem at this address. My boyfriend has posted on this ad that the apartment is infested and I have registered the address on <a href="http://www.bedbugregistry.com" rel="nofollow">www.bedbugregistry.com</a> Other than these two measly online posts, we are helpless against this problem at this address, which makes us feel horrible...but what is worse is that bed bugs are a bigger problem than the general public thinks. Dealing with bed bugs is a life-altering experience. The bed bug problem will never be resolved until landlords are bound by law to notify tenants about past and present bug problems, respond to the problem following PCO protocol, and to be responsible for damages and losses accrued as a result of the bugs. </p> <p>Good luck, everyone. </p> http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/55-days-bite-free#post-58239 Tue, 15 Sep 2009 14:20:40 +0000 ritanna3 58239@http://bedbugger.com/forum/ <p>Well, 59 actually, but that is the number of days since I last got a bite. Wanted to share some positive news with the forum, b/c I know when my bed bug ordeal first started, I got really hopeless from reading everything on here. Which is understandable b/c of course people with bigger problems will be posting a lot more. Just a couple notes about my experience:</p> <p>- Randomly got a bite or two every couple weeks beginning in April 09 (later realized that I got these bites on nights that I had been on my couch in the living room pretty late)<br /> - My bites didn't show up until about midday after the night I got them and I reacted really badly (often referred to them as "hot tumors" b/c they swelled up huge and were warm to the touch). At first, I thought I had a spider biting me at work or something since that is when the bites showed up.<br /> -Finally, I was on my couch at like 3pm one afternoon and saw this bug crawling away, after biting me of course. I killed it, and started looking online and realized what it was.<br /> - I immediately informed my landlord, who then told me that a couple people on my floor had them. Gee thanks for the heads up. Turns out some guy bought something used, his infestation got bad and he moved out, dragging his infested mattress throughout the building. Before the PCO came, I killed one more adult on my couch and one nymph. I feel pretty lucky that I was able to randomly catch them, especially during the day!<br /> - PCO came for my first treatment, confirmed that the two bugs I killed and saved on a paper towel were BB's so he knew I had them, but he did not see any evidence of them in his inspection. So I must have had it pretty light.<br /> - I put bedding encasements on and bagged up all the clothes in my dresser and started doing all the washing. I never bagged up the clothes in my closet b/c I have way too many, so I was waiting to see if things got worse before I did it since thus far, I had only seen bugs or gotten bites on my couch in the living room.<br /> - Got bitten about a week after first treatment. PCO came for a second treatment. Haven't seen or gotten any bites since!<br /> - My landlord also brought a dog in to search all the units to make sure everyone who had the bugs were getting treated. The dog couldn't go in units already in treatment (which included mine), but it found 3 additional units which have all been treated. The maintenance guy seems to think that the problem in the building is gone, no one has needed subsequent treatments since earlier in the summer. Several of the people who seem to have had the bad infestations moved out, and new people have now started to move in. The only thing that worries me is if the bugs were hiding in the walls and will come out to bite new people. But I am trying to warn new tenants I see to keep an eye out so they could catch it early, but I want to think positive! During my initial freakout period, I talked to the owner of the PCO company and he said that they were recently successful in getting rid of the problem in a very large apt. building in Chicago, so I want to be confident that the problem could have been eliminated from my building (4 floors with 12 units per floor).<br /> - I am still keeping all the clothes I wash in big ziplocs and haven't brought back out all my pillows or anything, but I am happy that I never had to do my whole closet or all my books and everything. I want to stress that my infestation seemed very light, so this probably wouldn't be a good idea for a lot of people.<br /> - I am still considering DE and caulking, but have been too busy. But I know that sounds like the best thing for me to do to keep the problem out of my apt.</p> <p>Sorry for the long post, but just wanted to give some info. that people may be able to relate to and see that there is hope! </p> http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/55-day-mark#post-58026 Sat, 12 Sep 2009 17:26:25 +0000 bbfiend 58026@http://bedbugger.com/forum/ <p>how did the 55-day mark come about? why 55 days? (so far, we've hit right under 40 days..) but am very curious. I'm super allergic, so react instantaneous, no half-hour lag, nor 1 hour-lag nor 1-day lag, etc. </p> <p>Right now, since the last bite, it's been 10 days.. (still counting...).</p> <p>Does anyone know why - about the 55-day mark, that is??</p> <p>Thanks. </p> http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/self-treatment-success-story-and-parting-reflections#post-58004 Sat, 12 Sep 2009 12:09:47 +0000 de-selftreat 58004@http://bedbugger.com/forum/ <p>Just wanted to update: no more bed bugs since last post, which means I have crossed the 55 day barrier, with DE, Murphy's oil soap, caulk, a clothes dryer, and very careful physical inspection only. I do seem to have been blessed with an "easy" case. The background is in other posts, but in brief I took in an infested wardrobe from the street, had it for ten days, got rid of it, and then dismantled my bed several times and caulked a few cracks/wood-knots, and found them mostly hiding in the corners of the bedframe. It takes a bit of an inclination to DIY, and isn't for everyone, but I wanted to say to the board that it is possible. </p> <p>I probably won't be around here very much more, so also wanted to say that this forum distorts the problem and makes it seem much more terrifying than it is . People come here and hear the worst horror stories — bed bugs living in your navel!!! off-label self-treating experiments!!!—and all the hype for and by PCOs (you know who you are). I am sure some PCOs do good work, but be warned that this website is the best example I've come across for how the Internet distorts the situation. Getting rid of bed bugs is a fair bit harder than painting a room, but it's a similar decision, I'd say, to whether you want to pay someone to do that kind of work or do it yourself. </p> http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/5-weeks-without-bites#post-53678 Sat, 18 Jul 2009 12:25:37 +0000 mr5roses 53678@http://bedbugger.com/forum/ <p>I’ve gone five weeks without a bite or a sighting, and I have bedbugger.com to thank. I’d like to offer a summary of what I did in the hope that it will help someone else.</p> <p>Mine was a light infestation. The bedbugs made themselves known through their bites, checked by a doctor. Seams, crevices, etc. didn’t show any bb’s or signs.</p> <p>I hired an inspector/dog team (from M&#38;M Pest Control). Although it was expensive by my budget, it was completely worth nailing down the source and spread. If you suspect bedbugs but can’t spot them, there’s no way to know without honest, professional confirmation if you have an infestation.</p> <p>I had spotted the bedbug spoor M&#38;M pointed out, but it looked so faint that I thought it was flaws in the wood of my captain’s bed. The pix here at bedbugger are accurate, but keep in mind that they are contrasty in order to show up on the Web. The actual spoor was faint, like light pencil dots and strokes. Later I did find some actual living bedbugs -- keep in mind that the real ones are very matte and drab, not so shiny as they look in photos.</p> <p>There were no signs of bb’s in the living room at that time.</p> <p>M&#38;M’s treatment program (which was very detailed, by the way) was too costly for me, but they do sell treatment kits to the public. The kit included a gallon of the heavy-duty insecticide Permacide, a couple of cans of Bedlam (a less harsh pesticide), and a spray container of Steri-Fab. They offer a fogger in the kit -- remind them that foggers are no good against bb’s. M&#38;M also sells Allerzip encasements at a good price. </p> <p>Bedlam and Steri-Fab are available at many hardware stores, and Permacide can be purchased over the ‘net. You’ll need a spray bottle for the Permacide, a funnel, and rubber gloves. Murphy Oil Soap is uniformly recommended as a repellent and contact killer.</p> <p>If you want to cut an infestation short, be as strict and severe and quick as you can in your response. If, as the treatment proceeds, you find yourself exhausted and mentally drained, cut yourself as much of a break as you can while still doing as much as you can.</p> <p>Strip your linens and gather up any clothes in the bedroom, being careful not to shake off any bedbugs onto the floor. They need to be washed and then dried for an extra-long time. (It’s the drying that kills the bugs. I don’t understand why the washing doesn’t, but whatever.) Twenty minutes past their usual dryness seems to be recommended. If there’s a laundry facility in your building, this will all be much easier. If you drop your laundry off, tell them you need them extra-dry, and tell them why if they’re not the sort to freak out. </p> <p>If you have a ton of clothes or something else is slowing the process, just get everything into contractor bags and twist them off tight (so tight that air won’t escape if you press on them). Spray the bags with Steri-Fab. Spray the floor the bags rest on with Permacide. I did the same with artworks, papers, etc. from the bedroom until I could get them all in appropriately sized sealable bags.</p> <p>Eventually, everything that can be laundered and super-dried should be, and the clean and super-dried stuff isolated in Ziploc Tote Bags with double zippers (you are probably going to need a ton of these in the largest and second-largest sizes).</p> <p>(Search bedbugger for detailed information on protecting leather, shoes, books, and dry-cleanable clothing -- not my department.)</p> <p>If you haven’t washed the floors and wooden surfaces nearby with Murphy Oil Soap yet, do it now. </p> <p>Treat your entire bedroom as an infested zone. The more severely you act now, the more time and aggravation you may save down the road.</p> <p>I simply got rid of every piece of wooden furniture in my bedroom. I encased my mattress and kept it leaning against a wall during treatment, with a contractor’s bag underneath it. The floor under the bag got Permacide’d, the mattress and the wall it leaned on got Steri-Fab’ed frequently. Everything sitting on the floor of the bedroom got moved and sprayed frequently.</p> <p>Following is adapted from an email to a friend who found his infestation a month later than me:</p> <p>“Here’s the next hard part -- you are going to have to get rid of a lot of stuff. You’ve seen how small the bb’s are. They can fit practically anywhere and hang out until 2-4 in the morning, when they come out to feed. The wooden desk in your bedroom -- get rid of it. Your storage loft with the paintings -- the best thing to do would be to get rid of it. If you can’t bear that, you’re going to have to spray every seam and crevice of it with the Bedlam -- it comes with a little pipette for spraying, it foams up in crevices for good coverage. Eventually (soon) you’ll have to seal it with paint or poly. Treat every piece of furniture in your bedroom with the same suspicion. You can pull out drawers etc. and inspect them, but even if they show no signs, you would be best advised to get rid of them. You don’t want to start again from go, believe me.</p> <p>“All your documents and memorabilia in the bedroom should also be sealed up. Tupperware-style or Ziploc boxes are NOT tight enough for this purpose, unfortunately. Use the Ziploc double-seal bags.</p> <p>“While you’re doing all this, you should also be methodically spraying all the crevices and baseboards in the bedroom with the Permacide, and repeating after a couple of days with the Bedlam. Use the Permacide a couple of feet into the hallway outside the bedroom, as well.</p> <p>“Here’s the really hard part for you -- paintings and framed drawings and the like make excellent bedbug hiding places. Examine the stuff over the bed carefully. If you find an infestation, then you have to treat all adjacent paintings as infested as well. At the very least, you should isolate all your artwork as well as possible, even if there’s no signs. Absolutely in the bedroom, and you should be isolating or keeping a close eye on the canvases in the living room as well. I know this is not a trivial matter. Ditto with all your books.</p> <p>“Any furniture kept in the bedroom is going to have to be isolated from the floor. You do this by a moat system -- putting its legs in little cups filled with Murphy Oil Soap (diluted per directions, which I mention because I didn’t think to dilute it at first). You can use disposable containers for this, or jars, or little glass custard cups, which is what I used for my new metal bedstead. Whatever kind of bedframe you use, keep treating it from week to week with the Bedlam. It’s safe for use on furniture, harmless to people and pets, and doesn’t have that strong a smell. I’m relying on it a lot. </p> <p>“Diatomaceous earths are a heavy-duty killer and repellent. DON’T USE THEM WITHOUT FOLLOWING ALL PRECAUTIONS LISTED ON BEDBUGGER.COM.</p> <p>“When you throw stuff away, seal it for the passage down the stairs, so you don’t drop little travelers on the way down. Mark any furniture someone might be tempted to rescue, and slash any clothes or linens you don’t want anybody to adopt.</p> <p>“Vacuum as thoroughly and as often as you can. Buy as good a vacuum as you can afford. Bedbugger.com recommends that you throw away the bag after EVERY use. I think this is a little much. Certainly the first bag or two should be sealed and disposed of, but since then I just check the container very carefully, and I store the vacuum cleaner in a Tupperware tub with double-sticky tape all around the inside top, to catch anything crawling in or out. (I realize this goes against bedbugger recommendations, but so far, so good.)</p> <p>“You’re going to have to go over all your luggage and travel bags. Check all the seams, of course. Use a stiff brush over all surfaces to dislodge any strays. Spray thoroughly with the Steri-Fab, which is mostly alcohol. When I finish the bottle I have, I’m going to refill it with rubbing alcohol (beware open flames), a common practice. My few pieces of luggage happened to be well isolated from infestation -- you may have to find advice from bedbugger if you see signs in yours.</p> <p>“For itchy welts, use hydrocortisone cream. You can take loratadine (generic Claritin, OTC) during the day and benadryl OTC at night (I assume you know what a knockout punch benadryl packs). If the itching is really bad, a doctor can prescribe a steroid cream. I also find when the itching is driving me crazy that running hot water over the affected area, as hot as I can stand, really feels good and alleviates it for a while.</p> <p>“As soon as you have the chance, either treat the bookshelves in the hallway with Murphy’s, or (re)seal or (re)paint them.</p> <p>“Best to establish a rotation -- hit everything you can with Bedlam, wait a couple of days, Permacide floors and cracks, wait a couple of days, until things calm down, and then maybe alternate them week by week.</p> <p>“This way you'll break up their reproductive cycle, and you won't make yourself and your cat sick from pesticide overexposure.”</p> <p>So, back to my situation. Against most bedbugger advice, I slept on the couch in my living room during this time. The lights in the bedroom and the living room were kept on all night, and I put a lamp on the floor in the doorway between. I also kept a fan blowing from the living room into the bedroom, on the unproven assumption that it would discourage bb’s from tracking me into the living room.</p> <p>The only bedbugs I found during the infestation were on the living room couch. I got rid of some extra cushions, and vacuumed the couch thoroughly every day for a couple of weeks, always getting into crevices, both sides of seams, stripping cushions, flipping the couch over, etc. Also sprayed seams and such every couple of days with Bedlam. I was prepared to get rid of the couch for one with longer legs that could stand in custard cups of Murphy’s, but that hasn’t been necessary.</p> <p>I got rid of the sisal carpet in the living room right away. I still have a couple of runners and rugs with a very short nap, which remain on probation. The wooden floor was Murphy’d, every inch. Every crevice in the living room, floor and walls, has been Bedlam’d at least once, and then the floor repainted (it was due anyway). Wooden furniture was Bedlam’d and Murphy’d. If I had any suspicion of further presence in the living room, I was ready to go radical on it, the same way I did on the bedroom. Luckily, it hasn’t been necessary.</p> <p>Also luckily, it seems my neighbors have not been affected, and as much as it’s possible to know, I don’t think the building has an infestation. Fingers crossed.</p> <p>My bedroom is now furnished in freestanding metal shelving like that most often used in kitchens. Their feet sit in containers of properly diluted Murphy Oil. Everything that used to be in drawers is in Ziploc bags. The sides of the shelves are open, so I tied electric wire in an X to give the bags something to lean on. A wheeled metal kitchen island is my new nightstand -- the wheels get sprayed with Bedlam. The effect is not entirely homey, but it goes along with the simple metal bedframe with its feet in custard cups of Murphy’s. My papers and memorabilia have been sorted into Ziploc bags (gallon bags are OK for this) and sit in underbed containers. I’ve been inspecting and rehanging art, and it’s been feeling like my bedroom again.</p> <p>If you suspect you have bedbugs, find out. Hire a dog/inspector team to confirm and locate, if there’s any doubt. If you can afford it and trust the PCO, hire them. If not, these are the basic first steps you can take right away on your own to halt and fight the bb’s back. If you have a particular concern I haven’t addressed, search bedbugger and ask questions. The best advice I came up with for myself and anybody else who might ask: do the most you can as quickly and severely as you can, without exhausting yourself physically or mentally. </p> http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/how-long-did-it-take-you-to-get-rid-of-bed-bugs-and-what-worked#post-57531 Sun, 06 Sep 2009 17:21:24 +0000 goin buggy 57531@http://bedbugger.com/forum/ <p>If you are a success story, (bed-bug free for more than two months), please briefly tell here how long it took from the time you first knew you had bed bugs and began trying to get rid of them, until they were gone (and how long have they been gone).</p> <p>Also, if you have been bed-bug free for more than two months, please tell (briefly) what kind of PCO method you used (heat?), and/or what pesticides, DE?, etc, and other factors you attribute your success to.</p> <p>Thank you on behalf of all of us who continue to suffer. </p> http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/food-for-thought#post-57327 Thu, 03 Sep 2009 22:11:37 +0000 bbfiend 57327@http://bedbugger.com/forum/ <p>A friend from Singapore told me her bed bug story. They found the bbs infesting the mattress in the master bedroom, so the whole family moved into the 2nd bedroom, adults and kids and spent a few days spraying the bed in the master bedroom, with, guess what, regular insecticide.</p> <p>Results : killed and really exterminated the bugs. All gone, it's been years since.</p> <p>How come we don't get that kind of success stories here? *sigh* </p> http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/happy-anniversary-thanks-to-many#post-56305 Sat, 22 Aug 2009 22:19:18 +0000 cilecto 56305@http://bedbugger.com/forum/ <p>I saw my first BB about a year ago and joind this board. I keep meaning to write up a bite-by-bite chronology of what's taken place since then, but suffice to say, I'm OK (though I tend to see everything from a "bedbug" point of view and some fresh bites on my arms have me stressed).</p> <p>I'm saddened to see that the BB problem is getting worse, not better, but see glimmers of hope as smart people are coming up with promising solutions.</p> <p>I did want to pause and say "thanks" to all of you, but particularly to those who responded to my first, panicked posts. "NoBugsonMe", "Itchy-Scratchy" and "Parakeets". I can unambiguously say that I made it through because of this board and particularly because when I called for help, you responded.</p> <p>Thanks. </p> http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/unpacking-the-next-step-on-the-road-to-normality#post-55673 Thu, 13 Aug 2009 09:14:38 +0000 lumpyredthing 55673@http://bedbugger.com/forum/ <p>I thought I’d give you an update on my (hopeful) return to something resembling normal life – if normal life is constant vigilance and jumping out of my skin every time I get an itch!</p> <p>I’m just in the process of bringing in all the stuff from the bedroom that I had stored outside in plastic bin liners that were then in plastic boxes. This includes stuff that was under the bed so I was pretty sure there would be some hungry fellas in there, they’ve been shut away for about 3 months.</p> <p>I’ve been bringing the boxes in one at a time and then putting the bags very carefully into the bath and opening them, I then give them a good few lungs few of carbon dioxide and wait for several minutes. This seems to bring them out of hiding and every bag I’ve opened has had at least one very thin and very hungry bug on top of whatever’s in it (could be coincidence but it seems to work!). To be honest they don’t seem very lively and they’re more crawling than running! </p> <p>Once I’ve put them out of their misery I empty the bag into the bath and inspect every single item with a magnifying glass, every nook and every cranny. So far I’ve only had to destroy two things that seemed to have a lot of faecal trace and eggs, both of these were paper and were in their own bags.</p> <p>Hubby wanted me to open them outdoors but I didn’t want to take the chance because if even one had escaped it would undoubtedly have made it’s way back in! The bath is ideal because you can easily see them and contain them (makes your back ache though, a small price to pay!). It’s a laborious process but I’m glad I decided to do it this way instead of just bringing the stuff back in because they’d have been back!</p> <p>One thing I’d like to ask though – do you find that the itch stays with you long after the bites have gone? I do find that occasionally old bites (4 or 5 months old) suddenly itch for no reason and after a few minutes it fades away again – there’s no mark and no redness, just a passing itch…. Anyone else had this happen? </p> http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/when-is-the-coast-clear#post-54783 Sat, 01 Aug 2009 14:54:03 +0000 klotztheatre 54783@http://bedbugger.com/forum/ <p>Well, I have been dealing with bedbugs for about a month and a half.( thats when we discovered the little devils) We have have three treatments with the PCO spraying the whole house and doing the whole pretreatment crap and we know where they came in from and we took the bed COMPLETELY apart, even ripping apart the slats that were glued and we got their hiding place. SO my question is...Its been over two weeks and I haven't seen any bed bugs and we haven't been bitten. I don't think it traveled to any other room besides my sons(where we first noticed the problem) and I inspect everyday...so have i killed them all off? How do I know when to breath a sigh of relief? How long do I continue the treatments with the PCO? I haven't had a treatment in 3 weeks and no sign, so I am extremely optimistic! Thanks so much for any info! </p> http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/success-early-detection-038-eliminate-encase-or-dryer#post-54895 Sun, 02 Aug 2009 23:24:55 +0000 marci-Massachussetts 54895@http://bedbugger.com/forum/ <p>I posted originally that I was planning to use Pure Heat in Massachusets, but didn't have to bake the entire apartment as it has turned out. They'd sent me to American K-9 Private Investigators, Inc. for a pre-treatment report on the location &#38; extent of infestation - Mike Tache's company. He is located in south eastern Massachusetts and works in the state and nearby it (like Rhode Island). </p> <p>I used the services of Mike and his dog Badger to locate the bug. On the first inspection Badger alerted to two suitcases, a travel food carrier, a garbage bag of clothes I isolated as suspect during the trip where I got the BB bites and hitchhikers. And the bed, of course. And that's all I had to deal with, a fairly manageable list. </p> <p>I'd been home with imported bedbugs for exactly one month when Mike and Badger did that first inspection. I knew the problem when I got the bites at home, because I had been bitten to pieces at a motel during a May vacation - ignorant initially as to what was biting me - and had informed the motel after I saw a doctor in that city for diagnosis. I'd also seen one bedbug full of my blood and killed it during the trip home. I was very worried, but until I got the first bite at home, I was ignorant about how to cope if I had brought them home. Then I started looking for information online in a very focused way!</p> <p>Here's what I decided about the infested things that the dog pointed out: I threw out the infested luggage and food carrier (in sealed garbage bags). Mike put on the mattress and box spring encasements and I put on the pillow encasement, which I'd bought already. I decided to get rid of the metal bed frame after he explained where BB can hide out in its crevices - Mike carried it to the dumpster for me. (I am a short, not strong, senior. He was extra, extra helpful.) Mike told me the plastic type of box spring cover I'd bought was not sturdy for the long term use needed - up to 18 months for the trapped bugs to die - that it would tear, and where to order a sturdy one. I ordered it, from a company named Mattress Safe, after I went to their web site, by phone so they would expedite shipping it, to get it here before Mike's re-inspection visit. With box spring and mattress on the floor for two weeks, I wrapped a large quilt I had around mattress and box spring together, to protect the encasements from puncture by my cat's claws. I couldn't tuck sheets in this way, so went out for a second quilt at Walmart, as well as a replacement metal bed frame from Building 19 that I left in the box until I was confident there were no bedbugs loose to get into it.</p> <p>I asked Mike to re-inspect after two weeks, which he did. The second time, the encased box spring and mattress, and the clothes Badger had ID'ed earlier and I had put through a dryer for 90 minutes, were the only things Badger alerted to. The dryer I used for the clothes apparently didn't get hot enough. Mike walked the dog around the baseboard by the bed, in or by all the closets, and by every piece of furniture including the desk where the computer sits on both visits. So I feel pretty confident about the thoroughness of detection. On the first visit, at my request, he also had Badger get up in my car trunk and into its back seat, where I'd carried home infested luggage. No bedbugs had escaped into the car, I am happy to say.</p> <p>Badger alerted to the clothes on the second visit, as well as to the mattress and box spring that were already encased. There were no other alerts. I was pretty surprised about the clothes, by the way, and awfully glad I had kept them isolated in a new garbage bag for Badger to check. I asked Mike if it could be a false alert or an alert to dead bugs, and he didn't think so. Dead bugs lose the scent that the dog detects after just a few days, he told me. Evidently not every clothes dryer gets hot enough. (Mike also told me that he had personally seen bugs that had been kept in a bag in a freezer for two weeks by a customer, for definite identification, come alive again when they were taken out and they thawed. He'd also found infestations in bedding after it had wintered in unheated camp cabins. Again, who knew such things could happen?) Mike helped me again - to set up the bed frame, then he put on the sturdy box spring cover, and together we wrapped the box spring in one quilt and the mattress in the second, new quilt. Fitted sheets do go on over the extra bulk, but the corners don't pull all the way down. The protection from my cat claws was my own "uh-oh" extra step, but I've seen my cat get her claws caught in bedding pretty often and wrestle herself loose.</p> <p>Good thing I had re-bagged the clothes until I found out whether the dryer treatment had worked! After 2 hours in a different model dryer, they did not cause Badger to alert when Mike made a very brief third stop just to check that bag. (Different garbage bags each time, by the way, because bedbugs could stay in a bag.)</p> <p>I haven't had any bites since first encasing the mattress and box spring and pillow, which was a month ago. I don't expect to have any more bites, because I'm pretty confident there aren't any more bugs loose in the apartment. What a relief from nightmare that is!</p> <p>What I can say to others is, catching an infestation at its early stage, before the bugs have proliferated, finding out exactly where they are, and dealing with those things has worked for me, and might well work for you in a similar situation. If you are pretty sure you've been bitten in your home, "do not pass go, do not collect $200" - find and schedule a canine inspection! Done early, it can save you months of pain and struggle and psychological suffering that I've read so many accounts of here - if you are mercilessly thorough in dealing with whatever is identified as infested. (You can pretty well know that your bed is infested even before the trained snif test.)</p> <p>I want to publicly thank Mike Tache at American K-9 Private Investigators. Most of his clients are commercial, and he certainly treated me, as a vulnerable private individual, very generously with his time and effort - the extra help is his form of community service, he said. Mike told me he gets up at 4 a.m. to do daily reinforcement training with his three detection dogs. He is a dedicated man, as well as kind. You can see how closely his dog is tuned to him and how precisely the dog paws where the bugs are (to signal an alert) without clawing through the plastic of a garbage bag or otherwise damaging anything.</p> <p>Mike didn't really approve of my throwing things out, by the way. That was my decision - get rid of anything I couldn't encapsulate or treat, and get this thing solved quickly and completely. Like everyone else, it was making me so stressed out, anxious and haunted, I needed to do it that way. </p> <p>My final step will be to try to get reimbursed for my actual expenses from the motel where I picked up the infestation. They did reimburse my prescription medication for the bites (just a few dollars) and move me to a different room and take the infested room out of the reservation system for extermination. So we'll see now if the owner will reimburse $734 quietly, or if I have to make a fuss, create publicity about their infestation and file suit. Once again, Mike gave me extra help: not just receipts for payment, but a letter that says what he and the dog identified and what treatment steps he saw me take (that created the expenses I'm claiming reimbursement for.) My request letter and documentation are ready to take to the Post Office (for weighing) on Monday. </p> http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/success-in-not-spreading#post-41483 Sun, 11 Jan 2009 18:44:36 +0000 kpabarue 41483@http://bedbugger.com/forum/ <p>A different <u>kind</u> of success, I suppose...</p> <p>Wondering if anyone has had success with not spreading these to family and friends, or any hopeful words? I found my infestation right after coming back from Thanksgiving at my parents' house. From what I've been able to tell (which, I know, is no guarantee), my infestation has not been too large. However, I did take home the pair of PJs that I wore the night before I left. EEK! My parents are encasing mattresses and boxsprings, using white sheets, and checking once a week for signs, but I'm crossing fingers (and toes) that I didn't take them home with me, although I'm sure the odds are against me... </p> <p>So if anyone has been lucky in this respect, I'd love to hear! </p> http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/my-success-story-this-far#post-54544 Tue, 28 Jul 2009 22:49:26 +0000 sojo2 54544@http://bedbugger.com/forum/ <p>Hi all, </p> <p>I will not go into my story in detail, but wanted to offer my advice to people here, now that I have some distance. We got a bedbug infestation two years ago, and decided to coordinate with our building to treat. Our small building including older tenants with little financial means to treat, and even if we got our landlord to pay, they didn't get rid of items that were deeply infested. A year after the first extensive treatment, we were reinfested. We got the landlord to pay for a whole set of treatments again, and further bought a steamer which we deducted from the rent. A few weeks after the last treatment session we moved out. </p> <p>Looking back at this, I see that this was tremendously difficult. Two years of my life is gone in a black hole.</p> <p>It seems like we moved without bringing them with us. We steam all of our items on a regular basis, and have our clothes protected and organized. I am terrified to get them again, of course, but I have gotten my life back. Having this problem is a major risk to your mental health. I feel a lot better now. If we get it again, I will try to assess how well the neighbors can treat. If I suspect they can't do it, I will move again - after completed treatment. </p> <p>I am a stubborn person that thought I could beat this if I did everything right. But it was impossible. So my advice is, do not underestimate this pest. Make an assessment. It is expensive to move, but it is worth it.</p> <p>Thank you for a good site and all your support.</p> <p>S </p> http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/success-after-a-lot-of-work#post-54390 Mon, 27 Jul 2009 16:48:30 +0000 pokeythefrecklehead 54390@http://bedbugger.com/forum/ <p>Hi all,</p> <p>I wanted to share my success story to give you new bed bug sufferers hope. I will never forget how stressful and discouraging my bed bug infestation was. At the time of infestation I had a<br /> lotgoing on in my life and my husband was deployed at the time,.It nearly put me over the edge. I actually ended up in counseling because it was the perverbial straw that broke the camels back and what a piece of straw it was! I clearly remember thinking I would NEVER get rid of them and it would be cheaper to burn down my house! Ofcourse, I hung in there and now I feel that it is safe to say that we are bed bug free!!!! I have waited a long time to write this because I didnt want to jinx myself and I wanted to be certain before I claimed success.<br /> Before I tell you how I did it, I just want to say that some of the things I did went against general reccommendation so do your research before you take what I did as good advice ;-)</p> <p>- Aug (mid) 2009, neighbor kid brings bug in on clothes, I own my single family home so my bugs were riders<br /> - Sept (1st week), after treating kids for chicken pox, scabies and MRSA, I find similiar pics bites online and scour their beds for a 3rd time, BINGO! I found a skin and then I found them hiding in a screw<br /> - I threw out thier mattresses (not reccommended)<br /> - I tape over the visible 'nests' on the wooden bunk bed frame with clear packing tape, I tape around the door of my boys room so the bugs cant get out<br /> - we stop going in the living room because I dont want the bugs to detect us from their room<br /> - i move my boys into my bedroom, they sleep with me from Sept til Feb<br /> - I spend 15 hours at laundry mat washing piece of clothing/towel/blanket/curtain we own, I spent $300 on plastic containers and put all laundry in garage, moving it all to the basement where it still is.<br /> -ziploc bag everything, 60% of kids toys and 90% of thier books, all drawers and cupboards in bedrooms, and living rooms are emptied.<br /> - Sept (2nd week) Professional Pest Control Company starts 1 of three treatments, not sure of all the chems used but I know Suspend and Kicker were 2 of them. Some kind of powder was sprayed in the dressers and on the beds<br /> - After 1st treatment, I find a bug on the living room couch, I thought the infestation was contained to my kids room, I then have a total melt down crying for 8 hours straight, I seek mental counseling... it helps!<br /> - I move my bed to the middle of my room, take off my curtains, put my bed on risers, slather the risers and bed frame with vaseline, make sure covers dont hit the floor<br /> -I talk to KillerQueen on the phone, he is too far away to come to my house but gives me my sanity back.<br /> -Sept through Oct- 2nd and 3rd Pest Control treatment, kitchen, bathroom are not treated 2nd and 3rd time, Nobody enters the living room or boys room<br /> -Nov- I open all the windows on the enlcosed front porch, a friend and I move ALL the furniture from the livingroom and boys room to the front porch so it ( and the bugs )will be exposed to freezing temps over the winter<br /> -Feb - I buy cots for the boys, they sleep in the bare living room with cots, i get my bed back, i finally start sleeping through the night<br /> -furniture is still on porch<br /> -May/ June, my husband returns from Iraq, we paint the boys room, refinish the hardwood floors in the boys room and living room and the adjacent dining room<br /> - July We buy new living room furniture, we sealed all the cracks on the boys wood furniture with glue and then painted it with about 3 coats of paint ( it actually looks better!)<br /> -Old living room furniture is in the garage </p> <p>I think I went to extremes, but I couldnt live with those bugs and watch my kids suffer their horrible bites another day. I can say with confidence from the point I moved the kids out thier room to mine, there was not another bed bug bite in this house!</p> <p>And now I can say with confidence there are NO BUGS hiding in the cracks and waiting to resurge!</p> <p>Wishing you all success in your personal fight against bed bugs! It sucks and it feals like it will never end but with some persevierance and hard work and research, you will beat those little buggers....</p> <p>~Jenny </p> http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/these-arent-all-success-stories#post-54387 Mon, 27 Jul 2009 15:55:04 +0000 DDavid 54387@http://bedbugger.com/forum/ <p>Succes Stories to me means having them eradicated in your home, not running to a new place.</p> <p>I dont think the ones where people moved away are very inspiring.</p> <p>What's the ratio of people posting here who got proper treatment and won their homes back versus those who leave and hope the things dont follow? </p> http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/bedbugs-gone-without-needing-a-pco#post-51863 Wed, 24 Jun 2009 22:27:36 +0000 buggyk 51863@http://bedbugger.com/forum/ <p>Has anyone ever gotten through an infestation without contacting a professional? Just curious! </p> http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/any-success-stories-w-treating-just-1-apartment#post-52747 Tue, 07 Jul 2009 13:27:15 +0000 steph_in_brooklyn 52747@http://bedbugger.com/forum/ <p>Hi! I'm new here, but I've been reading actively since first discovering my bed bug problem about 2 weeks ago. Has anyone here had success eliminating bed bugs from their apartment without also treating adjacent apartments? </p> <p>I live in NYC, but because I'm on a month to month lease my landlord is requiring me to pay for the treatment. I've had a PCO out last week and a follow up treatment is scheduled for next week. We laundered everything in the house and bagged it in new bags before he came and continue to keep everything bagged, we've also layed DE around all the baseboards and double sided carpet tape around the beds and on the walls. I have Climbup Insect Interceptors on the way and am going to follow up the PCO's treatment with BestYet Cedarcide all over the entire apartment. I plan to caulk the baseboard also. </p> <p>Has anyone had success in getting rid of these buggers for good by only treating their apartment in a building? Or do I need to make moving out a priority? </p> <p>Any advice would be greatly appreciated.</p> <p>Thanks! </p> http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/a-year-ago-i-was-in-bed-bug-hell#post-52514 Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:22:19 +0000 effinbugs 52514@http://bedbugger.com/forum/ <p>...and now we've been free for a year!</p> <p>While I feel paranoid posting this (I feel like I might jinx it but I certainly hope not! *knock on wood*), I feel like I should post this because I remember thinking to myself when I used this site that there were hardly any success stories, which I found extremely disheartening at the time so I vowed to post mine if I ever got rid of the damn things!</p> <p>So, we've been rid of them for a year now, as I said. Last summer, the dirty crackheads on the third floor of my old apartment building (a house converted into a triplex) brought bed bugs into our place as they moved out and dragged their dirty ass mattress down the stairs. I saw the bugs before we noticed bites and I actually remember thinking they were some kind of cute beetle or something and throwing them outside so I wouldn't kill them. Well, that was a mistake! Soon, my room mate and I were both noticing bites all over us but thought they might be spider bites. As they continued night after night, I looked up rashes on the Internet and found that bed bugs kept popping up. Thinking they were some cute, long-eradicated bug from that little rhyme about not letting the bed bugs bite, I thought it couldn't possibly be what was causing our bites. But then I saw a picture of them and noticed they had a striking similarity to the little "beetles" I had found.</p> <p>My room mate was in serious denial at first so I went into my room at night and checked my bed and wooden bed frame with a flashlight. Sure enough, they were scurrying everywhere! We were so disgusted, we hauled part of my bed out to a Dumpster (looking back, I should have labelled it "BED BUGS!" but I didn't know anything about them at the time) and stayed up late freaking out and not wanting to go to bed.</p> <p>We called the landlady the next day but she and her husband had just married and were off on their honeymoon and didn't want to deal with it. The husband even said it was our fault for leaving food out!! (These landlords sucked...the place was in awful shape and when the furnace broke down in the winter, they left us without heat for three days because they didn't believe that the furnace was condemned by a technician WE had to call in) So, my room mate and I went upstairs to ask the remaining tenants on the second floor if they had bites, which they did. We felt awful and dirty, wondering how we brought them in but the other tenants said it was probably the crackheads (which it was because they later returned for mail and I said they had to leave because the place was getting sprayed and they said, "Oh, the bed bugs?"...I could have KILLED them!)</p> <p>Anyways, we were left to our own devices to call in a PCO. The landlords were away and could care less, the third floor apartment was locked so I almost had to get the locks changed til the landlords finally sent a friend to deal with it, the third floor apartment was rented out to some poor unsuspecting girl who bolted when she found out but not before getting infested, and my room mate and I were both juggling jobs to pay for tuition but had to be home when they sprayed so we could get our cats out of there. So we chose the cheapest PCO we could find so we could deduct it from rent if the landlords decided not to pay. Well, we picked the worst company possible. The PCO came to spray twice and we still had bugs. We called a third time and we were told that the guy was fired because he was incompetent and he quoted us way too low and that we'd need to pay more to get the place sprayed again. By this time, we had given our 60 days notice to the landlords and would be moving out at the end of our lease so they didn't care what happened to us and were waiting til we had our stuff out to spray.</p> <p>The move meant we'd be free from our shithole apartment but added stress because we were so afraid of bringing them with us. I was really OCD about it and my room mate was less so but realized we had to be when we found a gross nest of them behind her bed. I was so paranoid and depressed! And when I am like that, I retreat to bed but couldn't even do that! I was also travelling within this time period and staying with my boyfriend sometimes so I was so worried about spreading this misery to others or bringing it with us and reliving it with our new innocent room mates and landlord. This was probably one of the worst experiences of my life, aside from family members dying. I was constantly vacuuming our beds, the futon, corners and baseboards with a little hand-held vacuum and immediately emptying the contents outside. I bought a mattress cover. I would inspect my bed daily. I was on this site constantly looking for reassurance but not really finding any because everyone was as paranoid as me (although, I realized that you have to be in order to be thorough!) We had everything we owned in garbage bags and we were so nervous to start packing in case we packed in the bugs. It was awful!</p> <p>Moving time came and most of our belongings were in garbage bags. I was really afraid for our electronics and things like books. My plan was to douse my wooden bed frame in Raid and get a new mattress cover and bring it with me. However, on moving day, I realized I had brought the wrong kind of mattress cover and had to leave my mattress and bed frame behind, which was hard since they were given to me by family so I felt bad and because I am a student and couldn't afford new furniture. We left as much as we could, taking only my room mate's air mattress she slept on, our futon, our electronics, our laundry, an office chair, and the cats of course. I was even worried the cats would somehow bring them! Since I had no bed, I now sleep on the futon which was never infested because we caught the bugs early and they were only in our bedrooms luckily.</p> <p>I visited my boyfriend often. I travelled home. I travelled to Nova Scotia with my family. We moved. And through all of it, I managed not to spread them. Here are the best tips I can remember for people:</p> <p>1) Be paranoid! As much as it sucks, it is better to use caution and be thorough to be sure you are rid of bugs! Inspect everything thoroughly and be vigilant with cleaning every day, making sure laundry is bagged, etc.</p> <p>2) Be careful not to spread them! This will mean spreading the misery and increasing chances for reinfestation. Bring as little as possible with you when travelling and make sure that all your clothes are clean, your bag has been treated (or bring it in garbage bags!), everything has been inspected, etc.</p> <p>3) It is costly but make sure that you buy a lot of garbage bags and do a lot of laundry! Wash and dry on hot (I did it for at least an hour) and if things can't be washed (like stuffed animals, for example) then just put them in the dryer. Make sure not to re-use garbage bags. Use clean ones for clean laundry every time and don't wear things more than once without washing them.</p> <p>4) Inspect everything (especially if you're moving)! Your mattress, your bed frame, your clothes, your couch, electronics, books, the corners, the baseboards, cracks...it makes you neurotic but it truly helps the problem because you can catch things before they get bigger.</p> <p>5) Also costly, but if you're moving then it's probably best not to take your bed, just to be on the safe side. If you can't bear to part with it, talk to a qualified PCO about the best plan and make sure it is treated. Use a zippered mattress cover!</p> <p>6) Vacuum your bed daily. I found this to be the most helpful.</p> <p>7) I also found Raid to be helpful but make sure it is specifically for bed bugs because they are hardy little bastards.</p> <p>8) Don't let people come over and avoid staying at other people's places. While you'll probably be freaked out, if you leave the problem quickly you are likely to bring the problem with out and make your host's life hell too. Also, don't move from the bedroom to the couch in case they follow you. Too easy to spread.</p> <p>8) Try to relax sometimes! There is hope! Try to take time out to do things you enjoy so you don't totally lose it.</p> <p>Well, that's my story. The place I am living at now is great and we have not had a problem with the bugs since, even though I was sick with worry for a few months afterward. I definitely learned that paying a little more in rent to not live in a slum is well worth it! I am now really paranoid and think pieces of fluff are bed bugs but I am doing everything I can to avoid reinfestation, such as checking the beds in hotels when I get there, not taking in secondhand things (and if someone I know does, checking them thoroughly!), surreptitiously checking the seats on the bus, and (I know this sounds mean)avoiding getting close with people I don't know, especially those who use shelters or hostels.</p> <p>Good luck! Hope this helps. </p> http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/charm-city-success-story#post-24589 Thu, 12 Jun 2008 17:28:57 +0000 buggedoutinbaltimore 24589@http://bedbugger.com/forum/ <p>hi friends. it's been some time since i've posted here, mostly because i wanted to feel absolutely certain i was bed bug free before sharing my good news. i'm not absolutely certain but i am mostly certain, so i'm taking my chances and celebrating success! </p> <p>my boyfriend and i moved from an infested apartment to a single-family home about three months ago. before moving we had suffered from an obnoxious landlord, two unsuccessful treatments, and a bed bug infested building for the summer/fall/winter of 2007/8. </p> <p>for many months, dear friends, i was borderline obsessive about treatment and laundry and other compulsive activities, thanks to your good advice ;). i regularly honked the bed bug horn to local media and politicians and spent all my money on ziplocs and therapy. i eventually admitted defeat and the bug won. after washing, bagging, tossing, and destroying most of our suspect belongings, we made the move into our new home. on the way in to the new place, we watched a bug come with us. here's that post: <a href="http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/my-bedbugged-exodus-warning-sob-story" rel="nofollow">http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/my-bedbugged-exodus-warning-sob-story</a></p> <p>shortly thereafter, we hired an outta-town PCO and his trusty dog to visit our new home. good news! no bugs then. but still not a believer like the paranoid sufferer i was, i wanted to wait a spell before screaming "success!" </p> <p>i'm not quite screaming "success," but i can say that we have not been bitten or otherwise bothered by bugs or their associated insanity since our move. i'm still paranoid. i'm nervous that just after i hit "send" on this post, a bug will crawl out of this keyboard with it's middle finger in the air. </p> <p>i have embraced life before bedbugs, life with bedbugs, and life without them. if life is with them again i know i will survive it. thank you thank you thank you for your support and well-wishes. </p> <p>good luck, good people. and keep on keepin' on. </p> <p>one more thing - please allow me to mention that cesar and his dog, tre, were fantastic. not only was the visit thorough and remarkable, cesar was a wealth of information. good man, good dog. </p> http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/one-year-anniversary-tomorrow#post-49605 Thu, 28 May 2009 18:16:09 +0000 IveBeenBugged 49605@http://bedbugger.com/forum/ <p>Tomorrow it will be exactly one year since I moved had my thing vikaned and finally got away from the building with the bed bugs. </p> <p>You can check out my posts in success stories and any of my other posts for more information on what I went through and how I finally got rid of them.</p> <p>Hi to all you old timers. Hi and high hopes for you new and old timers that you will be able to get rid of them also. </p> http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/oldtimer-success-story#post-49293 Sat, 23 May 2009 22:08:18 +0000 BeenBedBugged 49293@http://bedbugger.com/forum/ <p>Hi Nobugs, if you see this, and everyone else.</p> <p>I first visited this site back in 2006, during the height of our battle with a relatively small infestation. I just wanted to come back and report that after several years of careful monitoring, we remain bedbug free.</p> <p>I never thought that I'd be able to say that with confidence, and must admit that when I finally got a bunch of my stuff out of storage after a 24 month wait, (we would have done so at 18 months, but were too busy), I checked every nook and cranny for dead (and live) bugs. All had been carefully encased in plastic and we were extremely fastidious about not spreading bugs in storage, FYI. We found absolutely no evidence anywhere of dead or live bugs, nor any evidence of frass or skins.</p> <p>Somewhere on the site is the whole original story, but the summary is that I brought the bugs home on luggage, and it took us about six weeks to realize that we had an infestation, a light one, but one that was throughout our small house. At the time, I could not find competent professional pest control in the SF Bay Area, but fortunately that has changed. I remind myself of this when I have a scare. The slightest mosquito bite or tiny blood spatter on a sheet will send me to "the bad place". When I go there, I remember how we came through this once, and we are much better armed to come through it again if we had to. In every case of any scare since our three month treatment period, there has been no credible evidence of reinfestation. </p> <p>With the benefit of hindsight, I can say with some confidence that we probably successfully eradicated the majority of the bugs with the first treatment and first massive round of laundry. Our one oversight was not treating the couches where we hung out most of the time, so we did have an entrenched population there. Rather than throw out two brand new leather couches, we treated them. We decided to minimize our time in our home, and isolate my office. (Years later I discovered evidence in wood shelving of a small "nest", no longer occupied, but with the black frass and skins still present. I washed it all down with Murphy's and never saw any evidence of re-infestation.) We set up perimeters in the isolated rooms and lived mainly in our kitchen, bedroom and bathroom, with the bed isolated and encased. We essentially created a situation where the bugs had to cross a line of poison in order to get to us, and we maintained this approach for several months.</p> <p>We started treatment in October, a broad program using not only pesticides but much steaming, daily vacuuming, massive laundry efforts, the removal of many of our possessions to storage in double-sealed heavy-duty bags. I realize now that I probably would have been fine without removing things to storage, but it did give us space to do the other work. At that time, there was much less known about bedbug prevention and treatment, so we played it safe.</p> <p>We steamed every weekend, and basically devoted three months of our lives to bedbug eradication, though as I said, I think they were really gone, with perhaps a few strays, after the first one or two treatments, once we got the couches done. A "stray", though, as we know, could be an egg-laying female, so we did not take that lightly.</p> <p>We got the opportunity to purchase the home we live in in March of 2007, and took as much care as possible to leave our rental bedbug free, and to avoid introducing bugs into our new home. When we had removed all of our belongings, I did a final spray/treatment, and the landlord had already decided to repaint, which was also a help. We had seen no signs of infestation since November, so we felt confident that the place was clean.</p> <p>When we moved into the new house, the mattress encasement was torn by the movers, which almost sent me over the edge, you know, back to the "bad place", but we added additional encasements, and we still have our original mattress and box spring. </p> <p>We are still extremely careful of any hotel room, no matter where or how many stars. We always vacuum out luggage and launder clothing from trips right away. And we are always on the alert for the signs. But after more than two and a half years, we are still bedbug free. I hope this is encouraging for those of you where are still suffering. It will get better. Just follow the good advice in the FAQs and don't give up. </p> http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/as-close-to-success-as-i-will-admit-to#post-48461 Sun, 10 May 2009 09:45:30 +0000 mangycur 48461@http://bedbugger.com/forum/ <p>I have held off on doing this for a while because I just can't believe they're gone. I fought the bugs for about a year and a half. Now it's been 8 months since my last sighting/biting. I wish I could say I knew exactly why they're gone, but I think luck is part of it. I had several PCO treatments using steam and Phantom. The bugs just kept coming back and I just kept having the PCO come over. Finally the last time seemed to have worked.</p> <p>I really don't think they're totally gone, but since I can't find any and have no bites for 8 months, I'm starting to do these wild and crazy things, like sit on my bed while wearing my "outside" clothes, and leaving my backpack out on the table, and putting my books on the shelves again. I feel like I'm getting away with something scandalous! I'm waiting to get a smack on the nose from the universe for being so impertinent. So you see, the anxiety lives on! But even neurotic me has to admit that after 8 months without evidence of bugs it's time to start trying to be normal again. I might get them again, but I might also get hit by a bus, so carpe diem! </p> <p>The only advice I can give others is, keep washing and bagging, get Phantom, and go to yoga so you don't pull your hair out. Oh, also having a packtite in the house gives me incredible peace of mind. I went on a trip recently and I cooked my suitcase before and after. </p> http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/let-us-all-promise-to-post-our-success-stories-when-we-get-there#post-48443 Sat, 09 May 2009 23:20:53 +0000 Grindstone99 48443@http://bedbugger.com/forum/ <p>Let's all please make a promise that when we do finally get rid of these things, PLEASE come back to these forums and post what we did! I think there are not enough people who come back to help those who were once in their situation. We need to have hope! </p> http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/possible-success-but-repercussions-linger#post-41442 Sat, 10 Jan 2009 20:07:18 +0000 Absurdity101 41442@http://bedbugger.com/forum/ <p>Just wanted to share my story...</p> <p>I dealt with bedbugs for about 3 months this summer. I really lost it in ways I'm not proud of...I wish I had been stronger about it. Looking back, I think the lack of sleep really exaggerated all of my crazy emotions.</p> <p>I ended up moving out of my apartment in D.C., which I shared with three roommates who I loved. They never had seen or experienced the bedbugs in their rooms -- the infestation had been centered in my room -- so they pretty much thought I was crazy. I ditched about 90 percent of my furniture and belongings and moved in with my parents, which isn't the best at age 28.</p> <p>The living with parents thing was supposed to be very temporary, but it's lasted longer than I anticipated. And I never saw myself doing this at this age -- I always swore I could never live back at home. But my housing options are fairly limited in D.C. due to a low salary, and I've found it a relief to be able to save up some money for a change (my parents thankfully have not charged me rent). But obviously the situation needs to change soon.</p> <p>I'll say that I've been scared off from many places in my price range due to the potential threat of bedbugs. For instance, I saw an apartment just today in a rent-control building and really liked it...but I took it upon myself to knock on the door of another tenant. We chatted some, and I finally got around to the "Have you ever had any bedbug problems here?" question. She said some units in the buildings had dealt with the problem a couple years ago. That might be enough to keep me away...I can't imagine going through that mess again.</p> <p>I guess my message here is kind of bittersweet. I'm not dealing with bedbugs in any way these days, and that's wonderful. It's such a relief to have that behind me. I was very lucky to have my parents' house as an option, and also lucky to have not brought them with me here. </p> <p>But six months later, and I can say that I'm definitely still feeling the effects of the bedbugs. They were definitely extremely disruptive to my life and kind of put me off track. I'm feeling some extra confusion these days as a direct result of what I went through this summer. But I'm hoping to somehow channel these changes in my life into something positive. </p> http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/update-on-my-story#post-46936 Sat, 11 Apr 2009 14:47:48 +0000 thao83 46936@http://bedbugger.com/forum/ <p>Well it been a long time since I been on here. To keep my story short I will just give a little summary of my story. About a year ago our family move into an apartment that had beg bug. Turn out that the second floor below us had it because they brought in old furniture from somewhere. The landlord called the PCO and treated our apartment and as well as the one below us. He did 3 treatment total. The first treatment we still receive bite, but after the 3rd treatment we were bite free. It been a year no bite no sign of the beg bug. We finally move out of that place thank god! Our new place is nice and clean no beg bug, no roaches. However, I see spiders creep the hell out of me. </p> http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/bed-bugs-toronto#post-47455 Sun, 19 Apr 2009 11:44:01 +0000 bedbugghell 47455@http://bedbugger.com/forum/ <p>We've been with Bed Bugs for 4 months now. My wife said we had them, I could see nothing, no signs etc. We even had a Pest Control Company come in and inspect, No signs. She kept claiming the bugs were in the house so we got a dog in and sure enough Bed Bugs.</p> <p>We had a couple of companies then treat claiming 1 treatment would do the job, how wrong was we!!</p> <p>We've now had DE put down and had another Dog come in and sure enough the Bugs have spread. The Pest company has done it's 1st treatment and intend doing another 2 treatments. I really like this company and have my faith in them. My wife keeps reading that the chemicals in Canada do not clear the problem as not potent enough. Please reply anyone in Canada that has cleared an infestation with the Chemicals available. What did you use? Did you get the bugs out of furniture? </p> http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/success-stories-1#post-47543 Mon, 20 Apr 2009 22:59:23 +0000 bbugnerves 47543@http://bedbugger.com/forum/ <p>I know that my problems are just beginning, but it would be nice to hear about peoples' success stories. Has anyone had a problem that they caught early and didn't last that long? Or a great PCO who got rid of them quickly? Even if it didn't happen that quickly, it would just be nice to hear if a few good success stories are out there. </p> http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/talking-about-it#post-47406 Fri, 17 Apr 2009 22:38:48 +0000 BuggedBiologist 47406@http://bedbugger.com/forum/ <p>My building has been battling bbs since 2007. I was unaware of this fact prior to moving last April. I had no idea about the bed bug registry, which would have provided more than adequate forewarning. In fact, I was completely ignorant about BBs in general. Now, I feel like it is my duty to talk about the bugs. I found that by speaking to others in my building, we could work together. A handful of residents are now having preventative baseboard treatments to kill migrating bugs. Plus, there is the support from others that understand. I also feel that it is important to talk about these experiences with friends and family. I now know a great PCO, which are the best mattress encasements, etc. I know to check the BB registry. Why not share these facts? Additionally, I have no idea what I would have done without this forum. Thanks to all of you for sharing! </p> http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/victory#post-47285 Thu, 16 Apr 2009 00:30:48 +0000 chitownkitty 47285@http://bedbugger.com/forum/ <p>I had an awful bed bug infestation, and have now been bug free for about a year. I just wanted to come back here to tell you all how I did it, so, maybe, it could work for you, too. I wasted a lot of money on aerosols. They kill 'em, but the bugs come back in a couple weeks. I wanted a mild, or natural solution, and I don't think there's a good one. Steaming alone seems to leave bugs behind. I used Cyonara, and gentrol - there was a formula that this former exterminator recommended to me. I'll get the exact numbers, and report back, but I mixed a small amount of the Cyonara, and I think half a tiny bottle of gentrol in a gallon of water, and hosed down my apartment. Ripped off the bottom netting of all furniture, and sprayed up into it, like an exterminator would... soaked the whole place, bed, and all... clothes you can wash, of course, but you must hose down all corners, cracks, all spots where the walls meet the floor, undersides of all tables and furniture, behind all frames, and between books. It's strong stuff, so you'll want your pets out of the house for the day. The Cyonara (or another product with the same active chemical) is a highly effective killing agent, of the bugs, and the Gentrol keeps them from making a comeback (it sterilizes them, and their spawn, so they can't keep breeding new bugs). It took two treatments, two weeks apart, and we were liberated from an awful infestation. People told us we needed a pro, but we couldn't afford one. So, we bagged things up, and moved stuff away from the walls, and did what a pro would've done as best we could, and it worked. Clean any wooden floors with Murphy's Oil before you get started. It helps kill the bastards, but spray the solution into any floor cracks. People said b/c we live in an apt., we'd never get rid of them, unless the other apt.s got exterminated, too. (Cause if they're in a building, they're in a building). Well, we've been bug free for about a year, now. So, I think we're good to go. If they come back, I know how to kill 'em. Steaming is useful, but not enough on it's own, and don't waste your money on a lot of aerosols. They're only good for spot treatments between big kills with the Cyonara and Gentrol solution. (It's similar, I was told, to what an exterminator would use.) I'll try to get back soon with the exact formula. </p> http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/long-time-no-see#post-45825 Mon, 23 Mar 2009 17:14:01 +0000 IveBeenBugged 45825@http://bedbugger.com/forum/ <p>So it has been since may 29th 2008 and I have managed to remain bed bug free. I live in an apartment and had Vikane done in a u haul before I moved to my new place. My new place was also treated a few times after I moved in as a precautionary measure. In my case it has seemed to worked and worked well. No problems since the move.</p> <p>I don't check in to the website that much anymore. It is the year I would prefer to forget to be honest (actually 9 months but close enough for me).</p> <p>Just thought I'd check in to say Hi and let some of you newer members know that it is indeed possible to get rid of the bugs - something I would not have believed until it happened to me.</p> <p>Things are going well - I still check my bed every 6 weeks for any sign though and still am not that comfortable in a movie theater. I also still take precautions when I travel and return home and probably will from now on. </p> http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/another-kind-of-success#post-40107 Mon, 15 Dec 2008 16:34:23 +0000 BeeBee 40107@http://bedbugger.com/forum/ <p>Here's a nice little story for the holidays about an alternate type of success.</p> <p>We've been fighting bed bugs since summer, no competent PCOs in the area so I've been self-treating and using only over-the-counter products. I've had ups and downs (the last down a few weeks ago when the neighbors moved) but now have things under control to the point that I can lie on the floor watching movies or reading for hours and not get bit. I can sit at my desk and write for hours and not get bit (and wear shorts and a tee shirt too).</p> <p>The only place we're still getting bit is me on the metal futon (the hollow metal tubes are a nightmare but I have the futon isolated so they can't easily get off) and my son on his bed, which is wood with lots of cubby holes. Still, we aren't getting a lot of bites just enough to let us know that hey, we aren't alone.</p> <p>But the success is this: Even through all of this struggle we've managed to not only get on with our lives but to pursue our goals. My son netted perfect scores in two SAT subject areas and I'm almost finished with a very long freelance project that has been not only satisfying from a creative point of view but will net us enough money to move in March or April.</p> <p>So you CAN still live your life in the midst of bed bugs, you can still succeed--it doesn't have to be all gloom and doom, though of course the gloom and doom is still a big part of it.</p> <p>Happy holidays everyone. And don't let the bugs get you down.</p> <p>BeeBee </p> http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/im-gonna-say-it-i-won#post-45370 Fri, 13 Mar 2009 19:19:25 +0000 Red 45370@http://bedbugger.com/forum/ <p>Hey All</p> <p>It's been 93 days of no signs and no bites. I'm so nervous to do this but I feel like I've come out on top. 3 PCO treatments and a homemade recipe ( from other poster ) of DME, rubbing alcohol, dishsoap, murphey's oil and water ) Prior to the homemade mixture I had a few questionable red marks, but since I sprayed down the stuff ( about a month ago )...nothing.<br /> I'm going on vacation to Mexico to celebrate my victory. I will be inspecting every inch of my hotel room but mainly I'll be sunning my bb scars.</p> <p>I feel normal again...almost. </p> http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/dispair-now-hope-for-those-suffering-together#post-43378 Tue, 10 Feb 2009 13:00:11 +0000 hoo2677 43378@http://bedbugger.com/forum/ <p>Portland Oregon</p> <p>October 2008 - discover there actually is something called bedbugs, see bug, identify on internet, research, begin to realize I am so screwed! Neighbor infested me through careless community hygiene. Maybe what I was attributing to menopausal hives, is them, or?</p> <p>November 2008 - researching how to eradicate, begin getting rid of stuff. (Studio condo, 2 closets, kitchen, bathroom and entryway, 416 square feet of what used to be sweet haven.) Ignorance, move some infested items (in retrospect) to storage unit in basement of 14 unit 1923 conversion. Losing a lot of sleep, averaging 3.5 hours a night, terror, soaked in alcohol, worried about spreading to friends, work. Purchase awesome vapor steamer to prepare for treatment - makes prep so much easier, well relatively so.</p> <p>December 2008 - decide on Pest Co that seems to know a lot about these things. Schedule treatment. Then things change, come home to find them not localized to bed, but running amok on floor in entryway, kitchen, living area, they are everywhere! What changed? (find out a month later that neighbor who never mentioned it, had treatment, probably on those days, infested couch on adjoining wall, her PCO drove them into my house even worse) Spend days and days cleaning them up, no where is safe to sit, lay. Find car is infested from naps during lunch time at work. Have first treatment, adults seem mostly gone, but tons of nymphs, lint on legs. Even more bitey, no peace,virtually no sleep. Continue to get rid of junk - that feels good! But feelings of hopelessness and despair are hard to keep at bay. Have to trust PCO, they use Demand, Sterifab, and Crack and Crevice 3. </p> <p>January 2009 - How much more of this can I take? Laying in bed waiting for them to bite the bait. More sleeplessness, total exhaustion, back is full of tiny bites, it feels like it's vibrating with bites. Why are there so many? How can I be so clueless! How did I let this happen? Get so out of hand? Ignorance, why would I know anything about this? Think back on moving infested items to clean, small house, hard to isolate anything. Can sit on sofa from 6pm to 8pm before biting becomes too crazy. Feel like I'm losing my mind. Have a second treatment, things are better for the first week, second week more eggs hatching, more nymph bites, seem more hungry. Armies at night coming up on sheet. "No where to run to, no where to hide" on radio program.. No room to isolate, they are everywhere.</p> <p>Depression, hopelessness, how much more can I take? Cannot give up, there is nowhere to go. Sometimes think dying would bring relief, but not suicidal, maybe a terminal illness (passive death wish). How can I keep going? Will they ever be gone? Finally figure out how to get out of house without bugs on me - shower, dress from ziplocked bags, leave immediately. BTW, you can order those awesome giant ziplocks from Drugstore.com if you can't find them locally, your alcohol and vacuum bags from them and you've got free shipping.</p> <p>Killer Queen talks to me on phone, offers great advice, so generous and compassionate, and hey, that east coast accent. : ) Thank you, your advice inspired some hope. "Dynamite with a laser beam...." well, DE.</p> <p>February 2009 - Third treatment from PCO. Things improve dramatically. Only a few bites on couch, they use (Sterifab, Crack and crevice and Cy-Kick). I wonder if the pesticides will affect me, but decide if it's between the bugs taking years off my life or the pesticides, I'm choosing poison.</p> <p>Management co for condo treats common areas (after i put the fear of god by telling this story at the association meeting) and give me a free treatment from Terminex. The neighbor who infected me was treated by Terminex and I was judgmental based on her..previous poor choices and that she said she had them again at association meeting. However, they were very thorough and used different poison and freezing. Took my external murphy bed platform off at my request to see what was going on underneath - 20 dead adults and 7 live - well not live anymore. This was much better than I had imagined. Glad they looked, I couldn't bring myself to.</p> <p>This seemed to compliment what had been done already in my place. They used Freezing, Phantom, Gentrol and Tri-die (a DE spray).</p> <p>Sofa seems to be no bugs or so few can't tell. Spent hours on sofa, but not going from bed to sofa without changing clothes. Area rug does not jump up and bite me anymore. I'm wearing flip flops today! I'm sitting at my kitchen table and nothing is biting me on the butt, or feet, or arms. Nothing running around biting me in my jammies last night. They are not gone, but at this point, they will not - cannot regroup, they will all die eventually. Will take KQ's advice and have begun DE'ing and caulking, but it's a big job, super "cracky" house, will need handyman, but it will happen.</p> <p>But I'm home sick from work today. So run down, i finally did catch a cold/flu. Must get rest, cannot stay sick, still vigilant vacuuming, laundry. There is a little bit of normal now, and more everyday. Expect it could be weeks before this is over, but over is the goal. Sleep is still a crapshoot, sometimes 5 hours sometimes 4, sometimes chronic wakefulness, but getting progressively better. </p> <p>BTW, stayed in hotel for 4 nights before third treatment - HAD TO SLEEP. 4th day, bed bug crawling up bathroom wall, no surprise by the amount of white powder around baseboard/carpet. Reported to mgr, who said they had never before had a report - right, sure!! KQ, I fear you are right, in 10 years or so, they will be everywhere. Crap!!</p> <p>I think my life will be different after it's over. I don't think I'll go back to being a collector of stuff. Been listening to Jack Kornfield on Buddhism (at son's suggestion), always looking to see what positive thing I can take from this nightmare (released attachment to sentimental possessions, had to focus on ME, the present in the most practical terms possible, more compassion for those without $$ to deal with this problem, lord, if you were just a little bit crazy and had to live with these things crawling on you 24/7 cause you're too poor, mentally ill, or whatever, you'd be crazy BIG TIME in no time at all.</p> <p>Called public health on a management co where friend lives and has neighbors with 1 year+ infestations. Guess what, they made the laundry free and are doing a total building treatment next week, helping those who can't do it, fumigation room, individual room treatment - Yay! This is an indigent population mostly who cannot solve this problem on their own. They have to get permission to even use the vacuum cleaner. Feel like my experience can help others a little.</p> <p>Feeling empowered! If you are in the worst of this, don't give up. It DOES GET BETTER. With hyperdiligence, determination, and good advice. This forum SAVED MY LIFE. Really, without all the ideas, stories and information, I don't know how I could have dealt with this situation where we all start out with "what, you mean those are real?"</p> <p>Thank you all. Not done yet, but hope this story helps you as you have helped me. BTW, when this seems mostly over, I'm gettin me a Pack-tite heater upper thing. </p> http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/anyone-have-experience-with-veganix-or-other-non-toxic-exterminators-in-nyc#post-43810 Wed, 18 Feb 2009 01:31:30 +0000 seaginsky 43810@http://bedbugger.com/forum/ <p>We have a somewhat mild bedbug infestation that we've controlled with powders and non-toxic sprays in our house in Brooklyn, NY, but are about to hire a professional exterminator to make sure we get rid of every little visitor. I'd like to do it with non-toxic products. Jairo, the guy from Veganix seemed the best of the folks we had come do estimates, but I wanted to see if anyone had any experience with him, either positive or negative before we go ahead and spend the large sum of money. He uses EcoPCO Products from EcoSMART technologies, but seems to have a better sense of where the bugs are actually nesting than anyone else who came to our house.</p> <p>Thanks. </p> http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/declared-free#post- Thu, 01 Jan 1970 04:59:59 +0000 Anonymous @http://bedbugger.com/forum/ http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/dont-lose-hope-sharing-my-success-story#post-43192 Fri, 06 Feb 2009 13:58:33 +0000 greatsuccessstory 43192@http://bedbugger.com/forum/ <p>Hi everyone:</p> <p>Today marks my ultimate succsss in my bedbug battle. I don't really have time to be writing this - I'm at work with a million things to do. But I've been anxious for months to share this story and just waiting for that 60 day mark. So here it goes. I hope it provides some hope to some of you, and maybe even some answers. I've never posted here, but I lurked for months, and you guys provided me with a lot of inspiration. Hopefully I can return the favor. </p> <p>I'm a young professional in Cincinnati and was living in a downtown apartment last Spring when I first started noticing this weird rash on my arms. For Memorial Day, I'd met my boyfriend (at the time) in Indianapolis, and we'd stayed in a cheap motel (so scandalous!). Based on the timing, I suspect that's where the bugs came from. My boyfriend never ended up with them, though, and it's certainly possible that they came from somewhere else in the apartment building and the timing was just coincidental. I'll never know. In any event, the rash got progressively worse. I'd never heard of bedbugs and was completely convinced that I was allergic to something. So I got new detergent and washed my sheets, and that didn't help. I started to wonder if there was some mold or something in my air conditioner that was causing problems, so I turned it off for a couple of days (in mid-June!), but that didn't help either. The rash was unbearable. I was itching and scratching all the time. I hopped online and did some research. I diagnosed myself with hives and figured they'd go away. </p> <p>One day in August, I got a call from my mom. "Hey. So. Your dad was reading this article in the paper, and he thinks he's figured out your rash." "Oh yeah? Great!" says I. "Ya," she says, "finish the rhyme - 'goodnight, sleep tight..'" I knew right away that they were right. I never even knew bed bugs were real, but it just instantly made sense. I called the landlord who said that the building had had them previously (awesome), and that he'd come over and check it out. He came over while I was at work and called me, "you've got em. You've got em bad." Great. I told him to go ahead and pitch my nearly-brand-new mattress and bedding. He called the exterminator. I took the next day off work, and my dad and I spent the whole day laundering and bagging and vaccuming and cleaning. I was exhausted but convinced that this was a small problem. The exterminator told me to sleep on the sofa (brilliant!) until he came out and sprayed the spare bed and I got a mattress cover on it. Then I should sleep in the spare room (also brilliant!). </p> <p>I was determined to get rid of them immediately. I vacuumed daily. Several times, I stayed up all night to kill them. There were so many more than I'd ever expected. I found that they had nested in the brick wall that was at the head of my bed, and there were hundreds of them. The exterminator sprayed the wall, but there were so many tiny cracks that it seemed to do nothing. Two or three nights, I stayed up all night long to kill them. I wrapped the legs of my coffee table in double-sided tape, covered the top in white trash bags, put it about two feet from the wall, and stayed up all night with tape just snatching them up and throwing them away. I'd do it for hours until I'd freak out and have to leave.</p> <p>I'd since stopped dating boyfriend and started dating someone new. So a month and a half into that relationship, I had the distinct pleasure of calling him up and telling him I had bedbugs and he probably did too. He handled it extremely well, primarily because he had no idea what a huge problem it was. I refused to let him stay at my place and was insane about staying at his. I bought a new blowdryer and make-up essentials and left them over there. I took all my suits and work clothes to the drycleaner and sent some of them straight to his place and others straight to my parents'. Before I'd go to his house, I'd run downstairs to the dryer, throw in everything I was going to take with me including a pair of flip flops and a simple slip dress. I'd leave them in there for an hour, then grab the dress and flip fips, put them in a zip lock, run upstairs and shower, and throw on the dress and flip fops and run out of my apartment dripping wet. I'd then go grab everything out of the dryer. Most times, I'd strip at his door and throw everything in his dryer when I got there just to be double safe. If I took any jewelry, I'd whipe it all down and bag it while I was in my car. He thought I was insane, but he tolerated me nicely. </p> <p>There were no signs of bedbugs at his place, but I was also convinced that he didn't react to them. I was never once bitten there, but it took me months to convince myself that they hadn't spred to his place. I really have no idea how they didn't, but it was such a blessing. I spent a lot more time over there than I probably should have, but I really needed to sleep.</p> <p>By September or October, I started to realize that this was a losing battle. The bugs were so entrenched in this brick wall. Even though I'd killed hundreds of them by staying up all night, they still seemed to swarm all over it. The bug spray seemed to accomplish nothing, and I was convinced that they would just climb up the wall to my neighbor's apartment and then back down as soon as I thought they were gone. I was losing my mind. I've been through a lot in my life, and this was the most mentally exhausting experience I've ever had. I started realizing that I couldn't go home without crying. It was a completely visceral reaction. If I was walking home or driving home, there would just be tears streaming down my cheeks. I was as close to clinically depressed and anxious as I've ever been. It was adversely impacting my work and my relationships. I had to do something.</p> <p>I decided to buy a house. The timing was good for me and for the market, and I didn't want to live in any kind of communal environment anymore. I couldn't deal with the possibility that this might happen again. I started shopping. I had quite a bit of furniture, and I realized that there were some personal items that I simply would not part with. It's funny how you realize what items are really important to you. When my dad moved out of his parents' house, the only thing they gave him was a five-drawer dresser. It was the only real piece of furniture I took with me to college, and I refused to part with it. I considered storing everything, but I read about some poor girl's experience with putting clean furniture and storage and having it get infested by someone else's stuff. I freaked out and refused to store everything. I read about vikane and decided to give it a try.</p> <p>So I moved everything into a moving truck and had it Vikaned. I called fumigation services and supply in Indianapolis and they gave me the name of the local guy. I can't remember his name at this moment, but he was great. I didn't have my house yet, and I refused to put my stuff in storage, so my parents let me store everything in their garage for a month. </p> <p>I stayed at a buddy's house, and I did my very best to be sure that everything I took with me was clean and sterile. I stayed there for a total of two months, and I did my best to keep my paranoia to a minimum. One night, I woke up with an awful itchy bump on my leg. I woke my boyfriend up, and he looked at me like I was insane. "It's just a bug bite, we were outside yesterday" he said. He still didn't get it. I stayed up for hours, just devastated and convinced that I had brought them with me. By morning, the bump was gone, and my bedbug bites had always stayed most of the day. I tried to ignore it, but a week later, I had a string of about seven bites near that same spot. I called my parents in hysterics. I stayed there for a full month and a half beyond that, and nothing else ever happened. I don't know what those bumps were, but they weren't bedbugs. </p> <p>I moved all my belongings into my house two months ago today. I haven't seen a bedbug since I've been there or been bitten at all. I don't know whatever happened with the apartment. I really hope no one else had to deal with this problem. </p> <p>No one really understood why I was the emotional wreck over this that I was. Reading your stories kept me in one piece. At the end of the day, I've got a terrific, clean new house that I'm wild about. I've managed to keep the paranoia to a minimum. Vikane wasn't cheap, but it was worth it for me. I highly recommend it. Your sanity is worth a few bucks. </p> <p>Keep your collective chins up and keep battling. There is life after bedbugs! </p> http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/a-big-milestone-for-me#post-42555 Tue, 27 Jan 2009 21:11:55 +0000 redhead1872 42555@http://bedbugger.com/forum/ <p>I was here on and off throughout 2008. Had a newborn, had bb's (they thought it was a pregnancy rash, hah!). After several dog, chemical, thermal treatments, I have not had a bite since July. This was after over 6 months of fighting them. I am nervous to declare victory and will always be vigilant. So what exactly is the milestone? I bought a new comforter set and am moving in a headboard. I am switching to something that is not duct taped, white or is on a metal frame with baby oil containers. My husband thought I would never get to this point. So...actually going to try and have a normal bedroom. Of course I will still inspect the lint, but am proud that I can somewhat overcome this. I only pray they don't come back (i am VERY superstitious!!! and almost didn't write on here, but thought I would give some folks some hope). </p> <p>As to one of the posters who said this site makes everyone crazy and worse, well you are entitled to your opinion. My husband thought the same. I, however, found the support so wonderful and the fact I was not alone or a pariah was comforting. To each is own I guess.... </p> http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/over-6-months-still-free-and-loving-it#post-41863 Sun, 18 Jan 2009 01:23:31 +0000 bedbugvictimperthaustralia 41863@http://bedbugger.com/forum/ <p>I last posted here about 6 months ago, having moved from an infested share-apartment, reaching a court settlement for return of my moving expenses and bond, and finally getting into a new place where I could live by myself to wait for freedom or battle on if necessary.</p> <p>It's been over 6 months now and never found any continued infestation in my apartment. A month after moving I was worried from slight itching / blood spotting on my sheets, but it was just bad skin on my part. </p> <p>I last pulled my bed apart about two weeks ago - four months after having my new girlfriend move in with me. She asked what I was doing, and I had to explain my past experience with bed bugs. She told me she was afraid of them when she stayed in back packing places too, and that one of her friends had been bitten badly at a place in the past (not where she stayed, though).</p> <p>What was funny was she said, "Only here in Australia though, not in Taiwan" where she is from. I was really angry when she said that, I told her they were everywhere and travel everywhere, and she didn't believe me. So I brought up bedbugger.com visitor statistics and showed lots of people visit from Taiwan - though it only proves they're researching and are not necessarily infected.</p> <p>In the end I gave up trying to explain to her and just take solace in knowing my place is clean. No blood, no bugs, no skins, no signs, 6 months and counting (plus a few more months where I was sleeping at work and on my parent's couch).</p> <p>Earlier in the week she was going out with some friends who where leaving to go back to Taiwan, and she dropped a big bulky backpack in our lounge room so he wouldn't have to carry it. I quickly grab it and put it near the front door. She asked why, and I told her - duh - bed bugs could be anywhere, and better near the front door where we could potentially see them crawling for safe harbor down the hallway than right next to the sofa ... then I sprayed repellent liberally around the carpet around the bag.</p> <p>So in some ways I'm still very aware of bed bugs. In others - I can sleep fine without checking in my sheets every few minutes, reading this website every day, or pulling the bed apart every week just to be safe - it took about 3 months to let go of those things. Now if I get a mark on my body I assume it's caused by something else like sweating out the hot summer weather here, rather than freaking out about bed bugs.</p> <p>Anyway I'll probably inspect my bed in a few months just out of habit - because you never know where else you might pick bed bugs up. On the other hand, I'm not afraid, and I wanted to do a quick post to let you know freedom is possible, and tastes great! </p> http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/question-for-those-with-success#post-36905 Sat, 08 Nov 2008 13:04:44 +0000 watercolorpainter 36905@http://bedbugger.com/forum/ <p>For those of you who have successfully eradicated bed bugs, how long was your fight to get rid of them? From the time you first suspected/saw/had them confirmed to the time you finally could say they were 100% gone, how long did it take? A few months? A few years? </p> http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/declared-free#post- Thu, 01 Jan 1970 04:59:59 +0000 Anonymous @http://bedbugger.com/forum/ http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/i-called-the-right-guy-three-months-later-no-more-bedbugs#post-26303 Wed, 09 Jul 2008 14:18:00 +0000 Harry 26303@http://bedbugger.com/forum/ <p>I'm gonna sound like a commercial for this guy, but I feel like he saved me. I discovered to my horror that I had the little horrible pests, ,and I swear I was ready to jump off a bridge. They bit up my brand new girlfriend and that was how I discovered them. She and I got the hell out of the apartment, all freaked out and trying to decide what to do. We saw a sign that said " BedBugs? " and called the number after every bug guy in the yellow pages that we called said they couldn't do anything for me for days. The guy that answered the phone, Cesar Soto( I'll put his # at the end ) said he would come over even though it was a sunday. When he told me what I would have to do to get rid of them , I was incredibly depressed. But here's the good news. I paid the money, boxed and bagged up all my possessions , and he made my place his mission. He promised me three sprays for the money, and he wound up doing five ( the last two, months later and for free, just to make sure he got them ). He has a bedbug sniffing dog, the only one in New York, and it sounds like BS but I've seen it work. I thought he was crazy, because he was so into it, but he proved it to me with his methods. He told me there would be bugs in the books next to my bed, and there were in the first one he opened. He told me everywhere they would be, and what I needed to do. I did it, and I haven't seen a bug in three months. I am now bedbug-free. Now my beautiful girlfriend who went through it all with me, and stuck by me is actually gonna move in with me. That's right , into the apartment she was afraid to walk into for a couple of months. Why ? Because we watched Cesar do the whole job right, and she hasn't been bitten here since he gave her the go-ahead to come back. I'm telling you, if you are unlucky enough to get infested, call Cesar. He's the guy that saved me, and he's the reason I've been able to go back to a normal life. He's actually part of the reason I still have my girlfriend. He's getting a lot of calls now, cause they did a story about him on the news, but even if you have to wait, call this guy. If I sound like an ad, it's cause he proved it all to me. I got my life back. I'm totally serious. I couldn't recommend this guy strongly enough. It's Cesar Soto ; Freedom Pest Control </p> <p>[you can google the phone number] </p> http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/much-thanks-to-killer-queen#post-41322 Thu, 08 Jan 2009 00:32:47 +0000 BBFree 41322@http://bedbugger.com/forum/ <p>I had Killer Queen come up and do an inspection today-I'd had a bedbug problem like 3 and a half years ago, and I was really scared that they were back or I brought new ones in or something, cos I was getting un-mistakeable new bites (yikes). So right after our first phone call, he suggested that I encase the mattress and boxspring right away, which I did.<br /> I found him to really listen to me on that first cal, and having gone through this once already, I could tell that he knew his stuff. Anyway, he came up and was very thorough,knowledgeable, and kind. He gave me the "all clear" (hadn't gotten any bites for like 3 or 4 days but still...) If anyone is looking for a really good PCO-check him out cause he's really quite good. </p> http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/i-need-a-referal-for-a-vicane-pco-in-nyc#post-41073 Sun, 04 Jan 2009 02:46:35 +0000 NightmareTown 41073@http://bedbugger.com/forum/ <p>I am wondering if some folks who have had positive experiences with their Vikane treatments could please refer me to their Vikane PCO in a PM???</p> <p>I live in NYC, and am looking to do a truck Vikane treatment.<br /> I would like to have some company names from people who trust them, before I make my decision on who to hire.</p> <p>Thank you. </p> http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/month-and-a-half-of-treatment-update#post-40506 Mon, 22 Dec 2008 03:01:56 +0000 vampiremenionprey 40506@http://bedbugger.com/forum/ <p>We just had our third treatment 5 days ago. They've come out every two weeks like clock work. We've seen huge improvement over time but we know we're not in the clear yet. The number of visible bugs has dropped dramatically. </p> <p>I inspect the walls, cracks and crevices daily still. Since our last treatment I've spotted and killed 3 nymphs. I generally keep stock of 91% rubbing alcohol in a spray bottle and tape on hand while I search.</p> <p>Since we threw our mattresses out (the night before our first treatment) I've only received 5 bites. I react to them horribly and they are usually around for a few weeks. I've been able to sleep better so my head is in a bit of a better state. I don't feel like I obsess over it as much, but it's always on my mind. I don't have crying fits like I use to which is good! Our children don't react to the bites fortunately. Unfortunately the larger infestation was in their room, so we are unsure of how often they are still being bitten. I check our toddlers wooden crib/bed frame weekly for any signs...so far no infestation in it or his plastic mattress.</p> <p>Since my migraine battling and recent holiday chaos I've become quite lax on our typical daily routine of vacuuming, laundering, and zip locking but the medication I've been on and the rest I’ve been able to get has helped tremendously. </p> <p>We have company coming to visit the day after our fourth treatment. He's well aware of our situation, but said that won't stop him from coming to see us. Makes me feel good knowing I'm not being treated as a leper by a good friend who lives out of state. I've prepped for him with extra zip locks!</p> <p>I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. We’re almost there and I'm sure we'll be bug free by the time we move if we stay vigilante. Now I’m just curious as to how to successfully heat treat all of my books and other belongings that I can't launder if I can't afford a packtite.</p> <p>I just want to thank everyone for all of the support! </p> http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/any-others-please-post-your-success-stories#post-39757 Tue, 09 Dec 2008 08:42:09 +0000 IveBeenBugged 39757@http://bedbugger.com/forum/ <p>So I have hit a couple milestones. It has been 6 months since I escaped the old apartment and the BB's thanks to having vikane done. I also have just gotten back from my first trip since the BB's. Who cares if everything was packed in plastic and I unpacked in the bathroom tub on arrival there (my sister's) and back at home. </p> <p>I also went to my first movie theather in over a year (a BIG milestone for me). Who cares if the clothes I was wearing immediately went into ziplocs and were then washed and dried on high.</p> <p>I think I'm finally getting back to a semi-normal life. I just did my monthly check and for the 6th month found nothing.</p> <p>Anyone else out there please post if you also have had success escaping these little devils. It's the holiday's and some people could use hope that they may also finally escape from them.</p> <p>Thanks,</p> <p>Tony </p> http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/pre-success-story-038-re-cap#post-40064 Sun, 14 Dec 2008 13:47:17 +0000 bugbattler 40064@http://bedbugger.com/forum/ <p>This probably isn't going to be the most encouraging brand of success story, but it is (hopefully) a success story anyway.</p> <p>Re-Cap:</p> <p>Late last summer I discovered that I had bedbugs in my apartment. It was apparent once discovered that I had them for around 3 months. It also seemed obvious that they came from my downstairs neighbor. This theory was further supported much later on when I learned that these guys used to live on the 1st floor (total of 4 ppl). 2 of them moved into the unit below mine, with their bugs. It was confirmed that the 1st floor apartment had these bugs before the 2 guys moved below me. After I started complaining, it was discovered that half of my twelve unit building had confirmed infestations (I was the only tenant complaining). The building had been infested for over a year &#38; by the time I discovered the problem &#38; forced action, the building was/is pretty heavily infested. My landlord had an exterminator come to my unit but refused to treat others &#38; sold the building the next day. The new landlord had the building treated by a bargain basement PCO who was not familiar w/ bedbugs. They treated 3 times before they learned that they weren't using the right chemicals. Therefore they made the problem worse. My son was pretty severely allergic to the bb bites, so we had to move out until the bugs were gone. After three months, it was apparent the bugs wouldn't gone any time soon &#38; since homelessness isn't really my cup of tea I paid one more months rent along w/ a letter of my intention to break my lease.</p> <p>During the 3 months, I did a fat lot of throwing things away, inspecting things, washing things, heating things, sealing things in plastic. This was by far the most stressful experience of my life (and for the record, my life has been pretty crappy thus far anyway - lol). In the end, I threw everything away. Bugs were still in my unit &#38; therefore potentially in my stuff. My mementos are sealed up in plastic being stored in my shed (I bought a house! so there is a bright side - I think) . I kept my tv and notebook pc. Part of me knows that these things were not infested, part of me is terrified of them. I have four outfits I saved (my son had to get all new clothes) and 2 pairs of shoes. Everything else is gone. It's a weird feeling for sure and yet it beats the hell out of what life was when I had the bugs. I didn't see bugs or evidence of them while staying in my mother's guest room (that was for 4 mnths) &#38; so far so good in the house here (but it's only been a couple of weeks so it's too early to call) I'm thinking it's over, only because I really didn't bring anything with me. Maybe the shed has them, ewww!! I hope not. Even though they are probably gone, I'm not free yet in the sense that I am still afraid. I still crawl around inspecting every spot, every bit of chipped paint, every crumb or piece of lint. It's really bizarre what these things have done to my head and to my life. I will certainly never get to be the girl I was before. Still I find comfort in the idea that things are getting better, more slowly than I would have like, but better no less.</p> <p>I wish everyone here the best of luck with their own battles. Hopefully all that remains of mine will be fought with a lawyer and not a PCO (different story for a different day). You all should also know, that if things do get to point where you have to cut &#38; run (I think my sitch was a little extreme) it will be okay. Not that I don't miss some of my stuff (I totally do), but it's not as bad as I was afraid of &#38; the chance for a fresh chance at a life not overwhelmed w piles and boxes of things is very refreshing. (I'm even asking that ppl not give me Christmas presents. I don't want to muddy up my fresh start w/ funky candle holders &#38; ugly picture frames). :) </p> http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/should-i-really-post-this-in-success-stories#post-38503 Mon, 24 Nov 2008 11:23:54 +0000 faye 38503@http://bedbugger.com/forum/ <p>I don't know if I would call this success already, but maybe it will help someone out there feel better. I've been in my new apt. for 3 weeks and no signs of bed bugs (yet). I have not had any obvious bed bug bites since September in my old apartment after I threw out my bed and started sleeping in my daughter's room with her. I say "obvious" because like many other people have reported, I get weird itchy spots but there is nothing there (and my reactions to the bites were severe and immediate). I do sometimes feel invisible non-existent bugs crawling on me that aren't there, etc. Honestly, I've had to limit my time on this forum because it seems whenever I start reading, I get super itchy! I really think there is a psychological effect to reading bedbugger.com :o</p> <p>For those who are new and never saw my posts or situation before, I lived in my old apt. from September 2007 to November this year. I started noticing bites around April 2008 but thought it was mosquitoes or fleas. I thought it could be bed bugs, but could never find the signs. I failed at the time to inspect my box spring :/ I had only been checking the mattress and sheets. I got bit all the way up to until September! No one else in my house was getting bit, except for one night when my daughter slept in my room, she got them, same reactions as me. I had very obvious and immediate reactions. My bites would either be huge white bites like mosquito bites, or even huger red, super hot welts. I would notice them as soon as I woke up, and then toward the end I would actually notice them AS they were biting. Finally when I caught one biting me I knew for a fact it was them, that's when I started sleeping in my daughter's bed with her. I had a friend come over and help me inspect and there was a huge infestation in my box springs. I threw out my mattress and box spring and never got bit in my daughter's room. I had been living in NJ in only a 2 family apt. dwelling so the law already made it hard to get my landlord to treat. He basically laughed at the situation. I had other issues with him anyway so I decided to move. </p> <p>We moved out of there November 1st and I threw out the majority of my furniture and lots of other things. So we've been there 3 weeks and so far no signs of the bugs. I did put some DE around our bedrooms and yesterday I caulked most of my room, still got a little left to do though, and will be caulking the entire apt. in the next week or two. </p> <p>So, there is one case (SO FAR, and praying to God and crossing my fingers) without treatment, of moving to a new place after a bed bug infestation...Please God, keep them away...FOREVER </p> http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/its-been-5-months#post-36646 Thu, 06 Nov 2008 09:58:17 +0000 IveBeenBugged 36646@http://bedbugger.com/forum/ <p>Since I had the vikane down and moved into my new place. I finally cannot make out any place where I had been previously bitten when I take a hot shower or sweat from physical activity. I thought some of you may want to for yourself. It's really only been about 3 weeks that I've noticed I no longer have any red spots after showering.</p> <p>I've got to say even with my posts about being BB free I really wasn't sure they were gone until recently. It really bugged me (pun intended) that I was still seeing spots on my body after a hot shower or doing something physical and sweating. They always appeared in the places and spots where I had been bitten before. So for me it would appear it took 5 months for the old bites to finally fade away.</p> <p>I've read some other posts about the failure of vikane. I can say for me it was succesful although my truck was only half full and packed loosely. </p> http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/declared-free#post- Thu, 01 Jan 1970 04:59:59 +0000 Anonymous @http://bedbugger.com/forum/ http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/declared-free#post- Thu, 01 Jan 1970 04:59:59 +0000 Anonymous @http://bedbugger.com/forum/ http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/declared-free#post- Thu, 01 Jan 1970 04:59:59 +0000 Anonymous @http://bedbugger.com/forum/ http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/declared-free#post- Thu, 01 Jan 1970 04:59:59 +0000 Anonymous @http://bedbugger.com/forum/ http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/i-might-be-free#post-25465 Wed, 25 Jun 2008 18:33:52 +0000 bedbugvictimperthaustralia 25465@http://bedbugger.com/forum/ <p>I don't want to speak too early ...</p> <p>I moved into my new apartment last night (after thoroughly checking it and my mum's house that I was staying at for bed bugs). I was very careful, everything was in plastic boxes after being hand checked by me. I sprayed lots of Mortein around too (which was the only brand in the supermarket that had bed bugs listed on the side).</p> <p>I still have to unpack lots of things and I am certainly worried a little that a bug might have stowed away inside the keyboard or mouse (despite drowning them in spray) or the computer or inside one of my books (even though I checked them really carefully).</p> <p>But for now I'm free. I slept a full 5 hours last night, haha. I was literally waking every half hour to throw back the sheets and look and see - no bugs, no blood spots, no bite marks, nothing. It was an eerie experience.</p> <p>Let's hope it continues. </p> <p>I have yet to recover my bond from the last place and still have to take them to court for breaking the contract in half a dozen places for not even trying to treat the bugs, then doing a half-ass job. </p> http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/bellevue-kentucky-cincinnati-area-3-months-free#post-26729 Tue, 15 Jul 2008 13:33:30 +0000 laureneliz 26729@http://bedbugger.com/forum/ <p>So far so good.</p> <p>I first showed bites at some point in January, realizing what they were in March. First treatment was April 1st. The vinyl cover on the split boxspring ripped a week and a half later, 5 new bites, drug it out myself from the second floor the next night and watched the garbage men throw it in the back of the truck the following morning.</p> <p>Weeks of laundry, took a second job, neglected my dog, my friends and my family, more laundry, lots of huge plastic bags with air lock tops, no mopping. etc. etc. etc. It's certainly all detailed out in the FAQs, including some "DO NOT DO's" I certainly was guilty of doing due to ignorance.</p> <p>Mattress is still wrapped.<br /> No bites since, no sign since.<br /> I have a new roommate now, lots of his 'stuff', kind of worried... We've had talks about bb's. We'll see.</p> <p>I worked with my local Terminix. </p> http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/declared-free#post- Thu, 01 Jan 1970 04:59:59 +0000 Anonymous @http://bedbugger.com/forum/ http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/declared-free#post- Thu, 01 Jan 1970 04:59:59 +0000 Anonymous @http://bedbugger.com/forum/ http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/an-update-on-my-bb-situation-good-news-my-friends#post-23589 Fri, 23 May 2008 13:03:17 +0000 saosin 23589@http://bedbugger.com/forum/ <p>Dear Fantastic Forum Frequenters:</p> <p>I'm not sure if you remember me. I am the one the BB's almost drove crazy not too long ago.</p> <p>I am happy to say that after a couple of treatments, my BBs are gone. I have not seen a single one - living or dead - since about a week after the second treatment. They are coming again to do a third and final treatment.</p> <p>Half the people on this floor and plenty more from other floors have suspiciously moved out! lol I have lost 90% of my possessions. But you know what? I sleep in peace, knowing that they are probably gone and will not be p00ping on my face anytime soon while I try to make hot monkey loving with Brad Pitt in my dreams. It is a priceless feeling.</p> <p>That being said - I still dont trust my apartment. So I still never sit on the floor, keep my bed elevated, and wear shoes around the house. I suppose I'll never be the same.</p> <p>But I thank you all for your wonderful support in my time of need. This board really is a lifesaver. </p> http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/declared-free#post- Thu, 01 Jan 1970 04:59:59 +0000 Anonymous @http://bedbugger.com/forum/ http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/success-we-holy-hope#post-30809 Wed, 10 Sep 2008 15:38:07 +0000 CimexintheCity 30809@http://bedbugger.com/forum/ <p>I would like to think that we are a success story, though it’s only been more than a month. Since I can’t see returning to this web site a year form now (no offense anyone), I’ll post my story now. Here’s the back story: We live in Northern Virginia and our previous condo complex had a BB problem. We lived in a garden-style building built in the ‘60s and we were told that at least one unit on the basement level and one unit above us had BBs. As a precaution, they checked all units and, even though our particular condo was given the all-clear, they did a preventative treatment to our unit (just spraying the edges, not treating the mattresses, etc.). A few months later, and unrelated to the BB situation, we moved to a townhouse a few miles away (this was mid-May 2008). Fast-forward to the first week in August. After returning from a week-long vacation, my wife saw a bug crawling across the comforter on the bed. I immediately thought it was a tick (a souvenir from our trip up north) and took it into the bathroom to kill it (as some of you may know, ticks are really hard to kill—only a lit match will quickly do the job). As I realized how easy it was to kill this little sucker, my wife announced she’d found another one—under the sheets (cue screeching string section from “Psycho”). We both knew what was happening. We checked along the box spring and found the tell-tale sings and a few live BBs. Oddly enough, my wife and I have had very little reaction to BB bites. I have never noticed any bite marks or swelling. Before our trip, my wife did have raised bumps along her arms. We wrote it off as excema, a skin condition she had before on her hands, and stress related to her job and pregnancy (yes, she is now 5 months pregnant). In fact, we thought the vacation was so relaxing, it made the bumps go away. Actually, it was the absence of BBs. (This lack of reaction is a mixed blessing. We don’t suffer from the bites; at the same time, it will be hard to ever know if the BBs are gone before we have an epidemic).</p> <p>Not knowing exactly what we should do, we moved to another bedroom on the same floor to avoid getting bit. It was an IKEA bed with no box spring and skinny metal legs and, as a precaution, I put a Tupperware bowl under each leg filled with water. Of course I later learned we should have stayed in the master bedroom since BBs will follow you and became entrenched in you new space, but we just wanted a BB-free bed. The next day we bagged all the clothes in the room into black bags and began the process of washing and drying everything. Since its summer in the DC area, we rotated other black bags of stuff we didn’t wash in my wife’s car, parking it in the sun whenever possible. We used a meat thermometer to check the ambient temperature in the car (not very scientific). It usually went over the magic 120 degrees, though no idea how hot it was inside the bags. </p> <p>The exterminator came the Tuesday after the Sunday we found the BBs and I hired him on the spot (not a good idea—shop around it you can). He promised to kill them in two treatments (if we followed his advice) and gave us a six-month guarantee. He returned Saturday morning and sprayed around all the baseboards, de-BBed the beds and couch, and sprayed a “knock down” fog that would bring the BBs out to track through the poison. We came back four hours later with our two cats to a peppermint-smelling townhouse (if pregnant, be sure to tell the exterminator; we didn’t, but should have. Drat). We bought a new mattress/bedspring the next day and had it delivered Thursday. Wrapped up the box spring in a plastic drop cloth and had the mattress company haul it, and the mattress and frame, away. For the first time, we returned to the master bedroom. Wrapped mattress/box spring in protective covers and put each leg of our new frame in a Tupperware container full of mineral oil. I also put double-sided carpet tape on the containers, just in case.</p> <p>After the exterminator came, we saw only a few BBs. A couple lethargically wandering around the bedroom in daylight; one on the steps leading down to the second level; one in the master bathroom; one in the kitchen on the day of the mattress exchange. Last night, I retrieved a bag from the car and removed my ties for work in the dining room. This morning, my heart leapt when I saw a BB on the carpet near the table. It was dead, and not just kinda dead, but crusty, no-legged, disintegrating-in-your-hand kinda dead. The bags in the car had done their work. Other things we have been doing: Vacuuming frequently. Used to throw out vacuum bags, now I store bag in large Ziploc between uses. I also bought the complete kit from Tallman Scientific. It costs a couple hundred bucks, but it’s worth the piece of mind and comes with fantastic mattress/box spring covers, a contact killer (which impressed my exterminator, but advised against using around my pregnant wife), DE dust and applicator (my exterminator said his company used the same metal/rubber applicator that Tallman includes) and gloves/mask. Although the residual spray the exterminator used will last for 90 days, I applied some dust last weekend in electrical sockets, in the bottom of the dresser, and around some of the baseboards. I also sprayed the contact killer deep into some of the crevices in the dresser and nightstand. </p> <p>We pray daily these things are all dead. We still have all our clothes in some sort of bags (many in XXL or XL Ziplocs) and not in the dresser or bedroom. Sometimes we get a tad sloppy by not bagging some laundry and our hanging clothes are left unprotected in a closet in the computer room (I have to wear professional clothes to work). But we are hopeful. We are much luckier than most people because 1) we live in a single-family townhouse that cannot be re-contaminated by neighbors not committed to the problem; 2) we caught the problem fairly early since we knew what to look for; 3) we had just moved from a much smaller space and had very little clutter in our bedroom and no pictures, etc., on the wall; and 4) we had the resources to immediately hire an exterminator, replace our mattress, and buy extra ammunition to kill these little f*****. In hindsight, we should have never moved with the mattress and decontaminated our other belongings. We should have vigilantly checked for BBs since there was a problem in our previous building. We should have never moved to the second bedroom after we found BBs. I will definitely check back if the BBs make a return. If you never hear from me again, consider this story a success. Good luck and death to all BBs. </p> http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/declared-free#post-30374 Fri, 05 Sep 2008 14:26:08 +0000 Frederick 30374@http://bedbugger.com/forum/ <p>After 2.5 months. </p> <p>Due to initial extreme measures (cleaning, isolating, treatment) and a total of three treatments and two BB dog visits, I am now free. </p> <p>Our PCO has declared us free, and the BB dog follow-up visit smelled it in one mattress (that literally has three encasements on it) that we are tossing out in the bulk trash (clearly marked) on Mon morning. I'm just not comfortable keeping it around, despite hte encasements (if it was declared free we were going to use it as a spare mattress). Everything else was clear, it has been two months since I last had bites, and almost two months since hte last live nympf was found. Nothing dead has been seen in over 30 days. All appears clear.</p> <p>I still have not relaxed my guard and probably never will (bedding is washed weekly, pajamas is never worn more than once before it's washed, weary of hotel rooms etc going forward), but I can't describe the feeling of finally being free. I'm broke, but that's ok... :-) (We ended up replacing all the beds because we just weren't comfortable "in case" something got out, somehow. It was just a peace of mind thing -- i'm sure we would have been fine due to several encasements on them. But we did keep that one mattress, which now will be disposed of). </p> <p>Our PCO is excellent and the K9 unit was great as well. </p> <p>I'm in Maryland so pm me if you want more info </p>