living in nyc, feeling hopeless, please help « Got Bed Bugs? Bedbugger Forums

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living in nyc, feeling hopeless, please help

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bugginmeout

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Posted 3 years ago
Mon Oct 19 2009 16:38:06
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hey everyone,

i live in nyc. it's winter. it's always crowded here, and now i'll be dealing with crowds wearing coats. i take the train to work every day. i know there is no "safe" area of the city to move to.

i am feeling very hopeless. even if i spend thousands on vikane treatment, i will still be vulnerable to getting another infestation. i don't know what to do. i'm seriously losing my mind.
soscared

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Posted 3 years ago
Mon Oct 19 2009 17:34:10
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Just know that you have company. I feel the same way. Get rid of this infestation, then protect yourself as best you can.
bugginmeout

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Posted 3 years ago
Mon Oct 19 2009 17:43:41
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thank you...it's such a mindf*ck isn't it?? i hate this. i just keep thinking it's so friggin easy to get reinfested, how will i ever know if i am ok? how can i ever relax again?

it's appalling how poorly informed the citizens of nyc are, it really is. no wonder they've gotten so bad.

ugh i get so overwhelmed thinking about it, it makes me so very depressed
buggyinsocal

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Posted 3 years ago
Mon Oct 19 2009 17:56:39
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I'm pretty sure I picked my infestation up at a hotel.

Please note: I continue to travel over 25,000 miles a year by plane and often stay at hotels on those trips.

Now I inspect the places I sleep when I'm traveling and I follow good general practices when it comes to inspecting my luggage and arranging my room to make my bed easier to inspect.

I can't guarantee that it'll never happen again, but I also know I'll know a lot earlier and be ready to treat effectively the first time around.

I'm sure people pick up bed bug hitch hikers from people in subways sometimes, but it's got to be such a statistically small percentage of the time that you might was well spent your time worrying about being struck by lightning.
cilecto

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Posted 3 years ago
Mon Oct 19 2009 18:00:32
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It's that cover pic in today's "AM New York"…http://longisland.newsday.com/gallery/galleries/amny/pdf/20091019.pdf
Nobugsonme

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Posted 3 years ago
Mon Oct 19 2009 21:55:50
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It's normal to feel very anxious about reinfestation when you are fighting (or just getting past) a bed bug infestation.

It helps me to remember that even though bed bugs are spreading rapidly, it's unusual (though not unheard of) to get them more than once. I have come across a number of people who have, but it is not common.

You will probably be more alert to potential sources now, more cautious about all kinds of things (which is helpful). But most of us here who had them in the past are proof that bed bugs are not so very common that you will necessarily get them over and over.

That said, yes -- it may happen again and if it does, you will likely discover the problem and deal with it so much more quickly and efficiently than the first time.
soscared

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Posted 3 years ago
Mon Oct 19 2009 22:25:43
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Nobugsonme, that is very comforting.
Is there any hope of getting rid of them at all? In an old house with many cracks and crevices and broken floor boards? Using chemical treatments? PLEASE SAY THERE IS HOPE!
Every day I see mattresses and upholstered furniture thrown out in my neighborhood. I had never noticed them before.
ActionK9

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Posted 3 years ago
Mon Oct 19 2009 23:34:02
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soscared...i don't think your getting "just" a chemical treatment. call me.
upagain

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Posted 3 years ago
Tue Oct 20 2009 9:25:03
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buggyinsocal - 15 hours ago »
I'm pretty sure I picked my infestation up at a hotel.
Please note: I continue to travel over 25,000 miles a year by plane and often stay at hotels on those trips.
Now I inspect the places I sleep when I'm traveling and I follow good general practices when it comes to inspecting my luggage and arranging my room to make my bed easier to inspect.
I can't guarantee that it'll never happen again, but I also know I'll know a lot earlier and be ready to treat effectively the first time around.
I'm sure people pick up bed bug hitch hikers from people in subways sometimes, but it's got to be such a statistically small percentage of the time that you might was well spent your time worrying about being struck by lightning.

Thats a lot of travel, care go give some tips on what you do with your stuff when you get home?
bugginmeout

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Posted 3 years ago
Tue Oct 20 2009 13:54:52
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thanks everyone. i'm sure you all understand how mentally distressing this is and how paranoid it makes you.

UGHHHHH

has anyone sucessfully moved WITHOUT using Vikane, just by carefully going over & treating all of their objects?
buggyinsocal

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Posted 3 years ago
Tue Oct 20 2009 18:18:10
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Well, I don't ever put a suitcase on a bed now--even when I get home from a trip.

I wish I could say I had a Packtite, but they came out far enough post treatment (and then I got furloughed because I work for the state of California, and my hours at my part time job got cut by 40%) that I couldn't scrape the $300 together for something that didn't seem to be an immediate necessity.

I still inspect every bed I sleep in that isn't mine.

I always put my suitcase on the luggage rack after inspecting it.

I don't do anything with the luggage on planes. And I know it's a possible vector, but I also suspect because I fly so much and have always flown so much (I've been the lowest tier of elite frequent flyer with one of the major airlines for at least 5 years running now, which is why I know I fly a minimum of 25K a year because you have to to requalify for elite status), that the chances statistically are very, very slim.

When it's not in use, I store my suitcase in an XXL ziplock not in the bedroom.

But the thing is that I've been flying at least 5000 miles a year for like 15 years. The last 5 of those minimum were years that I flew at least 25,000 miles a year.

If I haven't gotten bed bugs even once in all that time, that's pretty convincing proof to me that while it's possible, it's highly unlikely statistically.

And remember, I live in California. When I first moved here I worried about earthquakes all the time.

At a certain point, I just decided that if I was really going to be that statistically unlucky, there wasn't a lot I could do about it. (It's the same reason, weirdly enough, that I get so angry about stupid ISA security rules at the airport. A lot of people feel like giving up 4 ounce containers of liquids is fine with them because the erroneously believe it makes us safer. I know enough about the history of terrorism and airlines, the actual security procedures or lack thereof, and the ingenuity of dedicated terrorists that I know with rock solid certainty that if a terrorist really wants to take a plane down, no amount of security regulations will stop that terrorist. On the other hand, the chances of being on that specific plane when that specific terrorist succeeds is pretty small. Every time I fly, I know there's a risk that a pilot error, and equipment malfunction, or a terrorist attack could take the plane down, just like every time I sit at my desk at work, an earthquake might happen and the building might collapse and kill me, or every time I get in my car, I could die in a firey crash.

Statistically the chances of any one of those things happening, however, is infinitessimally insignificant, which means I have a choice.

I can expend a lot of emotional energy trying to make my life 100% safe. Or I can accept that there is an element of risk in everything I do because not everything is within my control.

Sure, I do what I can to minimize the risk: I don't hang heavy items that could fall and crush my head over my bed since I live in an earthquake zone. I don't speed at 80 mph down a surface street. I count the number of rows between myself and the nearest two exits on every plane so that if the cabin fills with smoke and I have to feel my way to the exit, I can.

But I don't worry about it constantly because no matter how many reasonable steps I take, I cannot ever reduce my risk to 0%. And I'm not going to give up the things that I love and that give me a good quality of life out of fear.

I feel that way about living in earthquake country. I feel that way about terrorist threats to the airlines. And I feel that way about bed bugs.

If I am more gainfully employed year after next, will I buy a Packtite for a little extra insurance? Absolutely.

But can I worry about picking up bed bugs from student papers, movie theaters, luggage of other people in the overhead bin? Not without making myself crazy.

Travel is within my own personal set of acceptble risk parameters. it may not be within everyone's, and that's okay. Nobody has to agree with me.

But I do think that anyone who's been through bed bugs needs to carefully evaluate where his or her acceptable risk parameters are and find a way not to worry about the things inside them--because doing so can absolutely make you crazy.
Louise

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Posted 3 years ago
Tue Oct 20 2009 18:57:23
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Wow.

Great post.

And great advice. Definitely what I needed to hear.

I am feeling so super-paranoid these days, and I probably don't even *have* bedbugs! (And the more time passes, the more likely that possibility would appear to be true...I think...and hope...and pray...and...)

I am going to try my very best to take your words to heart.

Louise
bugginmeout

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Posted 3 years ago
Tue Oct 20 2009 22:29:48
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wow, buggyinsocal, i think i'm going to print this out and keep it in my wallet. thanks for bringing me back down to earth! it's so easy to get caught up/wrapped up in the hell.
upagain

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Posted 3 years ago
Wed Oct 21 2009 13:07:18
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Same here. Thanks for the great response. I've been trying to keep myself off the site to stay calm, but today I was made calm by reading that post. Thanks again.