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How long fighting bb's
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Ihatebb9215
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Joined: Nov '10
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Posted 2 years ago
Mon Dec 6 2010 20:20:54
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Just curious about the long road ahead of me. Can some of you please share how long you have been battling bb's. Just want to get a sense of how long I will be fighting the war. Thanks.
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scaredsilly
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Joined: Jul '10
Posts: 325offline
Posted 2 years ago
Mon Dec 6 2010 21:29:59
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It's not fair to scare you with horror stories. Most people get great professional treatment and they are done in a few weeks. It's the ones who can't/didn't who are fighting longer than that. It is all about getting great PROFESSIONAL treatment. Investigate and get at least three referrals from the PCO who can verify their work.
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SearchandDestroy
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Joined: Sep '10
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Posted 2 years ago
Mon Dec 6 2010 21:34:48
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Well..we discovered them in late July and I finally feel like my life can (sort of, not really) go back to normal. But there are different phases to this:
1 - initial dawning of doom, panic phase, steep learning curve phase, frantic cleaning of household goods, frequent PCO visits. This (for me) lasted 2.5 months but I live in a single family house.
2 - The following 1.5 months was more about waiting and see...and dealing with the anxiety of waiting and seeing.Total, about 4 months. Now we're in the...the unpacking (slowly) phase.
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AbugMess
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Joined: Dec '10
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Posted 2 years ago
Tue Dec 7 2010 1:46:21
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there really should be support groups..... like weight watcher
Thank you two! You have answered most of my questions here and kept me calm as I'm in phase 1. -
SearchandDestroy
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Joined: Sep '10
Posts: 452offline
Posted 2 years ago
Wed Dec 8 2010 0:01:42
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Yes..phase 1 (certainly could be broken down some) is the hardest. I used good friends as support. Long distance phone calls kept it easy (no worries about transmitting bugs) and was very helpful. Coming here was helpful too.
It was hard though...hang in there, it will get better.
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brookiered007
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Joined: Dec '10
Posts: 3offline
Posted 2 years ago
Sun Dec 12 2010 16:11:39
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I fought them for 4 months before I finally moved. I was living in a townhouse and the one next to me was vacant...so basically I'd get my house sprayed and they'd hide next door for a couple days and then come right back. There was no winning in that situation.
Everyone's situation is different depending on where they live and how severe the infestation is.Keep your head on straight...seriously. Swallow your pride and seek counseling if need be.
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jrbtnyc
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Joined: Sep '10
Posts: 1,001offline
Posted 2 years ago
Sun Dec 12 2010 16:38:53
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scaredsilly - 5 days ago »
Most people get great professional treatment and they are done in a few weeks. It's the ones who can't/didn't who are fighting longer than that. It is all about getting great PROFESSIONAL treatment. Investigate and get at least three referrals from the PCO who can verify their work.Um, I haven't been keeping tabs but aren't there an awful lot of stories we've been reading on bedbugger.com about people who DID get professional treatment – or should I say, treatments with an S – sometimes four, five, six treatments – and still couldn't beat the bugs?
Or, if they did win which in hindsight wasn't assured, was it in some instances after a few *months* not just a few weeks, and the cost and disruption was huge?
Plus they have no assurance whatsoever, especially if for instance they live in multi-unit housing, that the critters won't come back at the drop of a hat.
Alas, if only there were some Button which even affluent people could Press to eliminate the problem once and for all...much less poverty-stricken people.
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bbgirl
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Joined: Feb '11
Posts: 338offline
Posted 2 years ago
Wed Mar 30 2011 17:46:00
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I just read a post in which several posters had been infested for years.....is this because of their situation (neighbours?) bad dyi efforts, what would cause this to go on for so long?
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Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
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Joined: Mar '11
Posts: 247offline
Posted 2 years ago
Wed Mar 30 2011 18:36:29
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I spotted the first bug on March 7, but we had been getting bites for several days before that so I had already begun the de-cluttering effort. Let's be generous and call it March 1. Last time I saw a bug was March 22, which is also about the last time we noticed definite new bites. However, we have two more rounds of treatment scheduled.
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bug-tired
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Joined: Aug '10
Posts: 280offline
Posted 2 years ago
Wed Mar 30 2011 18:50:23
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I was clear for 4-1/2 months and in the last couple weeks have found three. I did have six professional treatments starting on June 30th of last year, and am still paying on them.
I figure either some bugs buried deep in my stuff in bags in the basement have found their way out, or maybe it's a new crew that came in the same way the first bunch did.
Good news is, I am not as totally freaked out as I was when this first happened; and this time I know what's going on so I can take steps to prevent a repeat of the infestation I had the first time. By the time I had figured out what was going on over the summer, it had gotten pretty bad.
Much as it sucks, it's really not the end of the world that I thought it was at first.
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oldtimer
Joined: Apr '07
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Posted 2 years ago
Wed Mar 30 2011 19:11:31
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Slightly off base but for me its been 9 years.
I left a job in the city to do something different with my life and a few weeks later on a Saturday afternoon I was in North London seeing a bedbug for the first time. In fact it was about 5,000 of them int he frame of someones bed.
I was taught how to spray liquid at them which took less than 5 minutes and told to be careful not to take any home with me as from now on I would be getting all the bedbug jobs because the others did not want to risk it again. Back then it was a rare pest and I would only see a case every few months but they fascinated me.
Within a few years I was treating up to 8 cases a day and decided a lot more thinking and a lot less blanket spraying was needed.
It was grim back then with only a few websites out there offering basic information, now you cant open a web browser without getting a bedbug pop up. Yet we still only see the tip of the iceberg.
I have had 1 case of bedbugs at home with me although I still blame it on my ex girlfiend but I identified it when there were only 5 samples and dealt with it in Tiffin & Son mode and found every last one of them.
I have known some cases where people did not find us until three or four years into the fight with no success only to hit the nail on the head and after some hard work clear it in a single treatment. Other cases have dragged on until the errant son or daughter confesses they have a friend they visit on a regular basis that has them.
I think this is what a good bed bug specialist brings to the table, an understanding and experience of not only how to treat and infestation but also how to avoid where possible and identify what the source was if feasible.
It took we about 3,000 cases to start to get a clear understanding of the main variables and I still see new patterns and associations, sometimes in building design and infestations but increasingly in what parts of the city are becoming infested (I actually had a new theory when writing this post which fits some of our data).
Thankfully I get a lot of satisfaction in my work and knowing that bedbugs can be eradicated its just finding all the pieces of the jigsaw from the start of the game.
David Cain
Bed Bugs Limited -
miami vetran
newbite
Joined: Mar '11
Posts: 1offline
Posted 2 years ago
Wed Mar 30 2011 21:48:04
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How long? About 3 years.
Briefly, I used to buy used furniture, know nothing about bedbugs, and be insensitive to their bites. Also I had pets and a roommate; by the time I caught on I was severely infested. Everything had gone wrong.
It took a lot of furniture replacing, extermination, folk remedies, moving, and loss of stuff in general, but I went 9 months bed bug free...only to reread a book I'd had for a long while, see one, and become re infested within weeks! Now I know enough not to scatter them. I'm suspicious of most folk treatments, pesticides, and exterminators; many things will send bb's running (as in, into your closet and woodwork and wherever else) but few will kill them, and they can remain in stasis for a REALLY long time.
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