Got Bed Bugs? Bedbugger Forums » Bed Bug Success Stories
Anyone bed bug FREE for a full year or more???
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omisbliss
newbite
Joined: Aug '08
Posts: 33
Posted 1 year ago
Thu Aug 7 2008 17:31:09
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About four weeks ago i started waking at 3 and 4 am scratching from what appeared to be insect bites. Every night i went to bed and woke up with welts until one morning i saw the bug crawling on my conforter. I reached for a tissue and the thing turned to pure blood. Did some research and was horrified to find out it was a bed bug.
I called a few exterminators and all told me these pests are hard to control and get rid of. They mostly give 2 months guarantee and that is it.
After much research i went out and purchased sterifab, permakil 25, new pillows, encasing for the pillows and a zipped mattress and box spring cover. Went over the entire area and discovered one area on my mattress about 6-8 inches wide that was infected with these horrors. I sprayed wiped with paper towel and sprayed some more. I did the same to box spring but couldnt see anything though i am sure they were in there. I covered each piece with the zipped cover and taped the area where the zipper meets. A few nights went by and no bites. I then had the idea to call my renting office who scheduled me with an exterminator. He told me to removed all my clothing out of the room. An incredible task. 28 bags of clothing. I found a chinese laundry that picked it all up and instructed to wash all in hot water and dry in high heat. My stuff is still at the chinese laundry. Then the exterminator came. He didnt appear to be that great. He told me that i had an encased bedroom set and he wasnt going to take it apart. He applied heat all around the the platform of my bed and saw absolutely no evidence. No bed bug no droppings. I told him i had already vacuumed but he said still they would come out if they were in there and nothing. That night i went to bed and woke up to a bite on my chin. First one in a few days. I looked around and found this round ball of blood on my tshirt. It wasnt a bed bug but just a round ball of blood that burst with little pressure. Anyhow, i sprayed as much baseboard with bedlam as i could get too since i cant remove the furniture . I took each drawer out and nothing but turned the drawers around and sprayed just the same. So far no bites in the bedroom for 2 weeks. But after all this spraying i showered and went to relazx in my living room and got bit. I jumped up and found this bed bug on my brand new sofa (3 months new). I was horrified. I opened the sofa which has only been used twice and inspected the entire mattress. No evidence. I sprayed it and encased it.
Though i have not seen any in a couple of weeds i am horriefied and dont know what else to do. I purchased all these sprays but after reading many comments i am not sure if i can irradicate these horrid insects.
I hired an exterminator who came to look at my place. He told me to pack EVERYTHING. All in large garbage bag. Remove the air from bags and knot tight. I have dont this to my entire apartment. The exterminator is coming on saturday with two men. They will try to dismantle my bedroom set and treat every piece of furniture i have. He told me he has been doing this for 12 years but for the last eight years its become more and more prevalent. He told me after looking around that i dont look infested but will see more when they go in deeper. He said these bugs could live in the tiniest of spots and probably two treatments will do it. I told him i want an OVER KILL. To come a total of three times no matter what. He said first treatment (this weekend) second treatment in three weeks and third treatment in another two weeks. He said it may be a good idea to have my sofa and chair steamed when its all over but first to start with treatment. He told me the work that is involved for both the customer as well as he and his staff is hard work and that he wouldnt wish this on his worse enemy. He wants he and i to be thorough and i am doing my part.PLEASE SOMEONE TELL ME I CAN GET RID OF THESE BED BUGS!!! I won't be satisfied until next summer and seeing i have been bed bug free for an entire year.
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fightorflight
senior member
Joined: Jan '08
Posts: 694
Posted 1 year ago
Thu Aug 7 2008 22:39:02
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The short answer is, yes, but you may not see them commenting here because this is where those with current problems are mostly hanging out. Those who have been free a year have generally moved on. You will, too, eventually. Just hang in there and be persistent.
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spideyjg
oldtimer
Joined: Jul '08
Posts: 1,614
Posted 1 year ago
Thu Aug 7 2008 22:59:37
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Sounds like your PCO is very thorough and you are in capable hands. People do get free of these things.
We have not seen a bug since the last treatment but I have done boucoup caulking, DE, and heat treating the apartment and contents.
I'm still acting as if under assault until every defense has been fortified.
Jim
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omisbliss
newbite
Joined: Aug '08
Posts: 33
Posted 1 year ago
Sun Aug 10 2008 23:28:01
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Thank you both for your support and for posting an answer.
Well, three men came to my two bedroom apartment yesterday. They were here two and a half hours. They treated the baseboards, behind radiators,living room and bedroom and spare room furniture, closets, edge of rugs etc.. I had packed all my books and pictures (have large wall unit in spare room full of books and pictures in drawers). When they removed them off the unit, they just put them in a pile and most of my careful work became chaos. Many of the bags now have holes in them and i have to go through the long and heavy task of bagging them again and tagging each bag. Many of my bags that came out of the closet also now have holes, all photo stuff, and i have to rebag that too. It's a huge job and for that i'm a bit dissapointed.
Also, i had my mattress and box spring encased and after they left i noticed that the encasing in the box spring had torn in five areas. I put heavy tape on it and will go buy a new one to put over the torn casing though i sealed all the holes with tape.
I called the exterminator and told him what i had discovered, he told me he will come back on Wednesday to check, to treat the mattress and will put on the new casing for me. When they were here they did not open them because the mattress was well protected.
In two weeks two men will come back for another treatment and two weeks after that i will receive another treatment.
None of them saw any evidence of bed bugs (the only evidence i saw was in one area of the mattress which stayed sealed) and i had been bitten twice on my brand new sofa. Both times i found the bed bug and killed it. One of those times it crawled by the zipper area of one of the pillows. I caught it and put the pillow in a plastic bag, took the air out and knotted it. I had not been bitten after that. I will take the pillow to the laundry and dry it for a long time just in case. The exterminator saw no evidence on the pillow though.
I intend to keep everything bagged, cd's, records, books pictures, you name it for a very, very long time. It was a huge job. I also intend to keep all my clothing in bags except what i intend to wear for a week.
Though the exterminator was pretty positive, i am still extremely paranoid. I told him of all the blogs i read on the internet and that most people appear to have the problem again sooner or later. He told me not to read the blogs, that they can be completely exterminated. G-d i hope so.
Anyway, i have one question. Before i knew i had bed bugs i had ordered a new computer tower. It was delivered but i did not want to take it out in fear of having bed bugs crawl into it. Instead i opened the carton, sprayed it with bedlam and sealed every area closed. When will it be safe for me to set up my new computer tower? The exterminator told me to do it after the second treatment and that computer towers get pretty hot and that bed bugs will stay out but i am now paranoid since the tower will sit on top of carpeting. Any suggestions?
Thank you for reading! -
spideyjg
oldtimer
Joined: Jul '08
Posts: 1,614
Posted 1 year ago
Sun Aug 10 2008 23:46:25
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Go get the heavy duty 3 mil contractor bags at Home Depot and just put the torn bags into them and close them up good.
They are by no means tear proof but pretty resilient. Put the stuff that will sit a long long time in the warmest spot you can. Use the summer heat to your advantage.
Dunno on the computer but it never hurts to follow your PCO's instructions.
Jim
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sleepingstandingup
junior member
Joined: Aug '08
Posts: 35
Posted 1 year ago
Mon Aug 11 2008 2:06:34
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Bedbugs seek warmth. I got them in mine because the area that gets the hottest can be avoided, but it makes it nice and cozy in other areas. I think the heat is why they went in there in the first place. Maybe if you put de all around it you will ok. they won't cross over it. If they do, they'll die anyway.
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belle72
junior member
Joined: Jun '08
Posts: 104
Posted 1 year ago
Mon Aug 11 2008 9:20:05
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Just curious...how did you encase your sofa?
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omisbliss
newbite
Joined: Aug '08
Posts: 33
Posted 1 year ago
Mon Aug 11 2008 14:35:30
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Good idea, will go to home depot and get those bags. Darn, i must have spent $50 in bags and now have to do job all over again. DE? Is that drione dust? I also read they don't really like plastic so i can put a plastic bag on the rug and put the tower there as well. Has anyone else heard that?
No, i didnt encase the sofa, only the new mattress in the sofa.
Btw i had samples of the half dozen bed bugs i caught and showed them to the eterminator. He said they were all nymphs. Is that good news? When i sprayed my mattress and found that one area about 6 to 8 inches long where they were all "residing", i sprayed the hell out of it with steri fab. In the middle of all those little ones sat one big bed bug (i think it was the mother). I wonder could there have been more full grown bed bugs anywhere else. I didnt see anything and neither did the exterminator. I am so freaked out with this. I just pray to G-d i get rid of them permanently. Who can live like this! -
omisbliss
newbite
Joined: Aug '08
Posts: 33
Posted 1 year ago
Mon Aug 11 2008 15:01:41
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Btw, i contacted my local councilman's office as well as our two senators office as well as my local congressional distric person. All of those offices passed the buck when i asked what they are doing about the bed bug epidemic in NY as well as around the country.
I think everyone should contact their local representative and shake things up. Their has got to be something out there that can be used aside from DDT to eradicate this horendous problem.
Any thoughts? -
omisbliss,
I agree that everyone should contact elected officials.
If you are in NYC, you should also go to: http://newyorkvsbedbugs.org
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fightorflight
senior member
Joined: Jan '08
Posts: 694
Posted 1 year ago
Wed Aug 13 2008 1:03:30
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(Not crazy about this new "invisible quote" feature. I'm sure there's a good reason for it - space limitations? But I don't like it.)
" I also intend to keep all my clothing in bags except what i intend to wear for a week." (Don't know if this will circumvent the quote link.) Anyway, you need to keep *all* the clothing in bags, including what you will wear. Otherwise, you run the risk of "contaminating" (bugs may crawl in/on) the clothing you wear to work. Keep those clean/disinfected clothes in bags until time to wear. Too many people have reported seeing bugs on their clothes outside of their homes.
As for the computer, as others have noted, your PCO is wrong on this, but in good company. This notion still circulates. The heat of the tower is isolated & fanned, and will *not* prevent bugs from crawling into your computer, though not so common. What makes your odds good is not the heat, but the level & spread of your infestation. A DE (I think Drione dust should do fine as well) moat is a good idea. Try to think of any other ways you can isolate the computer.
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omisbliss
newbite
Joined: Aug '08
Posts: 33
Posted 1 year ago
Thu Aug 14 2008 2:07:40
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Thank you fightorflight!
I'm not sure what you meant "(Not crazy about this new "invisible quote" feature. I'm sure there's a good reason for it - space limitations? But I don't like it.)"I will try to think of something for the new computer but right now it's just going to stay in the box. If i had known at the time i would not have ordered it but now it's here :(
My PCO came back tonight as promised. I had told him that the box spring cover tore in several areas and that i had taped all the tears yet still went out and purchased a new one to just put over it. Right before he got here i proceeded to remove the sheets to fold and put them in plastic bag as well as all my pillows so he could look at the box spring and i discovered a bed bug on one of my pillows. It looked full grown and dead so i left it on the one pillow on top of the mattress to show him. Before PCO got here i went back to the bedroom and became frantic. The bed bug that looked dead on top of my pillow was gone. I turned the pillow arount and it was there moving ever so slowly (probably dying from the chemicals that were sprayed on saturday). I took a piece of tape and removed it. Interestingly it did not leave a red blood mark but rather a black mark. I was wondering if perhaps the last feeding it got was a while ago and that was why the mark was not red.
Anyhow, when they got here they removed the box spring out of the plastic protector i had put in and they then removed that thin cloth underneath the box spring. They vacuumed inside, sprayed with steri fab and put back the old plastic protector and the new one on top of that.
They then proceeded to dismantle my platform bed by taking off the light bridge above the bed, moved the two tower night stands on either sides, they sprayed behind there, both baseboard and behind both towers. No evidence of bed bugs.
They proceeded by removing the head board which is made of the same pressed wood material and formica veneer. Sprayed it and still no evidence of any bed bugs. Finally they got to the platform of the bed, pushed it out and stood it up to spray underneath and there they were OMG so many of them, all alive and well. Little tiny ones. He sprayed the entire bottom of the platform bed and put it all back. What an ordeal. My biggest concern now is two things. I have hardwood floors (no carpeting) and i did notice when the platform was removed a large gap was underneath. Though he sprayed the gap still exists. I have no way of getting to it unless the bedroom is dismantled again. Not sure if the spraying is enough. It has a two month residual so what happens after that if they go hide in those floor cracks. Any suggestions?
My second concern is my wall to wall closet. I had it made when i first moved here 20 years ago. There is not way to get behind it or underneath it and it's only about 1 foot away from the foot of the bed. Any suggestions with that?
Is it normal to see a bed bug dying on your pillow 4 days after spraying? And why were so many alive and well underneath my platform bed? Is it that they just stayed there all this time and made no contact with any of the chemicals that were sprayed 4 days ago? All this has got me nuts. I'm just so afraid. I want them erradicated. Like many of you, all of my things are in plastic bags. Closets hangers, drawers, wall units, TV and stereo units are empty excepts for the components. I really don't know what else i can do. -
bbericka
newbite
Joined: Aug '08
Posts: 5
Posted 1 year ago
Mon Aug 18 2008 2:18:29
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I am so sorry you are going through this omisbliss. I (we, hubby and I) just discovered bb late Thursday night and haven't even gotten all my stuff bagged yet. We moved outside-in (did kids' rooms first and only have 1/2 our clothes bagged). I just wanted to offer my support, as I don't have any answers for you. But it sounds like you are doing all of the right things. Best of luck - I believe you can be rid of them - I will be thinking of you.
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