Got Bed Bugs? Bedbugger Forums » General Topics
Very Very Confused
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BeenBitten
junior member
Joined: Mar '09
Posts: 39offline
Posted 4 years ago
Tue May 19 2009 7:57:20
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So, i took myself to the docors this morning and asked him to check if these were bedbug bites.
Hes a very reputable doctor and i trust him alot...but.....
Well he looked at them on my legs....and then he said wait hold on "ill tell u whether their bedbug bites or not"
He then got the medicial torch out (you know the one doctors flash to check ur ears and the inside of ur mouth with)
He pressed this medical torch against the bite.
My bite looked like a white pin head with a covered red circle around it...
So he pressed against the white pin head of it and put the light on...and the red circle went away when he did it and when he released the red circle came back.
he then assured me it wasn't bedbug bites...and probably an allergic reaction...
Hm i dno...any opinions? do u think hes right/wrong?
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lumpyredthing
newbite
Joined: May '09
Posts: 32offline
Posted 4 years ago
Tue May 19 2009 10:19:10
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I know how you feel - I've seen 3 different doctors now and they've all told me it's an allergy/contact dermatitis. When I've asked about bed bugs they've all said no, no, no.
So I'd like one of them to explain why, now the BBs are in retreat (hopefully) and I'm not being bitten much my 'dermatitis' is improving every day and all that's visible now is old scarring where I scratched too much!!
Doctors seem to be totally unaware of BBs (in UK, anyway), when I took the letter provided by Bed-Bugs.co.uk my GP still didn't take any notice. I think it's time he did because yesterday afternoon I parked 20 yards up the road and walked past 3 mattresses dumped in front gardens - I don't know that it's because of BBs but it does seem a bit of a coincidence.............................................
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WeCanWin
newbite
Joined: May '09
Posts: 20offline
Posted 4 years ago
Tue May 19 2009 11:54:28
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My dad was the first to react to bites. When he went to the doctor's he was misdiagnosed with scabies. I did not start getting bitten until a week after I found the infestation, but I've noticed that the bites on my arm are raised, while the ones on my feet are just tiny dots. The arm bites itch, but the feet bites don't. All of the bites follow the "breakfast, lunch and dinner" pattern- so even though the bites look different on both my hands and feet, I'm almost positive that they are bed bug bites. It would be nice if they all looked the same...
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buggyinsocal
oldtimer
Joined: Jun '08
Posts: 2,440offline
Posted 4 years ago
Tue May 19 2009 11:58:48
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Most of the posts I've seen around here have said that doctors cannot conclusively tell from looking at a bite what kind of insect made it.
That makes sense to me, seeing as how every person tends to react to bug bites slightly differently.
The one exception to this is that some people on the boards have sought out a visit to an entemologist who has a bed bug colony. Some people do a "bite test" in which bed bugs are allowed to feed on a person so that the person's reaction to the bite can be observed, so that people will have a sense of whether they react to bites themselves or not.
The variation within populations, and even within individuals, of how people react to bites is just too great for docs to reliably tell what made the bite.
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MyWorstFear
senior member
Joined: Sep '08
Posts: 610offline
Posted 4 years ago
Tue May 19 2009 12:15:40
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The problem is that most doctors in the US don't have much experience with bed bug bites (although I'm sure that's changing as I type this). They've probably touched on scabies during medical school, but I doubt bed bugs were even mentioned in med school.
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OutOutDarnBugs
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Joined: Feb '09
Posts: 188offline
Posted 4 years ago
Tue May 19 2009 15:53:38
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I was one of the ones who went to an entemologist to do a bite test. I reacted (although not super strongly) to the bugs that bit me in the office. When I first had the bugs in November, I reacted as well, which is how I initially thought to check for them. But after finding two live bugs this past weekend (after not seeing anything for months), I have yet to find the place where they bit me. Maybe I react less to the bugs in my apartment now, or maybe, because I react so minimally, I just can't find them on my body. It could also be that I react less on some parts of my body than others (my bite tests were on my hand and arm).
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your host
Joined: Mar '07
Posts: 13,710offline
Posted 4 years ago
Wed May 20 2009 14:23:34
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Even a bite test may be inconclusive because we may react differently to different colonies of bed bugs!
My doctor diagnosed and treated for scabies, incorrectly.
beenbitten, I would also note that a bed bug bite IS an allergic reaction... kind of worrying that your doctor does not know this?!?
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