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LOSING MY MIND, PLEASE HELP! NEED ANSWERS :(
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losingit12
newbite
Joined: Jul '12
Posts: 8offline
Posted 10 months ago
Mon Jul 16 2012 16:13:14
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hello everyone, please help me!!
I have been reading every post on this site for a few weeks now in hopes of finding some peace of mind but everything seems to point to BED BUGS. I have never had any ANY experience with bb's and now I am obsessed and losing it. I am going crazy and my husband is losing his patience with me...Here is my story.almost two months ago my husband showed me a skin colored hard bump on his thigh and telling me it itched. He is paranoid sometimes and hates spiders so I just told him to leave it alone and it would go away...Well a few days later a second one popped up right next to it. I just told him to stop scratching and leave it alone. Eventually they both went away...THEN i noticed red bumps on myself. One in the crease behing my knee, one on my arm and one on my stomach...they itched like crazy. So then the googling began. It sounded like bed bugs so i looked all over our mattress and found nothing...but the next day i washed all of our bedding and called to get an inspection. The professional came and gave the inspection, said he found nothing and then went through everything again with me next to him...he kept finding red fuzzies but no bb's (our blanket was red fleece). He lifted up our mattress and found a little TINY bright red bug and said he thought it was a fuzzy but when he touched it it jumped forward about an inch or two...and he killed it with his fingers. I was crushed...i thought we were in the clear. I wish i wouldve gotten a better look at it though before he killed it...because I read that bb's dont jump AND it was wide awake crawling under my mattress in daylight. Anyways, they came and treated my bed and my son's bed because my husband sleeps in there some nights so we didnt know if both beds were infected. I dried and bagged all of our clothes and de-cluttered. My kids have not been bitten at this point...things were going ok after first treatment until the third day, i got 2 huge welts on my my stomach around 1 in the afternoon. And then one on my thigh the next day. So i called PCM to come treat again. They came and treated a week after first treatment. After this 2nd treatment i got encasements for my mattress and boxspring as well as my sons mattress and boxspring. I thought for sure this would be the end. ALSO by this time there still has been NO evidence, no bug (unless counting the one that the first inspection found- even though i am just skeptical that this was a BB) no fecal matter, no blood. Three days after second treatment, my son woke up from an afternoon nap with 5 bites. one on the right side of his neck, one on the other side, one behind his ear, one on his thigh and one on his lower back. I LOST IT, i started crying...I was starting to feel normal again and sleep ok but now my baby is being bitten. THIS IS NOT OKAY!!! all i do is google google google...my husband thinks I am losing it- bc I AM...i just dont know what to do. We all never have bites at the same time. first it was the husband, then me and now my son...bites only seem to happen once a week. Could it not be bed bugs? how are encasements not working?? Is it possible that the bites on my son just showed up late and the second treatment DID work? I dont want to take off the encasement and inspect again or take them off for a third treatment bc what if i let some out? Do the pesticides take time to work and should i not be concerned that there are new bites 3 days after 2nd treatment? its driving me crazy that i cant see anything! should i call a dog out this time and spend the fortune?? BTW i have already paid 1700, and i live in a decent sized 3 story single family home so all this clothing and furniture is the biggest pain EVER!!! I have lots of stairs and I am so paranoid of these INVISIBLE things spreading all over my house!
Please answer as much as you can, I really appreciate it.
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oldtimer
Joined: Nov '11
Posts: 2,488offline
Posted 10 months ago
Mon Jul 16 2012 17:03:37
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Dear losing it,
Some comments for your review and consideration:
> If you've paid for extermination work i am assuming that the PCO recognized the red bug you refer toabove as a bed bug, did the treatment and you do in fact have bed bugs.
> Maybe stop wasting time using Google and use that time to find and kill your bed bugs. This site has all the information you need to learn what to do and be successful doing it so, save some "search time" and just click around here.
> If you've paid for bed bug remediation services from a pest professional then it appears that these folks have not sufficiently killed the bugs present at your home. This statement assumes that you & your family are not at a high risk of bringin in new bed bugs every day under your normal course of work and day to day routine.
> It would be wise to think back to try to determine how you may have brough bed bugs into your home. There is a list of such questions/considerations.
> Numerous bites mean you have a number of bed bugs. Search them out.
> understand that bed bugs can hide in the tiniest of places but are most frequently found in close association with your bed (after all, they are not called wall bugs, chair bugs, table bugs, etc). Be sure to search the bed frame, all matteess seams, the box spring and the inner parts of the box spring.
> Be sure to call your PCO for re-services if the bed bugs continue. ( Note to PCOs out there; recently I visited a home where the PCO did a "complete treatment" using an aerosol and "natural" product just hours prior to my arrival. Despite nearly every surface within the bedroom being covered in "oil" it took me about 37 seconds to find live bed bugs on the matteress and about 30 minutes to find another fifty. Please don't be one of "those guys", thanks much ! )
This should be enough to get you started on the correct path.
Hope this helps ! paul b.
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losingit12
newbite
Joined: Jul '12
Posts: 8offline
Posted 10 months ago
Mon Jul 16 2012 17:22:48
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Thanks P Bello!
I guess I should add that I have searched everything thoroughly...seams, cracks, crevices, drawers...we now have no clothes in our rooms and I have taken the beds apart mutliple times and sprayed down our headboards and bed frames with rubbing alcohol. Also I am washing bedding everyday on HOT as well as the clothes we are wearing and vacuuming almost every day. If i wasnt renting this house I would tear up all the carpet and throw it away!! My husband could have very well brought these home with him on a buisness trip or some of our friends/family members may have brought them here as they visit frequently (every couple months). I am worried about the encasements...take them off to do another inspection and risk spreading them or ripping the encasements that costed my 200 total??
I am so troubled!
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oldtimer
Joined: Nov '11
Posts: 2,488offline
Posted 10 months ago
Mon Jul 16 2012 18:02:33
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Dear losing it,
More info/comments for you:
> Leave the encasements in place. if they are intact there is no good reason to look to see "what's under them".
> If your mattress & box spring are encased then I suspect the following areas:
* Any folds in the encasement surfaces.
* Area between the mattress & box spring.
* Areas along the edges of the encasementts.
* Bed frame cracks & crevices, etc.
* Furniture located close to bed area and all C&C therein.> Treat the bed frame hiding spots with either steam, residual insecticides and/or seal these hiding spots with suitable caulking.
> Vacuum.
> Remove & inspect utility penetration & outlet covers.
> Get after your pest pro to do this work if you are still seeing bed bugs.
Hope this helps ! paul b.
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