Got Bed Bugs? Bedbugger Forums » Bed Bug Success Stories
This time last year
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ClutterFree
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Joined: Jun '10
Posts: 52offline
Posted 1 year ago
Sat Jun 4 2011 23:26:15
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It was about this time last year (a little earlier in fact) when I first got bedbugs. This is a total generalization of timeframe because I didn't know what I had. At first I thought they were really obnoxious mosquito bites that just would not stop itching and would not go down. Then I thought they were chiggers, aka the nymph stage of those itty bitty red bugs you see on your windowsill in the spring/early summer. I realized after the fact that I actually wondered if they were bedbugs but threw the idea out of my head super-fast. Why? I'd never actually seen a bb (or so I thought), but I had seen this itty bitty red thing running across my bed trying to get away from me.
Yeah, it was so totally a nymph. Way after the fact, I actually think that I had bb's living in the roll of tissue that I kept near my bed for sniffles and random usage. Ha! Won't be doing that ever again. I'm actually pretty leery of the box o' Kleenex nearish my bed. But I digress.
The bites were getting worse, my mom was getting a little crazed, my room was a cluttery disaster area that was also only getting worse... And then I did more research and found out it was bedbugs. That same day one of my favorite great-aunts died. I didn't know it yet when I'd made the first discovery, but I knew I was bracing for some serious problems when I got home with the news of bb infestation. I mean I was armed with all this new knowledge from a nifty site site called bedbugger.com, about how they wretched things can be picked up without your knowledge or doing, but mum can be a little crazy with things like insects and such, and she was already on a tear about the mess in my room. Plus my boss at work was generally insane, it was hot hot hot, and I had family coming to stay with us because, like I said, my fave aunt had just died.
Fast forward about 2 months later. I've lost mucho sleep and mucho (well maybe not mucho) weight from carrying things up and downstairs in a walkup in some seriously wicked heat. I've done laundry till 3 in the morning. Mom and I bonded over our shared misery. I broke down in the kitchen with a full house and no one noticed (thank God!). I slept without pillows. I was obscenely grateful for pillows when they finally got laundered! God showed me just how strong I could be and got me through some really difficult personal times. Mom and I had dinner and napped in the car (at 10pm on a side street in NY...so lucky we didn't get stopped by cops!), and I read her funny crossover stories from fanfiction.net. Much of this happening while trying to work around my clueless fam and not-deal with grief. Then work around my sometimes clueless boss and not get fired (still had a job when it was over!).
It was a really, really hard summer, last summer. When August finally rolled around Mom and I threw in the towel on "work" and decided to have fun--and we did, but it's still That Summer to us.
In so many ways you guys really saved my sanity. With my laptop under wraps for fear of infestation, I was on this site at work every morning and at lunch. You gave me good advice even after I'd half done all the wrong things. You were full of encouragement. Full of funny. Full of good stories. Full of good people. I can't say how much I've appreciated the blog and the forum. Whenever ppl have questions, I direct them here. I have taken the motto "Whatever it takes to get you through the night" to heart. My paktite is love! I really, seriously don't know how I would have made it without this board.
Fighting bb's is doable. It's a freaking lot of work. It occupies your heart and mind. Lord knows it gives you the serious heebie jeebies, but it can be done. And, on the shocking plus side of having bb's (may I never, ever, ever have them again, please God) we got rid of loooooooots of stuff that needed to go. I was the obvious candidate for that and tossed many, many large garbage bags of crap and things I couldn't/wouldn't wear anymore, but even Mom who's better at these kinds of things did a lot of cleaning.
So, thank you bedbugger.com forums. Thank you everyone for your encouragement, for your links, for your soothing words...everything. Just everything.
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your host
Joined: Mar '07
Posts: 13,693offline
Posted 1 year ago
Sun Jun 5 2011 1:15:08
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That was awesome. Thank you, ClutterFree. Glad you're also bed bug free!
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NoBB
junior member
Joined: Apr '11
Posts: 113offline
Posted 1 year ago
Sun Jun 5 2011 3:55:44
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A beautiful and inspiring post, ClutterFree -- and a very encouraging read.
Thank you.
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ClutterFree
junior member
Joined: Jun '10
Posts: 52offline
Posted 1 year ago
Tue Jun 7 2011 22:43:28
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Wow...I didn't think this had posted. I kept getting error messages! (And I may have accidentally posted again, in which case please, please, please delete!) But I'm glad it made it up. I'm glad my misery can inspire someone to keep fighting, and now gives me knowledge and first hand experience on how to help someone else. I'll always remember one of the first FAQs I read said something like "Don't panic..."
Great advice.
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cilecto
oldtimer
Joined: Aug '08
Posts: 3,850offline
Posted 1 year ago
Tue Jun 7 2011 22:51:21
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You surfed bedbugger at work. That's brave.
Bravo! -
senior member
Joined: Sep '08
Posts: 630offline
Posted 1 year ago
Wed Jun 8 2011 13:50:03
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Glad to hear things are better and that packtite was a useful tool for you in dealing with the madness of bed bugs. This story is a great example of how much good this site does, kudos nobugs, your site makes a difference everyday.
Disclaimer I make packtite.
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bugmesomuch
newbite
Joined: May '11
Posts: 23offline
Posted 1 year ago
Wed Jun 8 2011 20:25:46
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ClutterFree,
How did you get rid of Bed bug? Did you hire a good PCO or DIY? If you hire a PCO, how many treatments did it take to get rid of them and what kind of chemical did they use?
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Jenn28
senior member
Joined: Mar '10
Posts: 435offline
Posted 1 year ago
Thu Jun 9 2011 11:21:06
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Ahhh, the sweet smell of victory! Congrats Clutterfree
You made it to the finish line!By the way, I surfed Bedbugger at work too. I'm at work right now. They don't track what we do on the internet at my workplace, thank goodness cause I sure didn't have time for this at night with all that I had to do when I would get home from work!
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