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Newbie to forum and BB - any advice would help!
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sleepless in PA
newbite
Joined: Jul '10
Posts: 20offline
Posted 2 years ago
Sun Jul 11 2010 10:20:54
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Hi Everyone,
First off I am thankful to whomever started this website!
My story sounds like a lot of the others I have been reading on here. I have been bit for the past two months, been to two doctors, was told it was Poison Ivy, Fleas, etc. Last Saturday night my husband and I did a thorough check of our bed (after reading about bedbugs online) and to our dismay found them in the plastic corners of our boxspring. Bagged up the little monsters and took them to an exterminator.
They confirmed our fear, bedbugs.
We had the whole house treated on Friday, was told prior to remove everything and heat to 140 for a min. of 3 mins. We complied with everything they said, the technician was pleased at how empty the house was.
So here are my questions/concerns...
Friday night, no bites, no bug sitings..
Last night, 3 bites and found two on my pillowcases.
We were told by the inspector and the tech who treated our house, that the infestation was mild.
Side note, the sheets and pillowcases are currently being washed in hot water and dried until I roast what may be in there.1)Is this to be expected? Our matress and boxspring are both encased. BUT, the tech put the boxspring one on INSIDE OUT IN ERROR. For the life of me I dont' know how he didn't realize that the zipper was on the wrong side. Will this make a difference? Should I NOT bring everything back in? We are still in process of heating/treating etc. I have a ton of shoes outside in black bags and have two cans of Bedlam, do I spray then bring right back in?
2) I know we have to wait to throw out our mattress but, can we at least toss the headboard?
3) We were told to bring our belongings in right after treatment and that the residual in the carpet and furniture will take care of what may be still out there. Is this right?
4) How about our vacuum? We have canister type, not bags, what should we do? Can we even vacuum with the chemical on rug?
5) How easy is it to have an egg on you?
6) How do you get through this? My husband is not getting bit, just lucky me. I fall asleep and then feel an itch and run to the bathroom and inspect the bed after finding a bite and I am done for the night, no more sleep for me!
(Wednesday night I found two in our bed too after being bitten)7) How likely am I to spread this in the office?
Is this consuming everyone else? I can't even function on a semi-intelligent level anymore, I am depressed and have severe anxiety about this whole situation. All I do is cry, I know I should be stronger, but this is really doing me in.PLEASE HELP.
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member
Joined: Mar '09
Posts: 282offline
Posted 2 years ago
Sun Jul 11 2010 10:51:23
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How did he lock the zipper if it was put on inside out?
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sleepless in PA
newbite
Joined: Jul '10
Posts: 20offline
Posted 2 years ago
Sun Jul 11 2010 10:58:21
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I don't know! This whole thing is mindblowing. The emotional, physical and financial burden is incredible.
My husband just called the inspector and because I am finding them on my pillow, he said to take our headboard outside and spray with Bedlam and keep it outside, also to spray the casements again and keep our cats out of the room. (even though we just underwent treatment on Friday)
I think he thinks, I am a nutcase. BB are not that widespread in our area (yet) and I have no one else to talk to about this. The Exterminator is licensed by the state and have dealt with cases and are dealing with more each day. I know I am just babbling, sorry, but I am trying to give all background information. -
member
Joined: Mar '09
Posts: 282offline
Posted 2 years ago
Sun Jul 11 2010 11:06:12
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You said is it ok to throw out your mattress and head board. Why are you throwing out your mattress? did they not encase it along with your box spring?, Why are you taking out your head board and treating it? didn't you pay them to do it on Friday?
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sleepless in PA
newbite
Joined: Jul '10
Posts: 20offline
Posted 2 years ago
Sun Jul 11 2010 11:15:36
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I am throwing out my mattress, because I want to. They did not say that I had to. It is older anyway and I would feel better.
Why are we taking off the headboard? Good question, and yes it was treated on Friday, you can see the white spray marks in some areas on it. Maybe he told my husband to do it because the BB were on my pillowcase and are using that to crawl in bed? I really don't know. When my husband calls him back tomorrow, I will have him ask. -
junior member
Joined: Jun '10
Posts: 81offline
Posted 2 years ago
Mon Jul 12 2010 12:14:24
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I threw out my mattress too; just to gross to encase a bunch of BB's. Plus I have read that depending on the quality of the mattress protector, there is the possibility of them getting out, though not on this site did I read that. You also should (least I did) throw out all your pillows, big fluggy things, feather mattress, foam stuff, all that stuff, I eventually did, would have been BB free had I done it sooner. I bought a new foam cover after BB free. I am going to keep the air mattress for my bed for a while, as I live in a 4 family, one of the guys here has, problems, and is not cleaning anything, you can't just rely on the chemicals. So, sooner or later I will get them again, I plan on doing at the LEAST by-weekly inspections. I have cleaned and packed away or thrown away some of my "clutter".
I am bite & bug free app. one week; had a so called "mild" infestation starting to my awareness one month ago, of course I had them before that, just didn't know. So let's say 6 weeks to 2 months. From the time of my "awareness" to my relentless fight of vacuuming and I prob. did over 100 loads of laundry: I sprayed a lot with an alcholhal mixture (u will find the right formula here somewhere) homemade, in between the PCO's (exterminators) visits of 3. Have one left tomorrow.
I bought an air mattress at Walmarts for about 45 bucks, it is really thick and very comfy. It has a built in inflater, electric. I have had 2 sided tape around the perimeters in 2 stripies and pulled the sheets away from it so all the bedding remains on the top. One mistake I made in the beginning when I was panicking and hysterical, is i washed everything I could find, but I did not entirely dry them. Thta in turned not only scattered eggs, but did not kill them, so I had to rewash. I used a local very clean laundry matt app. 1 - 2 times a week : they have triple and 8 loaders and loader washers and dryers. You must dry on HOT for at one hour.
It is very hot here in Cincinnati, but I am from Pittsburgh, this time of year I think our weather is about the same. I have put a lot of things in my car to be heated to death. I have received comments on this forum that my car might get infested, believe me it is not. Nothing in that car is alive when parked in the sun it easily gets to temps of 135% - the specs are 120% to 140% for 2 hours (put a meat thermometer in my car). But I leave my stuff out there for days. Anything that I washed and am 100% certain that I have done correctly is double bagged and dried for at least an hour and packed away in tupperware containers; those big ones 18 to 24 gallons I believe. I only leave "open" the cloths that I need, by open I mean stacked in smaller containers double bagged, easily accesible and I re-tie the knots in the bags and put the lids back on. The containers are not air tight; but everything in there is dead & cloths are clean. I am leaving the containers as is, in my kitchen for at least a few months. You can not rush to get life back to normal, cause it just won't happen. Make sure you have a good magnifying glass (I have a "loupe",) and a nice strong flashlite. Examine EVERYTHING, underneath and everywhere. My PCO's didn't really do anything but act like I was phyco and drench this place with chemicals. They really did no visual inspection what so ever. That was up to me. The alchohal spray only kills the bugs at any stage, (they bite at any stage and then morph) but it does not kill any eggs.
SOunds to me like you have more than a "mild" infestation, just in comparison. Oh, your husband is getting bit if you are, he is just not having a reaction, i think it is app. 30% people will not have a reaction. Some previouse bites will become re-inflamed, you can circle bites to know if they are new ones or old ones. Your skin has a memory (per my doc.) and the inflammation is telling you to get busy and find out what it is that is making you swell. If you get a mosquito bite or a newbite : Some old bites can become reinflamed.
The BB's arent' after those cloths, they are after your blood. But keep them isolated so that they don't crawl into them and begin to hide amongst your already clean stuff. I keep them in my Bathroom, which was never infested. I have left the drawers out of my dressers, furniture was left upside down after first treatment. I vacummed and turned it right side up for 2nd treatment.
I also have a bagless. The first time I used it I vacuumed up some chemicals so I wasn't worried that they would be alive in the V. cleaner. Yet I did double bag it and used packing tape to seal the bags. Since then, I have cleaned all parts of it, (u can buy a new filter if you have the money and want to) I didn't have money. It now remains stored between uses in an industrial strength and size garbage bag that is tied, & roped shut at top.
You have a lot of questions as I did in the beginning, and are acting exactly as I did : it is quite the normal reaction. I have a lot of information, so feel free to PM me any questions that you have: I will be checking this site daily. I just gave you a big overview of what worked for me, but there are more tricks up my sleave; just I write too much to absorb at one time.
You must feel isolated that your husband isn't getting bit, and not exclusively, but women are more ickish about bugs: these are worse than cockroaches, harder to get rid of, but they want only one
thing: your blood.Do take off your headboard, they could hide in the cracks and even where the screws are. Place your new bed (I would go with an inflatable air mattress like I did, you can always use it later for guests, etc.) in the middle of the room, not touching the walls or anything. Remove bed dusters if you are using them. That is all I can write right now. Don't want to overwhelm you but you ARE NOT ALONE and you will find a lot of people that will support you and answer your questions. The eggs and bugs do not travel on you, but can travel on your shoes or purse if they are not sterilized from them. I washed my purse first thing, had the PCO's do my computer bag, as they can get into your electornics. Well, enough is enough for now: you will make it: i have panic disorder and I got threw it ... and it feels so good on the other side.And I needed to loose a bit of weight, did that from working my bones of until night when I would scower the internet for information, until I found this site. This has about everything on it. Uhlizza
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junior member
Joined: Jun '10
Posts: 81offline
Posted 2 years ago
Mon Jul 12 2010 12:24:06
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Did I tell you that it is prob. a good idea to toss the pillows? Specially since they are showing up on your cases....
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