Got Bed Bugs? Bedbugger Forums » Reader questions (do not fit into other categories)
Random attacks every 6 months.
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john511178
newbite
Joined: Apr '08
Posts: 4
Posted 1 year ago
Tue Apr 8 2008 17:17:50
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Hello,
I have just been attacked once again by an unknown pest I presume to be bedbug(s). The first 'incident' was about a year ago, when I had 3 bites on my ankle. I assumed it was a spider and thought nothing of it. About 6 months later I was attacked again. This time there were about 5 welts on my upper thigh and they itched worse than the previous experience. I was suspicious, and after some research I surmised that it was probably bedbugs. I tore apart my bedroom and found no signs of anything. I bought a new bed, laundered everything, vacuumed extensively and mopped with a heavy dose of bleach. I thought I had it licked until the other day when I developed 10-15 large and itchy welts on my ankle again. The bites were so itchy and painful, I had to the go the doctor for prescription ointments. The doctor was unsure of the culprits responsible. However, after viewing all the photos here, I am pretty confident it is bedbugs although I cannot find a single one.
There is a wealth of information here, but there are some answers I cannot find. Is it possible this is the work of one renegade bedbug that has taken up residency with me? How often do people with bedbugs experience bites? Would one bug eat every 6 months?
I live in a 2-flat in Chicago and have a neighbor below me and an attic above me. Occasionally, I hear squirrels rummaging around in the attic above me. Presumably for heat in the winter. Not sure if this is related, but added it anyway. I believe it is too early to call an exterminator, or is it?
Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you, John. -
Bugless
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Joined: Dec '07
Posts: 144
Posted 1 year ago
Tue Apr 8 2008 17:58:13
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John, could it be that you go to the movies about once every 6 months? I can see that you know about bedbugs, so you know that normally a bedbug stays on a person only long enough to take a blood feed, which takes 5-10 minutes. It could be that in a movie theater one crawls onto a person, takes a feed, and then crawls off to some nearby cranny to hide.
It is quite dark in a movie theater and people there do not move around much. It is quite a lot like being asleep in bed, which is the favorite feeding place for bedbugs. With your bites being mostly on the ankle, it seems that one or more of them might have got at you from the floor of a movie theater.
Or is there some other place you go to about once every 6 months?
As for the rustling in the attic, could it be bats? They have their own species of bedbug which do not parasitize on humans. But if one crawled down and was desperately hungry, it might take a try at feeding on a human. Ask the landlord to have a PCO check out the attic.
Say hello to Chicago for me. I lived there as a young kid and went to Shakespeare elementary school.
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Could be bat or bird bugs,they are closely related to bb's,but are only supposed to be a problem after the primary host(bats,birds) have left the nest.Bats don't leave though so I'm not sure how that works.To me it sounds like fleas actually,they usually stay hidden in carpet or cracks in the floor and typically are ankle biters.If you have no pets it's a remote possibility that whatever is in the attic brought fleas in,but to the best of my knowledge they would crawl down.They pretty much stay put and don't go crawling around like bb's do.So basically I'm stumped,if David is around maybe he'll have a go.Doesn't sound like bb's to me since they wouldn't be a minor problem after 6 months,more like a major problem with constant bites.I would try a flea trap maybe if you have any furry creatures in your home,though.
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Blue_Ox
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Joined: May '07
Posts: 144
Posted 1 year ago
Tue Apr 8 2008 22:23:38
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A friend of mine thinks she may have been bitten at a couch at her church where she sat for a few hours doing some paperwork. She's pretty sure she didn't bring them home but is still checking like crazy. She found the bites after waking up in her own bed one morning so at first assumed she was bitten at home but when she examined her whereabouts the previous few days she remembered she had been sitting on the church couch for a few hours the afternoon before she found the bites.
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lil_bit_obsessed
senior member
Joined: Dec '07
Posts: 495
Posted 1 year ago
Tue Apr 8 2008 22:44:53
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is there a friend or family member that you visit every few months? it's possible that you are being exposed outside of your home. keep in mind that you don't always find the bites immediately after they occur, often bites don't "react" for several hours, or even several days, after the initial bite occurs.
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I would agree that exposure outside the home should be considered. Remember you can bring them home if this is the case. But once home, it is likely you'd start a colony (assuming a male and female or a pregnant female are brought home). Bed bugs bite about once a week (per bug) so they would not hang out and bite you once every six months unless they were somehow trapped somewhere and you were exposed to them once every six months.
Visiting someone, going to a restaurant, taking a particular train route--anything you don't do weekly but do do once in a blue moon?
Also, remember, you can't diagnose based on appearance of bites.
And make sure you rule out other biting insects which might be occasionally encountered (fleas, mosquitoes, etc.)
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insomniac
newbite
Joined: Mar '08
Posts: 14
Posted 1 year ago
Wed Apr 9 2008 0:46:43
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what i usually rely on to find the bugs is the fecal matter. thats always easy to find. they shit like horses. looks like a poppy seed really, but when you smear it its quite obvious. my problem is i was recently tattooed, and the little black flakes of scab are appearing in my bed, so i always try to smeat my findings to see if its scab or a dirty little bed bug terd. the bed bugs themselves are little terds though, arent they?
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lieutenantdan
oldtimer
Joined: Apr '07
Posts: 1,162
Posted 1 year ago
Wed Apr 9 2008 9:04:33
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john511178,
Before we knew that we had a bb infestation my wife had gotten bit twice at the ankles so bad that her ankles swelled and were painful so as that she found it difficult to stand and walk. My advice is to inspect very very closely your bed frame near where your ankles lay. Look in every screw hole and crack and order some Food Grade FreshWater DE and apply it into the joints of your bed frame pushing it into the cracks, joints and screw holes with your finger. Before that by a steamer and steam. In many cases you will only find poop spots where they sit and digest your blood which is usually in or near a groove in your furniture. If nymphs, blood spots will be smaller than adult and unless you have many bugs the poop may be hard to find. I believe that it is a good possibility that they are in your bed near your ankles also if you have a chair or couch and you spend time sitting in it than that could be a possibility so check that too. Of course anything is possible with bed bugs so keep that in mind. Wish you my best in your War. -
buggedmama
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Joined: Nov '07
Posts: 195
Posted 1 year ago
Wed Apr 9 2008 9:47:10
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Yeah, other than the possibilities others suggested (movie theatre, someone you visit, transportation) here's a couple things that come to mind... Neighbour below had BBs 6 months ago, got it treated or self-treated and some went into dormancy or were trapped in something (bag, container, etc.) but have re-emerged. OR, you brought home some bed bugs 6 months ago, but trapped them somehow and they've just re-emerged again. The bites you describe and the large number do sound like BB bites, but on your ankles could also be fleas. In and around any cracks and crevices in your mattress and bed frame are the most obvious places to check, and then any furniture, outlets, and baseboards near your bed. Or your couch, for that matter.
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Bugless
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Joined: Dec '07
Posts: 144
Posted 1 year ago
Wed Apr 9 2008 11:19:12
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Buggedmama points out that bedbugs could be trapped somehow in the home and released later. That could happen with ziploc bags - and when the bugs are released they will come out with a raging appetite! We all know they can survive 18 months without food.
The conclusion is obvious. Make sure anything put in a ziploc is completely debugged.
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Hi,
Just a quick one, might be worth spending $15-$25 on a plug in flea trap to rule that out first although the bites would be more frequent with fleas.
Yes exposure outside of the home is a possibility as is pest coming in from the attic that usually feeds on whatever is making the noise in the loft.
The best thing you can do is not assume its bed bugs, as Nobugsonme said diagnosing bed bugs on bites alone is not feasible. People response to bites of any description are too individual and often result in mis identification.
Keep an accurate log of activity and your movements to see if there is a pattern that forms but at this stage don't rule anything out. Thankfully bed bugs leave tell tale signs behind them which although they are sometimes difficult to find will always be present, you might just have to look high and low.
Thankfully if it was a problem in your property you usually see bites occurring every 4 or 5 days rather than long periods between activity.
Good luck hunting.
David
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Perhaps not all the bites were caused by the same type of critter. I would not rule out fleas. Put some monitor traps out and see what you get if anything.
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john511178
newbite
Joined: Apr '08
Posts: 4
Posted 1 year ago
Sun Apr 13 2008 17:06:08
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Hello All,
Thank you all for your advice and suggestions. I was bitten once again. This was about 5 days after the previous biting(s) that prompted my first post. This time I was bitten about 15 times on my hip under the waist band of my shorts. Again, the itchy symptoms did not show up until the evening hours. It's good to see that whatever is biting me has a good sense of geometry. The bites and the resulting red patch are in a (almost) perfect 1 1/2" square. Unfortunately, these are as painful and itchy as the previous bites which are still giving me problems a week later.
As far as what it could be, I live in the city and I don't know anyone with pets, much less fleas. I had dogs as a kid and I never reacted to flea bites like this. The only place I was before the symptoms showed up was work and home. I had a friend come over this weekend and we tore apart my bedroom and there was no sign of anything. We did not tear open the baseboards as there is 100 years of paint covering it. I have a utility closet in my bedroom (about 3 feet from my bed) that contains washer/dryer, hot water tank that is impossible to get into and inspect.
I have put everything that will fit into the dryer and oven and bagged and placed in my living room. I'm going to use a heat gun around the baseboards and put down the sprays/powders that I have read about here (I forget the names). Where can you buy theses chemicals?
A third set of bites or a future generation of critters is not appealing at all. -
Hi,
If you have takent he place to pieces and not found any signs it even more of a reson to find out what it is before applying anything to the property.
It really is more cost effective to find out what is wrong and deal with it appropriatly than to rush into making costly decisions.
You dont have to have pets or even come into contact with pets to have fleas. They can be picked up by walking in a park or public place that an animal with fleas has been in. I saw a case the other week where someone kicked up fleas while walking int he local park two or three times a week. The solution was a good spring clean and a plug in flea trap to keep an eye on things if needed.
I appreciate that the thought of having a bed bug problem is unpleasent but from your descriptions so far after 6 months if it was bed bugs it would show enough signs that a through examination would have shown them.
David
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john511178
newbite
Joined: Apr '08
Posts: 4
Posted 1 year ago
Sun Apr 13 2008 18:57:04
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It's not that I have an BB infestation, which I clearly don't. At most I have one or two that likes my blood. I have many places that I cannot access to inspect thoroughly. After the 2nd biting, I thought I would treat instead of waiting for a 3rd biting or a 2nd generation to be hatched. I've been bitten by fleas many times in the past and they are in no way similar to what I have now. Plus I live in the city and have only been in my car or apartment during the attacks. I haven't stepped on a blade of grass since last summer. They could be coming from the attic, but I would prefer to spend some money as a preventative measure before it gets to the nightmarish levels of infestation that I read here.
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john,
I do think you need to get to the bottom of it,but treating without knowing what you are setting yourself up for failure.Call your LL and see if you can get access to the attic with a pco by your side.Have him inspect your place too,but this seems much to sporadic for bb's.Maybe bird or bat bugs,which means you would have to exclude the carriers from the attic,but do get a pco that knows the difference.I definately applaud your wanting to jump on it,just find out what you're dealing with first for successful jumping,lol. Good luck -
john511178
newbite
Joined: Apr '08
Posts: 4
Posted 1 year ago
Mon Apr 14 2008 10:19:33
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Basher,
You are right, as I read more carefully, I have no chance of eliminating them myself if it is indeed bb's. After spending my entire weekend tearing apart my bedroom and not finding anything I am getting a little impatient. My reactions to the bites are so bad, I don't want to subject myself to further episodes.
Unfortunately I don't have access to the most likely hiding spots for whatever is biting me. The baseboards are old and well painted over at the wall but not the floor. The utility closet a few feet from my bed has washer/dryer and water heater that I cannot get behind. Access to the attic is above these machines and not easily accessible. I don't know if a PCO will even try to go up there. The way they made the closet, a piece of plywood and a sliding door is the only barrier between the attic and my bedroom.
The best I can do for now is to put out some flea traps and some home-made bb traps with sticky pad and Hot Shots and see what I can find. I 2-side taped the legs of my bed and moved it away from the wall. Is this ok to do? Or should I allow them access to me when I sleep? I dread the thought of getting more bites. I was going to pick up some food grade Fresh water DE and dust around the baseboards as well if that is ok to do.
Thanks again for the advice, John. -
John.
DE is always a good idea as it kills various pests.Trying to isolate your bed is good ,too.It can be a true nightmare when you're allergic to the bites,whatever it is.Talk to the LL and try to get a pco in there to have a look.If there are creatures in the attic,it can be various mites,lice,ect. as well as bb's to consider.I would recommend a pco with an entomologist on staff if possible as these can be tricky to diagnose.Good luck and keep us posted.
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