Got Bed Bugs? Bedbugger Forums » Psychological and Health problems caused by bed bugs (besides bites)
I've become obsessed and think I need to talk with someone
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offsides1971
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Joined: Oct '09
Posts: 19
Posted 2 weeks ago
Mon Nov 2 2009 23:11:09
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We've had 3 treatments in 30 days, maybe 4..I lost track..Our last full treatment was Oct 1. Baseboards, ceilings, every light switch/plug, every drawer, in our master bedroom. He also did the entire upstairs (two more bedrooms, bathroom, hall, laundry). They were basically in our master; however, once he sprayed (both stuff to kill and stuff to sterilize them and also dusted everything) we did have about 10 escapees into the hall, etc. trying to get away from the poison. We had to move out of our master where they were because my asthma kicked up which is why he didi the rest of the rooms to prevent them from "coming to look for us" in the guest room and son's room.. We've laundered, bagged, etc. The master bedroom is nothing but bear bones and waiting to be repainted. Then had carpets cleaned at 230 degrees, the entire house on Oct 7. Then PCO came and sprayed all the baseboards again Oct 11. We've not seen one bug since Oct 1. ....and I am obsessed. I'm obsessed because I haven't seen any. You'd think I'd be thrilled but I can't stop thinking one is lying in wait for us. Our PCO says we got them and that the chances of them "lying waiting hungerly to move back into our Master suite" is not realistic. He states in 30 days we would have seen some sign of them migrating. I can't stop though. I have a flashlight on everything and even everybody. Every little twitch, itch or red mark (and my skin marks easy) I'm sure is a bite. I inspect my 11 year old like he's a science project. My husband is ready to put me in a rubber room I swear. I'm thinking I might need to talk with a professional as it's clearly taken over my life. I can't smile, I can't enjoy my son's ballgames or activities. Everyone I meet on the street I think "I wish I had their life so I didn't have these bugs". I feel guilty for being so upset about these when my friend is going through cancer. I'm sure she would be thrilled to have bedbugs instead of what she is fighting. I go ballistic if anything touches the floor anywhere, even a pencil that falls on the floor from doing homework in the kitchen. Does anyone feel like this? Is it just me? I don't know how to be normal again. I even freak out when my poor child checks out library books at school...and they are required to so I can't stop it.
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watkinsnewan
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Joined: Sep '09
Posts: 329
Posted 2 weeks ago
Mon Nov 2 2009 23:40:09
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offsides1971.. I fell the same way I am that exact same way.... What I have learned is YOU CANT let them rule your life you just have to relax an take a huge breath and count backwards from 10 slowly... IF you don't have any bites and have not seen them since OCT. 1st you are close to the finish line... Slow and steady wins the race... You are not alone... A lot of us fell psychotic when dealing with BB me especially me... You PCO is right.. you may relax A little But still take precautions.. I have learned that long showers
do the trick sometimes...You can inspect your son LESS than you probably are... if your son knows what the bites fell like he can tell you if he has gotten one... HE is 11...Go to your sons ball game and relax... Remember he is more important than some stupid bug.. And you will only have so much time with him... You can always get rid of the bug BUT will never get the time back with your family they need you to be strong .. ... Believe me the grass is NOT always greener on the other side... even tho on the out side looking in it looks perfect... SO GO right now and give your son a kiss on the forehead and tell your hubby you love him and thank him for putting up with your psychotic ways ...( I HAD to do this)Take a long hot shower and relax for the night... You are well on your way to being BB FREE...YEA!!! -
NewBlood
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Joined: Sep '09
Posts: 47
Posted 2 weeks ago
Tue Nov 3 2009 7:07:01
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Hey offsides1971,
I too feel the same way at times. Generally when I wake up in the morning I have a new bite on me, haven't seen any bugs, have seen no casings or blood specs or marks or anything of the sort. But each morning at roughly 3:30 in the morning, or 6:00-7:00 the night before I notice new bites showing up on my arms. Almost like clockwork now.
I don't let it get to me all that much - I suppose since I have a wee bit of money tucked away I'm hoping that by hiring the right PCO, following whatever treatment instructions they have given me and having a little luck I can be free of these insects after a year or so. Unfortunately for me I also live in an apartment complex and my neighbors aren't being checked for these bugs, nor treated. Odds are until I move out I'll be dealing with them - and my landlord is not letting me out of the lease, nor doing all that much to treat the place.
So for me - I don't worry too much because well... there's nothing much I really can do about it. I've warded my family/friends away from me and where I stay because of this - and I won't be seeing them on Thanksgiving. I've also gotten used to living out of bags now - although I need to perfect my bag strategy.
I - and I think most of us here - can understand you. Most of us here seem to be like you in your train of thought, we're paranoid, worried, and upset about these bugs and how much of our life has suddenly been turned upside down because of these insects. They're expensive. They're very hard to see/find/locate. They're difficult to be rid of once you have them unless you have a great PCO and eliminate all sources of the infestation. You have to suddenly throw things away, bag things you own, etc. The mental damage the bugs do to you is amazing isn't it?
Also - don't feel bad about comparing them to a terrible disease. I had prostate trouble a year ago, suffer from Crohn's disease, almost died from DVT/PE two years ago, and also had benign tumors appear on me earlier this year (that gave me quite a scare). I'd consider these bugs to be on similar level of discomfort/distress as any of those things.
I've been through alot - but got through it all. These bugs are just the latest thing to me and I'll be over it eventually, and you will be too. :)
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offsides,
Are you in a standalone home?
Did anyone ever react to bed bug bites in your home or did you only see them?
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offsides1971
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Joined: Oct '09
Posts: 19
Posted 2 weeks ago
Tue Nov 3 2009 11:14:58
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Yes I am.
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offsides1971
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Joined: Oct '09
Posts: 19
Posted 2 weeks ago
Tue Nov 3 2009 16:31:22
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Why do you ask NoBugs? Does it give me a better chance when my house isn't hooked to another one?
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watkinsnewan
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Joined: Sep '09
Posts: 329
Posted 2 weeks ago
Tue Nov 3 2009 16:53:58
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the odds are a little better in single dwellings then those who live in apartments which can can get re infested with BB...
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offsides1971
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Joined: Oct '09
Posts: 19
Posted 2 weeks ago
Tue Nov 3 2009 18:05:28
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I reacted to the bites and we saw them...our big headboard (oak and similar to the old style big waterbed headboards) with mulitple drawers/cabinets was filled with them. My son never seemed to get bites and they didn't see them in his room. My husband had a few but never complained and thought they were mosquito bites. I reacted big time though...swelling all over my wrists/arms and welts. I had also noticed an increase in my asthma that corresponded with the timing of the bites. They were on my side of the bed under the mattress. They were only in our room..they searched all the bedrooms and were very thorough. Then sprayed everything/powdered, etc. in all the bedrooms anyway since we couldn't stay in there with my asthma.
Mattresses are gone and our PCO had us wrap all the peices of the oak headboard that they took apart. He'd done three treatments on it. He had us put it in a storage unit wrapped up for the winter. We are in the midwest United States so will definetely get below freezing for days. He said take it out about May or so. We just put it in there on Oct 10th after he'd treated. He felt they were so packed in it that it would be safer...and frankly I think he thought it would lessen my paranoia.
Thank you for all your kind words. It's nice to know there are people here who understand. I have scheduled an appt with a therapist though for Friday. I'm hoping he can give me some strategies also to relax. I have a tendency to get worked up over something and worry easily so if it's not the bedbugs, it'll be something else someday..a little professional help can't hurt! lol I'll call him my BCO (Brain control operator) -
watkinsnewan
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Joined: Sep '09
Posts: 329
Posted 2 weeks ago
Tue Nov 3 2009 20:31:30
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LOL I need me a BCO too sometimes..
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Vell23
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Joined: Oct '09
Posts: 30
Posted 2 weeks ago
Tue Nov 3 2009 22:49:58
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Wow I thought I was bad, I was walking the street this morning and I saw a mattress thrown on the side walk( of course I walked far as hell from it), and saw all the bed bug eggs and bugs, looks like they have a bad infestation. I was like damn, do they know what they are in for?
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offsides1971 - 8 hours ago »
Why do you ask NoBugs? Does it give me a better chance when my house isn't hooked to another one?If you are in a standalone home, then is often easier to treat than an attached home.
Since you yourself reacted to bites, it's a good sign you are not reacting right now. (It is not definitive that you're not being bitten, or that child or husband aren't, but it's a good sign.)
On the other hand, you still get the odd red mark, you say. When do you last think you were bitten? If you are getting red or itchy marks now, how often? They may not be bites, but you want to be alert and make note of them.
You should keep a detailed log of when they appear and where on the body. You might want to do this a bit longer. Over time, you will see a pattern. Bed bugs bite once a week. If they start multiplying, bites should increase in number and frequency over time. In this way, you may be able to say the odd red mark is probably not a bite.
If you reacted and then went a month without bites, I might start to relax a bit, though still, if the bed bugs were in the child's room they could be biting without you knowing. And they could even be biting you, if there were one or two left, say.
In other words, I think you have reason to be very positive -- and I would try not to obsess -- but I might not unpack bags of clean laundry yet. The PCO is right that there should be signs a month later if there are bed bugs, but not SEEING a bed bug in a month does not mean they are gone.
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2manybb
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Joined: Oct '09
Posts: 22
Posted 2 weeks ago
Wed Nov 4 2009 9:00:44
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Hi offsides 1971
I am in the same boat as you. I also have a single house. The bb were (are?) in my son's room. A visitor brought them to us.
I have gone crazy. It is all I think about. I constantly do laundry. I have emptied all three of my childrens' rooms. They are all sleeping in there beds. No bites, since we first found the bugs in September. I threw out my son's bed. Encased the mattress. Am using the crawl ups to isolate the bed.
I wonder why you are storing your bed for the winter? Is the bed that expensive? I would look at the cost of storage vs. buying a new bed.
My husband thinks I have gone crazy, he has no trouble sleeping at all. Even though no bugs or bites have occurred outside of my son's room. I always wonder is today or tonight the night they are going to start to travel.
We have had 3 treatments, I found 1 live one in my son's bathroom last week (it is attached to his room). I hope, hope, hope it was a lone survivor. I still have it in a ziploc under a rock way out in the yard. I want to test it with double sided tape.
I also check my children like they are a science project. They don't know we have the bugs, I don't want to have the mental stress. They think my son had an allergy to something and that is why I threw away all of his stuff, he is also 11. -
offsides1971
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Joined: Oct '09
Posts: 19
Posted 2 weeks ago
Wed Nov 4 2009 10:29:06
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NoBugs, if I get a bite, wouldn't I see some sign of blood/fecal matter on the sheet or pillowcase? I look every day and see nothing. Have one little pimple thing on the back of my ear but it hurts like an ingrown hair or pimple. When I was getting bitten, it was intense itching and marks like mosquito bites that welted out.
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offsides1971
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Joined: Oct '09
Posts: 19
Posted 2 weeks ago
Wed Nov 4 2009 11:12:34
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NoBug, I should also tell you that I mark easily. For instance if my dangling earring touches the side of my neck when I shake my head, it'll leave a little mark and itch for a minute. I scratch and get a hive and it goes away in an hour. I've been like that for 25 years. That's why it's so hard for me to confirm a single bite. Now when I was really getting bit up right before we found them..that I knew. But to say "gee, this little pimple thing on my ear could be a bite"...it may be gone the next day. I think that's why I'm so hypersensitive psychologically
2Many, our headboard was $2400...it's about 10 foot long with cabinets, etc. Storage is $50/mo so much cheaper to store, though I'm not sure i can ever sleep on it again.
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Hi, I'm new to this forum but I really need to vent. I moved in with my son and his room mate. Apparently they have a bug problem at work (they both work at a casino/hotel). Well, they brought these bugs home with them. Their supervisor told them that they were carpet mites. I did a little research and I have found they are not mites. I was changing the sheets on my bed (my son sleeps there when I go to work in the morning as we are on different shifts), anyway when I took the fitted sheet off there was one of these bugs crawling on the feather bed. I caught it and I have it in a ziploc baggie. I looked at the pics and I am 99.9% sure it's a bed bug. I have bites on my ankles, fingers, wrists and forearms. I have in the past few weeks been woken up several times during the night with what feels like a sharp little bite. In the morning I have new red welts and then the itching begins. I am beside myself now that I know what this infestation is. I mean I feel like I'm about to lose it. I have read what others have written about the psychological effect and it's real and it's scary. I don't have health insurance. I barely make minimum wage. I also noticed that someone mentioned that the landlord is responsible for professional treatment in most states. Does anyone know if Pennsylvania is one of these states? I would appreciate any feedback/support anyone may have. I'm sorry to babble on but I am distraught about this whole thing. Thanks for letting me vent.
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offsides1971
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Joined: Oct '09
Posts: 19
Posted 2 weeks ago
Wed Nov 4 2009 21:05:03
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Hi Nani,
I know nothing about Pennsylvania except the Penquins are my favorite team! I do feel your pain however. I'd say call someone quickly..either your landlord to get a PCO or your own PCO and get the bug ID'd. Also, maybe it wasn't your son..if you live in an apartment they may have migrated. The faster you jump on this the better your chances. Psychologically, it's very hard. It's downright scary and it feels almost sureal to not be able to feel safe in your own home. -
watkinsnewan
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Joined: Sep '09
Posts: 329
Posted 2 weeks ago
Wed Nov 4 2009 21:48:37
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Hello Nani... Hold on an get ready for a ride if it is BB.. The first hing you need to do is get A PCO out to verify it is in deed BB You dont want to jump the gun if you don't have to.. With that being said You described exactly how I found out I had them... Pins and needles at 3 am.... I rubbed my legs down with Rubbing alcohol It helped a lot just be careful if you or any one else Smokes it is flammable..With you being so new you probably dont know to go to the FAQ at the top of the page... I really will answer A LOT of your questions and if you cant find an answer just start a new thread and someone will jump in an help.. There is also a search box... Also if it is BB DON'T PANIC... It will be okay I want psychotic the first few weeks... but am okay now...I am well on my way to being BB free and you came to the right place this web site save me from having a nervous melt down just 5 weeks ago..
Just come up with A game plan it really helped me...
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watkinsnewan
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Joined: Sep '09
Posts: 329
Posted 2 weeks ago
Wed Nov 4 2009 21:50:23
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OOH some PCO's (Pest control Operators) do A free initial inspection !!!
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ThisBItes
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Joined: Oct '09
Posts: 15
Posted 2 weeks ago
Wed Nov 4 2009 23:04:43
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I too am OBSESSED with these little SOB's. My whole entire life is dictated by bbs. I have had five treatments, the last one being on the 2nd and that night saw seven of the nasty things. Granted, five were dead (YES!) but two were not and since that night I have seen seven of the little nymphs that look like red specks until you squish them. The reason I found them is because of my obsession with constantly looking for and scanning my place every freaking second for bbs. I despise these bugs and the paranoia they have given me as well as changing my whole entire psyche due to their existence. The only place in my apartment that has them is a couch that is now isolated and according to the PCO, they are "under control" but that is not the same as being annihilated. Every place I go, I look for bb shaped things where I sit on the bus, at work, at the grocery store, etc. The minute we get home I open the door to our balcony where I put all of the clothes we wore that day in the laundry hamper and it's also where our shoes and coats are kept as well as my backpack. All laundry, including bedding is done daily in hot water and all clothes are constantly kept sealed until we wear them. We shower right before leaving and dress in the kitchen and never wear the same thing two days in a row. If we come near the couch we go brush off outside. I vacuum twice a day and inspect the couch often every day to see if there are bbs on it. My living room looks like a crackhead's; it has a TV on a stand that has no hiding place for bbs, the couch of horror and a plastic lawn chair. There is also a hide abed section that was part of the couch but is now across the room and amazingly bb free. I want to get rid of the infested couch but there are several factors inhibiting this: 1) I live alone with my two year old and have no help in getting it out of my place, 2) When I do get rid of it I want to destroy it by slashing/breaking, spraypainting BEDBUGS on it, etc. and hauling it away from my building and I have nobody with a truck to help me. This is a living nightmare and would not wish it on anyone. Thank god for this website--I know I'm not alone out here.
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cilecto
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Joined: Aug '08
Posts: 505
Posted 1 week ago
Sat Nov 7 2009 23:03:04
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offsides1971 - 4 days ago » ...PCO had us wrap all the peices of the oak headboard that they took apart. He'd done three treatments on it. He had us put it in a storage unit wrapped up for the winter. We are in the midwest United States so will definetely get below freezing for days. He said take it out about May or so. We just put it in there on Oct 10th after he'd treated. He felt they were so packed in it that it would be safer...and frankly I think he thought it would lessen my paranoia.
Offsides, I hate to freak you out, but why May? Does it go below 0 where you store? If so, would't it be better to remove them at their coldest, before they get the opportunity to be re-infested from another storage unit? What's the PCO's rationale? Is the time span based on BB survival or, (my fear) the length of his warranty?
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watkinsnewan
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Joined: Sep '09
Posts: 329
Posted 1 week ago
Sat Nov 7 2009 23:23:56
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ThisBItes.. Very satisfying watching my husband destroy the bed and spray paint all over it...Sound like you are a vigilant as me in getting rid of BB.. I went as far as wiping my walls down W/ Bleach water mixture so I can see if I had any on there....
Ciletco do you think she could just use the ddvt strips... I wouldn't know how to tell her to do it safely..
Which I would like to know more about... I have a 6X9 shed I don't want to touch cause I am scared BB might be in there.. I have stuff packed in there Loosely... MY Christmas decorations are in there.. In boxes and totes closed .. And a lot of loose stuff mirrors pictures 2 old Bed frames Nothing really important All materialistic stuff... Would this sound like a good place to put them... Nobody ever goes in there But my hubbie ( Yes that one3) And had two locks on it.. and is very far away from the house.... now you can laugh I know you want to...
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