Got Bed Bugs? Bedbugger Forums » Bed bug bites, skin, etc.
Testing testing
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OutOutDarnBugs
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Posted 4 years ago
Fri Mar 6 2009 17:27:01
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So, in a moment of panic, I called Lou to see if I could get a test bite. My stomach was churning, I really didn't want to see this, but I was curious if/how I was reacting to bites these days. In the end of November, when I discovered my infestation, I was reacting, so I wanted to see.
Anyway, Lou put a adult male on the back of my hand and it fed for a few minutes. Not long, though, and Lou said that 10 minutes seemed like a really like time for them to feed. There was a tiny red mark where the bug was, and I circled it in pen (first I made a big circle around the whole area, and then smaller ones so I could really see). There was no itching, no bump, just a little red.
And now, almost an hour later, I'm at home and there is NOTHING. No red, no itch, no swell. I'm so upset! I wanted a big, itchy, red spot so I could know what my bites looked like! But there's nothing. I'm trying to breathe and remember that I could have a delayed reaction. But this is a spot that I've been bit on before (my hands), so I was hoping that I'd see something. Crazy how I could go from reacting to nothing in 3 months... maybe something will appear?
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Itchy-Scratchy
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Posted 4 years ago
Fri Mar 6 2009 18:23:22
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I don't know about that. Initially, my daughter responded extremely from bites (giant red splotches). Within a few months, she wasn't getting any more reactions.
I can totally relate to your distress. Having an extreme reaction means you can guage whether or not you are being bitten. If you don't react, there's no way of knowing for sure.
It's the uncertainty that drives me crazy....
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OutOutDarnBugs
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Posted 4 years ago
Fri Mar 6 2009 18:30:48
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Wow, Kate. She wasn't responding at all?
When I asked Lou about people not reacting, he said he thought it was unusual, if you reacted before, to stop reacting all together. I was thinking about the allergy shots I got when I was little. I got them every other week, and still reacted. This was for years and years. Although, maybe because my body has just been exposed to other factors since then, I now react less?
He did bring up the concept of different strains of BB causing different reactions. He said he fed one from a place in Brooklyn, and he had a completely different reaction than the ones he gets from his office. Maybe the one I fed today is a kind I don't react to? I guess it's all up in the air. Stupid uncertainty!
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bedbugdude
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Posted 4 years ago
Fri Mar 6 2009 19:55:10
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From what I understand it may even take a few days to react to a bed bug bite. It's different with ever person. There are other things to consider. Sometimes bed bugs scrape their abdomen over the bite and introduce trace amounts of fecal matter into the wound and it is this incident that can produce a major reaction. I guess it dosen't happen every single time each BB bites you so there can be a difference between the reactions within several bites. I also wonder about where on your skin your getting bit has anything to do with it. Say if the skin on the top of your hand is a bit rougher then the skin of your abdomen. Places where body hair is less. It's just a theory but it might be a factor. Anyhow try to stay calm and I hope your BB issue can be resolved quickly.
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OutOutDarnBugs
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Posted 4 years ago
Fri Mar 6 2009 20:08:03
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Thanks, bbdude. I'm definitely trying to stay calm (it's hard, cause I really hope I don't stop responding to these things... as much as wondering if everything is a bite sucks, for some reason, "reacting" makes me feel better) and just keep an eye on the bite area, as well as my apartment. It's possible that it takes me longer to react, also. When I got home from Thanksgiving, I slept here on Sunday night and didn't notice all the bites until Tuesday morning. The harborage was on the back of my pillow, so I have a hard time believing that they all just didn't bite me for the first night I was back, after being gone for 4 nights. So, maybe it takes me longer to react?
There are also lots of factors that went into my previous awareness of my bites. It was super hot in my apartment, so that could have affected my skin reaction. there were also a lot more bugs to be biting me at once. I was bitten on the back of my hand before, but I just emailed Lou about maybe doing another test, with a different sample, on a different part (like the inside of my forearm).
When I talked to my BF tonight, he reminded me that bites (or a lack thereof) should not be the way to judge a problem. I'm going to keep an eye out for things, and use my inspection, as opposed to "bites," to figure out when I'm through with all of this, I guess.
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MyWorstFear
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Posted 4 years ago
Fri Mar 6 2009 23:35:40
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OutOutDarnBugs, you are brave! I bet Lou doesn't get too many calls for volunteers, or does he? I was wondering since you mentioned he used a male bed bug...is there any difference in the bites by male or female bed bugs? BTW, were you able to watch? Again, I have to say I'm impressed. I know I could never do it.
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OutOutDarnBugs
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Posted 4 years ago
Sat Mar 7 2009 0:04:23
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MyWorstFear - 12 minutes ago »
OutOutDarnBugs, you are brave! I bet Lou doesn't get too many calls for volunteers, or does he? I was wondering since you mentioned he used a male bed bug...is there any difference in the bites by male or female bed bugs? BTW, were you able to watch? Again, I have to say I'm impressed. I know I could never do it.I'm not sure if there's a difference between the two. I actually emailed him to see if I could do another test next week, so I could ask if I could use a female...
It actually wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. The anticipation was worse than the actual event. I watched it with a sort of sick fascination, but I think the hardest part I have about these bugs is the not knowing what's going on when I'm asleep. Seeing it was still hard, but not as hard as I thought it would be. He put it on my hand and it immediately started feeding. It didn't walk anywhere. I was afraid it would run all over the place when it was done, but it sort of walked to the side and Lou picked it back up. Kind of surreal, I have to say.
There's still no response where my bite was. Although now my entire hand (primarily the palm and fingers) are itchy... especially the finger directly in line with where the bite was. It's all red and inflamed...but that could just be from itching at this point. I'm going to continue to monitor!
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daretolive2
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Posted 4 years ago
Sat Mar 7 2009 14:08:06
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Dear OutOutDarnBugs,
My bites never bother me at first. As they heal though, my feeling is that there is something in them, that is why I always imagined it might be a stinger (this was before I knew about bedbugs). I do often scratch them, so they must be itchier than I care to admit.
Keep in touch.
Daringly Yours,
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OutOutDarnBugs
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Posted 4 years ago
Sat Mar 7 2009 18:39:58
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Still nothing there! Argh!
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MyWorstFear
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Posted 4 years ago
Sat Mar 7 2009 22:05:46
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Wow, thanks for the description OutOut! I too would have imagined it would run all over your arm, up and down and all around, (and you'd feel it) but obviously they aren't "picky" and eat immediately. But it does sound like you reacted to the bite. You said the rest of your palm and finger are all itchy and red, so maybe that is how you react now...like the area near the bite, but not the bite itself? Could you possibly still be under the numbing effect that they inject into you before they bite?
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OutOutDarnBugs
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Posted 4 years ago
Sat Mar 7 2009 22:34:35
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Yeah, he really just started to feed as soon as he touched skin. Lou said that they might wander after they eat, but when they come in contact, they'll start to bite. Bites under clothing could mean that the bug was walking up the inside of the clothing, but when the clothing came in contact with skin, the bug was able to transfer itself and bite there.
It could be that my reactions have changed to just itchy other areas... that's entirely possible, MyWorst... I keep looking at the circle on my hand, wondering if anything's appearing. There looks to be a faint purple mark appearing, but that could also me just hoping something will turn up.
Suffice it to say that, if nothing shows up, it means that I didn't visibly react (other than the itchy palm and finger) to this bug, on this hand, on this particular day. I'm realizing that there are a lot of factors involved with how bites show themselves...
I'm also going for another "bite test" this week, using another bug (female) on my other arm, in a different spot. I'll definitely report what happens!
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OutOutDarnBugs
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Posted 4 years ago
Sun Mar 8 2009 18:43:24
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So... I reacted.
Nothing on Friday, nothing on Saturday, woke up on Sunday with a faint spot where the bite was (it looks like someone took a darkish pink marker and made a little dab). It appeared 40 hours (or so, I wasn't awake at 3:30 AM to see the 36 hour mark) after I was bit. Which goes along with my theory that I might have delayed reactions. It's pretty faint, though. There's a tiny bump, but no itching, no burning, no tingle.
It looks exactly like the marks I was getting in the beginning of my infestation. The reason I didn't really pay attention to them was because they were so... nondescript. But now, looking at it, I realize (not that I hadn't before this) that I was looking at bites the whole time.
I have some theories as to why the back of my arm looked like a big rash, while this one is just a pretty contained little spot. For one, it's entirely possible that more than one bug bit in the same area, making it all irritated. It's also plausible that the back of my arm is more sensitive than my hand.
In some ways, I'm glad I still react. And as far as reactions go, I don't have a bad one. But then again, I'm not sure I'd notice these spots anywhere on my body other than my hands/arms if I wasn't looking for them (maybe on the front of my trunk). But it looks like my reactions haven't, in fact, changed.
I'm still going to go for the other test later this week, using a female from a different colony, on my forearm. I'll let you guys know what happens!
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OutOutDarnBugs
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Posted 4 years ago
Tue Mar 10 2009 20:11:12
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So I went back to Lou today and did another test, this time with an adult (another male, though), as well as a first instar. I did it on my inner forearm to see if there was a different reaction.
Right after they both fed, there was a little red spot. This was interesting, as there was no little red spot after I was bit last week. Lou suggested that maybe I reacted more immediately because I had been bit recently (Friday to Tuesday). Both little red dots were the same size, and I circled them again. There was no bump, no itching, no burning, no pain.
An hour later (in class!) I had an itchy, red rash around my wrist. It itched for about 5 minutes, then the itch stopped (I didn't scratch), and the rash slowly subsided. It was about 4 inches above where the bites were. The red dots where the bites showed up originally are gone (for the most part... they are very very faint right now), and I look kind of silly for just having pen circles on my arm.
I'm going to see if these develop the same way the one on my hand did (aka: turn into a little red circle in the next 2 days). Lou said I had such a little reaction that I could even breed a colony myself and not have the lasting marks! ::shudder:: No way!
I'll keep you guys posted (sorry if this is boring/doesn't really appeal to people... just thought others might like to hear about different reactions)!
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OutOutDarnBugs
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Posted 4 years ago
Fri Mar 27 2009 20:55:34
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An update on the second bite test:
The marks appeared fewer than 24 hours after I was bitten. Again, slightly raised, red bumps, a little smaller than the top of a pencil eraser. No itching, but they were definitely red. They lasted for over a week. No hives surrounding the red bump. The bites were the same size, despite coming from different stage bugs.
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Posted 4 years ago
Fri Mar 27 2009 22:19:13
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I have some entomologist friends at Colorado State University. They have access to a bed bug colony, and they help out the owner of the colony by allowing the bugs to feed on them. The bugs feed through a mesh on top of the jar. St. Patrick's Day was approaching, so they modified the mesh into a shamrock design. After a couple days, several entomologists at CSU could be seen sporting fresh, designer bed bug created tattoos on their arms.
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OutOutDarnBugs
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Posted 4 years ago
Sat Mar 28 2009 7:42:00
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Oh man, David. That's great. I'm not sure whether to laugh or to be repulsed!
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OutOutDarnBugs
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Posted 4 years ago
Tue Apr 7 2009 21:28:02
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So, even though I know I react to the bites, and have seen how I react first hand (and these reactions I got during the test were the same reactions I got when I was first bitten), I'm still freaking out whenever I see something new on me. For instance, this morning, when I was in the shower, I noticed a long (2 inch) scratch on my left hip. It's like a cat scratch, but there was no bleeding on my shirt this morning. There's no bump like I got when I was bit with Lou, and this area was covered last night (long pants, long sleeve shirt tucked in to pants).
I'm really hoping I just scratched myself by accident doing something, but it doesn't stop the freakout, really. Gah!
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