Got Bed Bugs? Bedbugger Forums » Bed bug bites, skin, etc.
Does anybody get hives besides the actual bb bites?
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Just itching to get rid of them
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Joined: May '09
Posts: 124
Posted 5 months ago
Mon Jun 8 2009 15:04:12
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I am really frightened. On another thread I have been sharing with the community that my husband died after being hospitalized a month for congestive heart failure. I believed it was a visit from the building exterminator that set off his final illness a week later. Anyway, my place stank for weeks, and now that I am an deep mourning I certainly am not up for an exterminator, let alone the building one. All that dreadful spraying led to four weeks without bites. Now, the bbs are back in full force. However, now I have a worse symptom. Besides the itchy bites, themselves, I get hives some nights. I believe I am very sensitized to bbs. I am seeing my doctor on Thursday, but I am really worried. My reactions seem to be getting worse, and on some medical sight, hives were listed as a bb complication to see the doctor about. I am scared about the possibility of my reactions escalating. They say it's very rare, but some people go into anaphlactic shock. Let me know if you get hives, and what you do about them. You may know more about them than my physician. He's a good doctor, but my impression is that even educated members of the public know very little about bbs until they, themselves, have them.
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losingit
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Joined: Nov '08
Posts: 292
Posted 5 months ago
Mon Jun 8 2009 15:25:30
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Hi - I'm so sorry for the loss of your husband. It can't be easy for you right now, I'm sure.
I think hives are usually symptoms rather than an illness themselves from what I've read about hives/welts/allergies etc. Most health-related sites I've visited say this.
I can tell you that stress can produce hives out of nowhere.
Several years back, (pre-bb days for me) I was under a lot of stress and depression, one evening at home I felt faint, I was instantly covered in hives. I was lightheaded, dizzy, short of breath, panicking like never before. I crawled to my apt door, called my upstairs neighbour (an old vic. house) she ran down to help me. She's a homeopath and gave me a remedy on the spot. Within 30 seconds I was feeling 99% better. Apart from the emotional jolt. Anyway, I'd NEVER had hives in my life before that. And it has not happened since.
Of course the bbs messed my skin up even worse, sadly, but it sounds like you are dealing with a lot of grief, worry, stress. Perhaps you could visit your doc or derm, see what they say. At least you'll have a prof. opinion on what it is and can put your mind at ease.
Do you have anyone close to you to help you out with the PCO?
Hope it all turns out well for you.
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paulaw0919
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Joined: Jul '07
Posts: 997
Posted 5 months ago
Mon Jun 8 2009 15:50:49
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I just want to send my deepest sympathy in regards to your husband. Fighting a bb issue on top of that is not easy to say the least.
I didn't break out in hives as well as bites during my infestation 2yrs ago. But my children have gotten hives from time to time and for the most part, I've been told they usually just need to work through it's course. I have also had the pediatrician give wrong diagnosis on some skin issues in the past as well. (Pediatrican said the marks on my daughter were "bites" but when I brought her to a specialist I found it was Pseudomonas folliculitis) The doc you are seeing....is he/she a dermotologist??? If not, please go and see a specialist for the hives. There may be more that a specialist can do to help relieve some symptoms. If I was in your shoes I would also try and get assistance and do anything I could to try and keep my stress levels down.
A bed bug infestation is obviously exhausting physically and emotionally. I hope you have some family member that maybe can assist in the prep work the PCO advises? If not, I know some PCO companies have a service that can help do this for or with you?? Maybe if you can even get a PCO company just to do some of the prep for a fee? I don't know if you are in an apartment or single family home...but there are many more treatment options out there for both than there used to be Please know that though it can be exhausting, this will not last forever for you.
The only other thing I may say to be of any help is that if you are on the east coast, at least the weather is on your side now for attire is light now and there is the ability to get out of the house and refresh your mind aa bit. I hope you are able to take advantage of that as much as possible in your situation. Getting out of the environment I think is helps greatly to keep your strength up, stay focused stress level down. Stress can cause our bodies to many strange things.
Lastly, there are professionals here that can assist/guide you in things and there are people here that have been there and/or going through infestations themselves who can support you emotionally.
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Just itching to get rid of them
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Joined: May '09
Posts: 124
Posted 5 months ago
Mon Jun 8 2009 21:20:15
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Thanks losingit and paulaw0919. I certainly am stressed out to say the least. I agree the hives could be from stress, but they itch in the same nasty way bb bites do. Anyway re the exterminators, I am at an impasse now. My whole building is infested, I have few funds, and I'm in deep mourning and can't do too much. I live minute to minute, hour to hour. However, as dark as things are, I try to lighten up once in a while, and have some hope that things will get better.
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reepicheep
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Joined: May '08
Posts: 45
Posted 5 months ago
Mon Jun 8 2009 21:49:13
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I am so sorry to hear about the loss of your husband. What a tough time this must be for you.
Like Paula, I have never had hives, but my daughter has. At the beginning of our infestation over a year ago, she only had bites, but after a few months, the hives started appearing as well. Additionally, wherever she scratched, the scratch marks would raise up like welts. I did find that my skin became much more sensitive to other types of bites (like mosquito bites-much larger and mor itchy) or irritations (like scratches from working in the yard). We were never able to do anything about the hives. I would think that your doctor would be the best person to help you figure out your risk for a serious reaction, since everyone has different sensitivity and risk factors. If you haven't already done so, you might try isolating your bed so that you can at least sleep without worry of being bitten at night. I found that just a few days relief from the bites always gave me better sleep and a more energy and courage to persevere.
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Traumabugged
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Joined: May '09
Posts: 103
Posted 5 months ago
Wed Jun 10 2009 17:42:06
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I'm sorry for your loss. I do have many welts bumped up each time I got bitten, which is more like eczema than hive and I was not that stressed, seriously. It's covered most of my upper back and feels really, really awful. New areas of eczema would be even be itchy...
I've isolated my bed with double sided tape and vaseline, which might have helped (or not). Still I got like 4 itch eczema-like areas on my back today...
Please hang on.
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