Just had first treatment... found bugs the next day... Common?

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Just had first treatment... found bugs the next day... Common?

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jenny29wi

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Posted 4 years ago
Sun Aug 3 2008 10:24:45
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Hi everyone... it's nice to see I'm not the only one going through this nightmare! I had been noticing the blood stains on my sheets (think I got it from house-sitting for a friend - they had been to hotels, but she doesn't think they have them? I don't know where else I would've gotten it from as I haven't been to a hotel or anything for over a year...) Anyways, so I got an exterminator to come yesterday, he sprayed and then bombed my whole house... My pets and I had to be gone for 4 hours. Went and bought a mattress cover at Target, new pillows and pillow covers, and a white sheet set. I was really scared to go to bed, but thought they had to be gone! Nope - woke up and saw the signs on the white sheets - and found 4 adults and 5 baby bed bugs... Is that common on the very next day? I'm thinking i need to get rid of my bed (I had been planning on buying a new bed soon - like after christmas, but now I don't want to buy a new one and have it get infested!) My bed right now is a waterbed frame (big wood box with drawers underneath... I'm sure has a lot of places for them to hide) and I have a regular mattress in there (not a waterbed). So I don't know if I should give it a couple more days or if I should get rid of the bed today and just sleep on the mattress with it's cover on the floor? Any ideas - i would REALLY appreciate any advice!?
buggyinsocal

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Posted 4 years ago
Sun Aug 3 2008 13:16:08
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Hi Jenny.

The first thing I would do is call your PCO (what pest control professionals prefer to be called) and ask two questions: 1. Is it ususal to see BB activity at this level the day after treatment? and 2. Get an exact list of the chemicals your PCO used and where they were placed.

People here can probably be a lot more specific in terms of what to expect the day after treatment if you know exactly what pesticides were used. Different PCOs use different methods to treat, so there are different expectations about what exactly is normal. (I can't give you too much personal experience based info there since my treatment wasn't chemical, alas.)

As for the bed, I would strongly suggest reading the FAQ on isolating the bed. I think it'll answer a lot of your questions about what to do about the bed. Most importantly, don't buy any new furniture until you're 100% sure that the bugs have been gone for at least 55 days.

If you can't stand the thought of sleeping on the old bed/mattress, you could safely dispose of them (make sure you seal them up tight and label them as being infested with bed bugs in not just English but whatever other languages are common in your part of town, so no one else takes them home) and get an air bed to use until treatment is finished. If you look through the forums for air bed, you should find info from other folks who have used an air bed during treatment.

It's really up to you whether to get rid of the bed or not. I suspect the bed frame that you're talking about would be very hard to isolate, and isolating the bed will give you a lot of peace of mind at night but allow chemical treatments to work. (With most chemical treatments for BB, the PCO puts out residual poisons for the bugs to cross as they attempt to get to you. You have to be in your bed to act as bait to get the bugs to cross the poison. However, that presumes that you can sleep while being bait, which a lot of people can't. Isolating the bed allows you to still act as bait but not get bitten while you sleep.

Also, keep in mind that your pets, if they sleep on your bed, can undo the isolation protocols. (You can probably search for cats and get quite a few posts about that issue.)
bugbasher

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Posted 4 years ago
Sun Aug 3 2008 16:52:48
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Jenny,
You are in the identical place that I was 7-8 months ago,right down to the regular mattress in a big waterbed frame with drawers.You basically have 2 choices here,bed isolation is not an option.Your first option,option a ,is to take apart the entire bed and dust everything with either drione dust or de(that's what I did) or option b is to throw it out and get an air mattress till you're clear.Let me tell you,taking apart the bed and dusting each and every nook ,cranny,and seam is not fun,but it works to clear the bed and to ensure that anything that comes for you after that will die slowly.If you pick option b you can also use your mattress as long as there's a bb cover on it.Get yourself some very light or white sheets no matter which route you go.
I happen to be very stubborn and decided no bug was going to move me out of my bed,only attempt this route if you have a head much harder than rock :).After you tackle the bed you can turn your attention to the nightstands and dresser if so inclined. Good luck and keep scotch tape within your grasp at night,then squish them after you catch them,it's positively theraputic!
belle72

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Posted 4 years ago
Sun Aug 3 2008 17:33:34
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Hi Jenny, welcome to the forum, you've come to the right place for answers, these people are awesome.

First off, bombing the whole place is usually not a good thing, I've read that it makes the BBs disperse instead of killing them all. Second, the covers from Target would allow you only limited protection at best. Read on this site about bed encasements. Based on what you've said about your bed, I'd never take on the challenge of inspecting, cleaning, isolating it...but that's me. I am no expert but have read much in the last 6 wks here. Sorry to be so discouraging, but I'd want someone to tell me. Good luck to you.
Itchy-Scratchy

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Posted 4 years ago
Sun Aug 3 2008 18:44:23
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Hi Jenny:
We had the same problem - after the 2nd spraying, we thought the problem would be solved. As we started to put to the sheets on the bed, we found 2 adults and 4 babies. We absolutely freaked. I never got a straight answer from the PCO - in our case, we cannot contact directly as the landlord is the contractor. However, our landlord told us that the poisons take time and that is why we saw bugs the next day.

It's common to need more than 1 treatment, so you may want to consider a follow-up within 14 days of the first treatment.

I'm relatively new to the site and I've been battling BB's for about 30 days. This forum is fabulous - I come here every time I am feeling overwhelmed. Hang in there and remember that you are not alone.
Itchy-Scratchy
jenny29wi

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Posted 4 years ago
Mon Aug 4 2008 2:51:14
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Thanks everyone for posting back to me! Here i am at 1:40 am not able to sleep! I went to bed later and found a few baby ones again tonight because it was dark. Read a magazine in bed and found more babies and an adult. I understand others not being able to sleep! I know I need to be bait, but it just it hard to do that when you know they are there! The ones I found tonight have been climbing up on the head side of my bed, up the pillows, and i'm wondering if the PCO didn't spray back there? It's like over the edge and I think underneath. I did call him this morning and he said if I still saw them in a few days he could do the spray again (I already have 2 more treatments in 2 weeks and 2 weeks after that...) The chemicals on my receipt are a spray throughout the cracks of every room - the border - of Suspend (deltamethrin .06%) and Archer (2-Pyridine) and then a space spray of Ultracide (N-Octyl bicycloheptene dicarboximide .40% Pyrethrins .05% Permethrin .40% Pyriproxyfen .1%) If anyone knows anything about those!

I'm thinking I'm going to get rid of the whole bed frame after seeing them crawl up over it tonight, and I bought a new mattress cover at bed bath and beyond that was actually for bed bugs... and just sleep with my mattress on the floor. When I did talk to the PCO he was acting like "yeah it was hard with the plastic liner in the bed frame to get all the way in there" which I wish he would've said something to me about before I had to call him, but anyways, hopefully I can get rid of that before the 2nd and 3rd treatments!

I can't even believe how horrible this whole ordeal is - with the expense, the stress, the work of having to wash everything and clean all the time! and knowing that you didn't do anything to make it happen (like leave food out with ants or whatever...) It just sucks! and it's embarrassing to tell people about it, because unless they read up online, they don't understand!
jenny29wi

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Posted 4 years ago
Mon Aug 4 2008 2:54:33
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Funnily - it is therapeutic to squish them after you get them on the tape! I thought that also!
kjdrga

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Posted 4 years ago
Mon Aug 4 2008 10:01:06
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Jenny,

I feel you pain, litterally....I just had the 3rd treatment and I know I'll probably see more. I don't have the same type of bed but I did detach the head board and even though I encased my boxspring ended up having to throw it out because there were holes in it and they were coming out of there. Now that it's gone and I've just had the third treatment I'll wait and see what comes out.... I couldn't bring myself to sleep in the bed after treatments 1 and 2 and slept on the couch and later the guest room, well they are in the guest room now....they following my there. But I'm fairly certain they have not set up shop because I can not find any evidence that they have been there, I did encase my futon mattress to be safe.

Hang in there!
jenny29wi

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Posted 4 years ago
Mon Aug 4 2008 16:05:03
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Good news... my dad came over today and took apart the whole bed frame (we took the covered mattress out - hopefully the cover I got at bed bath and beyond is a good one - it specifically says bed bugs on it!) and we're taking it to the dump. Nobody can rummage in our city dump, so nobody will be taking it. I was right in thinking they were in the frame though, because right under where the headboard part met up with the top of the drawers, there were about 20 bb and eggs.. I'm hoping that's as far as they got and I caught it early! It was DISGUSTING and grossed me out that they've been so close to my head when I was sleeping! I hope the rest of this situation keeps going as smoothly now that the frame is out of the picture. My bed frame was about 30 years old, so definitely time to get a new one! (once i have the all clear that they are gone of course, for 2 months!)
spideyjg

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Posted 4 years ago
Mon Aug 4 2008 16:34:27
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Did you take precautions to be able to kill any findings and prevent eggs from dropping off? I have a spray bottle of alcohol in hand when inspecting for bugs.

Vacuum up everywhere y'all walked out with that frame. You don't want any runaways after they got disturbed.

Crossing my fingers for you.

Jim
kjdrga

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Posted 4 years ago
Thu Aug 7 2008 16:16:32
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I sleep with a flashlight and spray bottle next to me! I also have an older mattress and bed frame, and sort of decided that I don't really like my bedroom furniture any longer - I sort of see it in a whole different light....

Once I'm BB free AND I've paid off the loan for treatment I think I'll be getting a more simple furniture set....

I'm kind of used to sleeping in the middle of the room away from the walls and edges of the bed!
NJ-BITES

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Posted 1 year ago
Sun Jul 31 2011 15:51:35
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I had the same issue.

Saw BBs after treatment.

It was explained to me by a professional that
That it does take some time to work fully.
I may or may not see a few strays on their way to their graves.