Got Bed Bugs? Bedbugger Forums » Bed bug bites, skin, etc.
Need help identifying bites
(3 posts)-
fargotof
newbite
Joined: Jul '12
Posts: 2offline
Posted 10 months ago
Sat Jul 7 2012 8:45:56
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Just to be clear, I've looked through a lot of information but cannot really identify these.
It started a few days ago (8-10). I woke up with some red itchy bumps along my leg, maybe 4 of them, in a sort of long line. I thought very little of this, though it did appear strange. Where I live I get bit by mosquitoes everywhere, and am very familiar with them and immediately ruled them off as the cause. The locations of the bites alone are enough to rule off mosquitoes, as I have been bitten thousands of times, and never like this. In retrospect (and looking at the remains of now), these first few bites look exactly like I would expect bed bug bites to look like. In a line. There is about 6-10cm between each bump. However, later bites seemed to turn me away from the idea.
The bumps were small, light red, and in general did look like mosquito bites, perhaps somewhat smaller. In later experiments, scratching caused them to get bigger, much like mosquito bites as well. At first they did not seem to itch much, but if I touched them or clothing brushed them, they did become itchy. Some recent bumps on my thing are actively itchy.
A day later I woke up with more of these guys, this time around my left armpit, but not in it. These ones did not appear to be in a chain. Next day I was gone from the city and slept somewhere else, and the following morning I did not note any new bumps (however I have no way of verifying this). I know that sometimes bites have a delayed reaction, but perhaps this is not the case here, not sure. I should note that I [b]did not sleep in any other beds[b] for at least 2 months prior to this.
Anyway, over the course of a few days I've slowly gotten more bumps, some on inner right thigh, some on forearm, some on the inside of the knee. Just a few minutes ago I woke up and realized I have new bumps on the inside of my thigh, maybe 8, of which 2 I remember were there before. and 2 on the inside of my knee. The ones on the inside of the knee are bigger (like mosquito bites that have been scratched), but none of the bumps are welts. This is also the first time that I have become more or less concerned about this, as these new bites became very itchy and annoying, and bumps just continue to pop up in bunches of 2-8 overnight.
I was not immediately concerned, but I've never had anything like this before. I looked for the bedbug "symptoms" but with the exception of the bite size itself and (maybe) the patterns, I found no evidence of bedbugs. I woke up at night a couple of times to look for them, and did not see anything. There were no spots on the bed or anything like that. Furthermore, I cannot see where they could have come from. As I said, I hadn't slept outside my bed for probably about 2 months, likely much more.
The most suspicious thing to me personally is the locations of the "bites" - primarily the warm/sweaty areas of the body, though not exclusively. Again, I didn't find this kind of behaviour noted in bed bugs. Judging by location, it seemed to hint towards scabies.
When I looked at scabies, at first it seemed promising... but there are a couple of things. Over the course of these maybe 7 days, the older bites have almost entirely disappeared, having been reduced to a very very small red, unnoticeable bump. Some old ones have a dark center, but most don't, and I can only attribute this to scratching. Note that old mosquito bites often have a dark dot i n the center. Also, I did not see any of those characteristic trails left behind just before scabies bites.
I considered a heat rash as well - again, it seems somewhat consistent. Warm areas of the body, and the other areas could perhaps be explained by close, brushing clothing, but the rashes that I found on the internet just look completely different. Not to mention that I've found these bumps kind of all alone as well. Furthermore, the bumps are appearing in different places but not progressively growing in the same areas overall, with some exceptions that are probably just coincidences.
As for fleas, I suppose it is a possibility as well. My window is open 24/7. In addition, just prior to when all of this started, I let my cat into my room for just a moment - he is NEVER allowed to enter my room (for other reasons), but I was already in there and he did jump on my bed at one point. I didn't even remember this until very recently, and now it sticks out as an unusual even that happened just prior to all this. However, my cat does not scratch at all, and I would say he does not look like a cat with fleas (I know what it looks like).
6 days ago I was hiking in the mountains and came back with a ton of mosquito bites on my arms, to complicate matters, but looking at my arms now I would say that all of the bites in that area look identical (even though some of them I may have previously identified as the new mysterious kind). Unfortunately I don't know which ones were from mosquitoes, and I can't say with certainty that I've simply not noticed the mosquito ones vanish in entirety.
Sorry for the long description, perhaps later I will post pictures but not now as I want to get back to sleep. Thanks for your help.
To sum up:
-VERY similar to mosquito bites, but they are most certainly not. Appearing after night, in groups, and in places where I cannot be bitten by mosquitoes.
-So far have predominantly appeared in warm areas of body: armpits, inner thighs, inner knees, but not exclusively. Some scattered around forearms. The early bites were just on my leg. I did not note this earlier, but I have not a single bump on my face.
-Against bed-bugs: though some bites resemble the bed bug type, there is no physical evidence but the bites themselves. No reason to suspect infestation - had not slept anywhere else for months prior.
-Against scabies: no trails. Perhaps also, the distance between many of the bites. No welts.
-Against fleas, mites, types of lice: nothing, unfortunately, except for perhaps having no bites on the feet and maybe 1 on a calf at best.
-Against heat rash: appearance, distance between early bites, non-recurrence in any specific location. No prickly sensation, though I have no idea what that is supposed to feel like. -
oldtimer
Joined: Apr '07
Posts: 6,760offline
Posted 10 months ago
Sat Jul 7 2012 9:07:30
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Hi,
Read the bite primer at the top of the forum to understand why they are the wrong thing to look at with regards bedbugs or cause ID and then check te FAQ's for details of how to look for live samples, cast skins and faecal traces.
Fully appreciate that the skin reaction is the thing that most apparent to you but it's the wrong way to go about diagnosing what's causing it.
David Cain
Bed Bugs Limited -
fargotof
newbite
Joined: Jul '12
Posts: 2offline
Posted 10 months ago
Mon Jul 9 2012 0:09:15
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No problem, I'll just wait and see what happens in a month or two. I don't really think it's bed bugs, anyway.
If you can close the thread, go ahead and do that please. I didn't find a way to do it myself.
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