Grey::

Alright, this has been bothering me for the last couple nights.

Everynight when I lay down to go to bed I get extremely itchy and end up with little bumps kinda like Amelia had but not as many and they are only on my leg. They are small and are itchy but they are sore later.

I have a cat but she has never had fleas and I gave her a bath only an hour ago and she still doesn’t have any, the rest of my family has had no problems with this at all, I haven’t visited anywhere recently I’ve just stayed home, and I have not found ONE bug. I have literally ripped my bed apart trying to find a bug but I haven’t found one!

Am I just really paranoid or what?

Ella::

Just did came back from a night as a guest at a sleepaway camp.

Ellas bug bites

I came home, took a shower, and notices small red bites all over me. I slept on an old mattress in a cabin in the woods, so I know it could be anything…. but this was my first thought.

I immediately took everything that was with me and threw it in the washer and dryer. Is this bedbugs? What else could it be? And most importantly, is there anything else I can do to ensure that I didn’t bring them home with me????

Any info will help!!

Thanks, Ella.

Mel Hughes::

Bed bugs may not be discovered simply inside beds and mattresses. Bedbugs may be discovered on their own, but far more often gather together in groupings. Counter to belief, bedbugs don’t reside within the mattress, despite the fact that they might be discovered in the seams. They are usually located in bed rooms but hide within spaces and crevices during the day.

Bed Bug Girl::

Casey,

Thanks for the excellent comment and your latest picture was perfect! You are not crazy, but the image is not of a bed bug.

Thanks!

Natalie::

Have you ever heard of bed bugs bitting private areas, because I found a lot of bites on my son’s privates.

Bed Bug Girl::

Hey Natalie,

Yes, this happens often. If you protect this area, different underwear, etc. you should see the bites move to a different area.

alyssa::

Hi,

I recently stayed at a hotel while my family went to Disney land when we came back i noticed my 7 month old son had these bites on his arm.

You can see how bad the reaction to the bites are.

Can you tell me if these are bed bug bites?

Thanks!

Alyssa

AJ::

Hi,

So I don’t know if I have bed bugs or not, and I figured this was the place to fin

Bug bites on ajs neck

d out. For the past 3 nights I have been getting bite marks all over my hands, forearms, upper arms, and the back of my neck and for the past night my wife got some on her arms as well. They are very itchy, and seemingly the welts pop up at all times of the day.

I initially thought mosquitoes, but we have only found a single mosquito. I checked but couldn’t find any signs of bed bugs in the mattress, corners of the walls, bed platform, or any fecal spots or anything really. The only bug I found is a cockroach nymph. In other relevant information, we just got back from a trip to China 5 days ago, and we both had mosquito bites but these are new since we got here.

I also just moved to a new place before vacation, I spent 3 nights here before going on vacation but the bites have only started since I came back. When we came back I spent a night at my parent’s house, but was not bitten there. Its strange because the bites ar

Ross had his whole body attacked by starving bed bugs and these are what the bites look like

e only on the arms and my neck, nowhere else (legs, torso, back) even though I sleep shirtless and in shorts.

Any help is appreciated as to what I should do now, and if you think they are bed bugs.

Thanks,

AJ

Not sure how to get the photos up, so I just emailed them

August::

Hello,

AJ’sj bedbug bites

I came across a forum where you were very helpful to others and I was wondering if you could help me too in determining if this is a bed bug rash.

I am very nervous. I recently stayed at a Disney hotel in Florida and found these on my leg the next morning. They started as tiny flat pinkish-red dots that weren’t itchy, but turned into this hours later. It is moreso bumpy now and pinkish.

Very much like mosquito bites..but this one is in a cluster..

Please help me, I would be sooo eternally grateful.

AJ::

Update – no new bites since 2 nights ago for me, and the ones I have are less itchy and swollen. The wife, however, has now gotten several new bites the past 2 nights, occurring in a linear row of 3 bites but only on her arms, that have begun to itch her severely. I’m wondering if we were bitten by bed bugs while in China last week, and only got reactions now? We did move around a lot, and often only spent 1-2 nights at a place. One place in particular had extremely tiny bright red bugs on the sheets and walls that were definitely filled with blood, because it rusted/turned brown after a while when they were squashed and smelled like iron. I’m wondering if they were mites or some sort of “chigger” or something else and they bit us, but we only got a reaction now? I feel like with the number of bites, if we had bed bug there would be enough that I would be getting many new bites all over my body from the past 2 nights…what do you think?

RE: scabies, unlikely given that there are no lesions on the back/groin/legs, where scabies like to bite, and I haven’t had any new itching/bites

Carrida::

I have over 50 bites on my hips and rear end and in lines down each side. My left hip has a cluster of about 20, then each of my cheeks has about 10. The other hip just has a few somewhat in a line and the ones on my side/ribs form a line of about 3. As I live in the South and am VERY prone to mosquito bites, I initially thought that’s what they were, although I couldn’t figure out where I had gotten so many bites in such a small area without realizing it.

The first night I noticed them, they were very small and more painful than anything. By the next morning, they looked more like my typical mosquito bites. After spending a few hours in the car, they were beginning to itch and swell up more. After remaining seated nearly all day at a meeting, then another long car ride, I was nearly at my wits end trying to not scratch the horrible itch and went to the pharmacy for some anti-itch cream. Even with that, diphenhydramine, and my usual zyrtec, I woke up in the middle of the night itching so badly I couldn’t go back to sleep for an hours.

Unfortunately I faced another several hours in the car before and after another all day meeting, with the location of these bites just awful for sitting, seat belts, and even underwear for that matter! Since I couldn’t drive and participate in the meeting on benadryl, I had to wait til I was back home. As soon as I walked in the door, I took my diphenhydramine, smeared on more cream, made ice packs for my hips and bottom and tried to rest and NOT scratch.

It’s now the third evening since I first noticed the bites and I’m pretty convinced these aren’t my typical mosquito bites! I’ve been absolutely miserable and now I’m pretty sure I’ve found bb evidence. We’re moving this weekend and I’m not sure we can afford to replace the mattresses right now but I don’t want to take bedbugs with me! Clean laundry has been on that bed for sorting and packing too!

What do I do? This is a nightmare!

courtney::

I just came back from a camping trip in Wisconsin. We rented a cabin. Bugs were biting like crazy one night. We didn’t do much. Next morning me feet are covered in bites about 50 or 60 on each foot and up around the ankles. Some bites here and there up my legs and about 10 on my butt and hips up to my belly. My friend told me that my back had a lot too. The mattresses had a plastic cover on them. 4 people stayed in the cabin. All but one had bites on our feet. They are about the size of a pea or a needle prick. They itch and are red. I was walking bare foot but never barley ever in the grass. The next night I didn’t get bites, I was also waring socks. Wondering what kind of bites I got. They are smaller that some of the bites scattered around my body. Please Help!!

maddy::

Yep, bedbugs. Somehow they got into my bedroom and ruin my sleep. Thank heaven for air coneditioners. mine makes my bedroom tolerable while i suit up (long pants, long sleeves, hands and feet covered) to try to go to sleep. Scram, an herbal product was discussed on a radio program a friend heard, so I ordered some, claims to be safe around pets and children and effective at killing the bugs. I then tried Bedbuglogic, which seems to kill faster on contact. Has anyone else out there tried these treatments? Bebbuglogic is based on thyme oil, which is also a minor component of Scram’s herbal mix. The stuff doesn’t smell bad, peppermint predominates in Scram. Please tell what treatments you have tried. I don’t want to go anywhere near the really poisonous stuff.

Albert::

These bed bugs bites are annoying! I noticed I had them a few years back. Last week re decorated, changed my mattress, put bleach everywhere, sprayed everywhere YET they still continue to bite my legs. I have about 130 bites on my body. Please help! It’s irritating! :(

april::

We found bed bugs in my daughters room around the end of June. I had a professional come to treat for them immediately. They used a “cold treatment” on the items in her room, sprayed in the other two bedrooms (where we never found any bugs) and in the living room.

We never really found that many bugs, I would have to say probably between 12-16 over the course of first spotting then (and most of these were found dead after the treatment).

I still worry about them, and i have found bites on me recently however we do have two dogs, who we have a problem with fleas. It’s so hard to tell the difference between bites! Also I feel like my daughters room has a nasty smell, I have a very sensitive nose and it just smells weird in her room. If I leave the door closed, when I open it I can smell it. I don’t think it smells “sweet” which is what I’ve read but just “dirty”!

I look almost every night in our bed and her bed with my little mag light! I continue to check our mattresses, boxsprings, bed cracks and nightstands and have found nothing.

Here are my questions

1. Do bed bugs feed everynight?

2.You mentioned spraying with alcohol? What exactly are you spraying? Are you spraying the bed, nightstand, ? How are you using the alcohol I guess is what I’m asking.

3.What about the dirty smell?? I keep a clean house LOL

Thanks!

Cs::

Hi,

I am attaching a picture of some bites on my boyfriend’s arm. We were driving back from Charleston to Atlanta today when I noticed them.

We just stayed in a B&B for 3 nights. Could you tell me if you think the bites are from bedbugs? Or post it on the forum to see what others think if you’re not sure? It’s not the best quality, but you can see the bites.

Thank you so much!

Cate

Sabi::

Hi everyone,

I live in the UK, and recently moved into a temporary apartment which a friend let me stay in for reduced rent. I’ve been here just over two months, and then I am going abroad for two weeks in 14 days time, then coming back and moving abroad for a year.

After about a week in the apartment, I noticed a few bites on my wrist, but thought maybe I was having a dust mite allergy, because when I moved into the apartment and cleaned, it appeared as though the place hadn’t been vacuumed in years. Over the following few nights I noticed more and more of these bites, and they were itching like crazy. I showed it to a doctor friend who said it was definitely bed bug bites. So began the battle.

I washed all the bedding, vacuumed the mattress, sprayed tea tree oil, and for a couple of nights didn’t get any bites. Then they started up again. One night I just couldn’t take it, so moved onto a bed in another room, and as I was lying there, I noticed a bed bug coming towards me. This freaked me out. I am terrified of all crawly things, I can’t even stand ants, so the thought of these creatures crawling all over my bed and body makes me squirm, and has given me a few sleepless nights, especially when I was alone. Thankfully my husband is now staying with me, so I’m not all alone, but it is still difficult.

I have bites all over now, including on my face. I tried sleeping in a sleeping bag with my body fully covered, and they just attacked my face and the exposed part of my neck. Last night I woke up at about 2am with mad itching, and discovered more bites. On my legs they have blown up so much and are now like a large hard purple lump about the size of a tablespoon. I also found a bed bug crawling on my pillow, which made it very difficult to go back to bed. I have MS which gives me such bad fatigue, and now with sleepless nights I am a complete wreck :(

I can’t wait to be out of here as we could not afford to have pest control sort it out, nor can we afford a steamer. Hell, we can’t even afford a vacuum at this point and have been borrowing my mum’s every few days. I’m just really afraid of the bugs traveling with us, and yet I see it as inevitable. Will they stay with me forever now?

IsItBedbugs::

I recently spent a night at a friend’s house, and these spots showed up a day or so later on my ankle.

Was I bitten by bedbugs?

george t romano::

Yes, my wife has bites on her arm and leg. me myself no bites. we have a dog but i got the flee and tick killer as seem on the tv it cost 60.00 i had bed bug exterminator come over check the bed and living room but no sign of bedbugs.

Could flees have the same mark like begbugs? I have no carpet wooded floors i see white spot look like maybe be flees eggs not sure. how could one person get bite but not me? my wife is driving me nuts.

The exterminator thinks it could be flees. please can you help me out. what do you think.

Angel::

I’m not sure on what is eating me but last week I went to the ER because I thought I got bitten by a brown recluse. Well I have more bites and not just one this time but a few and they hurt and itch. They look like blisters and they hurt because they are on my hips and thighs.

I had a fruit bat in the house I have been staying in for the past 2 months and it took me 3 days to get it out. I’m scared that I mat have a infestation of bed bugs and they are hurting me badly. Can any one give me more info on these bugs?? I don’t want to have to go back to the ER and get lanced open again. I think I’m highly allergic if this is the case…

Oh Dear…::

Actually,

the three on my arm do resemble the poster John G’s son’s bites. That doesn’t mean they have to be bedbugs though…right?:( Please nooo

Lori::

Please, take a look at this photo. I woke up yesterday with this itchy rash/bites. Photo is of my leg, also have bites near bra strap on both sides of torso, more where the waistband of my shorts go & just noticed 2 itchy spots on the back of my hand. Hubby is fine & I’ve searched the house hi & lo for a culprit…we have no pets. He thinks its from stress & jokes the cheese is sliding off my cracker LOL I could see how this drives people nuts!!

Shauna::

My friend and I have been getting some bug bites on us at night. It all started about 3 weeks ago when his daughter and her cousin came and stayed at his place one night. Since then we’ve been getting the red bites all over are body. We bombed the apartment thinking it might have been fleas or something because they have pets. But still having problems. Come to find out the parents of the children have been having problems with bites too. We’re not only getting them while in bed but on the couch as well. Now I’ve apparently have been transferring them to my house by staying there….UGH! On another note he moved into his apartment in June so not sure if something was left behind but the landlord had the place sprayed by a professional. He does that every time someone moves out of an apartment. My friend has lived in the same apartments for over 2 years now just moved into a bigger place. Please help! What to do?

Phil T.::

Are these bed bug bites?

Squicked Out::

Hello,

I’ve been dealing with bites for quite a few months now. The first initial thought was mosquito’s, then spiders, then…bedbugs? Where would I get those?

I did buy a BB Alert back in June or July, and it showed nothing. I hadn’t seen signs (blood smears, waste, or the bugs themselves), so I thought, “Nah, couldn’t be.”

On the 4th, I was removing my bedding to wash, and out of curiosity, I lifted up my box spring (I never realized I didn’t have a mattress, and that I’d been sleeping on a box spring) and looked – and on the side was this tiny insect, just walking by (and this was in full daylight). I caught it on a piece of masking tape and placed it in a zippered baggie. I believe I saw one other bug, but I couldn’t catch it. It was the same color.

What has thrown my dad and I off is that it looks like no bedbug we’ve seen a picture of. It does have 6 legs, and it has antennae…but I haven’t seen the probosci it would use to draw blood with.

The other photo is a size comparison.

I am so, so grossed out…and even though whatever it is isn’t my fault, I still feel ashamed that I should even think that something like this is wandering around in my family’s house. As I type, I am fearing sending this photo (though whatever the case, my box spring is now in a bed bug blocker encasement, and my new pillow was stuffed into an encasement before it entered my room). I know it’s silly to be scared, but I am, anyway…

Thanks so much for your time and help! Even an e-mail response would be appreciated (although I am sure that you are all busy, so I apologize for being demanding…fear will do that to you!)!

Miranda G.::

These bites have popped up only on my legs in the last few weeks, and I’m not sure what they are, I used the check list on the website to see if there are any bed bugs on my things but so far nothing, I’m getting nervous because almost everyday there is a new bite and its only on my legs. Any advice would be great!!

Michele C,::

Can anyone recognize this?

This is my calf, at about three to four weeks after the original bites. I didn’t know about the “breakfast, lunch, and dinner” pattern then, so I am not sure if it is bed bug bites or not. I can tell you that I was traveling in Morocco for 14 days, stayed at 2 homes and 3 hotels. I had many bites the first week – at least some were definitely mosquitoes – saw them happen. But this one area on my leg… it is still itchy! And it’s gone from large red/pink raised lumpy bumps to this strange discolored rash looking patch. Still itches… Hydrocortisone cream doesn’t help much. Neither has chapparal salve, alcohol, neem oil, or vinegar.

Of course, I’m really hoping I didn’t bring any bugs or eggs home… my travel bag is still sitting between my dresser and my closet and I REALLY don’t want to have to go through the whole cleaning process… Yikes. I just didn’t even think about the possibility of bed bugs until like today! Been home since 9/21!

Thanks for any help or opinion offered!

karyn::

Hi cae

from my understanding that is not a bed bug. They’re really really flat looking and I don’t think they have antenas

Brandy H.::

Please help! All of these bites popped up over night. And the next night about 15 more showed up on my legs. I assume its bed bugs, but I searched my bed and sheets, and didn’t find any bugs, or eggs. I’m not sure what else they could be?

Here’s a photo of the ONLY bites anyone in my family has and they are the only bites on my body. Are they Bed Bug Bites? This photo was taken on day 5 of having them. They aren’t as red and swollen as they were on the day I noticed them, but they have been EXTREMELY itchy. I’ve searched the house and can’t find any trace of bed bugs.

Thanks

My God am I my glad I found you! my name’s Matt I’m a 36 year old single dad. I’m gonna send you these pictures of recent bites and some scars, hope you don’t mind.

So 14 or 15 months ago I went to the emergency room, I had bites and scabs all over. my friend had contracted lyme disease from tics. so I got bit all over this day, worried and concerned than just started I guess going crazy or so I’m told.

I put whatever I thought was biting me into a zip lock and went to the hospital convinced I had tics. They looked at me like I was crazy I mean I got tattoos, super crazy blue eyes, me and my boys all got Mohawks lol, and scabs from bites all over my legs. I guess now I kinda think this is when life started going down hill. I mean they didn’t even look at the stuff I had in the zip lock, they just were rude and said it was lint and dirt. it made me feel like id em ne something wrong. whole day wasted.

Sense then on a couple occasions I’ve tried talking to my mother about it, friends, basically everyone is like those are flea bites. Well we have had fleas from neighbors cat but we have no pets, all wooden floors, I know what fleas are.

I have a 3 year old little guy and he gets little teenie bites, and he wakes up saying he’s got the “itchies”, but not my 10 year old son. hes never had a bite from anything that I can remember.

I was just getting worse and worse I get paranoid I just feel like they’re crawling all over me sometimes, I’m scared it’s really driving me crazy. I have found 1 beg bug. I look and look. so the last month I haven’t had one single bite. Then last week I take my sock off and they weren’t even bites, just like raw. I didn’t know what to think besides maybe my sock was tight and perhaps maybe wet and then after tho they realty hurt. Well then 3 days later, same thing happened, this time got both ankles and feet. I stay up reading about it on my phone, trying to research, then I itch all over, can’t sleep I am scared because I am not the man I was a year ago. I’m scared to meet people now, no one I trust has any advice but Matt are you crazy, or why do I got scars I must dig and dig or if I really had bugs getting me then the kids would to. I started seeing a psychologist but sad thing is I tell her about everything but this but I am not going to be afraid to tell get this week, because this its what starts me panicking and causes all the crap I talk to get about haha seriously tho, anyways……

Do you think these look like bed bug bites? I mean they feel deep after a few days and they scar so terrible but now that its progressed into this I do find myself picking at them but not bad. They take Weeks to heal. I have found what I thought were littler pieces of rice and I just read where you said that’s what the eggs look like. Are they hard like rice tho? Because I just figured they were rice, 2 kids that love to eat and things get spilled I figured. And I have found the shells god I was glad to read that because I tried showing a few people saying look you can see lines in it, its a shell, but its always Jesus Matt your freaking out about bugs again what’s wrong with u.

Sorry to ramble on but that’s about all I know. Id really appreciate if you get back to me Ok I’m sorry I guess I go on and on and I get all worked up. Thanks so much I hope you have a great day!

Bug bite created hole in leg

lisamarie::

Hi I am the only one in the house that these creatures have chosen as their host and it seems no body believes me, not even the hospital… They actually tried to deem me nuts and called psych down to see me, took a specimen of the “bed bugs” and threw them away. I’m now on day 18 of this horrid ordeal and honestly am at my witz end. I went away a few weeks back and slept in an old rickety bed by myself. I have the distinct three bites all in a nice row and copious others all over my body. these things are in bedded in my scalp and these little pepper like black flecks keep dropping on my skin and then the blood and then I wipe and find the little red speck of paprika.

I’m pretty sure I’m being bitten by bed bugs, the exterminator is sure there are no bugs in the home. Yesterday I found little tiny red specks all over the air conditioning duct and on the walls. They look just like the ones I am pulling out of each horrible massive sore. I do have a big bump underneath the skin where each lesion/bite is. I was told it was scabies but the benzemul application (tried seven nights in a row) and a week later did not work. I really believe these are bed bugs.

I have tried all sorts of remedies including: salt and bicarb soda baths and making a paste to apply to body and head, mayonnaise keeps them at bay on scalp but doesn’t kill the blighters, metho on head…(once again near killing me), Listerine bathing and spraying on body, vodka spraying it on body, vinegar on scalp, knit creams on head and body, bathing in bleach (near killed me)… so so far I’ve just about killed myself but these ravaging maniacs are still going strong. I have a ten month old son and a four year old daughter and I’m terrified I’ll infect them. I cant believe there is no one even the hospitals and three doctors I have seen that seem to either believe me or know how to kill these things. If anyone can help please please please help.

Tane::

Hello I am having itchy bumps it started as two or three on each wrist. Now there are 20 or so on each wrist. I have other areas with still only 1-2 bumps but only my wrists are as concentrated as seen n the pictures. This progression has been over about 3 weeks. In three weeks I have not seen any bugs or evidence on my sheets.

Bean1974::

I noticed strange bite on my 2 year old daughter and myself about 10 days ago. We went to the doctor and he confirmed my suspicions that they were bed bug bites (we have the “breakfast, lunch, dinner effect” of the telltale 3 bites in a row) My first instinct was to bomb my house which I did- twice. Then read that is the worst thing you can do because it spreads them. I bombed the whole house. So, question number one; how come I can’t go in the house for 2 hours but these little bastards can live through it?

Then I went to a DIY store and bought some $15 spray, sent my daughter away for the night and spent 5 hours vacuuming, spraying and drying everything not nailed down for 40 minutes each. After this vigilant attack on a beast that has yet to show its face because I have not found one single nasty critter I thought- oh noooo, what if they are in my car!!!?? Because all bites we have are on our back, butt and back of legs -precisely where our skin would touch if sitting in a car.

So at 11:30 pm I ripped the car seat covers off and threw them in the garbage at the carwash and vacuumed the sh*t out my car then put down boric acid on any cloth surface. Question number 2; can they live in the car? I live in Florida and figured the sun beating on the car nearly everyday would make it impossible for them to live in there. And, question #3; when will I know if they are truly gone? How long do these wretched bites last? I am on predisone for the itch – my daughter on A&D ointment, oatmeal lotions and Claritin. Any help would be MUCH APPRECIATED. I really am starting to lose it :)

Bed Bug Girl::

Hi SJ,

Have you tried the bed bugs trap and captured one? Also, can you send pictures of your bites to badbedbugs@gmail.com and I’ll get them posted to help figure out what is really biting you. Before you do anything, check out my Bed Bug Checklist to see if you can find the bug(s).

Jessica W.::

Recently I started noticing small red elevated bumps on my daughter, at first I thought it was something else. But then I noticed that every morning she would have new ones sometimes in new areas of her body and sometimes in the same area as the previous bumps. I decided to read up about scabies and beg bugs, I discovered that her bites or bumps were identical to bed bug bites. As you can imagine I was horrified. My baby is being eaten alive while she sleeps. The bites are itchy and red in color. How do I find and kill these bugs? I have lived in my apartment for about a year and six months, can’t imagine how I could get bed bugs. What should I do to properly treat the bites?

Bed Bug Girl::

Hi SJ,

Yes, bed bugs can target just one person in the bed, and yes, just a part of the body. Once I see the pics, I can tell you for sure.

Thanks!

Insane Bug Brain::

I know you probably get a tonne of these emails, but I am nearing complete mental break down – my wife has even suggested I go to the doc to get head meds… So here’s a long story, please be patient with me.

Somewhere in the area of 4 months ago various members of my house (wife, 2 boys 3 and 7 and I) would, at different times, get what appears to be a bite – or two at the most. In the entire time, we’ve never had more than two bites on us at once. In all but maybe 2 or 3 of the bites there has been no apparent “hole” that we could see which would be from a puncture wound. A the couple that did could have just been from scratching (the most obvious was on my wife). My 7yr old only has had 1 or 2 over the whole time. My 3yr old has had maybe 5 or 6. My wife and I both have had a total of 10 max over the 4 month period.

These “bites” start out sort of white and swollen in an irregular shape, not really round. Within the day it appears the swelling typically goes away, but then turns red like a bruise and is completely gone in 3-4 days. My 3yr and my “bites” barely itch – much much less than a mosquito bite does (and my 3yr old is allergic to mosquito or horsefly bites as we’ve had to give him Benedryl because he severely swells up). My wife says her’s does itch incredibly but it can’t be that bad because she barely complained and I didn’t see her scratching incessantly. My wife thinks that they could be pimples – but they don’t have a “pimple head”.

So, location. My 3yr old has only had them on his tummy or back. He wears shirt and bottoms to bed. My wife has had them on her hip (closer to her buttock) and at her pantyline on her front. She usually sleeps with pants and sometimes with a shirt, always with a bra. She thinks she may have had one or two on her arm – she doesn’t remember. My 7yr only had them on his side and probably slept shirtless. Me, I’ve had a dual bite on the back of my thigh where it meets the buttocks, I’ve had one on each side at the same time, and on my shoulder blades. Since these started, I’ve been wearing pants and shirt to bed, shirt tucked into pants and pants tucked into socks. (I told you I’m going nuts.) The reason I am bringing this up is because in my reading, I saw that they usually snack on exposed skin – and I’ve never had a bite on my face or arms which are always exposed. And we’ve never had the breakfast, lunch, supper type of proof either.

So… detection. Nothing. I have literally torn apart both bedrooms (the boys sleep together in the same room in separate beds). I have a high powered LED flashlight that can literally shine through the edges of the mattress and boxspring. I’ve been searching and searching. We had (thrown out, cleaned, moved, inspected) many places where bed bugs would probably have flourished. We had two old dresser drawers slid under the best for storage (one empty and one full of papers and books). Nice and dark and wood. Nothing there. Bottom of bedside tables and drawers full of books and junk almost never opened/moved. Nothing. Under the bedside tables, nothing. Wall sockets/jacks, nothing. Nothing on the bed frame, box spring, floor, mattress, etc and have found no solid evidence of blood, feces, shed skin, eggs or live bed bugs. I’ve over turned the bedside tables, the one dresser my wife uses, our luggage, up ended the beds, etc. I’ve been doing checks several times a day and night and through the night. Nothing. Checked along the walls, floor closet, etc.

Now, today after moving some clutter my wife found small, white bugs in dust along the baseboard where I had not checked very closely before. The bugs, when exposed to direct light, didn’t really react – until she disturbed the dust and them and they started to move – not very fast – up the wall. She says that she pretty much killed them trying to catch them. So when I got home, we got out some black electrical tape and tried to “catch” stuff. Attached is two pictures of them. The first has the small white bug, squished unfortunately. Now from what I’ve read if bed bugs are this small, they should be colorless? It, to me, looks like a mite (we do have two indoor cats). The second has two ball-like… things but don’t appear to have legs or anything.

It’s really the white, squished bug that is concerning me… is it a mite? Or is it a nymph? Can you even tell from my pic? Now, the caveat to all of this. I live in Nova Scotia, Canada. We had a really warm Fall, so at first we thought “We DO have bugs…” Common household spiders. We have ants (our whole subdivision is one large ant hill – but at this time of the year we do not see live ones). I’ve seen some catepillar like dead things – no idea what they are. I’ve even seen what looked like a grasshopper in the unfinished part of our basement. Fruit flies. We even had a moth flying around outside on Dec 6th. But those are all pretty big, and rarely seen alive except for the odd spider in it’s web. So I have lots of ways to explain away these “bites” yet I keep coming back to the fact that we’re getting bit through/under clothes and not on exposed skin, but they itch (to varying degrees depending on who has em) they don’t typically have a puncture but it may be so small we can’t see it. None have become infected or required medical attention. There’s been no noticeable blood left on the bed. Also the time of the year, it’s cold now so we know we’re not getting them from outside so it has to be inside and it’s driving me nuts.

And the biggest thing – after this length of time you’d think that we’d be able to find some type of evidence given the insanity of my checking that we’ve got an infestation. I have literally checked everything short of hauling the baseboard off the wall.

We don’t have much in the way of spare money, and to get anyone in to “inspect” is going to cost me good – and I’m not sure they’d look any closer at things than I have in my insanity.

Thank you for reading.

:,( Insane Bug Brain

Help::

Hi,

So I heard that my mom had bed bugs in her apartment so I informed my building and arranged for an inspection. Sure enough my mattress and box spring tested positive (so says the sniffing dog). Before the inspection I had been bitten a month or so earlier, assumed it was a rash and now thinking back realize it was definitely bed bug bites.

I had two rounds of treatment and I prepared my apartment so much I didn’t have a single item out of a bag. I had hot sticks (these bug killing sticks you use for sheds) in each bag of personal items like books, shoes, jewelry. In each bag of clothes I washed, and then sealed in a bag with another hot stick thing. I never really had bites other than the one time before I even knew I had the bugs.

After a month of this madness and 2 treatments (during Christmas, new years, and of course, my birthday) I finally moved past it. The treatment company informed me I probably didn’t have an infestation, it was probably one bug that never laid eggs. They told me they didn’t find any bugs anywhere else in the apartment and that the treatment they believed was successful.

In all this time I inspected my bed and mattress everyday and throughout the entire experience only saw one bug and it was long dead, and it was when I first took my bed apart. I now have a top of the line mattress protector, box spring protector, threw away all my comforters, washed my sheets and am using temporary bedding and pillows that I throw in the drier every so often.

It has been 2 weeks since my 2nd treatment and I’m starting to notice bites! I never had bites other than that one time. I’ve considered maybe it was a reaction to the hot shot sticks, or perhaps that it was some other sort of bug? I’m a really clean, slightly OCD person who thought I put all of this behind me. I had just about unpacked all my belongings, extremely carefully shook out every book, and rewashed every item of clothing. I don’t know what to do.

Is it possible I’m making these bed bugs bites up in my head? I am at a loss for how there could still be bugs especially since I never had a heavy infestation to begin with. I’ve poured boiling water on my floor, washed and dried all my bedding, alcoholed my bed frame and still! Someone please tell me I’m imaging these bites and that that’s possible.

Bed Bug Girl::

Hi Carina,

Yes, the bed bugs can attack just one person even though there is more than one in the bed. Can you send me a picture (BadBedBugs@gmail.com) and I’ll take a look? I’d search the area around his side of the bed as best you can – take a look at my checklist to see where to look.

Katharina::

Hi, I rearranged my room yesterday and when I woke up today I had these bites on my butt, but only there on three different spots. they do itch.

I am afraid this is from bed bugs. Maybe you can tell me your opinion?

Thanks

BittenBad::

This photo was taken this morning. I was bitten 2 days ago; only 3 bites. I have an allergic reaction to the saliva of the bedbug, resulting in a swelling and incredibly hot inflammation.

I have other photos when I was bitten almost 2 years ago along both arms and legs. I had the same allergic reaction to the saliva. The heat to all limbs at the same time was unbearable. I tried to rid my skin of the saliva by breaking the watery blisters that appeared. This did help a lot.

I was having to take cool baths every 15 to 20 minutes, even throughout the night which would cool the affected areas momentarily. The inflammation eased after a few days, but the bites remained visible for months as scabs leaving faint scars.

In the attached photo (taken this morning) you can still see some of the spots on my lower arm from that earlier assault (almost 2 years ago).

regards

Bed Bug Girl::

Hi Karen,

That just doesn’t sound like the behaviour of bed bugs biting. Have you looked at my bed bug checklist to see if you can spot any signs of them?

Bed Bug Girl::

Hi Jennamarie,

Yes, it’s very possible that your daughter could bring them back with her after visiting an infested home!

Set up a bed bug trap, look for signs of bed bugs (see my bedbug checklist at the top of this page) and verify that she has bed bugs, then check out my section on bed bug dust (diatomaceous earth) and help her get rid of them once and for all.

You know, those traps catch more than just bed bugs, they also trap spiders and other insects that could be biting her.

AJT::

Hello.

How do I email you a picture?

I keep getting tiny little bumps around my hip and bum cheeks. I tried looking for bugs but all I could find was some little tiny black bits (not sure if its bug poo) in my mattress cracks on the surface.

And behind my bed found a tiny little oval shaped black thing with 2 antennae.

Josh::

Saturday night I had a few drinks when I came back to my hotel I passed out on top of the sheets and bedspread. I woke up about 3 AM and noticed I had left the patio door open so I closed it and went back to bed, this time under the sheets. When I woke up the next morning I went into the bathroom to take shower and noticed mosquitoes everywhere, these were big and juicy mosquitoes like they had been feasting on something all night. Then I noticed some red dots on the back of my legs and then looking in the mirror noticed them on my back (covered), shoulders and back of my arms.

Originally I thought they were mosquito bites but after talking and showing them to some people they mention they look like bedbugs and I’m just not sure. I’m not itchy at all anywhere except my head has been a little bit itchy in the last 24 hours but I can’t see anything as I have a full head of hair. I noticed the spots on Sunday morning as the day progressed the spots got darker and today is Monday morning, I still have them and they look the same. In your opinion do these look like bedbugs bites? Pictures were sent to your email thank you!