[zotjen]

Today I was changing my bedding, and when I pulled out my blanket from between the footboard and mattress, I noticed some tiny dark spots on it. I then noticed a small insect crawling away which I immediately recognized as a bed bug.

After capturing the little bugger, I immediately checked online just to confirm my suspicions. I found out that the tiny spots are liquid fecal matter. It took me a while to get up the courage to start a thorough inspection. I hate bugs and from what I was reading online, an infestation, even a small one, would be a nightmare to deal with.

I slowly removed all of my bedding, and thoroughly checked the mattress and box spring for signs - casings, eggs, fecal spots, etc. and didnt see anything. Having a queen-sized bed, I have a split box spring, and after turning over one of the box springs and inspecting it, I saw what looked like another bug on the bottom. I immediately grabbed it with a paper towel to kill it. The paper towel was wet, and when I grabbed the bug the towel came away with stains on it which I couldn't see since the material on the bottom of my box spring is black.

At this point I was in panic mode, convinced I had a full infestation even though I hadn't seen any other bugs or signs. I then took a closer look at what I grabbed off of my box spring and it appears to be only the shed skin of a bug (and they do shed), which may explain why it was just sitting there instead of running away.

I did an extremely thorough inspection of my mattress, box springs and bed frame and have found no additional evidence of bugs. As far as I know, I've never been bitten and the one bug I did find was flat which means it wasn't engorged with my blood. I'm just hoping that this is an isolated incident that the skin I found belonged to the one bug I found, and that the bug was male. I still need to do some additional checking in cracks and crevices and even in furniture but from everything I've read, if I do have a problem I should have seen more signs in and around the bed.

Of course, I still don't know where it came from. It's possible I brought it in on my clothing or it came through the window. I live in a condo so I'm also concerned it came from the unit above or next to me. I'm going to be absolutely paranoid now for the next several months, checking every other day and so forth. Anyone else have experience with bed bugs?

 

[iriverdude]

Your bed has millions of them.

 

[immtbiker]

Hence the expression: "Goodnight, sleep tight, and don't let the bedbugs bite!"

 

[steviebee]

Care home I worked in once had them. Took three months & two complete treatments to get rid of....had to close down for awhile during the chemical treatments...we had to throw out all the nice pine beds and lockers as they just loved the joins and crannies, incinerated a lot of wooden furniture because of the pesky things...Once we had metal beds in place they never came back, thankfully.

Bed bugs can live for months, even a couple of years without feeding, slimming down to almost paper thickness, but you should see em swell up once a host comes along & they get a few good nights' feeds....

iriverdude, I think you're thinking of dust/bed mites, that infest sprung mattresses in their millions. They're almost microscopic. Bed bugs are a different thing entirely...nasty lil bloodsuckers (why their droppings are black - old blood!)

 

[analogbox]

I'm currently experiencing wired itch bug bites which is happening right before my eyes. One minute I'll be fine but then after a while I notice a couple of bug bites. I'm fairly sure that those are not mosquito bites. For a moment there, I thought they could be bed bug bites but I was on my desk the whole time so I doubt they were. The paranoia they brought to me is really annoying.

I'm going to have to go see a doctor if it keeps on happening but the worst part is that I don't know what's biting me so I don't know what measures to take. Hopefully, your situation is no worse than mine.

 

[tenzip]

Quote:

Originally Posted by analogbox /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm currently experiencing wired itch bug bites which is happening right before my eyes. One minute I'll be fine but then after a while I notice a couple of bug bites. I'm fairly sure that those are not mosquito bites. For a moment there, I thought they could be bed bug bites but I was on my desk the whole time so I doubt they were. The paranoia they brought to me is really annoying. I'm going to have to go see a doctor if it keeps on happening but the worst part is that I don't know what's biting me so I don't know what measures to take. Hopefully, your situation is no worse than mine.

Been under any pin oak trees lately, or slept in a room with one outside, and the window open?

I realize you're not from KS or NE, but who knows?

 

[Uncle Erik]

You could give him a name and put him in a little terrarium complete with a minature bed.

Either that, or you could set off a fogger in the room and wash the hell out of everything while dumping a bunch of ammonia in the machine. Or bleach if your linens are white. But not bleach and ammonia at the same time - that makes a pretty effective fogger for humans.

 

[mbriant]

Quote:

I'm currently experiencing wired itch bug bites which is happening right before my eyes. One minute I'll be fine but then after a while I notice a couple of bug bites. I'm fairly sure that those are not mosquito bites

Wired itch bug? Is that a type of insect? Spider bites can look similar to mosquito bites. Flea bites look like pimples with a noticable head in the middle. However, they hurt when scratched. Thankfully I've never experienced bed bugs or head lice, but the amount of press both of these are getting recently, makes my skin crawl. My paranoia is actually improving my posture however. I was at a movie matinee the other day and moments after slouching down and resting my head on my seat back, I started thinking about head lice and decided to sit up straight for the entire movie.

 

[Zodduska]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uncle Erik /img/forum/go_quote.gif But not bleach and ammonia at the same time - that makes a pretty effective fogger for humans.

I was just thinking about this earlier today.. My first job was at a local movie theater, the usher was a pretty wacky body building greek immigrant. One night he stumbled out of the maintenance room choking, wheezing and grasping his throat. He had mixed the two together and nearly wound up dead.

 

[Ishcabible]

I was pretty afraid of getting head lice last month. A few of my friends got them and we had daily lice checks for two weeks. No bed bug experiences though.

 

[Ares]

Ya they really suck. Here are some tips.

Move your bed away from the walls, bed bugs will climb with the intention of falling

Wash all of your sheets and clothes and dry them with the hottest usable setting on your dryer

Store your sheets and clothes in plastic bags that are zipped closed

Put your bed on moats. Like coffee cans filled with water on each post. A bit hard if you have nice wood legs, but if it has varnish or if it is metal, do it; bed bugs cannot swim.

That should keep you from getting bitten during night, just make sure your sheets do not touch the floor during the night.

Call your landlord and have him pay for the chemicals that are needed to kill them. Make sure that they do this multiple times, or they will continue to survive.

 

[Billyk]

Quote:

Originally Posted by analogbox /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm currently experiencing wired itch bug bites which is happening right before my eyes. One minute I'll be fine but then after a while I notice a couple of bug bites. I'm fairly sure that those are not mosquito bites. For a moment there, I thought they could be bed bug bites but I was on my desk the whole time so I doubt they were. The paranoia they brought to me is really annoying. I'm going to have to go see a doctor if it keeps on happening but the worst part is that I don't know what's biting me so I don't know what measures to take. Hopefully, your situation is no worse than mine.

Had a similar situation once, hives from stress. Kind of like a panic attack manifested in little itchy bumps. See your doctor. I did, the relief in knowing was almost enough to stop the attack and some anti histamine did the rest!

 

[earwicker7]

There was a head lice outbreak when I was in elementary school, and one of us kids caught it. From there, the whole family got it within a couple of days. It wasn't a huge deal (a little shampoo for a few days) other than being scared to death that your peers would find out and make you a pariah.

 

[ClieOS]

When in doubt, C4.

 

[cheemo]

This thread is making me itchy.