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One readers observations on delayed reactions

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BugsMustDie

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Posted 1 year ago
Sat Oct 22 2011 13:34:57
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Awhile ago I posted this: http://www.flickr.com/photos/67382025@N06/6131577832/
in response to a thread asking about if bed bugs bit through clothes or go underneath.

I found this shirt, I estimate at least 3 weeks after these bites occured. I knew this because it's a tank-top, which I seldomly wear to bed because my husband keeps the air conditioning blaring and I freeze. I took it off the morning after, threw it in the wash and it got shoved in a ziplock, only to be discovered a few weeks later.

At the time I thought it was really strange that I could have been bit that many times and never reacted to those bites. I also thought the spots were from the bugs spewing some of the blood after feeding. It only dawned on me a few days ago that the spots were probably from my body continuing to bleed after they fed and they moved on the shirt as I rolled in bed. I apologize, this isn't a great picture. You can only see 2 or 3 individual bites. Over the full shirt, I can see where I was bit at least 5 or 6 different areas.

I held the shirt up to myself last night to compare the blood spots to scars on my body. I think they've all now surfaced, but I estimate it took nearly 2 months for the last ones to appear. I know everyone likes to say they can take 9 days, I've heard up to two weeks and one study I read in the Journal of American Medicine reported 18 days. I just thought my obvservations would be helpful in adding to the data that's been collected.

One thing that strikes me out of these observations is my PCO kept saying to call him if I continued to get bit. Readers will continue to post after treatments that they're still getting bit. Well if they can be so delayed, how do we know if we're still getting bit? While my situation probably isn't average since I do have horrible skin anyway, it's still something to consider.
Nobugsonme

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Posted 1 year ago
Sat Oct 22 2011 14:09:05
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Hi Bugsmustdie,

I think bites aren't a really accurate sign for anyone that bed bugs persist.

There are delayed reactions as you note.

There are people who don't react to bites.

And then there are those who do react to bites but who seem to have some some mysterious skin issues even after the problem is gone. (It's impossible to know this for certain at the time, of course. But enough people seem to be unsure when the problem actually ends.)

This suggests that bed bug monitors may be a good idea even for those who react to bites, in terms of determining if the problem persists.

(Oh, and I owe you an email! Sorry!)
laststrawsue

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Posted 1 year ago
Sat Oct 22 2011 14:50:57
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Well that cuts it... Thank you.

I'm very convinced now...

I've been very unsure about how long these bites take to appear or when I'm being bitten.
On one occasion, I thought I felt myself being bitten in bed while reading on the arm. Could not find the offending bed bug anywhere after searching around the bed at the time.
The next day a welt showed up in that spot.
So I assumed it was a matter of hours - assuming I felt the bite & just wasn't fast enough to find the offending bug - but I now think even that is a flawed idea.
But it seems like it's a differing amount of time that could have elapsed between when I could've conceivably been bitten in a particular spot, and the time I get an itchy inflamed welt.

So at this point I'm convinced that there's no set time between being bitten & having the location flare. I'm also convinced that even one person could have varying time periods.
In other words, I had been thinking Mary reacts 12 hours later, John reacts 2 days later... But now I think Mary can react 12 hours later, 2 days later, or who knows.

What are anyone else's thoughts on this? (I would appreciate an outside opinion.)
BugsMustDie

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Posted 1 year ago
Sat Oct 22 2011 15:20:43
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Yes, Nobugs. That was the point I forgot to make I emphasized to my PCO the importance of monitoring, since no representatives from their company even mentioned it, but I don't think the manager ever implemented this as a suggested change to their methods. Had I not found this site, I would be convinced that I'm still getting bit and possibly paying for unnecessary treatments and certainly a little more crazy than I already am. - So Thank you again!

I was going to send you a reminder, but I figured you were busy Whenever you have some time to respond, it would be greatly appreciated.

Laststraw, I agree that the reaction time can vary in individuals. I still would be saying mine was 3 weeks (since I think I know about when I first got bit), but having this shirt to compare to my scars has been great evidence to suggest some of my reactions actually took much longer. I suspect some of them appeared sooner, but don't have any solid evidence for that.

I've read it's difficult for experts to know how long bites can be delayed because not enough people share this information. It's another reason that this forum is so valuable. Non-experts can share information and it can be used as an educational tool as the years pass and the fight continues.
Nobugsonme

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Posted 1 year ago
Sat Oct 22 2011 16:56:00
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Just to add-- I am not sure most people can say how long their bites take to appear, because they don't really know when they were bitten. I see people saying things like, "I react quickly," but without any real explanation about how they know this. If a bite appears in the morning, it does not necessarily mean that it happened a few hours before. It could have been that plus one more more days before.
bedbugsuptown

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Posted 1 year ago
Sat Oct 22 2011 18:50:25
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yeah, thanx nobugs,

I get twinges and tings--most often when I'm procrastinating putting my home in order. Spending so much time here @bedbugger/playing eight ball pool on miniclip. (my game's a bit off--spending more time here.

In the early hours of today, 10/21 I felt something on the very hard area over the edge of my eye brow.

After awhile I looked in the mirror. a minor small raising of skin. I ignored it. These things never really itch but for the moment I notice them. I had my hair colored last Friday. My hair dresser has been using a little red lately(my coloring's getting very Procul Harum, too may cigarettes...). Red dye is irritating! My recently colored hair falls right over the portion of my brow where the mysterious event occured. I'll take no notice.
AshamedandScratching

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Posted 1 year ago
Sun Oct 23 2011 8:22:27
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I say I react quickly because I've seen the bugs bite me and seen the reaction in my skin. It can form in the matter of minutes, but it develops and becomes a noticable response a few hours later. If i hadn't seen the initial bite, i wouldn't have necesserily known, though the skin felt weird before a response would show up. The time did seem to vary, especially as the number rose/went down. However, I have the issue with the old bites that reactivate and my skin is just more reactive and it was pretty reactive to begin with.
Mark_L

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Posted 1 year ago
Sun Oct 23 2011 9:28:35
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As a K9 handler I was curious as to how I react since I’m in the field daily with these little blood suckers so as an unofficial test with my supply of bed bugs I went ahead and feed one adult. I felt nothing when it crawled on me and felt nothing when it feed on me. Then I waited for a reaction. It took almost 48 hours for the reaction to appear starting with a slight itch followed by the formation of a welt. The welt and itch intensified over the next 12 hours. The itch continued for almost a week. I did apply some Aloe Vera gel after day two because of the itchiness and it help somewhat.
I then got this crazy idea of wondering if the reaction would be different based off the life stage of the bed bug. So I feed 1st instar and adults and found the reaction did in fact vary based on the life stage. I reacted with-in 4 hours from a 1st instar and the itch was actually more intense. And it took again almost 48 hours to react to the adult. The welt from the adult was larger.
Like I said this was just a home test, no science behind it but it validated for me, how I react. (I’m still trying to get my wife to test this on her but for some reason she refuses).
loubugs

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Posted 1 year ago
Sun Oct 23 2011 9:47:56
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Mark_L - 5 minutes ago »
As a K9 handler I was curious as to how I react since I’m in the field daily with these little blood suckers so as an unofficial test with my supply of bed bugs I went ahead and feed one adult. I felt nothing when it crawled on me and felt nothing when it feed on me. Then I waited for a reaction. It took almost 48 hours for the reaction to appear starting with a slight itch followed by the formation of a welt. The welt and itch intensified over the next 12 hours. The itch continued for almost a week. I did apply some Aloe Vera gel after day two because of the itchiness and it help somewhat.
I then got this crazy idea of wondering if the reaction would be different based off the life stage of the bed bug. So I feed 1st instar and adults and found the reaction did in fact vary based on the life stage. I reacted with-in 4 hours from a 1st instar and the itch was actually more intense. And it took again almost 48 hours to react to the adult. The welt from the adult was larger.
Like I said this was just a home test, no science behind it but it validated for me, how I react. (I’m still trying to get my wife to test this on her but for some reason she refuses).

All who have posted:
That's very interesting. Since I've been feeding them for years, my reaction is still a slight raised bump after the bite and then hours later a tiny, red hemorrhage area is evident under the skin. The bump disappears within an hour. I have never seen any blood leak from a bite area after a bed bug has fed. Years ago the raised bump lasted longer. I'm feeding hundreds at one time in one place, but I also feed single bugs to see single reactions. Mark, wonder if you continue to feed them, has your reactions changed or do you experience "adult" bites and "nymph" bites? I had fed nymphs and adults and have seen the same reaction from both, but that may come from large doses of bed bug saliva over many years and my body doesn't differentiate any longer. I don't know if there has been any assays on nymph vs adult bed bug saliva. We do know that the latency period between bite and reaction can be somewhat immediate to a few days to 14 or so days. After continued feeding, the latency period can reduce to less and less days. Once your body's immune system "knows" bed bug salivary components, it can react more quickly to their arrival in your body. FYI, A mosquito bite on me presents with a large, flat welt and is very itchy. Different salivary components, different proteins, etc.
Mark_L

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Posted 1 year ago
Sun Oct 23 2011 9:58:35
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Lou, I'm waiting to read the report someday that you actually turned into a bed bug because you feed so many so often. (LOL) I too never had blood appear after feeding and it's been awhile since i did this but i'll test it again anb see if anything is differant. The ones I tested last time were actually from you so this time try it out on some local ones.
i hate buggs

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Posted 1 year ago
Sun Oct 23 2011 10:04:58
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Mark_L - 36 minutes ago »
As a K9 handler I was curious as to how I react since I’m in the field daily with these little blood suckers so as an unofficial test with my supply of bed bugs I went ahead and feed one adult. I felt nothing when it crawled on me and felt nothing when it feed on me. Then I waited for a reaction. It took almost 48 hours for the reaction to appear starting with a slight itch followed by the formation of a welt. The welt and itch intensified over the next 12 hours. The itch continued for almost a week. I did apply some Aloe Vera gel after day two because of the itchiness and it help somewhat.
I then got this crazy idea of wondering if the reaction would be different based off the life stage of the bed bug. So I feed 1st instar and adults and found the reaction did in fact vary based on the life stage. I reacted with-in 4 hours from a 1st instar and the itch was actually more intense. And it took again almost 48 hours to react to the adult. The welt from the adult was larger.
Like I said this was just a home test, no science behind it but it validated for me, how I react. (I’m still trying to get my wife to test this on her but for some reason she refuses).

Smart Woman !!!
laststrawsue

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Posted 1 year ago
Sun Oct 23 2011 10:48:17
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I have no way of knowing how long the infestation has been in the bldg exactly, or how long they've gotten into my apt.
I've never found any blood smears or fecal matter on the sheets, despite checking every day.

I could literally have bites showing up now that happened awhile back, or the night before, and there's no way to know, because I've never found any more than the 2 bugs I found over 3 weeks ago (before the 1st treatment), and I've never found their harborages despite an exhaustive search of my apt & all my belongings & furniture, repeatedly.

To make matters more complicated - I've been exposed to mosquitoes since the time I've possibly been infested. (Particularly after cleaning up a flooded property.)

The one bug that I caught crawling on me I don't think ever bit me - I knocked it off as soon as I felt it - and no bite ever appeared on my leg there.

There was no mistaking that something was crawling on me, so it's hard for me to believe that a bug could bite me without me knowing it, while I'm awake & alert. Particularly not on my wrists, neck, & face, where most of my bites have shown up. And I'm almost always a little jumpy & ultra sensitive - everything I feel on my skin, I'm constantly looking to see if there's anything there.

I believe every bite I've had happened while I was asleep. So how could I know when exactly?

Short of setting up multiple angle view night vision video cameras running while I'm asleep, it seems almost impossible to catch these beasties in the act!!!
BugsMustDie

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Posted 1 year ago
Sun Oct 23 2011 12:15:07
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I only made the connection from the spots on my shirt to my scars a few days ago, several weeks after I discovered the shirt, which was at least a few weeks after I'm sure I wore it.
When I first discovered it, I assumed I had rolled on the bugs after they fed, which caused the spots. Then a week or so ago, either here or somewhere else, I read that some people bleed after the bugs are done feeding. That's when I decided to pull the shirt back out. When I held it against myself, I was amazed to realize that in the approximate location of the spots, I have scars on my body. Some of these started to appear a few weeks after the bites occured, but most of them took several more weeks to appear. I remember pulling the shirt out the first time, knowing it had been a few weeks since I wore it, and thinking, wow, I was bit that many times and did not react. The thought was horrifying because I then wondered how many more bites I had received that did not react.
I think I last wore the shirt the first week of August and the last reaction appeared early October - 2 months.
Again, this is just my observation and is certainly nothing scientific. I could be wrong, but I don't think I am because the spots so closely resemble my scars. Plus I've been monitoring like crazy since mid-August (when I'm pretty sure the last one died) and while my skin has continued to react since then, I have found no conclusive evidence that they're still here. I have posted stuff for identification and the great experts on this site have assured me it's not evidence. Which means the newer reactions are from older bites.
But if I find that I'm wrong, I'll certainly post it back to this thread.
AshamedandScratching

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Posted 1 year ago
Sun Oct 23 2011 14:14:14
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BMD, I pm'ed you. Did you ever see it?
BugsMustDie

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Posted 1 year ago
Sun Oct 23 2011 15:27:29
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Oh no, I didn't. I'll check right now.

P.S. To the grammar police: I realize the title should have been "reader's" not "readers," but I couldn't figure out how to edit the title
theyareoutthere

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Posted 1 year ago
Sun Oct 23 2011 15:59:10
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Thanks for the info...interesting thread. I never really understood this and some of the info in this thread really helped with a better understanding of the delays.
AshamedandScratching

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Posted 1 year ago
Sun Oct 23 2011 23:09:48
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In my own opinion, I think part of the issue is that most people do not naturally have this level of anxiety or any idea of how that could affect their body's systems. Because of that, I think sometimes reactions to the stressors involved with bedbugs are misclassified as possible bites. This may explain some of the bug bite descriptions that don't always jive with human physiology. It's a hypothesis I wish I could test.