Got Bed Bugs? Bedbugger Forums » Tales of Bed Bug Woe
Bed Bugs Came Back after a year
(8 posts)-
TorontoBugged
member
Joined: Aug '07
Posts: 147
Posted 2 years ago
Fri Aug 17 2007 23:50:14
#
Login to Send PM
hi there, I got bed bugs last summer and was seemingly bug free for about a year until recently. So now I'm back on the bug blogs. SIGH. I'm feeling depressed and fatalistic again. I'm back to reading all the recent coverage on bed bugs and it isn't promising.
I also read that a few longtime sufferers who also thought they got rid of them are experiencing a resurgence. I find it coincidental that the bed bugs choose to resurge now. It's as if they realize they're hungry and it's do or die before they die from starvation.
TorontoBugged
-
Toronto,
IN highly infested cities--like Toronto, Boston, NYC, Vancouver--I think many will be reinfested. Others may not be infested at all. But if you got them the first time because your neighbors did, or your workplace did, or they're in the clubs and bars or wherever, then reinfestation unfortunately makes sense.The good news--Caryn, the NYC bed bug blogger who writes APictureofMe (linked on the blogroll on bedbugger.com) got them in February after two years bed bug free. I believe they were gone again lickity split. The second time can be much better than the first. I hope yours is too.
-
Bugalina
senior member
Joined: Mar '07
Posts: 508
Posted 2 years ago
Sat Aug 18 2007 7:07:55
#
Login to Send PM
Torontobugged......I am so sorry...Were you on the Yahoo Group last year??? IF so can you tell me what your moniker was? Also, you didn't give any details about this unfortunate reoccurance. Do you think that they are coming from another apt. in your bldg. ( if you live in a multi family unit )..or , were they in your workplace ??? Or , do you travel a lot ? The thought just occurred to me, that maybe its possible that once an apt. is infested, that bed bugs leave their "mark"....whatever that may be, and when another apt. gets infested the newly introduced bed bugs follow the trail left fot them...rather similar to salmon returning to spawn..I know it sounds a little kooky but if there is any merit in this idea then previously infested apts. must really remain on high alert for a long time..I hope you can tell give us more info ..Torontobugged and I hope that Nobugs is correct that the second time is "easier"...if anything can ever be easy when it comes to bed bugs...
-
TorontoBugged
member
Joined: Aug '07
Posts: 147
Posted 2 years ago
Sat Aug 18 2007 9:53:53
#
Login to Send PM
hi Bugalina/No Bugs,
Yes I was on the Yahoo group last year. I forgot my yahoo id and I can't remember my moniker. It's been that long that I believed I was bed bug free. I live in a semi-detached house not an apt. I don't see alot of blogs or entries from people in Toronto. I know no one else in Toronto who has them. All I've read about is people in low-income housing, shelters and apts getting them.
The other side of the house has been empty for a while. Only someone coming in once in a while to do some upkeep. I doubt it's coming from there. I don't know the source of the bugs for sure.
My dad said he has been itching for years even in their previous house - every summer it gets bad he says. He has these white scars on his legs. My parents moved in with me 2 years ago. But we had no problems the first summer/year they moved in. We got them last year, the second year they have been in this house. It was my first ever encounter with bed bugs. I fought and cried with the parents all last summer trying to impress upon them how dire the situation would become if we didn't spray and take serious actions. They thought I had gone crazy and that being on the net had made me that way. You can't trust anything you read on the net, they said. Not only did I have to battle bed bugs, but my parents too. It was hell. And now it's started again. They yelled at me everytime I put stuff in the dryer in the summer and vacuuming too mcuh because they said I was wasting money. But I have managed to get some of the urgency across. My dad is the worse. He's old and not very mindful.
Anyway the ironic thing is that we went to a laundromat to wash all our heavy comforters on Sat. August 4 just as a routine summer cleaning thing. My first itches prsented around 11 am on Sun. August 12 and got a more severe itch/bite at around 6 PM while I was out all day with a friend the same day. When the dreaded 3 bite pattern emerged as more severe itches in the coming days, I panicked and told my parents. My dad revealed that he had been itching for the past 2-3 days so that means his bites showed on Wed. Aug. 7 or Thurs. Aug. 8. That's at least 5 days after we did our fricking laundry. I'm also deperately afraid I've infected my friend because he was with me in my car on the Sunday I got that late bite. I got the itch when I was holding my purse at dinner (as I always do now for fear of picking something up should I set it down somewhere in a restaurant). I got what seemed like a nymph bite/welt on my stomach last week but it went away by midday as some of my bites last year did.
Anyway, I suspect a cotton blanket that my dad brought back from a developing country. Who does that anyway? I had told them not to bring any of their shit when they moved in but they didn't listen. Anyway, I was going to launder the comforter last year and nearly threw it out but knew my dad would have been furious. I thought after a year and 2 months it would be okay. I left it outside hoping it would be taken away with the garbage but he brought it back in.
Recently, at the laundromat, I didn't have the energy (cuz i was sick with cold) to fight with my mom over paying the extra money to throw the blankets in the dryer. We just brought them back and let them dry in the sun outside. I should have waged my battle last year and thrown the stupid comforter out. Cover and all.
The other possible source is from our screens in our windows. We have stupid squirrels and raccoons all over our yard and there's a tree overlooking our house. I had asked way back last year if anyone was experiencing these tiny tiny grey bugs - oval shape but pointy on the ends with curved antenna. They have been showing in all our wooden window sills this summer. They jump when you try to crush them. They are easily crushable. Almost turn into dust/dirt when you do and come out only at night when I turn the light on quickly. Sometimes they hide underneath the cream jars and stuff. I think I've identified them as "springtails" and not bedbugs but the uncertainty is always there. Supposedly it can feel like they're biting if they get on you because they are using their little legs to spring off you. But they are not biting you and therefore can't be the cause of my recent bites.
I vacuumed my room yesterday and saw something big and black get sucked up in the vacuum cleaner. It was hiding in in a wooden magazine holder I had bought from Ikea. Unfortunately it went into the vacuum cleaner before I could see what it was. Then I found a dead bug but I believe I identified it with the help of the net as a weevil not a bed bug so I still have no concrete proof.
I'm sure I didn't get them from work but it's a definite possibility since it's covered with dark grey carpeting and I don't think they vacuum too often. We have a lot of messy people on my floor as well. Some of them probably could be living in apartments. I saw a huge roach / beetle in our basement lobby at work last week. Anything is possible. I could be fighting a losing battle anyway. I know that people are not as vigilant as I am when it comes to contamination. I don't sit on the transit anymore. I shake out my clothes over the bathtub every morning before wearing. And I stopped accepting invitations to go out to people's houses and cars. :(
On top of it our other family members can't support me because they can't visit our house now that it's been quarantined again. The future that I see is that sooner or later we're back to the pre-40s years where every household has bed bugs to some degree.
Ray of Sunshine in Toronto
-
Bugalina
senior member
Joined: Mar '07
Posts: 508
Posted 2 years ago
Sat Aug 18 2007 10:39:19
#
Login to Send PM
Ray..this post is very upsetting to me. I feel your pain ! I think the laudramat could be a huge potential source for getting reinfested. I too had springtails on my lawn and in the basment...they do not bite humans and are found in dampness. I can only say ...to try and keep up your fight...I suppose you have read all the FAQ's and know what to do ?? So sorry...Deb
-
Toronto,
All the Canadian cities from Halifax to Edmonton, Montreal to Vancouver, have serious bed bug problems. Toronto is no exception. In 2003, there was a study done of the incidence of bed bugs in Toronto, and most of the sufferers at the time were in single-family homes. It is probably more common in multi-unit buildings there now, but that is just because they spread more easily there. I doubt it has stopped being a problem in houses.
Also, any co-worker could bring them into work. Imagine someone lives in a single-family house but their partner is a nurse, pilot, social worker--many professions bring people in contact with bed bugs.
I guess the laundromat is a possibility, as is something purchased from a store (that someone else had returned before you bought, for example). It is really hard to know.
I'd get a good PCO in. Since the problem has just come up again, it is not likely that they were hiding in your home. You should be able to get rid of them soon.
-
TorontoBugged
member
Joined: Aug '07
Posts: 147
Posted 2 years ago
Sun Aug 19 2007 12:19:52
#
Login to Send PM
Nobugs,
It would nice if people in these single family dwellings would talk more about it and go to the press about it - anonymously of course. We need more people to talk about it otherwise, people who don't have it just don't get it. I wrote into the Star and they did a really good spread on it last year.
Personally, I was very careful when going to work. I would shake out my night clothes over the bathtub every morning, shower every morning in case remnants were on me or in my hair and put on my clean laundered clothes out of the ziploc bags. Then I would wear flip flops whenever I walked around in the house. I would not stay long in the house in the mornings for fear of some harboring on me. I would take my purse out of a plastic bag that I would put it in each night when I came home after work. And put on my laundered socks and shoes outside. I did not keep my shoes inside for the longest time even in winter. And I was on my way to work. I would not sit on the bus or subway for fear of passing it on or catching more. At work, I was also vigilant. Cleaning my desk and keyboard and mouse. Again I put my purse in a plastic bag when I got to work.
I'd be interested in knowing what other people have done to ensure they don't infect their workplace. I understood that if I infected my workplace, I would never be free of them and I would be re-infected and that if I passed them onto anyone else, it would only mean these buggers would spread even more.
I don't really know that moving to try and get rid of them is the most ethical answer. Everyone who moves in after you will suffer the same fate and god knows how many other people after. I wonder if people keep hush about it so that they could find other people to take over their lease/buy their house. That would be really evil. That being said, I think living with bedbugs in a multi-unit apt. or condo would be a nightmare since you can't control anyone else's behaviour. I tend to go overboard and be really paranoid.
I can't call a PCO until after end of AUgust because of timing. As I said, I don't want to battle my parents who are very against the idea of pesticides and chemicals. They say that it's not the end of the world to get a few bites now and then. We have been bite-free since my last itches on August 12 and 13. They want more proof of bites or bugs until I am able to call the PCO in again. All this means that I will have to be vigilant for another 18 months - a year and a half since my last bite.
Anyway, I'm so sorry for depressing people. My post was a big whinefest and I am known alarmist (my horoscope says so). I think as long as you have the support of a few good people in your life, you can overcome anything especially when its such a minor thing as bed bugs. And luckily I have good people in my life and I have food and shelter and my health so I really shouldn't be complaining...Thanks for indulging me.
TorontoBugged
-
No need for apologies, Toronto. We understand.
Getting middle class and rich people to talk about bed bugs is tricky. Homeowners don't post in the bed bug registries because they will never be able to sell their homes. And every time a reporter asks us for volunteers to talk to the press, few people come forward.
Cooper thinks you can rest after being 60 days completely bite and bug free. Unless you're bagging stuff for 18 months, you don't have to worry the whole time. I know it does things to your head. I am just saying, I would personally relax after 4 months or so.
Anyway, get treatment as soon as you can. Put out glue traps around the floor surrounding the bed. In 2 weeks, maybe you will be able to catch one.
Reply
You must log in to post.
