Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I had read that it takes five weeks for bed bugs become mature, so I don't know if there is a connection between the travel date and the time that you noticed the bites. Anyway, I thought this was instructive about how to get rid of these pests.
Some of these critters (fleas, bedbugs, etc) carry pathogens.
This is a very interesting topic and one that I can relate to unfortunately. Well, at least with the bedbug part of it. First of all, everything everyone has metnioned here about bedbugs is all true, they did not exaggerate at all. If anything I would it was "downplayed". I had an experience with these beasts one time and it still haunts me now. My aprtment became infested with these creatures when the person next door brought them back from their trip out of the country. It happened in June about 2 years ago so at first I thought it was just gnats. But the itching was intense at night when I was sleeping, or trying to sleep. And I mean really intense. So bad that I started to scratch my skin raw. I looked online and at first I thought it was mange, really scary. I got some stuff from the local pharmacy but that wasn't helping. Then I thought, bedbugs! One night I ripped off the sheets and turned over the mattress and sure enough they were there. There must have been about 7-10 of them that I saw. I vacuumed, threw away the bag in a dumpster far from my building and figured that was the end of it. No. Luckily the management was great in getting the exterminator to my place right away and I had several follow up treatments. It took months before they were "completely" gone. Four months later I found them again. Even now the slightest itch sends me into a panic that they might be back. And they are ugly things also. Between the online research (and there are plenty of good sites but the best one I found came from Harvard College) and the exterminator this is what I learned:
* These bugs can hide just about anywhere. They prefer the sealed linings of the mattress but they can hide under any peeling paint, in books-bookcases, carpets, suitcases, wherever. They are small and flat and can move pretty quick when disturbed so don't be fooled if you don't see them right away.
* They can even enter a home when you get a new mattress. You know how most companies will remove your old mattress at no charge? Well guess what? If your new mattress is on a truck with someone's old one there is the possibility you can get bedbugs that way.
* It is highly recommended that you do not buy or take any used furniture, no matter how good the condition seems. Remember, these things are very good at hiding.
* They normally feed between the hours of 3am and 6am. And funny, that was the timing I was receiving the bites.
* They can crawl up to 100 feet for "a blood meal". Now this may not seem like much but think of the size of these things and the effort they are putting forth to get to you. Pretty scary.
* This is the worst: they can live up to a year between feedings. I have seen this on a few sites. It is rare but it can happen. That's scary because you may think they are all gone and one or two could still be lurking around and then decide to feed again.
* The nymphs are about the size of the period at the end of any of these sentences, which makes THEM hard to find/see.
* Some say that small blood stains on the mattress or pillow case is another sign of bedbugs. Others say it is not reliable. I prefer to err on the side of caution.
* The psychological damage they cause is 10 x worse than the physical which is already bad enough as it is.
* A dirty or clean place has absolutely no bearing on whether bedbugs are present or not. Some of NYC's finest hotels have had them. I keep my place very clean and I got them. It is not like roaches where filth will attract them. They are after YOU.
I really feel for anyone who has gone through this horrible experience. That little nursery rhyme not longer holds the same appeal to me anymore. I hate these things with such a passion. My best advice, do not underestimate these bugs. They are resillient (sp?) and horrible and very adept at hiding. I hope your itching has gone away for good and I really hope it was something other than bedbugs. Best of luck to you on this.
Oh Warminster - I feel your pain. So sorry you had to put up with that! At least when I was afflicted with bedbugs, I was traveling and I don't think I took any live bugs with me. Those few nights I dealt with it were horrifying. And the experience in the airport was just disgusting with the bugs crawling all over my backpack zipper and seams. If I remember correctly (this was 25 years ago,) my dad put my backpack and all my stuff in a hot hot hot washer and then in a hot dryer after it had sat outside for awhile. I had so many parasites and bugs in West AFrica including amoebic dysentery (I was asymptomatic,) giardia (I was NOT asymptomatic,) head lice, pubic lice (which I got NOT through any particular activity other than sitting on a wooden seat in an outhouse,) enough mosquitoes to give me malaria, and the bedbugs. It made my recent infestation of bird mites seem like almost nothing .
i ALSO have mysterious bites on me- NOT flea bites- and first they started biting me on my chest- then on my shoulders- now they are biting in me in various places all over my body. I have searched the web and i cannot come up with anything it may be. I used a lent roller on my bed and there were a couple of tiny tiny tiny microscopic red things on the lent roller after i rolled it over my bed. im not sure if it were a bug because it was so small (TINY). i am positive that i am getting bitten while i am sleeping and these bites are itching like crazy. Also, i would like to add that these bites are not welts or big bumps, they are small and red and it looks like something penetrated the skin like a hole. at first i was thinking it couldve been a red velvet mite- but then learned that these mites do not bite. and bed bugs look too big compared to what i saw on the lent roller...
Looks like this thread died off quite awhile ago, but I came across the posting while poking around the web trying to see if anyone was as being bothered by little black ants like I am, and figured I'd leave behind my two cents on the off chance that it sheds some light on someone else's problem. For some reason, these little ants love to bite me. Especially while I sleep. They don't bother anyone else in my household, and I often don't see any stragglers in my bed as by the time I wake up, they're long gone. I only realized what was giving me so much trouble when my daughter left some candy in our computer desk drawer and the little beasties started snacking on me, instead of the candy, while I was sitting at the computer. I recognized the bites. Depending on where they bite me (often on my neck and inner arms) it can get pretty swollen and painful. They aren't fire ants or the larger wickedly-mandibled carpenter ants, just the little black everyday see-them-everywhere type.. and for some reason they think I'm tasty.
A thread like this may die off at times once the person's question is answered or their problem solved but it is one of those that can always be revived and checked again at any time. Sorry about your ant attacks Bluengel, this is the first time I ever heard of them attacking like that. But you never know what drives these critters to their attacks.
Do you have mattress and pillow covers? They encase and you will not have any problems with dustmites and I am sure they help with other things too. I always keep my mattress and pillows in covers. Good for allergies.
I have a similar situation but when i sit on my computer under the desk something keeps bittng me noone else and if i rest my feet out the bed they bite me cant see what it is i have try to see if i can see them noway its like needles but no bumps or anything pls some one help any remedies
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
.
