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Fecal stains near my hairline? Worried that they may be hanging out on me....
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buggy prevention princess
newbite
Joined: Jan '12
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Posted 1 year ago
Sun Jan 8 2012 13:54:47
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Hi, well we had a 4 month long debacle that I think we have won after 3 treatments from the PCO. NOOO evidence around my furnishings, any irritations/bite feelings that I have I believe are old things that seem to come back... I think... Our ordeal was minor to begin with, never saw one of the creatures and my bites were low-key. The tell-tale sign was that I had the tiny black flecks on my bed - which I haven't seen for about a month and a half (believe me I stare at my bed constantly in the daylight like a psycho looking for anything at all) but I have noticed that occasionally I get a similar black speck mark that smears up by my hairline and I'm worried that they're hiding in my hair or ears or something. I apologize if this sounds stupid.
I wanted to know if this is something anyone else has insight on so I can stop worrying as I am supposed to move next week (with just my clothes that will be washed for 3 hrs) and am so concerned because I don't know how possible it could be that they are on me without my noticing, and what to do about this to insure that I will not carry them to my next place on my body. I have noticed that this has happened up by my hairline when I've stayed overnight elsewhere too, which furthers my freak out that they are hiding somewhere on me. -
jduk
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Joined: Nov '11
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Posted 1 year ago
Sun Jan 8 2012 15:40:47
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Hi
How strange! before I knew we had a bb problem I used to see little black flecks on my hairline first thing in morning. They were like a dust and smeared when wiped. I thought it might have been make up debris then I started to suspect head lice but no sign on either mine or my daughters head. Now in different premises which we unfortunately took bbs along to. Following treatment way back in April 11 and no sightings but still some bites, I have been trying to go along with the possibility that bbs are gone. However now it seems that along with bites I mY have to consider these specks as some sort of sign cos only last week I saw them again as I was washing my face in the morning. I would have thought though that a bite Would be evident near the marks and although I have recently had 1 bite like mark that itched like a hive then felt more like a spot but after a few days looked like a bite, 2 small marks, i feel I would have had more bites along hairline. I have had bites on neck and behind ears. I would say the black flecks are a fairly regular occurrence and now I feel sick tha it could be bb related. This crap just never ends. So fed up trying to second guess everything, but thank you for posting this. I will be interested to see what the experts say although think I can guess it will go along lines of: look for positive evidence such as cast skins, live bugs etc. -
oldtimer
Joined: Nov '11
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Posted 1 year ago
Sun Jan 8 2012 16:19:42
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Dear princess & jduk,
If these were actual fecal stains my thought is that there'd be a bunch of bed bugs to see as well.
Actually, this is contrary to "normal" or "average" BB behavior. As bed bugs are stealthy ecto-parasites, their preference is to not remain on a host. While this may not be the case 100% of the time, remember that we have biological diversity going on as well, there are cases where BBs may remain on a host but in my experience & observation these are extreme cases.
There may be something going on but in the absence of other physical evidence it may be incorrect to implicate BBs as the culprit responsible for these hairline region specks.
Hope this helps ! paul b.
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jduk
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Joined: Nov '11
Posts: 85offline
Posted 1 year ago
Sun Jan 8 2012 17:23:44
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Phew mr bello, I thought David Cain was prolific bur you certainly put in the hours, and always, always reassuring and pragmatic. I have to admit I myself do feel that a dusting of faecal on my forehead does seem counterintuitive unless they are just trying to spare my lovely White sheets, and using me as their public convenience! I may be wrong but my understanding is 1 poop per bug so if I have a collection of flecks on hairline and just supposing that bbs were the culprits then either I have one greedy bb or a good number of them, all choosing to relieve themselves on my forehead, in which case surely to goodness I would have found something tangible. Anyway I am in a couldn't give a hoot frame of mind tonight. Done all i can and just too tired to deal with the anxiety tonight. I know I will have another spike of anxiety as there are good days and bad days. I take comfort from your reply, as ever, much gratitude to you. Jduk
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oldtimer
Joined: Nov '11
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Posted 1 year ago
Sun Jan 8 2012 18:05:00
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Of course, glad to be of help !
Think about it, if you had a number of flecks, you'd have a number of BBs too.
You don't and you don't !
pb
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oldtimer
Joined: Apr '07
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Posted 1 year ago
Sun Jan 8 2012 18:16:47
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Hi,
In my somewhat extensive experience I have never seen faecal traces in hairline. Although under some circumstances bedbugs will defecate during feeding it is more common for them to defecate just prior to setteling into a harbourage.
Therefore for this to be bedbugs they would need to be present in the area and could easily be detected with the use of a comb run through the hair over a white piece of paper.
My greater concern in reading this thread is the reality that almost all of the cases I take on where someone else has treated before where bites were the only evidence are only about 10% likely to actually be bedbugs. Yes I am saying those who treat on bites alone usually assume bedbugs and when all known what assume means.
I would strongly advice you to stop treatments until you can actually confirm bedbugs by live samples, cast skins or faecal traces. There are far too many cases that surface around here that also confirm this.
To further clarify the only times I have seen bedbugs living / hanging out on people have been in cases where there was no lack of live samples , cast skins or faecal traces for even the most short sighted of moles to see. The least had an estimated 30,000 bedbugs and had been active for two years. Such cases we see only once or twice a year so you have an idea how rare they are.
I would advise you to confirm visually and keep the options open of what could be causing this reaction.
Hope that helps.
David Cain
Bed Bugs Limited -
oldtimer
Joined: Apr '07
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Posted 1 year ago
Sun Jan 8 2012 18:18:51
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PS flecks as in fragments that could be paint flecks seem to turn out to be fleas or midges in the few cases I have seen.
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jduk
junior member
Joined: Nov '11
Posts: 85offline
Posted 1 year ago
Sun Jan 8 2012 18:52:25
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Thank you both, I only commented on princesses post as it chimed with me re the sooty specks. Having a school age child my suspicion was nits and head lice and thought it may be feasible it was their poop. If you have kids there is a high probability of encountering these parasites and you find yourself checking out the back of peoples heads on the bus and post office queue! Now I need to factor in checking out the seats too! It infuriates me that so much of public transport here in the uk is upholstered, positively crying out for spreading all sorts of pestilence etc. David, I was treated for a confirmed bb problem, I hsve spoke to you about this only last week and I am taking the advice you gave me at that time, and feel you have helped to turn around my mind set to enable me to tackle my maladaptive behaviour vis a vis bb PTS. Even had long lie in this morning!!!thanks again and goodnight. Jduk
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buggy prevention princess
newbite
Joined: Jan '12
Posts: 5offline
Posted 1 year ago
Sun Jan 8 2012 19:34:41
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Bless you all for your input. I'm glad to hear that my fear of carrying them around on my person is largely unfounded. Since I am moving just with some overwashed clothes, this gives me peace of mind about my escape from this apartment.
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