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Am I being irrational?
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slowpoke
newbite
Joined: Jul '09
Posts: 26
Posted 3 months ago
Sat Jul 18 2009 16:48:39
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Hi to all. I've already made a few posts in the detection/identification section (with a negative ID), but I'm still in full bb paranoia mode, so I thought I would post here and get it out of my system.
Some background on me: I have dry skin and eczema that acts up in heat, so I'm kind of an itchy person in general. I also apparently have blood and skin that is attractive to bugs of all types. Usually from June to September, I get eaten alive by all manner of bugs. If there are mosquitoes, anyone else with me is safe, because they will just feed on me. In one house where we lived, I was even getting stung by centipedes on a nightly basis -- well, I never saw it happen but after realizing they sting, I went on a centipede killing spree and then the weird bites stopped. I've had numerous mystery bites and itches over the years, which has induced panic about scabies, lice, etc. but it's never turned out to be anything like that, and once summer is over all the itching stops. I also tend towards hypochondria.
My family and I were just on vacation for three weeks in the U.S. (we live overseas). On the trip, we stayed at two hotels in Austria, an apartment in D.C., two hotels in South Carolina on the way back and forth to my mother's house in Florida, and one more hotel in Virigina. I'm fairly bb-conscious, and checked each place for tell-tale signs before giving the "all clear." I didn't disassemble any headboards or flip any mattresses, but I did check the pillows, sheets and underneath, and around the beds. I never found anything that concerned me.
Well, in D.C. something got me in my belt line, perfectly in the center where a belt buckle would be. I'd had bites like that before, so I didn't make a big deal out of it. It concerned me a bit when I noticed my wife and son were scratching occasionally, but no one had any bites, and further checking still didn't uncover anything sinister. I chalked it up to the change in climate, as well as changes in water and even detergent. Down in Florida, of course we were all getting bit by things on a daily basis. (My mother lives in a very rural area of northern Florida, the kind of place where there is even a reasonable chance of a rattlesnake bite.)
In the last hotel in the U.S., I almost freaked out when I found blood on one of the pillows after we'd used it, but my wife reminded me that our son still picks his nose and often has little nosebleeds at night. The blood spots did look more like those from a nosebleed rather than from a crushed bug or anything like that. I also found some blood on the sheet, but my son was also covered in cuts and scrapes from body-surfing on a pebbly beach. More blood on the pillow (after use) at our hotel in Austria was enough to freak me out again.
Realizing that we hadn't been as careful as we should have been with our suitcases and clothes in the hotels, on our return home I instituted control measures. Well, first we left our son with his grandparents, with a suitcase that had not been in any of the hotels. Nonetheless, we told the grandparents to put our son in the bath and immediately wash all of his clothes, and to put the suitcase in a bag and seal it. When my wife and I got home, we did the same thing, only more stringent. I bagged everything straight out of the suitcases at the car. I inspected the suitcases -- found a bit of grit and sand, but nothing particularly indicative of a bb -- then bagged the and put them in the garage. The clothes we were wearing were immediately taken off and put in the wash, and we had a shower. Were doing laundry for two days. Other items were also bagged and subject to visual inspection. Some items are still bagged.
Now, I actually live in another location for work, so I even repeated the "quarantine" process when I arrived here earlier this week. But all week, I'm getting itchier and itchier. My second day back here I woke up with two bites on my head, just above my ear. That sent me into full panic mode, and since then I have been cleaning the hell out of the apartment, constantly searching for bugs, and frankly not sleeping.
On Wednesday, I found two quickly crawling tiny bugs on the wall next to where I sleep. At first I was convinced they were young bed bugs, but I couldn't see them clearly until I took a macro photo. The Bedbugger experts here confirmed they were not bed bugs, but probably some type of psocid. I have since read that there are some psocids that have beaks and bite, but it hasn't stopped me worrying about bed bugs. Every little speck and spot that I see now looks like bed bug to me.
I also visited a dermatologist, who diagnosed that I am having a post-reaction to some insect bites, but ruled out scabies. Of course, she couldn't say what had bitten me.
Last night, as I continued to clean my apartment -- and if there is one good thing coming out of this, it's that I am finally throwing out a bunch of crap -- I picked up a piece of paper, and there was a tiny bug on it. It was not as tiny as the pscoids I'd found (and continue to find), and it was darker, but it was too tiny to be sure what it was. Of course, I was convince that it was a bed bug. I tried to put the paper down so I could capture it, but before I could do that it either jumped away -- in which case it probably was not a bed bug -- or my hand twitched and he fell away -- in which case as far as I'm concerned it was a bed bug and I let it escape.
All day today, I continue to clean, itch, and search for bugs. And search the internet for tips on hunting bugs, which just leads to more bed bug horror stories. Moreover, by chance, today my landlord took out my old sofa bed and put in a new one (I didn't bring up bed bugs, but I made sure he was going to dispose of the old bed), but I'm even afraid to lie down and sleep in it, because it's new and I don't want it to get infested.
Well, that's my story. I've been bitten by something, but haven't seen a single positive sign of a bed bug, and instituted bagging/cleaning procedures twice. So, there is no definitive evidence that we were exposed to bed bugs at all, yet I am convinced that they're right here with me. I know I'm probably being irrational, but I sure could use some reassurance...
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DrFrank
junior member
Joined: Jul '09
Posts: 122
Posted 3 months ago
Sun Jul 19 2009 3:34:18
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There's no way to know for sure until you find an actual bug.
This article suggests that monitors are your best bet.
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slowpoke
newbite
Joined: Jul '09
Posts: 26
Posted 3 months ago
Sun Jul 19 2009 10:32:45
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I know I need to find a bug to be sure, but I'm living in a developing eastern European country, and have no access to anything like monitors, or any other tool to help me hunt or manage a possible infestation. For now, I have to deal with this the hard way. Continuing to de-clutter and vacuum, and going on frequent flashlight hunts. I also put the feet and wheels of the sofa bed in cups of mineral oil and laid down some double-sided tape, but didn't catch anything last night.
Of course, the question still is whether I am needlessly driving myself crazy. Yes, I have some bites but I've read enough to know you can't confirm anything from bites. I never saw any bb anywhere on vacation, everything was isolated and laundered, and I came to my home-away-from-home practically empty-handed. I've convinced myself that they're here, but after everything how likely is it that I brought even one along?
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Hi slowpoke,
First of all, you should feel terrific about the fact that you laundered and isolated your stuff post-trip. By being pro-active and thoughtful, you've protected yourself and your family from worst-case scenarios.
No stranger on the internet can promise you 100% that you weren't exposed to bedbugs or that there are absolutely no bedbugs in your homes. However, I think it's safe to say that there is a real and reasonable possibility that:
1/ you may not have been exposed to bedbugs in the first place.
2/ even if you were exposed to bedbugs, the diligent measures you took upon your return prevented any potential hitchhikers from establishing themselves in your home.
I think it's important to hold these good possibilities in your mind. Because of the work you did post-trip, it's quite reasonable for you to expect that the probability of a good outcome outweighs the possibility of a bad one.
Be assured that you've set up physical monitors like sticky tape and containers of oil. If there are (less-than-likely) insect stragglers that evaded your best efforts, they will be detected. But, at this point, it seems unnecessarily burdensome for you to be otherwise living and thinking that you definitely have bedbugs.
You can say "thank you" to the worrying your brain did earlier - it spurred you to action, and it may have shielded you from big problems down the road. But, after you've done everything appropriate you can do in a situation, it's okay to set the excessive worrying aside. You've done the work, so allow yourself to relax.
Those "bites"you get behind your belt buckle: could they be skin reactions from waistband pressure as opposed to an insect?
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slowpoke
newbite
Joined: Jul '09
Posts: 26
Posted 3 months ago
Sun Jul 19 2009 20:24:44
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Thanks, persona-non-bugga. Even though my rational side knows it already, this is what I need to hear (or read). My irrational side tends to take over and go to extreme conclusions.
I've only been back about a week, and I know that only in the worst case maybe one or two bbs could have theoretically slipped through the quarantine, and any eggs wouldn't have hatched yet. Still, I sit here with the creepy feeling that a whole colony is breeding in the walls.
I'm not so worried about this place. I have no lease, and could walk out of here tomorrow with some clothes and DVDs (sealed in bags) and not look back. But if I have bbs here, I have them in the apartment that I own, that's the big worry. That apartment's been empty all week, but my wife and son are back there tonight. I'm hoping they don't get bitten by anything.
About the "bites" behind the belt buckle, yes, they absolutely could be non-insect related. My dermatologist insists that it's a reaction to the nickel in the buckle and pants buttons due to the heat. (It's hot here -- 115 degrees yesterday). I don't know about that, but it's not the first time I've had something in the exact same spot.
As I go on my little bug-hunts, I keep finding many, many of these little creatures that people have suggested are some kind of psocids. They are all over my walls. I live about 20 yards from a stream, and about 250 yards from a river. I'm beginning to think that these things are something akin to "no see ums," which would rationally explain everything. I've caught a few more and will try to take some better pictures to get a positive ID.
Thanks again. I really appreciate it.
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buggyinsocal
oldtimer
Joined: Jun '08
Posts: 1,160
Posted 3 months ago
Sun Jul 19 2009 22:20:46
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Most experienced bedbuggers will tell you that once you start looking for bugs, you are bound to find all kinds of insect and arachnid life in your residence than you could possibly have imagined actually lived there.
By all means stay vigilant, but I'd guess that your chances of having them are fairly slim, and since you're doing the right things in terms of monitoring, inspecting, and doing the best to prevent any cross contamination, you'll likely catch them early in the event that you do have them.
I can attest, as can many others here, that in addition to becoming intimately familiar with how much insect life is in your residence after a scare, you're also highly prone to feeling the sensation of something moving over your skin after a scare. Heck, I was in the Berkshires last night, and walking out into the night and feeling flying insects around me meant that last night in bed at the hotel, all I could imagine was bugs crawling all over me every time the bedding or the AC rifled the hair on my head or my arms. The mind is a powerful thing. Understand that once you start thinking about bugs, that power of suggestion is heightened.
So take a deep breath or two and do something non bug related. In a few weeks, I have faith that this will be behind you as nothing more than a scare that gave you the chance to educate yourself. (and remember, that esp. when caught early and intervened in my a knowledgeable pro, bed bugs are a "cureable" pest. My infestation, which had been in place for over a month before I even knew bed bugs existed, was solved with one PCO thermal treatment. And learning about the bugs before you have an infestation means that you have the opportunity to set up protocols to greatly reduce the chances of bringing home an infestation from travel. That's all very good news.)
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slowpoke
newbite
Joined: Jul '09
Posts: 26
Posted 3 months ago
Mon Jul 20 2009 6:15:25
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Thank you too, buggyinsocal. As I wrote in my first post, I'm pretty much a hypochondriac. Once I got bbs in my head (just figuratively, I hope), everything took off from there. You mentioned the hair on your arms and head rifling -- I'm a hairy guy all over (think Bob Hoskins), which definitely exacerbates the creepy-crawly sensation.
I feel somewhat better today. What still bothers me is the outside possibility that our control measures were not thorough enough. (Was the washing water hot enough? What about the things we couldn't dry in the dryer?) If there is even a small problem, the local pest management companies likely do not have the expertise or experience to adequately address the situation. Thermal is certainly out of the question.
I have done everything possible for now. All that's left to do is wait and see. I'd like to think it will only take a few weeks for me to relax, but more likely it won't be until September, when the cooler weather moves and the general bug population subsides, along with my summer itch.
Thanks again.
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slowpoke
newbite
Joined: Jul '09
Posts: 26
Posted 3 months ago
Tue Jul 21 2009 7:40:37
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Help! I am starting to freak out!
I was OK for most of yesterday, but in the evening I noticed a smear of blood on the wall. Not a drop, but a fairly conspicuous smear, like something at a crime scene. At least, I think it was blood, I didn't think to check it with peroxide or even take a picture before wiping it away. It wiped right up, and on the tissue it was bright red.
Then, I noticed things on the walls that I had first thought were scuff marks due to the cheap paint job, but now I'm seeing them all over the place, all out in the open, including on the ceiling. They are definitely some kind of insect poop or secretion.
The only actual bugs I can find are psocids, which I am now 99% certain are a type of book lice. I find them in all the same locations as the little trails, and there are LOTS of them. As I have read, they could account for the poop marks, as well as an allergic itchy skin reaction, but what about the blood? I only noticed a little cut (not a bite) on my finger. It's possible I brushed against the wall, but I don't think a cut I didn't even notice could have produced that smear. I don't have any new bites, or at least haven't reacted to any.
About the poop marks, what is disconcerting is that they are all over the place, and right out in the open. After following certain quarantine measures, I can't believe (or don't want to believe) I could have brought a whole colony of bbs with me, if even one. If it's bbs, how can there suddenly be so many as to be brazenly pooping all over the place? I know they can reproduce quickly, but if there are that many after only seven days, I've already lost the war.
If anyone can help, this is a picture of one of the poop trails (it looks almost like a cave painting):
http://i815.photobucket.com/albums/zz75/slowpoke1967/Picture007.jpgAnd I also laid down some double sided tape. I did not catch anything alive, but I did find what looks like it could be a shell fragment:
http://i815.photobucket.com/albums/zz75/slowpoke1967/Picture029.jpgThanks in advance for any advice.
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