my 3 year old is suffering mysterious bites with now added frequency *sob*

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my 3 year old is suffering mysterious bites with now added frequency sob

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scaredpea

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Posted 1 year ago
Mon Jun 20 2011 21:22:38
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I'm at a loss. My 3 year old son has ben getting random bites for about 4 months now, generally in 2's and 3's.

At the beginning (Jan 2011) they were spaced a few days or a week apart but definitely happening. then slightly more frequently. I got scared it might be bedbugs so we first hired a PCO that our condo management company sent who did a visual inspection (March 2011) that turned up nothing.
Then after another month with still regular bites I bought climb ups and BB Passive alert monitors (April 2011) and neither caught/showed anything. but the bites continued.
Finally with still more bites happening I cracked and hired a very reputable k9 who came out last month (May 30th 2011) and gave us an all clear. The owner assured me we did not have bedbugs. But sill the bites continued and now they were coming daily and my son who previously didn't seem bothered by them is now starting to itch them to the point that they bleed. I called the company that sent the k9 looking for advice, and the owner offered to come personally and bring a different dog to do a second inspection. that was last week (June 15th 2011), and after the second k9 gave the all clear he insisted we did not have bedbugs.

But now my son is covered on his arms and legs in pin prick bites, with new ones showing up daily in clumps of 2's and 3's close together. he probably has 20-30 on him right now that look like what he used to just get a few at a time a week or so apart.

I've inspected his bed and surrounding furniture/baseboards with a flashlight thoroughly and seen nothing fecal or bug related. I have found blood on his sheets a few times recently but it's hard to tell if it's from him itching his bites or not.

I've seen him have plenty of rashes and this doesn't seem like one at all. He goes to daycare but I don't think it's from there since I've checked out the other kids at the park and none of them have any noticeable bites on him. We own our condo and I talked to the neighbors and none of them are experiencing this. Our 4 month old baby sleeps in the same room as her brother and I've noticed the pin prick bites twice on her but nothing to the degree my son is suffering.

It doesn't seem to be fleas since I think we'd see them somehow and no one but my son is showing bites and I know I react to flea bites from when I was a kid.
I don't think it's carpet beetles because I can't find anything bug related anywhere in his room, and we have brand new wood floors in there put in a month ago.
It doesn't fit the pattern and location on his body of scabies from everything I've read.
I don't think it's mites since his mattress is brand new since December (he moved from the crib to a 'big boy bed')

I still have the passive alerts on my son's bed and they're not showing anything, but my husband made me take down the climb ups after the first k9 clearing because he doesn't want visitors to think we're worried about bb;s. The climb ups never showed any bugs at all for the 6 weeks they were up.

The bites are all pin prick looking sometimes very close together and other times a bit further apart, mostly on his legs and arms and often in a triangle pattern.

my mom who's been away the past two months was shocked at how bit up this kid is, and she agrees it doesn't look like a rash.

I'm at a loss on what to do. I feel like the PCO's are telling me it's not bb's, and given the 2 k9's I have to think it's not bed bugs but nothing else makes sense. I am overwhelmed and desperate to help my sweet boy but I don't know how to proceed. Do I hire a new PCO and get a 4th inspection? is there some relatively safe at home treatments I can try for general pest control? should I encase his mattress just because? Do i take him to a dermatologist... but I keep reading that they;re often wrong about these things.

We live in a condo but have talked to the neighbours and the property management and none of them have heard anything about any infestations in our building.

What do I do now? My poor child is breaking my heart
rs1971

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Posted 1 year ago
Mon Jun 20 2011 21:45:01
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Given the number of inspections you've had I think that it's (beyond) safe to say that whatever problem he has, it isn't related to bed bugs. Frankly, even if you hadn't had those inspections, given the frequency of marks on his body, if they were attributable to bed bugs, you'd be seeing evidence.

If it were me, I would take him to a dermatologist.

-rs1971
djames1921

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Posted 1 year ago
Mon Jun 20 2011 21:56:26
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Does not sound like bed bugs, scratch that one from the list of things to worry about, which is a huge one to get off the worry list. Bed bugs would have reproduced like mad by now and you would have them everywhere and would not have a hard time finding one. The dogs and your passives and climbups concur, but even without those, the sheer length of time this has been going on basically rules out bed bugs alone as once again you would have a lot of them. Dermatologist isn't a bad place to go.
whatsbitingme

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Posted 1 year ago
Mon Jun 20 2011 22:10:33
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djames1921 - 13 minutes ago »
Dermatologist isn't a bad place to go.

I agree, Dermatologist or Allergist.
Nobugsonme

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Posted 1 year ago
Tue Jun 21 2011 0:23:47
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I agree with seeing a doctor. There could be other causes.
peppy

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Posted 1 year ago
Tue Jun 21 2011 0:53:21
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The one thing that stuck out when I was reading this is that it sounds like your son's bite-like reaction began a month or so after he got a new mattress. Could he be allergic to something on the mattress or in the bed frame--perhaps some material they used in making it, or something it was sprayed with? Maybe you could purchase an encasement to put over the mattress? I realize he probably isn't sitting on a bare mattress, but I do wonder if there could be a connection. Taking him to a dermatologist and perhaps having allergy testing done sounds like a good idea.
scaredpea

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Posted 1 year ago
Tue Jun 21 2011 9:08:28
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thanks everyone. I've scheduled for him to go to the doctor and get a referral to a dermatologist. thank goodness for public health care here in Canada.

I guess it's just sooooo hard for me to rule out bb's because the bite pattern (2's and 3's triangles or line shape) and behaviour (new ones showing up each morning on exposed skin) fit them to a "T", and yesterday I was browsing here and someone posted photos of bb bites on their legs and it looked so much like what Ben has. coupled with the story I read here of the woman who had bb's for 7 months before she finally found signs keeps that nagging worry in the back of my mind. But I do know that I've done everything I can to rule them out.

I appreciate everyone's re-assurance and hopefully the doctor tomorrow can give me a good referral.

I'm gonna hang around here anyway, if nothing else to share my newfound learning and advice with others. But does anyone have a forum they could recommend for more general skin conditions/bite issues that I could check out?
scaredpea

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Posted 1 year ago
Tue Jun 21 2011 13:20:58
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oh my gawd, no my 4 month old daughter who shares a room with my 3 year old son has 9 tiny pin prick bites on her leg... in 3's. this is making me crazy.
scaredpea

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Posted 1 year ago
Wed Jun 22 2011 9:20:25
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oh my goodness, just when I was starting to think things were OK my hubby wakes up with this bloody streaky mess on his pillow. which alone I could handle but in the 4 months I've been dealing with my bb fear I've seen similar sights on both ours and our son's bedding (in fact just about a week ago I saw something similar but smaller on my son's sheets). My hubby has nothing on his body to indicate where the blood could have come from. Does it look at all BB related??

here is a link with a pen for scale
blood on pillow

I also found this little black dot further down the pillow about 6 inches away (opposite direction of the streaks) that looks like a pen tip absorption.

black dot on pillow

I can't believe I'm seeing this again, just when I was starting to believe the negative K9 inspection and the advice here. Am i going crazy?
bed-bugscouk

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Posted 1 year ago
Wed Jun 22 2011 9:31:16
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Hi,

The blood streak is a fresh one so not confirming of BB's.

I agree with the others that a dermatologist / allergist is the next step.

I am also going to PM you a few questions and suggestions of things to try, although I specialise in BB's I get involved in a fair number of mysterious bite cases and have developed some additional diagnostic tools with time.

I think you can rule out BB's and focus on other aspects though.

David Cain
Bed Bugs Limited
scaredpea

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Posted 1 year ago
Wed Jun 22 2011 9:39:05
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I do have an appointment to talk to a our family doctor to get a recommendation for a dermatologist regarding my son's bites today.

thank you David, I'm just so tired with all of this
bed-bugscouk

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Posted 1 year ago
Wed Jun 22 2011 9:44:45
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Hi,

No worries, yes it can be tiring dealing with an unknown issue but 99% of the hassle is usually in the diagnostic, I have sent you a PM.

Please try what I have suggested and get back to me when you can with the rest of the information.

David
mindkites

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Posted 1 year ago
Wed Jun 22 2011 13:03:07
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Do you have any pets? We had a very bad flea infestation once and my daughter was experiencing what you're describing. It went on for awhile before we realized it was fleas and at first they were only biting her, in her bed.