No Signs, Still Itching/Bites 1.5 months in new place

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No Signs, Still Itching/Bites 1.5 months in new place

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MI-Infest

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Posted 1 year ago
Fri Oct 14 2011 7:48:18
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Hi all,

I left behind a bad situation in my previous apt, moving, and since then I have had periodic bites and itching from hell every so often during that time. Some of it seems to be old flareups from the previous bites, but others seem to be new. There is no pattern to these new bites and they are only ever single ones.

I have noticed a few mosquitoes in my new house, it has still been seasonable outside for them, and even saw one bite me. The itching of these new bites bears the same to mosquito bites I've received that I know are mosquito bites. I have seen blood spots, but I have confirmed them to always be from cuts from psoriasis I have in areas of my body.

I have seen no cast skins, live bugs, or fecal spots. I have diligently looked to the point of making myself sick. My mattress is also encased in a Mattress Safe protector, as recommended by bedbugger itself, and I have climb ups on my bar stool and bed in my room. I wash my sheets twice a week and steam clean my mattress once a week. I also have duct taped all possible holes and around the bed legs of my bed and other furniture and out borax around the feet of furniture that does not have climbups on it. My laundry is washed and dried accordingly, and bagged up as soon as it is done. Except for one clean towel in a drawer, and that drawer is also monitored when I check my bed and so far I have found nothing

When I moved into my new house, I left everything from my old place, except clothes out in the garage in sealed bags for a month. The only thing that has been brought into the house since is my electronics, which I know did not have anything in them. Everything was washed, aired out with compressed air, and every precaution was taken before being brought back in. Everything else suspect is in the garage still and shall remain till Jan. 2013 when it has been 18 months. I have checked mattresses in the garage and they are clean.

Is it still possible for me to have bugs? Or is it something else? I have tried different soaps and shampoos and seem to itch less and have less reaction when using them. I have also looked in my car and been looking around at work and school, and have not found anything there.

I need some input to put my mind at ease, as I am starting to go crazy over this again. Thanks for taking time to read this.
laststrawsue

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Posted 1 year ago
Fri Oct 14 2011 11:13:08
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I'm sorry you're going through this, I understand completely as this is my worst despairing fear that I'll move out of this infested place, and still be dealing with it. (My SO is concerned that we'll move without bbs, and I'll still be neurotic.)

So it's not that I have much advice for you, as you're obviously a lot further along in this than myself. But I have a few questions.

When you moved, how did you treat or isolate your stuff that's in the garage? (I ask because I'm thinking - can't they just walk out of the garage?)
Did you somehow treat your electronic equipment? (I ask because you say you know your electronics were not infested. How did you know? Did you have a bb sniffing dog clear them? Were they fumigated or heat treated?)

Just as an example. We found out that my downstairs neighbors apparently have been battling bed bugs themselves for at least 4 months, and the landlord did nothing until last week they started treatment (insecticide only) (because I found a bug and was bitten & another neighbor made a stink).

I think I was bitten possibly as long ago as 2 months. And in the last month, we found 2 actual bed bugs (not adult - some intermediate stage smaller than a lady bug, def smaller than an apple seed), and I was bitten the week before the treatment at least 3 times on my wrist.

Otherwise, we've completely gone over the entire apt with a crevice tool on the vacuum. All of my belongings were meticulously gone through & vacuumed, and then bagged.

Here's the interesting thing: We have NEVER found one single "harborage". No nests, no casts, no fecal matter, no blood spots. NOTHING. No sign of them anywhere at all. And believe me, my SO is a neat nick & has always been fanatical with the vacuum as it is... and now I'm showing signs of "OCD", wanting everything crevice tool vacuumed constantly.

When bagging my stuff - all stored stuff - the boxes were opened everything was gone through, washed if possible (smooth stuff), laundered in hot water & dryer on high (if fabric), and/or vacuumed, or thrown away. And everything put into sealed plastic bags. Not one item was not closely inspected. There's not one corner or crevice that hasn't been inspected & vacuumed. Every wall socket & light switch plate was removed in prep for the 1st treatment.
The mattress & box spring was inspected closely, and they had been encased already.

No signs in the bed clothes, bed, or any furniture in the whole place. No signs anywhere.
We did find a couple of stink bugs in the hanging clothes closet, and some tiny beetlest in the living room by a window (have had these tiny beetles here all along).
But no bed bug nests.

I've been bitten. I've found 2 bed bugs - one right on the bed on top of the top quilt.
But no idea where they came from.

So you CAN have bed bugs without finding any fecal matter, casings, harborages, or nests.

I don't know anything about the efficacy of purchased bed bug monitoring devices, or the success of something you could fix up on your own...
I haven't done that myself, because well, I know there's bed bugs here... I just don't know where they are coming from.

But in your situation - you don't even know if you actually have them... So some type of monitoring device would seem to me to be a way to get some confirmation if they are indeed there.

And I understand bites are difficult to go by.- I've gotten mosquito bites recently, and I have eczema and allergies, and stress induced cystic acne... so it's really hard sometimes for me to say - YES, that's definitely a bed bug bite.
The ones on my wrist I know are bites - only because they have the constellation formation, they were there when I woke up, and that's the wrist that hangs outside the blankets on my pillow when I sleep - it's the position I like to sleep in, so it just makes sense.
I've had other welts & various skin issues... But many times it's impossible to say it's not the eczema, not allergies, and not acne from stress.

Furthermore, I think my SO is right. Even after we move, have every single belonging of mine treated somehow... (I'm not taking any risks) I can't imagine anything will ever be the same as it used to be. At this point, I can't even go to public places without thinking about if they might be out there! I look at an upholstered chair in a waiting room and think - there could be bed bugs nesting in that chair! I was watching a tv show, and they showed a train station with upholstered chairs, and I was thinking - eww, bed bugs.
Furthermore, sometimes I feel itchy & feel like something's crawling on me - I look right at the spot - can feel something crawling on me - and there's NOTHING there!

These bugs can drive anyone mad!

So I say, in your situation, I'd set up some kind of bed bug monitoring device - find out. If they're there, then you can go from there at least, and not just live your life worrying about it.
MI-Infest

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Posted 1 year ago
Fri Oct 14 2011 12:03:22
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Hi last, thanks for your reply.

In my infested apt., I had a harborage in the mattress I had as there was a large hole ripped in the side and the main infestation was my bed and sheets. All of those items were disposed of 2 days later. A PCO came out that weekend and did the standard pay n spray. He had to come back 2 weeks later because there were still live bugs in that apt. I vacuumed and laundered and scanned my apt meticulously, including caulking cracks and removing lightswitch and outlet covers. Thankfully, I never saw another live bug, or any other signs after that. However, I did end up moving because I believed my then neighbor, I discovered, was a luggage handler at the local airport, but my landlord still blamed me. Thankfully in this new place, the landlord is more understanding. I also checked my car and employer as well as my college furniture meticulously. TO this day, my neurosis has not gone away and will probably not at this point.

The stuff that is in the garage, which was moved into the garage of my new place in early Sept., was sealed in plastic bags in my old apt. and has been since the start of this awful discovery back in May '11. When I discovered them, I duct taped all my plastic bins shut and they sat in the unaffected area of my apt. They sit in the garage in duct taped plastic bags now, which were placed on them from a fresh roll of garbage bags that never touched the inside of my apt. They will stay there in the garage in my new place until 2013. They are in a section of the garage away from everything else. They also sat in my apt. more than 6 ft away from my bed thus out of the main range of my mattress. The laundry was was freshed before moving out and was placed in a clean plastic bag from the fresh roll as well, this includes after being bagged inside the laundry room in my apt. All my clothes went straight to the washer and dryer when I brought them in and I tossed the old bags out immediately in a sealed new bag.

As far as my electronics go, I bought some compressed air and I took a long time cleaning them out through any empty slots and some Clorox wipes. They were then taken outside and sealed in plastic bags as well from the same role of bags and duct taped shut. They were also placed in the garage and sat there for one month, and thankfully the weather provided some warm days. The only reason these things were brought into the house is because I suspected them to be free.

The bites, which are infrquent and have no pattern at all and are not clustered together, started before I brought these items into the house. If it wasn't for the mosquitos, and the fact I've seen them bite me, I would be in total panic mode instead of partial panic mode.

As far as monitoring my room, I have an encasement on my mattress and climbups on the bed frame as well as the barstool that is in my room. I retalc the climbups every 2 weeks, and wash the sheets twice a week and steam clean it once a week as mentioned. And the few blood spots on the sheets HAVE been accounted for. I just wish I knew what was making me itch. I hope that I never find anything in my climbups other than the talc I put there. And the other thing that makes me wonder about all this nonsense is that when I had the bugs, I couldn't sleep, the itching was so bad, and in this situation, I am sleeping ok. So far so good, but still nerve racking.
BugsMustDie

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Posted 1 year ago
Fri Oct 14 2011 16:11:33
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It could be your skin still reacting. I did the same thing for more than 2 months. I couldn't find evidence of them, but my skin was driving me crazy. I have been to the doctor and we are monitoring for other conditions, but as of this week, I think it's finally starting to calm down. I've read numerous responses on the forums from individuals who have reported having new or worsened skin conditions after getting bit by bed bugs. It was only after reading those stories could I calm down and tell myself I had to keep looking for other evidence. Even as I'm posting this, I had a bumpy itch on my elbow and automatically, I'm looking for bites. But I'm pretty sure it's just eczema. I think bed bugs make most people crazy for at least a little while, but once we are able to accept they are gone, we slowly learn to jump back into normalcy.
AshamedandScratching

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Posted 1 year ago
Fri Oct 14 2011 16:26:55
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I second BMD on this.
MI-Infest

newbite
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Posted 1 year ago
Fri Oct 14 2011 20:51:39
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BugsMustDie - 4 hours ago »
It could be your skin still reacting. I did the same thing for more than 2 months. I couldn't find evidence of them, but my skin was driving me crazy. I have been to the doctor and we are monitoring for other conditions, but as of this week, I think it's finally starting to calm down. I've read numerous responses on the forums from individuals who have reported having new or worsened skin conditions after getting bit by bed bugs. It was only after reading those stories could I calm down and tell myself I had to keep looking for other evidence. Even as I'm posting this, I had a bumpy itch on my elbow and automatically, I'm looking for bites. But I'm pretty sure it's just eczema. I think bed bugs make most people crazy for at least a little while, but once we are able to accept they are gone, we slowly learn to jump back into normalcy.

Yeah and as ashamed said I second this. I hope it's the case. In fact, I've just inspected my mattress and climb ups and retalc'd them and found nothing again. I washed and dried the sheets and I did find a huge centipede which has deposited a new greyish brown stain on my outer sheet, it's body and legs were all in the lint trap. Yuck!

Anyway, it seems by experimenting with soaps to my itching also goes away. I just bought Woolite, so we'll see how this evening's slumber goes.

Thanks for all the comments everyone, I really appreciate it.
Buggybumpers

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Posted 1 year ago
Sat Oct 15 2011 0:37:55
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The same thing is happening to me. I moved about a month ago and have been very careful about what I brought with me and how. The few things that are in bins and bags are in closets and I laid double-sided tape in back of the doors of those. Nothing to be seen on the tapes or in the climbpups under the feet of my bed--except a couple of dead flies. A number of them have been coming in this past week or so because the screens here don't fit well. The other furniture in the apartment was purchased from the former tenant [I moved in my same highrise and this person, who died, was not known to have had BBs.] The carpeting is brand new. All I purchased from the lady's estate was a couple of end tables, a coffee table and one recliner. Out of habit, I have been staying out of the living room and in the bedroom because it is easy for me to inspect the bed. Yet I wake up every morning with itchy legs. Just the legs. But the real bad news is that, this evening, I decided to sit in the recliner and watch some TV [a small set given to me by my daughter, who is BB-free] and thought that something bit me on the leg. I turned over the cuff of my capris and saw what looked like a small, light brown bug. I picked that up to take it into the BR where I keep the magnifying glass and before I could get a good look I dropped it on or inside the drawer of the night stand. Stupid! Anyway, I had the experience with the sofa in my old apartment, [long gone] that the critters would bite there any time because they were so desperate with me mostly avoiding the couch. Now I think it's happened again on this recliner with the lights on. I have hardly ever sat in that thing in over a month. Why in heck would bugs want to roost in there in the livingroom when I've been sleeping in my bed every night? You'd think the BR is where any left over from the old place would want to stay--but the climbups tell a different story. Weird--and as exasperating as hell. I'm sure I was bitten in that recliner and now I am going to have to have the exterminator come and spray it. I was so hoping I was done with the chemicals for good. Or maybe I should just buy a steamer. The chemicals really didn't help me with my sofa in the other place.