Got Bed Bugs? Bedbugger Forums » Reader questions (do not fit into other categories)
Straight Lavender
(21 posts)-
daretolive2
newbite
Joined: Jan '09
Posts: 22offline
Posted 4 years ago
Sat Mar 7 2009 13:50:54
#
Login to Send PM
Greetings, fellow "Tale of Woe'ers",
It is "NICE' to be here (if one HAS to be here, as I trust you know what I mean.)
I've been through the whole protocol 2 times (4th story walk-up) and that was a year ago....and made considerable changes in how I live so as to avoid future problems. But, I still am being bitten, as of last night, I'm sitting in my living room, and got two bites at and above my akle within minutes of taking my socks off. Six months ago, about five feet from where I sat last night when I was bitten, I found a book with a sticky white patch on it- something I had heard about being a nest. I discarded the book, and scrubbed and vacuumed everywhere. The carpet is new, post-protocol.
Basically, the only way I get by is by rubbing lavender essential oil straight on my legs- but I sometimes forget to do this or get lazy, especially when the problem subsides. I don't want to do this all the time- I want to attack the problem at the source.
Please help, I just don't understand where they are coming from. Could I be picking them up from the laudromat, from the hallway (dirty building)?I am really excited to hear your feedback, as it took me a long time to find you guys. I would appreciate hearing your advice or sharing your comments with me. Thank you in advance and I will try to help others here too.
Daringly Yours,
dare to LIVE (2) -
your host
Joined: Mar '07
Posts: 13,693offline
Posted 4 years ago
Sun Mar 8 2009 3:38:10
#
Login to Send PM
I think you need to determine for sure that you have bed bugs. Are fleas a possibility? They often bite lower legs, and pets do not have to bring them in.
A bed bug dog would be a good detection tool though it is a large expense.
You could be bringing bed bugs in from the places you mention, or they can come from a neighbor (even one who has NO idea they have them). But keep in mind: bed bugs bite about once a week. If you did not find and kill a bed bug, it would bite regularly. If it was an inseminated female OR more than one bed bug (including male and female), the population would grow exponentially.
If you're only occasionally bitten at home, it might be that you're actually being bitten outside the home in an infested place (subway, bus, movie theater, work, school, friend's, etc.) Bed bug bites do seem to appear suddenly, but not necessarily right after the actual bite occurs.
-
daretolive2
newbite
Joined: Jan '09
Posts: 22offline
Posted 4 years ago
Sun Mar 8 2009 10:55:19
#
Login to Send PM
Dear Nobugsonme:
Thank you for your feedback. Thanks for the several good options to consider. About 1&1/2 years ago, I did see bb signs on my mattress, and had a full fumigation two times b/c I kept getting tiny bites after the first fumigation.
Do you have any idea why it is that we don't see the bites till some time later? The one bb I caught (in the kitchen, no less) was far from imperceptable?
I really appreciate hearing from you.
Daringly yours,
daretolive -
oldtimer
Joined: Mar '08
Posts: 2,540offline
Posted 4 years ago
Sun Mar 8 2009 21:46:17
#
Login to Send PM
I would have a hard time believing you still have a lingering bb problem from a year and a half ago. Plus I think a bed bug would laugh at the lavender sent if they were hunger enough.
Everything starts with an inspection. A good PCO can find low level problems and K9's as mentioned above can also be very effective. Just make sure you research the company you hire as each PCO and or K9 team's are not created equal
-
aballen
member
Joined: Feb '08
Posts: 177offline
Posted 4 years ago
Sun Mar 8 2009 22:29:18
#
Login to Send PM
I, for one, received the most BB bites in my life the night I returned from a vacation and was verrrrry tired and slathered myself in lavender essential oil to gain some much needed aromatherapy. It does NOT deter BB bites. I have never used it since, that was January 2008, I have a psychological connection the oil and bites.
-
daretolive2
newbite
Joined: Jan '09
Posts: 22offline
Posted 4 years ago
Mon Mar 9 2009 12:07:04
#
Login to Send PM
Dear KILLERQUEEN,
Thank you for getting back to me. I think I will re-try with a new "pest control" company.I just know that when I have the lavender on, I don't get bitten.
Thanks for your encouragement. I will keep trying.
Daring to face the problem,
daretoliveKillerQueen - 14 hours ago »
I would have a hard time believing you still have a lingering bb problem from a year and a half ago. Plus I think a bed bug would laugh at the lavender sent if they were hunger enough.
Everything starts with an inspection. A good PCO can find low level problems and K9's as mentioned above can also be very effective. Just make sure you research the company you hire as each PCO and or K9 team's are not created equal -
daretolive2
newbite
Joined: Jan '09
Posts: 22offline
Posted 4 years ago
Mon Mar 9 2009 12:13:37
#
Login to Send PM
Dear KillerQueen,
I forgot to say- the reason I think I have a lingering bb problem from a year and a half ago is b/c not all the rooms were caulked and b/c one of the pest control companies I contacted for a quote told me that the bb's would come back if my landlord's exterminator did not "drill into the walls". As it turned out, the exterminator did not drill into the walls, and the super has never wanted to help me fill in cracks/spaces. Following two fumigations, I continued to have ultra-tiny bites, which I tried to imagine were to due to some flying insect I could see only in the dark at night in front of the TV screeen.KillerQueen - 14 hours ago »
I would have a hard time believing you still have a lingering bb problem from a year and a half ago. Plus I think a bed bug would laugh at the lavender sent if they were hunger enough.
Everything starts with an inspection. A good PCO can find low level problems and K9's as mentioned above can also be very effective. Just make sure you research the company you hire as each PCO and or K9 team's are not created equal -
daretolive2
newbite
Joined: Jan '09
Posts: 22offline
Posted 4 years ago
Mon Mar 9 2009 12:25:19
#
Login to Send PM
Dear abllen,
I'm sorry to hear of your difficulty. BTW, by any chance did you add the lavender to an oil carrier? I had no success with the lavender in an oil- the oil seemed to meke me "more delicious". But with the straight lavender- that definitely works for me. Again, as others on this group have suggested to me, it has not been entirely determined that my continuing problem is wholly or partly BB related.I got the straight lavender suggestion from a good aromatherapy book (I can look it up if you wish, can't find it at the moment, though). It was reported as tried out and found to be effective in casual rest stop type situations traveling through Europe. No itchiness or bites were experienced after wiping down the sleeping area with a tissue that had a few drops of lavender on it. And of course, I have used this method myself for some time before suggesting it here.
By the way, straight lavender should not be used on children or the elderly.
Thank you for your input, and any ideas or suggestions would be a great help to me.
Sincerely daring to deal with this creepy issue,
daretoliveaballen - 13 hours ago »
I, for one, received the most BB bites in my life the night I returned from a vacation and was verrrrry tired and slathered myself in lavender essential oil to gain some much needed aromatherapy. It does NOT deter BB bites. I have never used it since, that was January 2008, I have a psychological connection the oil and bites. -
your host
Joined: Mar '07
Posts: 13,693offline
Posted 4 years ago
Mon Mar 9 2009 14:39:51
#
Login to Send PM
daretolive2 - 1 day ago »
Dear Nobugsonme:
Thank you for your feedback. Thanks for the several good options to consider. About 1&1/2 years ago, I did see bb signs on my mattress, and had a full fumigation two times b/c I kept getting tiny bites after the first fumigation.
Do you have any idea why it is that we don't see the bites till some time later? The one bb I caught (in the kitchen, no less) was far from imperceptable?Hi daretolive,
I am assuming the one you found in the kitchen was last year, and not during this round?
It is fully possible for you to have as-yet-undetected bed bugs, since they hide well. You found one once -- but you probably had SO many more.
The bites can appear up to 9 days after they happen. I suspect many of us react much sooner, but I doubt most people know how long it takes for them to react. We think we were "just bitten" when we feel the itch, or see the welt, or the bleeding bite (as some of us experience). But my sense is the actual bite might happen hours or days before.
Bed bugs inject an anaesthetic when they bite which is designed so we DON'T notice being bitten, even if we're awake. And the rate at which we personally react allergically to this varies. Some react soon, others later, others never..
Also, I have to note that we have a FAQ advising people that lavender oil will not keep you from being bitten. This is based on my own experience (with straight lavender essential oil!) as well as that reported by others.
It might deter them initially for a brief period, but a bed bug is driven to bite you. It's life or death to them. If it is hungry, I do not believe lavender will keep it away. It did not in my case. I tried really hard.
-
paulaw0919
oldtimer
Joined: Jul '07
Posts: 1,159offline
Posted 4 years ago
Mon Mar 9 2009 17:26:43
#
Login to Send PM
DaretoLive2...I don't know if this helps, and I don't know your situation if you have bed bugs or not, but we had our home structurally fumigated with Vikane a year ago last fall. After the fumigation, during the last year I had all floors redone and replaced. Then almost a year to the date of the fumigation I found two dead, decapitated bed bugs in our home, and one cast skin. (one downstairs, one in the kitchen and one in the bathroom) I am 99% sure we don't have bed bugs anymore. Those things are just so small and thin, depending on how bad the initial infestation was, if you have carpet, blowing up from vents etc...I think it's possible to find a dead piece of bed bug for a long time after the infestation is over. Of course this makes it even more harder to realize if the infestation is over or not for the sufferer. At least it did for me. But now, over 1.5 yrs from our fumigation, I have yet to see any fecal matter, skins, or bugs in our bedrooms. I hope this helps.
-
daretolive2
newbite
Joined: Jan '09
Posts: 22offline
Posted 4 years ago
Mon Mar 9 2009 20:08:10
#
Login to Send PM
Dear Nobugsonme,
Yes, the one I found (alive) was now a year and a half ago, not this time round. It was the only way the landlord would bring in the expterminator for bb's. It appeared scraping impossibly up the side of a (clean) aluminum pot that I had on the counter. This happened a few days after I unfortunately accepted a "gift" from a neighbor- of a small upholstered chair. This neighbor is, sorry to say, someone with a serious hoarding problem, and I can't imagine what I was thinking to have accepted the chair (since returned). It believe that chair was infested. While it was in my apartment, it was only a few feet from where I found the live bb in the alum. pot.
Thank you for the information, nobugsonme. Any other thoughts would be welcomed.
I will also check out the FAQs, and I'm sorry to hear the lavender didn't help anyone else.Daring to get past all this,
Sincerely,
daretoliveNobugsonme - 5 hours ago »
daretolive2 - 1 day ago »
Dear Nobugsonme:
Thank you for your feedback. Thanks for the several good options to consider. About 1&1/2 years ago, I did see bb signs on my mattress, and had a full fumigation two times b/c I kept getting tiny bites after the first fumigation.
Do you have any idea why it is that we don't see the bites till some time later? The one bb I caught (in the kitchen, no less) was far from imperceptable?Hi daretolive,
I am assuming the one you found in the kitchen was last year, and not during this round?
It is fully possible for you to have as-yet-undetected bed bugs, since they hide well. You found one once -- but you probably had SO many more.
The bites can appear up to 9 days after they happen. I suspect many of us react much sooner, but I doubt most people know how long it takes for them to react. We think we were "just bitten" when we feel the itch, or see the welt, or the bleeding bite (as some of us experience). But my sense is the actual bite might happen hours or days before.
Bed bugs inject an anaesthetic when they bite which is designed so we DON'T notice being bitten, even if we're awake. And the rate at which we personally react allergically to this varies. Some react soon, others later, others never..
Also, I have to note that we have a FAQ advising people that lavender oil will not keep you from being bitten. This is based on my own experience (with straight lavender essential oil!) as well as that reported by others.
It might deter them initially for a brief period, but a bed bug is driven to bite you. It's life or death to them. If it is hungry, I do not believe lavender will keep it away. It did not in my case. I tried really hard. -
daretolive2
newbite
Joined: Jan '09
Posts: 22offline
Posted 4 years ago
Mon Mar 9 2009 20:26:56
#
Login to Send PM
Dear Paulaw0919:
Yes, believe me this helps A LOT to be speaking with you about this. Every other resource, from the Dermatologist to the Board of Health are just do dead ended. I am so glad to hear your situation was helped! I think that is great! What do you mean "structurally" fumigated?The fact is that once again, I am afraid that I am in denial about continuing to get bb bites. I just don't know where they are coming from. It usually happens around the front of my legs or ankles. I may take my sock off, and notice bleeding a few minutes later. So, was the bug inside my sock all that time, and I didn't realize it till the anesthetic wore off? I just don't understand how something even if it is small could be running around inside my clothes or on my carpet, and I not notice, and everything is clean, from the dryer, kept in a sealed "space bag">
Thanks for the advice, please let me know what you meant by structually fumigated.
Daring every day,
Sincerely,
daretolivepaulaw0919 - 2 hours ago »
DaretoLive2...I don't know if this helps, and I don't know your situation if you have bed bugs or not, but we had our home structurally fumigated with Vikane a year ago last fall. After the fumigation, during the last year I had all floors redone and replaced. Then almost a year to the date of the fumigation I found two dead, decapitated bed bugs in our home, and one cast skin. (one downstairs, one in the kitchen and one in the bathroom) I am 99% sure we don't have bed bugs anymore. Those things are just so small and thin, depending on how bad the initial infestation was, if you have carpet, blowing up from vents etc...I think it's possible to find a dead piece of bed bug for a long time after the infestation is over. Of course this makes it even more harder to realize if the infestation is over or not for the sufferer. At least it did for me. But now, over 1.5 yrs from our fumigation, I have yet to see any fecal matter, skins, or bugs in our bedrooms. I hope this helps. -
paulaw0919
oldtimer
Joined: Jul '07
Posts: 1,159offline
Posted 4 years ago
Mon Mar 9 2009 21:00:02
#
Login to Send PM
Hi Daretolive. In reference to structural fumigation is that our entire single family house and vehicles were covered with a huge tarp and a sulfuric fluoride vikane gas was pumped in, and then monitored for penetration and leakage overnight before being released. It's to be 100% first time eradication when done properly.
There are few cases that when it's not done properly, obviously the bugs are still there. Also what can happen is when people keep reinfesting themselves from a common visiting place that is infested and they don't know it. (ex: work, car, relatives or friends house etc) So it is imperative that you know that these places don't have bed bugs before doing this. The one downside about Vikane is that there is no residual at all, so if you walk back in the house with a bed bug on you, the whole cycle starts again. (reason to be sure your car and/or workplace doesn't have bed bugs)
There are many conversations (good and bad experiences) on Vikane fumigation here on the forums from different people that have gone that route. We personally had a prolonged infestation that was throughout the entire house and after 6 traditional treatments we could not get total control. (having family with 3 small babies at the time, played a big part in that as well) Not everyone needs to perform structural fumigation, but imo, I think in some cases it may be needed for total control. Bedbugcentral.com also has a good description of what's involved in it as well. Also keep in mind that not all areas in the country have Vikane fumigation available. It's cost also varies greatly depending on where you live as well. Down south for example it's much cheaper due to the frequent use of it for termite eradication. I hope this helps in looking at all your options. Best.
-
BugBoy911
member
Joined: Jan '09
Posts: 203offline
Posted 4 years ago
Mon Mar 9 2009 21:15:29
#
Login to Send PM
Like you said.... "The LANDLORDS EXTERMINATOR SAID SO." In other words.... don't believe him for a second... Just my opion... Landlords get the cheapest exterminators possible.. or most of them do.. if they do at all... just from what i see.. From my experience, just because you don't drill in the walls and pump dust in... doesn't necessarily mean that your gona get reinfested... Unless of course your neighbor is competely infested with a major on going completley neglected bedbug problem. Sounds like you have a flea problem... cause how can you just sit down on your sofa and in a few minutes have a bedbug on your ankel? You didn't see it? I know there not that fast... Freak'n things are kinda slow actually... Been studying them for a while now.. They also aren't so contaigous "spelling," like you all make it out to be.. I find that there actually quiet simple creatures that don't jump or like to move a whole lot... They stay put.. hang out... do nothing really... its when you disturb them that they kinda move around... They prefer to stay put... not climb all over a building or from apartment to apartment... its a long distance for the little guy's... Unless an apartment has a serious bedbug problem that hasn't been delt with... I just can't see how these bedbugs are so aggressive in climbing threw walls to different apartments like nothing... I dunno... I'm still practicing and will always be... but honestly... Bedbugs prefer to stay close to the host... they get homesick... they like being all cuddly in your sofa/mattress/boxspring/furniture.... They don't really like metal/cd's/even metal frames/video tapes/books for example.... If your sofa is infested.. yes its more of a difficult situation to exterminate due to all the creases and crevices within a sofa.. especially when you turn it upside down... Yet with good practice and knowledge of pesticides it is very possible to rid a problem rather quickly..
-
spideyjg
oldtimer
Joined: Jul '08
Posts: 3,201offline
Posted 4 years ago
Mon Mar 9 2009 22:14:07
#
Login to Send PM
Fleas jump and BBs crawl. Either will bite as soon as they contact skin.
Ankles would be more likely fleas where feet may be BBs. Bets are off if your legs contacted the couch.
Jim
-
daretolive2
newbite
Joined: Jan '09
Posts: 22offline
Posted 4 years ago
Mon Mar 9 2009 23:02:26
#
Login to Send PM
Dear paulaw0919,
Thanks for all the information, and for getting back to me.
It is also a great comfort.
So glad for you and your family that the Vikane worked at your house: MAJOR YIPPEEEE!!!
Sincerely,
daretolivepaulaw0919 - 1 hour ago »
.... I hope this helps in looking at all your options. Best. -
daretolive2
newbite
Joined: Jan '09
Posts: 22offline
Posted 4 years ago
Mon Mar 9 2009 23:29:09
#
Login to Send PM
Dear BugBoy911:
BugBoy911 - 1 hour ago »
.. From my experience, just because you don't drill in the walls and pump dust in... doesn't necessarily mean that your gona get reinfested...DTL: That is very reassuring to hear. I was sure I got cheated out of this service.
I'm going to compare the photo of my ankle bites with a flea bite. I will try to upload it to this site.
Unless of course your neighbor is competely infested with a major on going completley neglected bedbug problem.
DTL: Yes, I have good reason to believe an out of control problem may well exist at this neighbor's house.
Sounds like you have a flea problem... cause how can you just sit down on your sofa and in a few minutes have a bedbug on your ankel? You didn't see it?
DTL: This is a classic scenario, happened several times. Could it have been in my sock all day, then just get hungry? On the other hand, it is also entirely possible that there are fleas in the hallway that I pick up on my shoes, but I never wear shoes into the apartment, much less onto the carpet. I need to check out what a flea bit looks like.... Yet with good practice and knowledge of pesticides it is very possible to rid a problem rather quickly..
DTL: Amen to that!
Sincerely,
daretolive -
daretolive2
newbite
Joined: Jan '09
Posts: 22offline
Posted 4 years ago
Mon Mar 9 2009 23:41:24
#
Login to Send PM
spideyjg - 1 hour ago »
Fleas jump and BBs crawl. Either will bite as soon as they contact skin.
Ankles would be more likely fleas where feet may be BBs. Bets are off if your legs contacted the couch.
JimDear Jim,
Alas....most recent bites have been in both the ankle/lower leg area, say that part covered by socks. So, either I have a laundry problem, and they were in the sock, or whatever bit me, when I took the sock off. I am going to check out what flea bites look like, per some advice from this site, but I dunno, I think it's gonna be bb's.Sincerely,
daretolive -
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
member
Joined: Mar '11
Posts: 247offline
Posted 2 years ago
Sat Mar 12 2011 22:55:18
#
Login to Send PM
Just some speculation: The major components of lavender essential oil (as described on wikipedia) have polar groups on mostly-aliphatic molecules. In other words, they look as though they should have some surfactant activity. Ordinary soapy materials like sodium lauryl sulfate can be contact killers, and soap is generally useless after you give it all the oil it can glom on to. Maybe the same thing is going on with lavender essential oil.
Has anyone ever tried chalk dust as a barrier? It has some tendency to soak up oil. I also speculate that they might not like to walk across surfaces with some residual sodium lauryl sulfate. (Not that it will stop them if that's their only way of getting to food, of course.)
Do bugs groom themselves? I googled it, and couldn't find much. Someone claimed they don't, as a way of reinforcing the point that you can't poison them with stuff they would have to eat. Roaches groom themselves, it said, and thus will ingest poison they step on even if it's not something they would want to eat. Of course, that doesn't work on bedbugs, with their piercing mouth parts. But mosquitoes have grooming behaviors that don't look as though they would involve the mosquito ingesting anything.
-
oldtimer
Joined: Feb '09
Posts: 1,872offline
Posted 2 years ago
Sun Mar 13 2011 14:14:30
#
Login to Send PM
Do bugs groom themselves? I googled it, and couldn't find much. Someone claimed they don't, as a way of reinforcing the point that you can't poison them with stuff they would have to eat.
Yes, they do. Their first pair of legs have "brushes" they use to clean moutparths, antennae and so on.
Roaches groom themselves, it said, and thus will ingest poison they step on even if it's not something they would want to eat.
Roaches groom themselves continuously (it's said they spend about 30% of their time doing that), so it's really easy to kill them with an insecticide that works also "by ingestion".
-
your host
Joined: Mar '07
Posts: 13,693offline
Posted 2 years ago
Mon Mar 14 2011 0:30:16
#
Login to Send PM
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious - 1 day ago »
Just some speculation: The major components of lavender essential oil (as described on wikipedia) have polar groups on mostly-aliphatic molecules. In other words, they look as though they should have some surfactant activity. Ordinary soapy materials like sodium lauryl sulfate can be contact killers, and soap is generally useless after you give it all the oil it can glom on to. Maybe the same thing is going on with lavender essential oil.I would not doubt it could be a contact killer, but it does not work to keep bed bugs from biting, which is what people tend to attempt to use it as (and it sounds like the other poster was one). Those of us who have tried applying it consistently were still bitten.
Reply
You must log in to post.
