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I KNOW I HAVE BED BUGS!!! DESPITE NEGATIVE INSPECTION
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bbugsnc
newbite
Joined: Jan '12
Posts: 3offline
Posted 1 year ago
Tue Jan 17 2012 18:40:25
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So I have been living with my boyfriends family for a of couple months now and we believe we have a bed bug infestation (or early signs of one). His grandma is a parapalegic and has to have an in home nursing staff. One of the nurses working the 3rd shift said she believes we have bed bugs and showed us numerous bites on her arm, none of us had bites. A couple days later his great grandma found a bug and we kept it in a jar. The next day we had an inspector come out to identify the bug and search the couch the nurse believes she was bit on. It was a bed bug, the inspection was negative. We paid 75 dollars and he said if we needed another inspection to call and he would come out for free. We assumed the nurse was getting bit at her own house. Recently I have been having numerous bites surface on my neck, back and shoulders. One night I sat up in bed and a bug fell off of me onto my pillow, I know it was a bed bug, I DONT know why i killed it and threw it away. My bf's solution was to stop sitting on the "infested couch", I did. The bites healed and scarred. Round two of bites was much worse. I packed and went back to stay with my mom. They had the same inspector come out again, found nothing, and charged another 75. He wont treat without proof. Please help! I want to be there for my bf as our family is going through hard times but I dont want to be insect lunch since I am the only one getting bit. What to do!?
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buggyinsocal
oldtimer
Joined: Jun '08
Posts: 2,440offline
Posted 1 year ago
Tue Jan 17 2012 18:51:37
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I'm a little confused by this sentence:
It was a bed bug, the inspection was negative.
Are you saying that the PCO who came out to inspect identified the bug in the jar as being a bed bug. That doesn't sound like a negative inspection to me. So does that mean that he identified the bug in the jar as a bed bug but found no others in the home? Or that you're saying the bug in the jar was definitely a bed bug and the inspector said it wasn't?
I'm not trying to be difficult; I'm just trying to get to the bottom of the facts so that we can give you more accurate advice.
Also, do you still have the bug from the jar? If so can you take a photo and post it here for identification?
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bbugsnc
newbite
Joined: Jan '12
Posts: 3offline
Posted 1 year ago
Tue Jan 17 2012 18:56:39
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Sorry for the confusion. He definitely confirmed the bug as a bed bug, however, he found no additonal bugs or signs of infestation/early infestation. Then again he only searched that one couch. I also meant to mention during the second inspection he searched the whole living room and our bedroom, the only two places I could've gotten bit.
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bbugsnc
newbite
Joined: Jan '12
Posts: 3offline
Posted 1 year ago
Tue Jan 17 2012 18:57:19
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I dont have the bug anymore sorry. But if I find another I will definitely post.
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buggyinsocal
oldtimer
Joined: Jun '08
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Posted 1 year ago
Tue Jan 17 2012 19:10:20
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No worries. Until I had bed bugs and then looked them up on the internet, I never in a million years would have thought to keep the bug.
A few things that I can say that may be helpful:
1. It's not only a good thing that your PCO isn't treating without proof of infestation. In many places, it's the law. (I'm not sure how the bug in the jar--which you found in the residence, right?--isn't considered proof. But maybe there's a detail of that I just don't understand.) However, if the bug in the jar came from the residence and this particular PCO couldn't find additional proof, I might consider contacting a different PCO.
2. Do keep in mind that bed bug bites can take 9 or so days to appear on your skin. That is to say, let's say you're bitten by a bed bug today. It could take 9 days before your skin reacts to that bite. For that reason, being sure you're being bitten on the couch or even in a particular home or workplace is not as easy to determine as you might think.
3. Did the PCO inspect the rest of the house besides just the couch?
4. Have you eliminated the possibility of other pests as the source of these bites? Fleas and carpet beetles (which don't bite but do have larvae that have hairs that produce skin responses that look the same as bug bites) are often mistaken for bed bugs. (Yes, you can end up with a flea infestation without a pet, and yes, you can end up with carpet beetles in homes without carpet. Yes, some days I would like to rename half the pests in the insect world to make this all easier to explain. )
5. Have you considered passive monitors and/or educated yourself about inspection techniques? Those seem like the best next steps to take, and there is likely plenty of information about those issues in the FAQs on our site. If you haven't looked at those, I'd go there next.
If you do catch any more samples, feel free to post pictures here. I'm not an especially good IDer, but we have plenty of people who are, and they can likely help out.
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oldtimer
Joined: Apr '07
Posts: 6,761offline
Posted 1 year ago
Tue Jan 17 2012 19:29:07
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Hi,
It is possible to get just one bedbug and technically if that one bedbug is in a jar the home is also no longer infested. It was infested with a single bedbug but that has been resolved.
Its also possible that the reactions you are having are not connected to that one bedbug, certainly reactions on back and shoulders is less likley to be bedbugs than on more exposed skin areas such as arms and hands.
I have encountered this a number of times myself over the years and although a single bedbug is the rarest form of infestation it should not be dismissed.
However the key question is actually how did it get there in the first place. If someone is bringing them in who is it and where are they coming from. Without action to avoid the source next time there may be more.
There is some good advice already offered on this thread so apart from what i have already added I will just reinforce that sticky tape is a great way of collective evidence and supporting the PCO's inspection.
Hope that explains a little better.
David Cain
Bed Bugs Limited -
bbsnack
newbite
Joined: May '12
Posts: 23offline
Posted 1 year ago
Fri May 11 2012 22:54:13
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I'm having the same issue and I am so frustrated. Even my husband thinks I'm crazy, but I keep getting bitten. The exterminator found three "very old" fecal spots, but let's be honest. If there was one bed bug in my house, there are more! Especially since I am being bitten. I even had my car steamed and left it sitting in the sun with the heat on. I feel like I am being told to wait around until it gets bad enough to treat. This seems ridiculous to me. What can I do to either make someone believe me or get rid of this infestation before it becomes so bad that I can't get rid of it anymore?
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endless_nightmare
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Joined: Apr '12
Posts: 142offline
Posted 1 year ago
Sat May 19 2012 3:57:15
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Hi, I know exactly how you feel. I was told by some incompetent PCOs that I did not have bedbugs and then later I found blood stains, fecal, and cast skins and finally some bugs had a positive canine inspection. That was 7 months ago and I'm still fighting them, I have tried every possible treatment they have, except for Vikane because it is not available where I live. I just had another spray about a week ago, the product seems stronger, but I'm still getting bit.
Here is my advice to you, sleep on plain white sheets, do not isolate your bed for now. Wait 6 or 7 days, if you see small blood stains and small black dots that look like a pen made them, then you have them, call a K9 to prove your point, show the K9 report to the PCO.
I hate the fact that some make you hunt for bed bugs before doing any treatment, many many people have had serious long lasting infestation without seeing a single bug.
All of that being said, I hope you do not have them, good luck to you.
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oldtimer
Joined: May '07
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Posted 1 year ago
Sat May 19 2012 9:23:39
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BBSnack
Consider setting up bed bug monitors for surveillance if you need evidence of live activity to justify treatment.
A negative inspection is always problematic because you can't prove a negative... We can prove a positive case... Show me the physical evidence.
Proving that there are no bugs present is based on "No bugs were observed during the inspection" which is analogous to standing on the shore of Loch Ness for a few hours... then declaring that Nessie doesn't exist because you didn't observe any sea monsters with your binoculars.
No one will never prove that Nessie doesn't exist.... You can set up webcams, organize boat patrols with sonar, set up radars, infrared sensors, send down divers, fly over the Loch with planes, drones, helicopters, or go to the deepest point with a fleet of subs.
Critics will always claim that Nessie is hiding in a cave, under a thermocline, is radar / sonar invisible. is a spiritual being that can't be detect by electronic means, is actually an alien life form that has a stealth mode like the hunter in Predator or just has really good camouflage that makes her look like a rock.
We can always prove the positive case... Bring me one...Capture a physical specimen or even just a couple of scales... We can perform DNA testing for confirmation and name her after ourselves.
Same deal with bed bugs... We can't prove a negative... We need to observe physical evidence of live activity... Biology dictates that bed bugs will leave physical evidence... Bed bugs are not invisible (I can't prove that BTW)... If bed bugs are feeding on you... The evidence is nearby.
Some people do not react to bites... I doubt that you are the only occupant that they are feeding on.
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