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5th treatment (update)
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Hello all! We just finished our 5th treatment, and its looking positive! The dog cleared all rooms downstairs, and also one of the bedrooms upstairs! He alerted bbs in the other room, but he only alerted the bed which has an encasement. Because he alerts dead bugs as well, Im confident that he is only smelling the bugs inside the encasement. I know the fight is not over, but Iwas really excited that things are progressing being that bbs were evident in the whole house. Although this whole process has been real sh*tty, I feel as if we are heading toward success!!
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2manybb
newbite
Joined: Oct '09
Posts: 22
Posted 3 weeks ago
Sat Oct 31 2009 13:13:48
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dee,
how do you think you got bb in the whole house. We have them in only 1 bedroom, am so afraid of spreading them. We have had a dog here that only found them in the one room , so far i guess they are contained.
After 3 treatments. I found an alive adult in the bathroom connected to the effected bedroom. This is after a week of nothing. I don't know when it is ok to feel confident that they are gone -
2manybb - 10 hours ago »
dee,
how do you think you got bb in the whole house. We have them in only 1 bedroom, am so afraid of spreading them. We have had a dog here that only found them in the one room , so far i guess they are contained.
After 3 treatments. I found an alive adult in the bathroom connected to the effected bedroom. This is after a week of nothing. I don't know when it is ok to feel confident that they are goneHi 2manybb! I didnt realize that we had bedbugs until mid-august...Im not for sure how long we had them, but Im guessing not too long(I hope)...My belief is that they started upstairs, and my son and I spent alot of time downstairs only going upstairs to sleep...we would always bring blankets downstairs to lounge on the couch while we watched movies, read books, homework....Although I have never seen one downstairs, the dog did alert both couches during his first visit...my couches are also chocolate colored which would make it really hard to see anything....I know how you feel; I found a live bb after our 3rd treatment on the bed...I cant even express the anger I felt when I awoke to this f*cker sitting next to my head! Its like one day I might be feeling really confident, and then I would either see a bb or have sudden bites and then Im back at square one...I just felt somewhat good Monday because the dog cleared the downstairs; so I somewhat feel as if we might be making progress...but, I'm right there with you.. I donot know when to feel fully confident...since monday I have seen the questionable tiny bites on my arm...I dont want to say Im being paranoid, but I really want to be sure they are gone, because these things are smart as hell, and have fooled me before into thinking that it was getting better...when are you due for your 4th treatment? Please keep me posted..I believe that my 6th treatment will be monday...i'll keep you posted
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oh yeah, before bed, I bring the blanket downstairs and dry for an hour...As soon as I wake up I take off the clothes I slept in and throw them in the dryer for an hour...My shower is upstairs, so I take off my clothes downstairs, and only take upstairs only towel and washcloth..After showering, I bring back down towel and washcloth and throw it in the dryer...Since the first treatment, I strictly only sleep and shower upstairs making sure I bring nothing up there..This whole process is crazy, but Im just trying to be careful..do you live in an apartment? one level?
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Counting Again
newbite
Joined: Nov '09
Posts: 7
Posted 2 weeks ago
Sun Nov 1 2009 17:26:46
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Hi Dee and 2manybb's. I'm new to this site, but unfortunately not new to bb's... I've had them since June 17th this year. In the same position both of you are in. Not sure when to feel confident. I really thought I'd been rid of them, asked people over to my apartment again, and then found a couple bites, and then bugs again too. The pest control company hasn't been able to locate any, but that's because my bed frame is unique, and I'm sure they're hiding inside it. I've had 6 treatments and they're still here, though in much smaller numbers, but one is all it takes to start all over again.
Do either of you have company over in rooms that have not had bb's?
I tutor, and have had students back in my home for the last 3 weeks I think, but wonder if I'll have to make other arrangements again until I know for sure they're gone.
Such a tricky thing. Really, we never know that they're gone. We only know when we have them! I wish I could get a thermal treatment done, but I don't have the money for it, and I doubt the apartment would pay for it. If we even have that service. I haven't heard of any local pest control companies using dogs either to sniff them out.
Any feedback would be appreciated! I've been feeling completely alone in this nightmare!
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Hi countimg Again! I havent had any company over in two months! It sucks especially that Thanksgiving and Christmas is coming up...Although Im still paranoid, Ive tried to ease up alittle not letting these bbs completely rule my life...although Im still taking the same measures like still bagging clothes, I dont let it consume all my time...I did however visit my dad for the first time in months, and he ran into the kitchen with a mailing envelope with a black speck on it, asking me was it a bedbug...I ensured him that I hadnt brought anything in his house...I also told him that my clothes were super clean, and that I had dried them for an hour before leaving the house...That let me know that people around me are still uncomfortable with the fact that I have bbs..at first, I get offended but Im sure we would all do the same thing; especially after going through it with bbs...oh yeah, the black speck was a speck of dirt! Counting again, what all did they do on each treatment? I also wish I could get a thermal treatment...my LL is too cheap to do that. Having had the bb dog come out was great, but they will give alerts to dead and alive bbs. Although I feel as if it "might" be getting better, I havent seen any dead bbs. So now Im just wondering if they are just hiding..I assumed that I would at least see some. I believe that we are just in the waiting stage; which sucks because any itch can trigger the thought of bbs still being present. Have they scheduled you for your 7th treatment? Im assuming my 6th is tomorrow, but I wont be sure until I talk with theLL..Counting again, I understand how you feel about being alone; we will get through this.
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Counting Again
newbite
Joined: Nov '09
Posts: 7
Posted 2 weeks ago
Sun Nov 1 2009 22:49:29
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Hi Dee. It is so reassuring to hear back from someone dealing with the same thing. I suppose that makes up my mind about the tutoring. Cancel the appointments, and give them the option of meeting elsewhere. Although I don't know where at this point. The library was my first thought but they don't have any areas where talking is acceptable. We'll see. I'm so embarrassed to say anything... I don't even know what to say. I'm so frustrated that they are back after I thought they were gone. I never would have made the arrangement for students to come to my home this semester if I thought I wasn't done with them. But again, it's reassuring to know I'm not alone. I haven't had other company, aside from 2 weeks I really thought they were gone, since June.
My first treatment was a dust. One week later, I was convinced it wasn't working, as I was finding more instead of less bugs - most babies at that time - which was the worst because I knew it was just tens or hundreds of eggs waiting to hatch. They told me to wait out the three weeks anyway, which reluctantly I did, and then they treated with chemical spray. By that time they said they weren't using dust anymore anywhere because it wasn't working. I was so frustrated that I had told them that two weeks ago, and not believed... but relieved to know that from that point on they would spray, which was much more effective. I don't know how many the spray actually killed, but it certainly got them out of their hiding places. I was shocked when I came back after the first spray, to see them crawling out of the head and foot board, even up the wall! So I went on a killing spree, and then would return to the bedroom every half hour to kill another 4 for about 2 days, and only 4 hours of sleep in that time, as I'm sure you can imagine.
After that time the numbers stayed up for a while, but eventually came down considerably, after I started getting up 3x a night, killing any I found wandering the bed, and going back to sleep for another 1.5 hours. That's what I'm doing now again, and I've found 3 in the last week and a half I think. I've had to keep them live in a ziplock in order to be believed, and have another treatment booked. I'll be going to the office tomorrow to ask for another treatment, but have been reluctant to ask too soon because the pest control company doesn't believe me. I think they've thought I'm a little nuts, because I call them myself every time they treat to see what they found. To me this just seems logical, to be aware of where they still are. To them, they think I'm just paranoid - which by this point I'm that as well, but I know when I see the real thing!!
I'm not sure what chemical they use, but I know they've done dust and chemical. Oh, and they steamed my head and footboard twice now I think. It's the most anyone in this complex has had, and still had bedbugs, so even the office staff don't know what to do. They all think it's a bit ridiculous, especially knowing I'm as clean as I am, but I'm still getting new bites, and just found a new bedbug last night.
Have you tried waking up in the middle of the night and doing a bedbug 'raid' as I call it? If you're down to just a few, you might not find them every night, but you'll probably find a few over a week or two if any are still around. It takes a lot of diligence though. I get up 3x, and usually only find any on one of those times. It makes it seem a waste when I'm exhausted and don't find any, but every time I do find one, I'm relieved that one more is not going back to hide and feed and breed. As I see it, catching one is preventing 100 within the next 3 weeks.
I hope these raids will be enough to catch and eliminate the last of them, since 6 treatments have not done it, but I'm at the point where I'm ready to look at other options.
About the itchiness, I read somewhere today that after having bedbugs, you can have a heightened sensitivity on your skin to anything itchy. It has certainly been happening to me. I'm itching my arms frequently, even though I see no bites, and for me they are very visible if I have bites on my arms. Even my clothing feels itchy, and I keep checking and double checking for bugs or bites but don't find any from the clothes.
Well, thanks so much for your reply. I know there's hundreds/thousands dealing with this, but not being able to talk to anyone has probably been the hardest part emotionally. Wow, to think of the things we took for granted before we had bedbugs.
Thanks again Dee. Stay encouraged. We need to win this battle!
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wow...counting again, I believe that we are going through similar situations when it comes to dealing with bbs...my LL and pco believes that I am crazy as well...I had it out with the pco during my 4th treatment b/c I showed him the bb that I had caught on the bed...he replied that I must be bringing them back in from somewhere else, and that I wasnt doing all that I could do...I was furious and told him that this whole event has changed my life...how dare he say that Im not doing all that I could do when I have gotten rid of most of my possessions and live everyday like Im escaping a plaugue! He really didnt have much to say to me when he came back for the 5th treatment...he brought his supervisor, which did all the talking...besides my first findings of the bbs, I have seen 3; all which have been on the bed. I have had many nights where I would stay up and fall asleep around 6am and wake up an hour later with bites...I did this for weeks! There was one time where I was in the middle of my bed with my lamp in my hand, and I had put a barrier of tape around me hoping that I will catch one...it lasted for about 3hrs; I was scared that I would fall asleep and that I would burn a hole in the encasement from the lamp! I used alamp because I have spent too much money on batteries for my flashlight...After trying to stay up all night, I now will just passout which sucks because I spent hours trying to catch one in the act, and they still got me in between the 1hr of sleep that I had! I did however find one when waking up at 6:30am...I stuck him to tape and put him up tothe burning hot light bulb and watched him squirm! Its been almost two weeks since I last seen one, but I believe that I am too scared to see one at this point, because it will drive me crazy!!
I am sorry to hear that you have to find else where to do your tutoring...I just dropped a class last week because I feared that I would fail due to all of the stress that I have been dealing with...I couldnt even concentrate; I would have to go to the library to study and do homework assignments.
Thanks counting again for taking the time to read and understand my situations...I pray that we will soon end this battle with bbs! -
Counting Again
newbite
Joined: Nov '09
Posts: 7
Posted 2 weeks ago
Mon Nov 2 2009 6:33:14
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Hi Dee, It is seriously so nice to talk to someone who understands. I was told last time I phoned the PCO that maybe I'm bringing them in from somewhere else. They mentioned 'neighbours'. I said, I don't visit with my neighbours. I visit with family, none of whom have bedbugs, but even that I've kept to a bare minimum since the bugs. I had no social life at all for about 4 months, and then once the numbers started coming down again, I would get the nerve to go out, after showering and changing into clothes that had been frozen for a week.
When I talked to them last, I felt like saying to the guy who was telling me 'it's very unlikely to get bb bites on your hands and fingers' and telling me a story of a man who thought it was bbs and then found out it was an allergic reaction: do YOU want to sleep in my bed tonight, and prove to me and yourself, since you're so sure, that there's no bb's and it's all in my head??? Of course I didn't, and I realize it's because we're so frustrated living through this nightmare, but you really don't know until you've lived it, and then the absolute worst thing I can imagine, besides finding more bbs is not being believed. I found it a lot easier to cope when at least I knew I was believed. Actually, the PCO never did believe the numbers I told them. I'd found 170 in four days after a spray at the very worst, and that's when he started thinking I was crazy. I keep telling myself that these guys probably deal with a lot of people who get freaked out and exaggerate in order to get them to come again, but for me, I had literally been keeping track of numbers and the scarier thing was that I was not exaggerating, but it was a number greater than he could fathom, given the clean state of the room, so he didn't believe it.
I've been so thankful that the building staff have believed me and made bookings anyway. I do a lot of work with them, so they know I'm not the type to exaggerate or ask for anything that's not absolutely necessary.
I find with my night raids, they work best if I've been asleep for at least 1.5 hours. I used to set the alarm every 2h, but then thought, if they come out in 1.5, I don't want to give them the extra .5 hour to find and bite me.
I have a thick duvet, and sleep in a long, long-sleeved nighty, and usually only get bites on my hands and lower arms. At one time I also found bites on my feet, but I think they've mostly moved away from the footboard and are now just in the headboard. I wrap myself pretty tightly in my duvet, and often fall asleep laying on my hands, (on my stomach) to prevent bites on my hands. Then when I do find them, they are frequently crawling on the top of the duvet somewhere.
I never used a flashlight or lamp to find them. My bedding is dark brown (nice choice for bb's eh??) so I'd never find them without bright light, but when the alarm goes off, I quickly move my covers to the side, flick on the room light so there is full light, and immediately start scanning first the sides and corners of the bed, since if any are near there they will disappear first in their attempt to return to the headboard, and then I pull gently on the duvet, pull the wrinkles flat bit by bit, and as I do I sometimes will find a wandering bug. They can be pretty fast, but if I'm struggling to catch it, I'll fold it back into the crease until I can reach it better with the kneenx. They usually stop running once they're back in a crease because they relax in the dark.
You may have trouble finding them if you're sitting up in bed, since they're attracted to body heat. I never noticed how warm the bed felt when I was in it until I read that. All the more reason to be quick with the lights when I'm trying to find them, because I don't want the bed to cool too quickly first.
I can understand needing to drop a course, though I'm sorry you had to. The lack of sleep is just unbelievable and it really takes away all ability to concentrate at times, especially new and difficult material. I was in a summer class when I first found them, and remember what a struggle it was just to keep up, even though I loved the course. Something that would have been much more enjoyable was turned into a real piece of work to finish.
Have you had any recent bites, or are you simply counting days again without them? I hope you're just counting days without them! Every day then is a little more hopeful than the day before. I've decided though, not to stop my night raids for another 2 months, since I thought they were gone, but they came back after I had trusted to sleep through the night and got some new bites. It's the stragglers... I so wish I could just command them out and kill them all, but I guess that's what makes bb's difficult for everyone.
I didn't find any bbs last night, but I had two new bites in the last two days, and I think 4 more before that, so I know there are a few more stragglers!
I want so much not to have the thoughts consume me anymore, but it may just be the way it is until they're gone. It's nice to know I'm not the only 'paranoid' one though. Seems almost anyone with them is to some degree.
Keep up the fight. We WILL get through this, and to the end of this!
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Counting Again
newbite
Joined: Nov '09
Posts: 7
Posted 2 weeks ago
Mon Nov 2 2009 6:43:49
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Dee, I just realized you said you sat waiting with the lamp in hand. You mean you sat with it on? They probably will not come out. They run to darkness as soon as it is light. That's why you've gotta just flip a light on and quickly check instead. Ah, the things we try in desperation eh?
I can't believe I woke up at 5:00 this morning and haven't been able to sleep since. I'm really worried about what to say to my students. Is there a way to say something without saying I have bb's? I'll see what I come up with, but it's making me sick just knowing I might have to tell them.
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bigbadbugs
newbite
Joined: Nov '09
Posts: 4
Posted 2 weeks ago
Mon Nov 2 2009 8:14:24
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Oooh - you mean if i sleep with the light on, this will put them off?
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no it will not put them off I have kept the light on and saw a couple crawling around..... If this was the case PROBLEM SOLVED...I would keep the lights on all the time... SO what about the electricity bill... they are like lions they will come and hunt you down when they are hungry... or when the opportunity arises... From personal experience...
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hey counting again, I know what you mean...before my first treatment, my LL told me to drag my mattress on the floor to stop the bites! really?? I hate it when people assume that it is easy to deal with these critters. Im sorry that you have to tell your students, but I believe that they will understand. I also believe that our situation will help educate many on bbs...before drooping the class, I actually sat down with my instructor and told her about my situation..I was embarressed at first, but in the end I actually felt better. I thought it was funny that it was a psychology class; we were studying problems in the night: sleeping disorders..all I could think about was bbs!
counting again, I havent been as brave as you...I have been sleeping with the lights on for 2months now! I am so scared to sleep with the lights off...maybe you can encourage me to turn them out at night. Sittting up with a lamp in my hand and my tape barrier is only one of the many crazy things that I have tried to catch them in the act...I know that I completely wasted a nights sleep, but Im so scared to turn out the lights...I did however wake up two days ago with 4 tiny bumps on my arm...they donot itch, but they are aligned in a row...I am definintly with you when it comes to being paranoid...this whole matter have changed me completely!! Im gonna try your nite raid tonite! Gotta run off to work...good luck with your students today, ans stay strong!!! -
buggyinsocal
oldtimer
Joined: Jun '08
Posts: 1,130
Posted 2 weeks ago
Mon Nov 2 2009 12:48:59
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Completely unbed bug related, but I teach at a local university, and very rarely (like once a semester or year)I find myself in need of meeting with students on a weekend on which the campus buildings are locked. I have keys and can get into my office, but they couldn't, so to meet with me they'd have to call my office phone so I could run downstairs and let them in, all of which is a giant hassle. It also makes me uncomfortable being that isolated with students without any witnesses around.
At those times, I meet with students at a local coffeeshop. I did it in grad school when conferencing and it was easier and cheaper to park at a Starbucks across the street than on campus. I did it over winter sessions when I needed to meet on a holiday. And I do it from time to time with the end of the term emergency weekend office hours (i.e. I have a bunch of students who need to go over a paper before Monday because of other finals deadlines and going over papers in person is faster than doing do via email.)
Most coffeeshops around here are fine with it as long as I buy at least one drink. I've never had anyone think I was there too long or hogging space. Increasingly, I can even get free wifi if I chose stores wisely.
The students like meeting somewhere where they have the ability to get a snack or a caffeine fix, and the background noise level isn't too loud for one on one tutoring for the students (esp. if I get there early and choose a table a good distance from the spots likely to be noisiest), and I never disturb anyone else by talking as I imagine might be a problem at a library.
Also, this may not work depending on where you are, but if the weather is good enough where you are (I live in sunny southern California, so here, that's most of the year), outside tables at a library might be an option.
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