Does your reaction to bites change? « Got Bed Bugs? Bedbugger Forums

Got Bed Bugs? Bedbugger Forums » Bed bug bites, skin, etc.

Does your reaction to bites change?

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DeathToAllBBs

junior member
Joined: Aug '09
Posts: 65

Posted 6 months ago
Wed Sep 9 2009 14:06:14
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About a month ago, I was bitten at work and they turned into obvious red welts/bumps. Since then, the only thing I've noticed are pimples on my back and neck. They're red but not like what I had the first time I was bit. Not as obvious or as red or even as large. Bite reactions wouldn't change from the obvious red bumps to what looks more like pimples now, would they?
HoseBB

newbite
Joined: Sep '09
Posts: 5

Posted 6 months ago
Wed Sep 9 2009 14:35:09
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My reactions have changed for the better!! When I first moved into my new apartment, I got 4 bites on my arms, which immediately got infected. My elbows and wrists, where the bites occured, blew up to double the size, and movement was restricted. I even got these rash trails that linked bite to bite. After seeing the doctor, he concluded that they were just infected mosquito bites. Then I received five bites all in a row, which eventually blew up and became infected again. The doctor saw it and concluded the same thing. After 2 months, the bites no longer get infected. They are not as itchy, but still annoying. I'm also getting more and more bites, so the marks that are left are terrible.
Infofreak

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Joined: Apr '09
Posts: 74

Posted 6 months ago
Wed Sep 9 2009 14:53:05
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They change , and there is so much of a change and so many people that have so many different reactions that its frustrating to nail it down and know what to expect, I reacted different to bites day to day, hour to hour
bbfiend

junior member
Joined: Sep '09
Posts: 82

Posted 6 months ago
Wed Sep 9 2009 16:05:27
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Mine haven't changed. First bites were 2 months ago. HUGE welts, not exaggerating. Huge as in 12 inches across (I took a photo of it). The latest bite last week - still pancake size. Not as burning painful (the firsts seemed to have made my joints hurts), but still huge and itchy.
IN HELLS Kitchen

newbite
Joined: Aug '09
Posts: 16

Posted 5 months ago
Tue Oct 20 2009 8:51:28
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It that really true? Can your reaction to bedbug bites change over time?

I've recently gotten over an infestation, or so I thought. I was treated for the second time about six weeks ago and had comfortably assumed we'd conquered the problem. But, this morning I woke up with a small itchy something on the back of my leg. Before, when I knew I had BBs, the bites were much more mosquito-like--red itchy welts that were raised. This bite (a single one) is much smaller and the sanity side of my brain would normally say that it is nothing. However, it was really itchy this morning. I've monitored is for the past hour or two and it hasn't gotten bigger (it's very small, red, and pimple-like) but still a bit itchy.

Could this bite be from a nymph? I've read here that people have the same reaction from nymphs and adults, but I'm curious as to whether that really true. What if I had just interrupted the bug while feeding so it didn't have time to finish and thus my reaction was minimized? (that would also explain why there's only one bite.)

I'm praying that I'm overreacting here, but my experience has been that I've been pretty right when it comes to these guys. I'm going to have a nervous breakdown if it turns out to be BBs again. I can't handle going through this again.
buggyinsocal

oldtimer
Joined: Jun '08
Posts: 1,259

Posted 5 months ago
Tue Oct 20 2009 10:10:11
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My bites never changed at all over time. I got my bed bug infestation (almost certainly from a hotel with them) in March 2008. I had thermal treatment at the end of June when I realized what was going on.

In August of that year, I am 90% sure I was bitten by bed bugs at a movie theater--because the bites were exactly the same as the bites I'd had in the late spring/early summer. But the PCO came our and inspected my home and found nothing, and no more bites appeared since I didn't go back to the theater.

I can tell you that my skin was more reactive than usual after the bed bug episode, so I had months of false positive inducing worries generated by, for example, razor burn when the stubble on my legs would grow back in a few days after shaving.

My nymph and adult bites were the same size.
IN HELLS Kitchen

newbite
Joined: Aug '09
Posts: 16

Posted 5 months ago
Tue Oct 20 2009 11:36:20
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Thanks buggyinsocal. The suspicious bite has since faded and is barely noticable, so I'm going to assuage my fears with the assumption that it was not a BB bite at all. It's jsut the small bump conmbined with the itching that really freaked me out. But it doesn't look at all like the bites I had when I was infested; that's my true comfort.
cwood0511

newbite
Joined: Sep '09
Posts: 9

Posted 4 months ago
Thu Oct 22 2009 21:01:23
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I am new to the bed bug world. Best I can tell I have had them a couple months. I had ALOT of bites at one time in different areas on my body. I then got an allergic reaction (rash, LARGE red welts, and both were extremely itchy) I went to the dr and they gave me steroids. While on the steroids all signs went away including the itching. One week after steroids were finished the itchy rash came back with no welts. I went back to the dr and they put me on another round of steroids (again all signs went away). I completed those yesterday. Today, tons of RED WELTS and a little bit of a rash. Extremely uncomfortable. Headed back to the dr tomorrow for some kind of shot they recommended today. Have no clue if it will work but I'm desperate. Has anyone had the same reaction I'm having after 2 rounds of steroids? If so, what did you do that worked for you?
cwood0511

newbite
Joined: Sep '09
Posts: 9

Posted 4 months ago
Thu Oct 22 2009 21:02:42
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Oh and I forgot to add that I haven't been bitten since 3rd week of August. Is it possible that these reactions are still coming from bites that long ago?
cwood0511

newbite
Joined: Sep '09
Posts: 9

Posted 4 months ago
Thu Oct 22 2009 21:03:16
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Sorry I'm in a big hurry. I meant 3rd week of September.
meremortal

junior member
Joined: Oct '09
Posts: 64

Posted 4 months ago
Fri Oct 23 2009 9:19:48
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I've suspected for a few months now that my bite reaction has become milder and milder. At first, I had attributed the smaller, less reactive bites to nymphs. This gave me hope that our year and a half battle was finally coming to an end... So maybe I'm the one who's changing, not the level of infestation! If this is the case, I am at a loss what to do next... My other half doesn't react, so I was the "monitor"!
wirehead

member
Joined: Aug '08
Posts: 129

Posted 4 months ago
Fri Oct 23 2009 11:22:39
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Oddly, mine have changed in the other direction -- I've always reacted to them with big welts, but they didn't used to come up until 6-8 hours after I was bitten (I would get bitten during the night and the bites would come up in the afternoon). After awhile I started reacting almost immediately, to the point that I can usually now catch them in the act.

I get the "bite-like reactions" too, for about 2-3 weeks after being bitten. I'll feel itchy without finding anything, or my skin will overreact to any other thing (dryness, little scratches, pimples) and I once worried that those were small bites, e.g. nymph bites. However, since I've caught bugs of all ages biting me, I know that my reactions to nymph and adult bites are the same.
moanie

newbite
Joined: Dec '09
Posts: 2

Posted 3 months ago
Sat Dec 19 2009 9:21:10
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I first noticed a pair of tiny red slightly raised dots that were mildly itchy for a couple hours, then a week later a very itchy mosquito-like bite on my cheek. Then I went away for two weeks, then after my first night back home in my bed, I got 6 or so VERY VERY itchy red welty raised bites on my butt and feet that lasted maybe 5 days and have left marks. The next day, I got mattress covers and since then I've been getting maybe one tiny slightly raised dot thats itchy for maybe 20 minutes then stops. Sometimes the raised mark goes away sometimes it stays, but they dont remain itchy for longer than a half hour or so... Not sure what to think -- since I had the mattress cover I haven't gotten the crazy itchy/painful bites, but I'm definitely getting something....

I had a PCO come and check out my bed, but he didn't find any evidence of bedbugs. He took the mattress cover off half the mattress (but not the box spring) to look for fecal matter, shells, anything -- but found nothing. He noticed a window A/C unit that I had taken out and had on the floor in the corner of the room and suggested maybe mosquitos, bird mites, something. I dunno... Well, he said he couldn't find evidence of bedbugs, but stressed that that doesn't mean I don't have them.

Anyway, just wanted to add that... Any suggestions of what might be going on with my bite reactions?