Got Bed Bugs? Bedbugger Forums » Free for all
Desperately need advice asap!
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lrb
junior member
Joined: Oct '11
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Posted 1 year ago
Wed Nov 2 2011 14:37:27
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The sprayer is coming in an hour to my apt. and I have to leave for about 8-12 hours. The thing is, I don't have anywhere to go. I called Public Health and asked for advice, which left me confused.
I've been reading on this site that it's VERY easy to infect other people when you go to their house if you don't take proper precautions. However, the person I spoke with told me it was fine. Just to shake out my clothes and shoes and that's that. Which is really true? The posts about easily spreading have me paranoid and borderline insane, yet the Public Health person told me it's fine. I know all about showering, not touching anything then leaving asap. Someone please help, I don't have much time. -
your host
Joined: Mar '07
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Posted 1 year ago
Wed Nov 2 2011 15:04:47
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The FAQ here about not spreading bed bugs suggests you shower, wear clean clothing (which had been in a bag after washing/drying) -- showering and changing right before you go out-- and be careful not to bring things which might be infested.
How likely are you to spread bed bugs if you just walk out the door as is, with whatever you would be carrying? Think it would depend on how many bed bugs you have, and luck.
I would not say it was VERY easy to spread bed bugs. I am not sure I see people claiming that. The fact is they do hitchhike. Otherwise, there would not be bed bugs in libraries and other places.
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your host
Joined: Mar '07
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Posted 1 year ago
Wed Nov 2 2011 15:10:17
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One other thing-- clearly more bed bugs makes it more likely you'll spread them. But sometimes people do spread them before they even know they have them. So you don't have to have a massive case to spread them accidentally. The steps described in the FAQ about visiting people, linked above, should give you peace of mind.
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lrb
junior member
Joined: Oct '11
Posts: 45offline
Posted 1 year ago
Wed Nov 2 2011 16:05:16
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Well, the sprayers came early and basically kicked me out. lol. So, I grabbed a sealed bag, along with my cell phone, bank card, cash etc and left. A friend said to come over despite everything and when I got here, I stripped, sealed ALL the things I had on me in seperate bags and they're sitting by the door waiting to go into the wash. This has me apprehensive because I could very well have any amount of hitchhikers in those bags, and what if they got out and infest his apt? Maybe I'm being too paranoid or something 'cause for the past few days I've been nothing but frantic and I think I feel the creepy crawlies on me right now moving all over me. I'm not sure whether I should laugh or burst out crying. I think I'm going crazy.
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lrb
junior member
Joined: Oct '11
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Posted 1 year ago
Wed Nov 2 2011 16:08:31
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The creepy crawly feeling could just be the bites itching right?
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your host
Joined: Mar '07
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Posted 1 year ago
Wed Nov 2 2011 17:34:03
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If your stuff is in sealed bags, bed bugs would not be able to get out.
Try not to worry.
Yes, creepy crawly sensations are reported by a lot of people, and seem to occur for at least some of us when bed bugs are not actually biting the spot that has the feeling. (People know because they have looked.) It could be part of an allergic response to being bitten in general.
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lsdrg706
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Posted 1 year ago
Wed Nov 2 2011 18:11:27
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Nobugsonme - 34 minutes ago »
Yes, creepy crawly sensations are reported by a lot of people, and seem to occur for at least some of us when bed bugs are not actually biting the spot that has the feeling. (People know because they have looked.) It could be part of an allergic response to being bitten in general.
Can they be psychological even if you know there's nothing there?
The reason why I ask is that myself as well as my fiance have been experiencing these crawling sensations, or body hair tickling, rather frequently since the first bug sighting. There is never anything there when we check, and at least for me, I always make a point of looking and not just brushing at my skin; and not even once have I found something crawling on me, even though it darn sure feels like it.
Was just curious.
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your host
Joined: Mar '07
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Posted 1 year ago
Wed Nov 2 2011 21:39:02
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lsdrg706 - 3 hours ago »
Nobugsonme - 34 minutes ago »
Yes, creepy crawly sensations are reported by a lot of people, and seem to occur for at least some of us when bed bugs are not actually biting the spot that has the feeling. (People know because they have looked.) It could be part of an allergic response to being bitten in general.Can they be psychological even if you know there's nothing there?
It could be psychological, but I'm suggesting it might be physical -- part of an allergic reaction. That's not really the same thing.
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lrb
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Posted 1 year ago
Wed Nov 2 2011 23:43:58
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Last night, I was sitting here at the computer desk. (I'm back home now). and I felt the creepy crawlies, and I felt a slight pinch on my forearm and I see a tiny blood stain. Turns out it was one of those things that comes from the egg. They look transparent. Anyway, it bit me and I watched it for a bit and freaked out. I ran to the bathroom, took out a tweezer, pinched it, and pulled. omg it didn't let go! Still freaking, I yanked it out and I guess it left it's sucker thing in me and I bled from that hole for awhile until I placed a bandaid on the hole and it stopped. (I took a pic but don't know how to post it on here). It tried to rebite me again beside the first bite. I personally think the creepy crawlies are the things that emerge from the eggs. We don't see them 'cause they're transparent and tiny.
I've been sprayed, and I didn't manage to get a mattress cover. I tossed out the bed frame and my futon. (YAY! I loathed that old futon). I put a sheet on the bed, and that's where I'm going to sleep tonight. Should I expect to be devoured as usual after the 1st treatment? Or dare I think I can actually sleep? p.s, I STILL haven't slept since I woke up yesterday morning. What a day! -
buggyinsocal
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Joined: Jun '08
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Posted 1 year ago
Thu Nov 3 2011 11:15:46
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I know I'm likely a bit late in responding to be of much use. However, even though I tell this story often, it doesn't seem to crop up in any of the places that newbites are likely to read it. For that reason, I'll tell it again.
Before I start, however, I want to make one thing perfectly clear: I am describing something I did in a state of ignorance that, knowing what I know now, I would never knowingly do again. I am not recommending the following behavior--simply describing it to give people some data to help figure out how spreadable the bugs are.
I am fairly sure that I was introduced to bed bugs at a hotel in March of 2008. As I travel for work (and at the time had two jobs, both of which required travel) and travel often, I'm not 100% sure which hotel.
However, I distinctly remember finding a "tick" in the bed with me at a hotel. I took it outside to the balcony (like I do with spiders) and forgot about it.
Fast forward to June of 2008. I was napping in the middle of the day and stuck my hand under the pillow on the side of the bed that I hadn't been sleeping on. I felt what felt like sugar grains and then lifted the pillow up. There were what looked to me like baby spiders. I started googling, and discovered that they were bed bugs. Cue panic.
(The story has a happy ending. I had thermal treatment about ten days later. All my bugs and eggs died, and I've been bed bug free and better informed ever since.)
That hotel trip with the tick was one of the trips on which I had roommates, as I sometimes do on work trips. I had two roommates on that trip, one of whom was sleeping in the same bed I was (as hotel rooms come in doubles not triples.)
That was March.
In May, I travled to the Midwest for another conference, where I again shared a room with two other roommates, one of whom also slept in the same bed I did.
In early June, I traveled to the east coast to a friend's home, from which we drove down to D.C. where the two of us shared a room for another conference.
Remember, during none of these trips did I know I had bed bugs. I didn't know to inspect hotel rooms. I didn't take any precautions with my clothing or luggage.
When I realized later that I had bed bugs and that everyone I had stayed with had been exposed, I panicked. These were friends and colleagues, and I had unknowingly exposed every single one of them to an expensive, stressful scourge. Calling each and every one of them and warning them was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do.
That said, not a single one of them developed bed bug infestations.
A wise member of the site, Cilecto, reminded me that a long time ago I said that often when we're in the throes of dealing with our very first bed bug emergency, we tend to view them as almost super-insects--like Tribbles with velcro. We tend to think of them as reproducing at a staggeringly exponential rate; we fear that they hitch hike all the time.
In reality, that's seldom the case.
I do think that my infestation was a bit odd. Despite its length of time, I never saw evidence of them outside of the bedroom. That's esp. weird given how much I was traveling. However, I have a cat who sleeps on my bed, so my guess is that they fed on her while I was away, which meant that the bugs didn't have to get up off their lazy thoraxes and go looking for meals elsewhere.
I would never do what I did then (albeit in ignorance) now that I do know how costly--in terms of money and stress--bed bugs can be.
But I do think the story drives home that when we suggest elaborate protocols to avoid spreading bugs, we do so because we know how awful they are and we want to keep other people from experiencing them.
However, in the case of a relatively small, fairly undisturbed infestation, I don't think there are usually as many hitch hikers as people fear there will be. It's still a good idea to act as if there are, but if something like the PCO showing up ahead of schedule happens, that is not the automatic sentence of infestation for others that I certainly feared failure to follow the protocols would be.
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lrb
junior member
Joined: Oct '11
Posts: 45offline
Posted 1 year ago
Thu Nov 3 2011 13:18:53
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Thank you for sharing your story. You are totally right about the first time being so...Insane and scary. I'm being careful to take precaution with my clothing, bedding, towels etc. and I'm hoping that this won't be as long term as I'm dreading it will be. Hope is a wonderful thing when you can feel it without getting eaten alive. lol.
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