looking for advice when treatments are over and bites continue

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looking for advice when treatments are over and bites continue

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omgbbs

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Joined: Apr '11
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Posted 2 years ago
Wed May 11 2011 11:39:16
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I was hoping I could quit this site, but alas, my boyfriend is still getting bitten. I've been lucky to either not react or get bitten during the last 2 months, but I get just as stressed at the thought of these bugs not being gone from our lives.

A little more about our story. We are fairly certain we picked up bedbugs from a hotel as we did some traveling and stayed at multiple hotels. We were away for a few weeks and lazily did not unpack right away. Until this happened we were blissfully ignorant of how rotten bedbugs can be. Not anymore.

We live in a 3BR rowhouse. To prepare for treatment we did the usual, washed, dryed and bagged up and sealed all of our clothes, emptied our closets and bookshelves. Packed everything into storage bins. We put everything in our basement, which is also where the laundry is.

Since we have a cat and needed to get her out of the house for 24 hours after each treatment, we did the run and hide method and stayed with family for several days. We got treatment 3 Tuesdays in a row, and would leave from Tuesday until Saturday.

We have been back in our house for a full week and half. Our last treatment was 2 weeks ago yesterday. While we have kept everything packed away, we have symbolically put our favorite sheets on the bed instead of the cheap and scratchy white ones we got to monitor the situation (never saw a sign of anything).

It's been really great to be back in our home and feel like we were stepping out of the woods. Alas, this isn't the case just yet.

We have a 3 month guarantee with our PCO so we have already scheduled another spray for Friday. From what I have read on here, I gather that leaving for 4 nights after each treatment was probably not the best thing.

A few questions:

1) Is it better to keep sleeping in your bed while the treatment is going on?

2) Are weekly treatments too frequent?

3) One their first visit, the PCO brought the dry vapor steamer, DE, and some other spray. The 2nd and 3rd visit, one guy came and sprayed Phantom for about 5-10 minutes. Is this thorough enough of a treatment?

4) All the rooms upstairs have carpeting. We have already been wanting to put in hardwood floors (now more than ever). Does carpet create a habitable environment for these little bastards?

5) Does Phantom kill eggs also?

Thanks for your time and any advice you may have.
ndnyc718

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Joined: May '11
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Posted 2 years ago
Wed May 11 2011 12:22:31
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im not sure if phantom kills the eggs, my crappy pco told me that suspend is what they are using for egg killing
Buggybumpers

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Posted 2 years ago
Fri May 13 2011 17:48:09
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No, Phantom does not kill the eggs. My PCO uses a combo of Phantom and Gentrol and definitely told me the eggs aren't killed. That's why he recommended a five stage spraying schedule which is supposed to knock down the BB population gradually. I have had seven sprayings. The sixth was advised by the PCO after I continued to see shed skins and feces on sheets and the seventh was my choice. I still felt bites but am not strong enough to take apart my double bed in order to inspect it. Even though the PCO did and saw nothing on my encased mattress and box spring, I asked him to spray the frame once more just in case they had chosen to hide there. He also sprayed inside the couch, my bedrooms drapes and closet.

I have been sleeping pretty well in the bed since the last spray but today my daughter's sitter wasn't available so there was no one but me to watch the five-year-old who is coming down with a cold and so lay down on the sofa. After a few minutes she said, "I think one of your bugs bit me" and, sure enough, there was a red welt on her thigh which she said itched. People say you can't feel the BBs bite but I have felt them, too, when they bit me while awake. Then she said "Grandma, call the bug man again"--but I can't. Seven treatments is already extreme. I have not seen any bugs in my sofa in six months of infestation except one small dead one. I have not been bitten there, myself, although I slept on it the night of my last spraying as my BR smelled so bad. My granddaughter has never before been bitten on the sofa over the months. This is just crazy.
Nofairytale

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Joined: Oct '10
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Posted 2 years ago
Tue May 17 2011 17:11:44
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I am not an expert but here is my advice:

1) since bed bugs come out of hiding to feed, having a food source (you) will exist if you sleep at home. It is a good way to monitor you having them (or any place you spend an extended period of time at home)
2) I'd say two weeks; you do want to see if new eggs are hatching, even if all bed bugs have been killed. Heat treatment has been proven effective. Ever look for a no chemical fix? I have a Packtite (saving grace) and heat treated my car so that I can have stuff that I know is safe (clothes and whatever I bring wih me outside so as to not spread)
3) a good pco, as I've read, will spend at least an hour each time but they are hard to find. You have to be aggressive about treatment. A lot of ppl thought me crazy but they don realize how hard they are to get rid of.
4) carpet is definitely their ground... K would go with hardwoods bc there are less places, under and in, to hide.
5) if u choose to move, you can heat treat everything in a Packtite except really big items. Another option is heat treating all of ur stuff, say in a moving van, or Vikane. Again, this is just my personal opinion but I have been bed bug free for six months now, and I am verrrrry allergic to bites. I wish someone told me all of this when it happened to me.
lilmary12585

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Posted 2 years ago
Tue May 17 2011 17:27:18
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You should stay in your bed for unfortunately. You should check out the FAQ's do's and don'ts and all the other great facts. I wouldn't leave for too long because unfortunately you are bait, you don't want the chemicals sprayed and them not be shot in between the eyes with it and then lay dormant. You want them to come out in search of you and be exposed to the chemical. I don't think weekly treatments are too frequent IMO if they are doing a minimum of three. That would give time for the nymphs to hatch. Yes, carpet is like camo for these bugs so hardwood floor would be better. I'm not an expert but from I've read nothing kills eggs except heat.