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Help - I'm desperate
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kj in Toronto
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Joined: May '09
Posts: 17offline
Posted 4 years ago
Thu May 14 2009 23:01:19
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I am new to the website - but not to bedbugs, unfortunately - I've been dealing with them for a year and am at my wit's end. First found them last May - was treated 5 times between May and October by same PCO who just wasn't thorough enough - I learned that you really do get what you pay for.
In November, brought in a dog and found they were in two rooms - my bedroom and in the den - had the whole house thoroughly treated by a new PCO and thought they were gone until three weeks ago when both my son and I were bitten. Had the PCO back, treated the whole house again and have been vacuuming for at least an hour every day, all our clothes are in bags, running all sheets and bedding through the dryer every day or two - and they are back again - I was bitten and then found a live one in the bathtub of all places. PCO is coming on Tuesday. I feel like I am losing my mind.
I have taken every step I can - my house is the middle of three - I have caulked all walls and cracks between the houses. Dirty laundry is bagged. All mattresses and pillows are encased. (We threw out my infested bed in November.) No beds are near the walls. All beds and dressers have two-sided sticky tape on them. All cushions have been in bags for almost a year. With PCO's approval, I have used DE in drawers and bedframes. I don't know what else to do.
The stress of dealing with the bugs is unending - I am a single parent and just feel overwhelmed by it. Even during the months the bugs were gone I worried constantly about them coming back. It is like an unending nightmare. I would welcome any suggestions anyone has, both for dealing with the bedbugs and prepping for the PCO on Tuesday, and for coping emotionally.
And one question that may be kind of dumb - how much vacuuming is necessary? I have vacuumed until I thought I would lose my mind, replacing the bag each time, and it obviously hasn't worked. I am wondering if I will ever gert rid of them.
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your host
Joined: Mar '07
Posts: 13,738offline
Posted 4 years ago
Fri May 15 2009 2:20:19
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Hi kj,
Sorry you're going through this.
you said:
In November, brought in a dog and found they were in two rooms - my bedroom and in the den - had the whole house thoroughly treated by a new PCO and thought they were gone until three weeks ago when both my son and I were bitten. Had the PCO back, treated the whole house again and have been vacuuming for at least an hour every day, all our clothes are in bags, running all sheets and bedding through the dryer every day or two - and they are back again - I was bitten and then found a live one in the bathtub of all places. PCO is coming on Tuesday. I feel like I am losing my mind.
You had five treatments in May-October by a PCO you thought was not doing it.
You confirmed the presence of bed bugs then you had ONE treatment in November.
Then you found them again and had ONE treatment 3 weeks ago.Vacuuming on its own doesn't do a whole lot, in my understanding.
We hear many knowledgeable PCOs tell us they follow up in approx. 2 weeks after treatment. This is usually a re-treatment, with or without a careful inspection.Thermal treatments can kill bed bugs in one shot. (Vikane TM gas fumigation can too.)
Careful PCOs who spend hours just inspecting and then use careful pesticide and dust treatments may be able to get rid of bed bugs in one shot, but my understanding is most do not, and many do not even attempt to (note I said "careful" inspections).
Most bed bug treatments take multiple visits and they are generally spaced 2 weeks apart. (Three may be okay.) If your original PCO came once a month, or made several more tightly spaced visits and then some longer-spaced ones, then this could mean it was hard to get rid of the problem.
It sounds like the new PCO you got in November did a good job. After treatment in November, though, I am a bit concerned. Why did they reappear in 4-5 months?
Did you open up a bagged item that could have contained bed bugs? Did someone visit you who had them? Are you being re-exposed at work/school/daycare? Is there another source of reinfestation? Is your single family home attached to another?
Since you both react to bites, it would be unusual for bed bugs to not bite for 4-5 months and then pop back. This suggests they came from somewhere (either they were sealed in somewhere in your home, like a sealed storage bag, or they were reintroduced from outside).
You said you are currently storing dirty clothing in bags -- as a guard against reinfestation in future, I would wash/dry these on hot and bag in clean bags before the current treatment course is complete, so when you open them, there's no chance of bed bugs coming out again.
You need the current PCO to come back -- preferably every 2 weeks (3 if they must) -- until all bed bugs, and bites are gone. Do not lose heart. But do try and figure out where they are coming from.
And ask the PCO what you should be doing to supplement, if anything. Vacuuming is fine if he tells you to, but may not make a huge difference. Make sure he did not put down dusts where you will be vacuuming it up.
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blazing
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Joined: May '09
Posts: 65offline
Posted 4 years ago
Fri May 15 2009 9:57:55
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Toronto, eh? What area? I left Toronto cuz of the bugs and I am considering never coming back cuz of the bugs too. I mean is it too much to ask to find a decent place to live? It's expensive enough as it is without worrying about living in bedbug city, where the chances of getting them (and getting them again) are currently much higher than anywhere else in Ontario. Makes me wanna go to the arctic and become a hermit.
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kj in Toronto
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Joined: May '09
Posts: 17offline
Posted 4 years ago
Fri May 15 2009 17:33:28
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Thanks nobugsonme - you've given me some good advice. I actually think the first PCO kept coming back not because the problem was so hard to treat, but because it was only taking him about half an hour to do a 3 story house. I didn’t realize that it needed a lot more time, outlet covers removed etc.
In November, when the treatment was successful, it was two people, working for 2 hours each. Of course, it was a lot more expensive, but it seemed to work. It is that PCO who is coming back now, and he too ahs suggested I may have been reinfested. The problem with that is I just don’t know how that happened, so can’t prevent it happening again, unless it is just bad luck. My house is attached on both sides – one side has not experienced any bedbugs. The other side is tenanted by fairly unsavoury people, and may be a source of bedbugs – if it is I am in deep trouble because the owner, who is not onsite, would not be cooperative in solving the problem. However, we have caulked and my PCO said that although it is a possible source, if there are bedbugs there, there is no reason for them to try to come to my house as long as there is a meal for them where they are. We could have picked them up at work, or at my kids’school, or out on public transit I just don’t know. And we have had to open storage bags occasionally, so that is another possible source, as you pointed out.
With respect to the dirty clothes, I wasn’t very clear – they are washed daily and what I meant was they don’t stay in laundry hampers but are immediately sealed before being washed, and then resealed when they are clean and dry.
When the PCO comes Tuesday, I am going to reschedule another appointment 2 -3 weeks afterwards. I am also going to check whether thermal treatments are available in Toronto.
And blazing – I’m in Leslieville. Is it common in this area?
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