Buggy in Texas::

I am the unhappy owner of an infestation, and have been on the net, trying to figure out what to do. Apparently, I have had these bed bugs for a couple of months. Was localized to my daughter’s room, but we thought it was mosquito bites, so she moved to the couch!!! Now, the bugs are in my $4000 overstuffed sectional, which is just over a year old.

HELP!! I steamed it and that helped for about a week. Should I just keep steaming? I have the mattress covers, I bought the goodnight spray, I kill them whenever I see one. But I can’t afford what the exterminator is asking. And I certainly can’t afford to ditch my couch. Any suggestions for getting the bed bugs out of my couch?

Shari::

Hey everyone…hopefully someone can help me out! This has been haunting me for months.

I have been dating my boyfriend for almost 3 years now and I always sleep over at his house for a few days every week. This past December (08), I was home from college and was staying over his house as I usually do and woke up one morning covered in huge bug bites. It looked like regular mosquito bites, which I always have a bad reaction to, so I thought nothing of it until I started noticing more bites appearing throughout the day. I stayed over again the next night and got more bites. The weird thing is, they were only on the right side of my body and randomly spread out on my face, arms, chest, legs, feet. I got one bite on my left arm, but that was it. My grandmother, a nurse for over 20 years, said it was hives, but I was taking Benadryl constantly & it did nothing. Once the swelling went down, I noticed that most of the bites were actually 2 or 3 smaller bites next to each other. So I had somewhere around 20 bites on the one side of my body alone.

My boyfriend never showed a reaction like I did or as soon as I did, but he did start getting bites on him as well. I stopped staying over his house & was constantly nagging him about getting an exterminator, which never happened. This all nearly ruined our relationship, as I was afraid to go in his house or have him come to mine after reading information online about beg bugs & how easily they travel.

We’ve used double sided carpet tape around the bed, which found nothing. An exterminator came in just to look and found nothing. We’ve searched the bed and room thoroughly, numerous times, and never found anything. However, he gets up at 5am for work, so I told him to check the bed and run his hands over the sheets. He never actually saw any bugs, but he ran his hand over the bed in one spot and it left a blood streak, then again in another, and he said he saw small white bugs along with it..maybe the nymphs? (This was back in December).

He couldn’t afford any exterminators (plus he has never believed it was beg bugs), but he bagged everything up, took almost everything out of his room & washed it, cleaned everything thoroughly, and threw out his old bed & mattress, replacing it with the one from the unused room next to his. It is now 5 months later, I have been staying over there occasionally for the past few months, and he’s come to stay with me in my dorm at school as well as my house when I’m home and there have been no bites.

Of course there is a BUT. I slept over his house this week. We were in his kitchen/backyard late one night, which was FILLED with mosquitoes, as it is every summer. I always get bit like crazy in his yard every summer, you can see the mosquitoes everywhere. I have a cluster of bites on my right arm going into my armpit of probably 6 or 7 bites in that one area…and that is all I have on my whole body. I was sleeping in a t-shirt which covered that area and I had never been bit in the past in covered areas…so I’m hoping this time that it’s just mosquitoes….but the bites are huge and so itchy that they are waking me up (just like in December).

No one has ever had a problem in the house besides us, and there are a lot of people that live there.

Any advice or thoughts about this whole situation? I am terrified of these things and I’ve never even seen one.

Thanks!

-Shari

Vivian Wilson::

Hi:

After some investigation I found out that I have bedbugs. A person that has a pest control business for 30 years came to my apartment and said that I don’t have them, but the very same night he said that I found a bedbug in my bed that bet me all over. Obviously he doesn’t know very much about these insects, and has still a lot to learn.

In the past I have dealt with head lice, and most of the shampoos that are sold at the pharmacies do not work. I also dealt with mice and the pest control came to my house and started to put traps for them. I told them that I didn’t think that was the solution. At the end it was me who found the solution to the problem. As you can see I don’t have all this people in high esteem.

An exterminator for bedbugs charges a lot of money. If I am going to pay all these money I would like to be sure I am not going to have the bugs anymore.

Any suggestions? I appreciate your help
Vivian

Valerie W::

Hi Jim,

I hope you have time to review these pictures and (hopefully) put my mind at ease.

I am praying that I have mosquito bites… spider bites… anything other than bed bug bites. I recently quit a job working at a shelter for the homeless because of their infestation. There were bedbugs scurrying up the walls, the mats, the people. I tried to be so careful – visual inspections, stripping off my uniform at the front door, showering immediately when I got home…But yesterday I woke up with bites, and now I’m absolutely panicking.

I can’t see any bugs. I’ve stripped and flipped the mattress and box and I don’t see any signs (bodies, poop, blood stains). The bites are just on my hands (which are usually outside the covers), and my partner wasn’t affected at all.

The bites are red and puffy. If I pull the skin taut, the skin appears yellow and there is a small, flat bump, the size of a pin head in the center. They are crazy itchy and the itch is radiating out along my arms and hands – not limited to the actual bite site. I’ve been putting hydro cortisone cream on them and taking oral benadryl, but it’s having next to no affect on the itch. The ones on my wrists are especially torturous.

I cried myself to sleep last night. I made my partner sleep at a friend’s house. I can’t focus for the itching.

Please, if you can take a look and let me know, from your experience, if the bites look more like Anything else.

I’d appreciate any feedback!
Thanks,
Valerie

Hi Valerie,

Sorry for the delay in getting back to you – I do this on my spare time…

They don’t look like bed bug bites and do in fact look like mosquito bites. I’ve posted your pictures so that others can chime in, but I’m guessing they have not reoccurred, right?

Let me know what is happening and I’ll make sure to post it.

Best regards,

Jim

Jim, thank you so much for easing my mind!

I spoke to a nurse/friend and she immediately thought they were spider bites. The itch and inflammation have gone down but the bump in the middle is still there and the surrounding area remains red.

Whatever it was, there have been no return visitors – thank heavens! I can’t imagine why they only went after my hands, but who cares, as long as they’re gone!

Thank you again for your wonderful site and personal reply, it really kept me from freaking out completely!

Gratefully,
Valerie

Jim::

Hi Shawn,

The red marks are right on your hair follicles, correct?

They could very well be bed bugs, but if that is the case, a good review of your room should reveal them (check out my bedbug checklist for details on where to look, etc).

Fleas can do this as well, but usually bite the legs, not the stomach and sides like you mentioned.

Chiggers which are microscopic (usually from being outside in the grass, etc), can leave these marks, but they usually occur under tight clothing, such as socks, etc.

There are also hair follicle mites, but these are considered harmless (and microscopic).

I’d check the room out real good for signs of bed bugs before considering something else.

Let us know what is happening and what you find out!

Thanks,

Jim

Jh::

Both of my daughters 4 and 3 have bites on the back of their neck and shoulders the bite starts out a dark red small circle and then gets swollen and larger. The color changes too it goes from dark red to light pink – I also noticed dried blood around the bite – small dark scab like balls of blood. Is it bed bugs or something else?

I haven’t found any bugs or fecal matter (as discussed in some of the comments) I did find a few spiders but got rid of them and the bites still appear. The bites are only on their neck and shoulder area and in their hairline where the hair meets the back of the neck – What is this??

J. Tasaki::

I have been reading all these articles trying to diagnose myself because I went to the doctor on Wednesday and my doctor told me that “they look like flea bites” because a few of the bumps are aligned in a row. I explained that I’ve never had this problem before and I don’t have any pets. I’ve been living in my apartment for 3 years now and never experienced anything like this.

At first I thought it was an allergic reaction but I haven’t changed soap, detergent, or eaten anything different. So then I told the doctor that I had just gotten back from a weekend in Corpus Christi and we (my boyfriend and I) stayed in a hotel. The doctor insisted that It was fleas and sent me home saying that I should get a antihistamine for the itching.

I’ve been using bendryl anti-itch cream as well as aveeno hydrocortisone. it helps temporarily but i really want to know how long do the bites itch. And after researching information on bed bugs, fleas, and other insect bites, I’m sure i have bed bug bites. When we were at the hotel I remember seeing dark reddish-brown stains on the sheets and we thought it was blood and got the hotel to change our sheets..I never saw any bed bugs though… now I know….

oh and I forgot to describe the bites as shown above. Mostly red, swollen itch a lot, when i scratch too much little brown dots appear in the center of the bite. they are on my arms, shoulder, back of my neck, near my armpit, hands, scatted along my legs, a few on my buttocks, and a few on my feet.

and strangely my boyfriend only got like 3 bites and they are all over me…I’ve checked my apt to make sure we didn’t transport any back with us to Houston…

ash::

I hate bedbugs and have dealt with them on a few occasions. No amount of cleaning or sanitizing will get rid of them. It’s a long and tedious process. You will need to either call an exterminator to help rid them of your home, or try over the counter stuff such as raid etc.

I took the over the counter approach, and it seemed to work but as I said above, it’s a lot of work and takes awhile. Any over the counter product you buy for the treatment of bedbugs or fleas etc is generally not safe to inhale. So once you use it you should avoid the sprayed area for at least 8 hrs, this means pets too!!!

Spray baseboards, bed frames beds couched any wooden furniture basically spray everything. Pay special attention to base boards as well as sitting and sleeping areas and furniture.

I would suggest taking all linens and stuffed toys pillows, dog beds, anything like that ANYTHING. out first. I put all of mine in black garbage bags and took them to the laundry mat. Wash them all and dry them all on high heat. Anything that can not be washed should be sealed in a garbage bag free of holes tightly for a long while, or if possible thrown it out.

Its not recommended to spray eating areas such as the kitchen most times bed bugs will not be found in these locations. Also when using your own approach, its safer to keep the spray you choose to use away from your food/ and food areas.

Bed bugs from my experience don’t always have to be in the bed for you to have them. I did not get bit myself nor did my husband, my 18 month old however did. And she sleep in her crib in the same room as my husband and I. She broke out in a huge rash, blotchiness everywhere with a few white welt looking bites. She clearly had a reaction to them. We found nothing in her crib, or her crib mattress. We did find the little suckers in the baseboards and surrounding area.

When you find even one bed bug in your home, I would suggest treating all rooms (with the exception of the kitchen) they are spread easily. Pets can carry them, from room to room, kids can also carry them on there clothes as well as you from room to room.

If you have children. you should take all toys out of the room before its treated. You dont want harmful chemical on your children’s toys which he/she will touch and and come in contact with.

It could be much easier to call a professional to do this, but it is A LOT more expensive. You can get rid of them yourself if you stick to it and have the patience. This was my approach and it worked well for me, it may not be what everyone chooses to do. But good luck to all in getting rid of these pesky suckers :)

Donna::

I’ve been suffering from what I think are bed bug bites for about a month. What concerns me however, is that no one else is getting bit! My husband doesn’t have one bite, and our three year old climbs into bed with us often and again not one bite. Does that sound right to anyone?

I’ve not seen one bug. But I did go out of town and didn’t get one new bite, came home and the first night 15 and 2 to 8 every night since. I’ve tried washing in high heat etc. I’m about ready to throw the whole bedroom set away and start fresh.

Marci::

One day in the middle of the day my daughter told me she had bites on her leg that were itchy. She had a few little bites behind her knee. Being she had allergic reactions to all bug bites i just put some cream on it and left it alone.

A few days later they spread. She went to school and came home with more bites.. And a fever. I took her to the hospital thinking chicken pox. Well it’s not that. she was put on an antibiotic and given benedryl. The bites went away for about a week. Then she wakes up with about 7 and on her lower belly and very swollen, see picture below.

Again back to the hospital. This time Childrens hospital. They said it doesn’t look like classic bed bug bites. they went away for another week and now this morning at 5:30am she wakes up with more. Belly, Back, and side.

I’ve checked my bed, her bed the couch and everything.. behind posters behind my head board, behind hers, the framing pulled creases in mattresses.. I SEE NOTHING.. i check every night before i go to bed.. I have no bites.. My mother has no bites.. just my daughter.

This has been going on, off and on now for about a month.. It’s driving me crazy.. Any suggestions???? will they only bite one person? where else should i look for signs??? after a month shouldn’t i see some signs??? HELP!!!! thanks..

Brenda::

I would like to know if you stayed in a hotel and brought bedbugs home, how long before you would see signs of them in your bed? I am not sure whether I am having a reaction to a lotion that I have been using for 2 weeks or I am being bitten by bed bugs.

If I was bitten by bed bugs, can the bites show up 4 – 5 days later? Is it possible to have been bitten in the hotel but not bring them home with us? I have checked my bed and the futon in my spare room and found nothing. We even have to mattress toppers and I found not evidence of bed bugs, it has been two weeks since I was at that hotel.

I first noticed just 2 areas (my thigh and forearm) and since then I have more but they are all on extremities.

Please help!! I am very concerned.

Vanessa::

My 11-month-old son got bit by a couple mosquitoes yesterday on his head and legs. Its been about 30 hours and now there is lumps that are quarter sized around and off his body by about 1cm. They are leaking clear fluid also.

I myself have bad bug allergies too but nothing like this has ever happened to me… Do you think its just an allergic reaction to them or should i get that checked out?

Thank you,

Vanessa

Julie::

I was at church sitting on a chair (which has material, cloth, etc) when something bit me on my lower right leg, mid calf in front . It started itching a little later. I went home and woke up with about a dozen all over me.

Three in a row on my front leg, about 5 on my right hand, 1 on my left hand, 2 up near my collar bone and 2 on my upper left arm in back. They itch and have a pimple in the middle and have bumps around the pimple, like when you get goose bumps.

They are red and the size of a nickle now. I have taken benadryl for 24 hrs and have a cough somewhat too now. Could they have been in the carpet at our church? That is where i got bit, i know it.

How i got more i don’t know? It must have gotten on my hand when i scratched my leg cause there are bites on my hands, then my collar bone and left arm next. I’ll wait to see if more come.

How can i find out if they are bed bugs or spider or flee bites ?

Bev::

I had small red leg bites after sleeping in a hotel room. But it turned out to be flea bites rather than bed bugs. The hotel owner’s son & his dog had stayed in the same room the night before.

Chris::

Jersey City

Hello,

On Monday October 20th, 2008, new tenants in this condominium building, next door to me, made a complaint with the receptionist about bed bugs in their apartment. The receptionist informed the building’s superintendent. The superintendent told the tenants to contact an extermination company on their own which does not follow the building’s protocol for such a situation. There are a number of different versions regarding what was done to help them with their situation, from the superintendent, the property management company and the condo board president. Ultimately, nothing was done.

They followed up again with the superintendent in mid November and again in December and once again got the runaround. The superintendent telling the tenants to call the management company, the management company telling them to speak with the superintendent. Once again, the problem was allowed to continue unchecked. Keep in mind that no other tenants, be they renters or owners, was ever made aware of what was going on until it was too late.

On Saturday morning, February 14th, I awoke to find 2 bugs. 1 on my bed and 1 on my pillow case. I took a photo of the larger bug, searched the internet for pictures of bed bugs and confirmed that this is what I had found. I informed the super that morning of the situation. He asked me which apartment I lived in. After I told him my apartment number, he looked at me and said “I know where they are coming from”.

After speaking with the condo board president, the superintendent told me I would have to wait until Monday for treatment as the exterminators were closed for the weekend. After scheduling an appointment with my own choice of extermination companies and informing the superintendent, I was told to “cancel my guys” the in house exterminators would do an emergency treatment the following morning (all this occurring while I had visible welts on my neck). The exterminator arrived Sunday morning to do an emergency treatment. He confirmed that source of the infestation was my new neighbors. The condo board president also appeared at my door that morning and said, “First of all we are very sorry that this has happened but we are only coordinating this for you because you have been effected by this situation. We were not responsible for doing anything until a neighbor has been effected”.

There are many, many details I have not included here. I do have a very detailed time line of all events since the tenants 1st complaint in October. I have time/date stamped photos of the bugs as well as dead specimens. My apartment has been exterminated 3 times yet I have seen 2 live bugs since my last treatment. I have since hired an extermination at my own cost ($535) for a single treatment.

The reason I decided to write to you is that the condominium board has decided to charge the exterminations separately to each effected apartment, which also includes another apartment which I share a common wall with (she was forced to do the extermination even though she has not seen a bed bug and a preventative treatment was all she needed do do). The superintendent, the management company, the receptionist (and likely the condo board president) where all aware of the situation back in October and allowed it go unchecked for 4 months. Is this a violation of my civil rights?

Also, I have been unemployed since July, 2008. I am barely able to make my mortgage payments and I certainly don’t have any extra money to pay for a series of extermination treatments that, if handled in a timely and professional manor, should not have been necessary in 1st place. The management company president, told my neighbor and I, separately, that we would not be charged for these services. The condo board has since changed that to bill each apartment separately.

Thank you for reading,

Chris

gallo::

if you think you have bed bugs inspect you boxspring then use cooking oil or baby oil and applied to the legs, wheels of the headboard and footboard, as well on the bed frame legs. this will help you to sleep good

Chris::

Hi,

I’m fairly sure that I have bed bugs (I’m staying in a hostel), but am a bit unwilling to tell them that they have bed bugs until I’m sure. Is there anyway that they will appear on an unslept bed between 3-4am? i.e. Were I not to sleep on the bed and come in at 4am, would I be able to see them?

Hi Chris,

They are attracted to the Carbon Dioxide your body emits; this is how one person can be bitten all over while the other is hardly bitten (or not at all) when sleeping together in the same bed.

Have you looked at my bedbug checklist (located at the top of this page) for signs of bed bugs in the hotel room?

By the way – if you like, I can check to see if there are any complaints against the hotel for you, I just need the name and location of the hotel. Just leave a comment here and I’ll check the hotel.

Note: To cut down on junk, all comments are moderated (they won’t appear on the site unless I approve them), so if you don’t want me to approve something on the site (like the name of the hotel), then let me know in the comment and I’ll make sure It doesn’t appear – BUT, if they do have a history of bed bugs, people should be made aware of that!

Best regards,

Jim

tony perez::

I have had ‘something’ here for quite sometime. I feel like I am always itching. I get these ‘things on my skin, many times you can barely see them. All of a sudden I will go right to it on my body, could be anywhere, though more often I find them on my arms legs and on the back of my neck.

They appear to be a little ‘scab’. Looks just like a light brown scab. Scabs don’t usually just appear. Maybe after an insect bite or a scrape, you bleed a bit then then it scabs up; these are scab like… I have to dig my fingernail underneath it to remove them! After I remove them there seems to be a bit of a hole in my skin where this thing has obviously been sucking my blood!

This ‘thing’ is usually flat and does not look like like it’s full of blood by no means!…. and even more disgusting this thing has very obvious white/ clear ‘prongs’ that look like ‘roots that are embedded into my skin which is why they are so hard to pull off of me! I have been to the doctor several times. The doctor insists they are not bugs or parasites! She says I have folliculitis… which as far as I know is no different than any other type of ‘allergy’!

I have one in particular on my upper neck/ right above my hairline in the back. I can’t get rid of it. I swear I’ll leave it alone and expect for it to just go way… and it doesn’t so I start fooling with it.

Eventually I get to the point where I pick (pull, pry, dig) it off of me! There is a bit of a whole there that bleeds a little and then about a day or two later, it’s back again in the same exact place.

I seem to also find these ‘no mistake’ eggs on my skin as well!. I would like to say I have actually never actually seen a ‘bed bug on me! But I think just the other day for the first time I have!!!

I thought it was an ant, but it looked different. And was nowhere as easy to swish and kill like an ant. I am embarrassed to save these things and take them into a doctors office with me. The doctor I have seen was actually supposed to be a skin ‘specialist. I can’t imagine a skin specialist not recognizing the slightest case/ of bed bugs.

Though I’d swear I have bed bugs after seeing these pictures on your site, I have never had these big red blotches that looks like everyone else here has and I have yet to see a photo of what these ‘tentacle’ root’ like prongs look like in a photo. PLEASE HELP!

I once thought maybe I had scabies only because a girl I worked with had scabies. Although the doctor ruled out that I did not have scabies, she prescribed the ‘soap’ that is used for treating scabies. I think i never used it. Will this ‘soap’ kill bed bugs on my body?

Hello Tony,

Wow, it does sound like something other than folliculitis. For those that don’t know what this is, it’s a condition where the hair follicles become infected. In the severe cases, scars and loss of hair can occur. It appears as a small white head, itches and usually clears up within a few days.

From what you describe Tony, these are not white heads and scabbing up that fast seems odd, especially the white/ clear ‘prongs’ that look like roots!

Can you take a picture of this? Let’s get this up on the web so that others can help identify it. It sounds very interesting and I would love to see an image!

Thanks!

Jim

Rose::

HELP! My boyfriend and I moved into this apartment six months ago. Landlord & realtor did not tell us that the previous tenants had moved out due to bedbug fumigation until the DAY WE WERE MOVING IN. If we had known – we never would have signed the lease!

My boyfriend has been getting mysterious bites for the last month or so – I had not gotten any. Tonight we found a bedbug crawling on our sheets. I looked it up online and it was a perfect match. We caught it in a tupperware container to show to the landlord. I also noticed a few bites on my back for the first time tonight. I am absolutely horrified. I want nothing more than to just LEAVE this disgusting place.

What are the first steps we should take??? I’m obviously going to be calling the landlord tomorrow – but there’s no way we want to stay here while they bomb this place out with chemicals….especially if there’s a chance they will return, which there obviously is.

We want to be out of here by tomorrow night (going to stay with relatives..) but how do i make sure we don’t bring them with us????

Please help – it’s 3am and i can’t sleep…I’m having panic attacks just thinking about this mess.

Hi Rose,

You need to make sure the items you take do not have bedbugs and the best way to do this is wash all your cloths with HOT water, DRY them on high (depends on the fabric, you don’t want to shrink everything…) and stick them right into plastic containers. If you are bringing material other than cloths, you’ll want to make sure they are clean as well – check out the bed bug treatment section of this site for details on how to do everything.

As for your Landlord / realtor, that was NOT fair! Visit LawRefs.com (a free online legal service) and ask them what rights you have; They should be covering the cost of all expenses!

Please let us know how it turns out for you!

Best regards,

Jim

ruth::

We’re having the same problem on the apartment we’re staying now… few months ago I and my husband discovered that every night is like an itchy game for us. we didn’t sleep well. we thought it’s because the room is 24 hours AC and the dust didn’t go outside.

Then we notice that something is crawling on our legs & arms but when we check it, we didn’t find anything. Until the time came we’re suffering on those bites, we checked the mattress and bed sheet and we found out that there are lots of insects. i thought they are only cockroach so i didn’t panic on that time. i just catch them with tissue on my hand then kill them. i notice that their body is full of blood. so i was thinking that maybe that blood is from us. so i tell that to my husband that that’s not an ordinary cockroach because they sip blood so when he examined the dead insect, he found out that it is the bed bug! that’s why i felt so scared and very conscious. i don’t want to sleep on that bed anymore.

We slept on the other vacant room for awhile and we didn’t experience those itch. we decided to move on that new room. then the bed sheet was full of bed bugs was sent to the laundry service. hoping that all of them will disappear when they washed up. we used the bed sheet from laundry service then after 1 month here we go again, bed bug bites. Every night is an itchy game. We just ignore and didn’t try to look for bugs yet because we’re afraid to accept that fact that we also have bed bugs in our new room.

Then 1 day when i woke up, after taking a bath and putting some lotion on my arms and body, i noticed lots and lots of bed bug bites on my arms and few on my body. i was so afraid and very worryed. i showed them to my husband. he also has the same bites on his body but the reaction on my skin is very obvious. that’s why, we examine the mattress and bed sheet then i feel hopeless when we found so many bed bugs. they are worst than before! we have tossed the sheet and mattress and bought new. so i discovered that bed bugs didn’t disappear even you will wash the bed sheet.

until now we have lots of bed bugs in our bed. and i don’t know what insecticide i will spray. i just catch them one by one. i’m so tired. bed bugs is really a pest and the #1 problem in your house when you have it. I’m hoping that they will disappear if i will use insecticide everyday. any suggestions that are good for bed bugs? hope you’ll gonna help me on this.

– ruth

Joy::

Jim,

Yesterday I woke up with an odd shaped red welt on my wrist, see image below.

I thought at first that I had gotten into something at work the day before because I work with a lot of chemicals. I talked with a nurse and she said to put hydrocortisone cream on it and now that some of the inflammation has gone down it looks very much like the pictures of bedbug bites.

I searched the bed last night and found one little corps, but it is so small it is hard to tell if it is a bedbug or not and all of it’s little legs where broken off, see the picture below.

It is starting to sound like it though from all I read. It had a hard black speck attached to it’s rear-end (maybe blood or guts that got squished out when it died?) Anyway – I’m starting to freak out a little – I really don’t want to have bedbugs. It appears that I have about 8 separate bites. Could that all be from one bug in one night or would that indicate an 8 bug party on my tab?

I can’t figure out where we would have picked them up from – neither on of us has slept anywhere else in months. Anyway if we have the little buggers… I was wondering how effective a Rainbow vacuum would be? Since everything is sucked into water and then dumped outside. I’ve seen information about freezing them out and heating them out, but will they drown easily? Also what about the ‘over the counter’ bug bombs, are those effective? Our mattress was bought new and we haven’t brought used furniture into the house in well over six months.

There has been a fowl odor in our house the last couple of weeks – like something decomposing, not sweet, but pungent. It was strongest in the kitchen and bathroom (on opposite ends of the house) and hardly noticeable in the bedroom in between. Could that be another sign of bedbugs? Sorry if I’m asking too many questions, but this has me worried. Thanks for all your help.

Joy

Frank::

Hi, I live in New York City and apparently we’re undergoing a swarm of bedbugs returning or something. Anyway, I found a bedbug around November and we had an exterminator come by and spray the place. I got a new mattress and everything seemed fine for a while. But just the other day I was looking around my ankles and I saw what I had noticed back when I first thought we had bed bugs.

They were four very small red dots in a line. I had gotten a few of them on my legs when I first noticed the bedbug, but to be honest, I was never sure if they were bedbug bites since they aren’t welts and it doesn’t really itch at all. I’m worried because I know we can’t afford another spraying so I don’t know what we’d do if this turns out to be bed bugs again. They only just started appearing again.

Thank you for your time.

Jim::

Hi Glen,

That is extreme and I’ve seen this before on BadSpiderBites.com – the red line is NOT a good sign and you should see a doctor. This usually indicates an infection and comes with warmth. I’m not a doctor and you should rely on my advice, but if it were me, I’d go in asap.

If you look at similar pictures and read their associated stories on BadSpiderBites.com, the doctors almost always tell the patient they are lucky they went in, and, it’s usually a spider bite.

Don’t take any chances Glen, get it checked out and please, let us know how it turned out, will you?

Best regards,

Jim

LH::

UPDATE:

Well, it has been over a week now. I have washed everything I own, got covers for my mattress and box spring, and my apartment has been treated. So far I have not seen anything else, and no more bites. It took a while to fall asleep the first night back in my bed, but bit by bit it has started to feel like home again.

Although my land lord was not nice about the situation, the Exterminator was wonderful. He took the time to explain to me what he was going to do, and told me that that I prepared well for him by removing and washing all of our clothes and bedding, and pull the furniture out for him. He even treated our storage room which is in the basement of our building. I did not get the opportunity to speak with him after the treatment, but he made me feel a lot better about things.

Just hearing other stories about other places he has seen which have been just crawling made me feel like what I found was very manageable. Right now I feel good, but I hope it does not come back. I do not know if I could do it all again. My exterminator believes it is most likely I got them from a hotel, as we do travel quite a bit. I also spoke to the health inspector who was also very nice and helpful in letting me know the buildings history, and he even offered to follow up with the exterminator before he came to ensure he would check other parts of the building.

All in all my stress has decreased, and I hope this is over. Thanks for all the info and support on this site. I will write back in a few weeks and let you know if the problem has stayed away.

Jim::

Hello LH,

Don’t panic – it does sound like you have a small infestation of bed bugs and you do NOT need to toss everything you have.

Go to your local store and buy a mattress cover that is designed to keep dust mites out. The mattress cover should encase the entire mattress and zip shut.

Also go to your local pet store and ask for Diatomaceous Earth – it’s non toxic and you sprinkle it all around your floor boards, base of your bed, etc. When this stuff gets on the bed bugs, it dehydrates them and they eventually die.

Also, on my treatment section, you’ll find a ton of information on what you should do to control the bed bugs.

Don’t worry – you can get rid of them as long as you are methodical about everything.

The fact that you found a bed bug on the wall in the closet is strange? What time of the day did you find it?

The pest control company should give you some good advice, but do all of us a favor and let us know what they say.

As for you lovely landlord, check with the city to see if there are previous complaints. Also, the pest control company may give you some good information as well – ask them if they have been to your place before :)

Best regards,

Jim.

jia::

I have tried everything and the bed bugs just don’t seem to finish.

Earlier when a professional sprayed my house i thought they had all gone, but then while i was out i saw one on my bag and on my clothes, and i was so annoyed. so i washed all my clothes and sheets.

The biting started again because the clothes that i hadn’t washed had bed bug eggs on them and they hatched and the biting started all over again.

Then i found out during the summer more of them seem to bite and during winter they only bite when the bed/room is warm.

Every night before going to sleep i cover my self from toe to head making sure my socks cover my pajamas which are tucked in and i wear a muflar hat and gloves all interlocking each other. but then my face would get bitten and i would know when the bed bugs were biting so i would open the light and make sure it was bed bugs – which always were.

I dread going to bed at night because of the bugs and haven’t had a proper night’s sleep for a long time. I even used to make sure the room was boiling hot so i wouldn’t get bitten but then i would not be able to sleep because it was too hot.

One thing i know for sure is bed bugs are attracted towards body heat / respiration because for example if you have a glove and full sleeve shirt on they would be making their way towards my face.

I remember how i got them but at the time didn’t know they sucked blood or that they were even bugs – didn’t know anything about them.

I was having a sleepover at a family friends house and during the night i itched myself really badly and felt like I had massive spots all over my legs and arms, I exposed my legs and arms to see what the matter was and saw massive thick red spots. I thought they were rashes or i was allergic to something. All night i continued to half scratch my self to sleep. In the morning i didn’t want to say anything to anyone because i had know idea what had happened all night. So i phoned my dad to pick me up immediately, he kept on asking me on my reason for wanting to immediately return home, but i didn’t know what to say, as i didn’t know my self.

Ever since then i have had them and found out what exactly they are and that they also live on animals as well. It’s been a nightmare!

Charise::

Feb 28th, I have noticed big welt like marks on my back and shoulder. They itch and are red. Could these be bed bug bites?

I’ve included some pictures below…

March 6th, Yesterday I noticed 2 more mosquito like itchy red bumps on my forearm. I didn’t scratch them, dabbed Benadryl itch relief on them and tried to forget about it. Today the bumps have turned into raised welt like blisters filled with clear liquid and it’s oozing as you can see from the picture below:

The whole area and lower arm is swollen, red, itchy, stretched tight and hot. It’s like I’m having an allergic reaction to the bites. I’m taking Benadryl to bring down the swelling, continuing to put itch relief on it and I’m about to take an Aveeno oatmeal bath to help also.

I fear this is the same thing that bit me before and gave me those marks in the pictures above (scroll up) I don’t know if I’m infested with bed bugs or not, but clearly these are bites.

All I know is I am “something’s” hot meal at night and this is ruining my life. I’m embarrassed and miserable. I bought mattress and pillow zipper covers, washed and dried everything I own and cleaned my room. The only thing left to do is hire an exterminator or see a dermatologist. I don’t know. Please help!

Jim::

Hello Julio,

Half off the room! They should have moved you to another room for free and given you a voucher for another stay free of charge – at the very least!

I did some research and found some very disturbing reviews of this hotel. For example, take a look at trip advisor and you’ll see a number of poor ratings, there is also a comment titled “Dried vomit on Bed” on July 18, 2006 that talks about bugs. Another one titled “Hello Bedbugs” talks about bedbugs under the sheets and pillows.

If I were you, I’d ask Renee over at LawRefs.com what options are available to you. LawRefs is a free (yes, free) legal service.

If you search my site, you’ll see a number of very successful lawsuits against hotels that have a history of bed bugs, especially those that fail to work with you. In one case, a lady won a case on the grounds she was unable to sleep in a hotel from that point forward – too traumatic.

Below will give you an idea of the figures involved in these lawsuits:

$20 million bed bug lawsuit filed by a Chicago woman against Nevele Grand Resort and Country Club in Ellenville, N.Y. She claims she received more than 500 bites when she stayed at the hotel for 3 nights. See usatoday.com/travel/hotels/2006-03-08-bedbugs-catskills_x.htm

In 07, Rose M. Pagley-Brown filed a bedbug lawsuit against Stone Motel in Arkansas. She stated mental anguish, embarrassment and humiliation on top of her medical bills.

In 08, An opera singer with claiming more than 150 bedbug bites filed a lawsuit against the Hilton Corporation for $6 million.

The list goes on, from people renting apartments to hotels to even emergency rooms!

If you should ever wake from your stay to find bites over your body, you should not only seek medical attention, but take pictures of everything. Look at our bedbug checklist to locate where the bugs hide, then take pictures. Document everything!

Hotels don’t bring the bed bugs inside, it’s the customers and it can happen to any hotel, no matter how clean they are. As long as they act fast on pest control and have regular inspections, they are doing everything they can.

It’s when a hotel (or other organization) fails to act, has bad reviews and a history of bugs that they open themselves up to legal action.

Julio, please keep us up to date on how your body heals and of your outcome. Feel free to send more pictures and thanks for sharing!

BugsBite::

My roommate got bed bugs once and ever since I’ve used those zipper polyvinyl covers for the mattress and box spring, every now and then I’ll take it off spray down the bed with lysol and then put it right back on, these things aren’t cheap, and they aren’t durable, but they HELP, Steam Vac the carpet, steam vac the bed, and cover it with that mattress cover (mattress and box spring) I went crazy and washed ALL my clothes in hot water (clean or dirty didn’t care) I was not going to have bugs… so GOOD LUCK GUYS!

Donna::

I moved into an apartment in September 08 and have been experiencing random bites in my bedroom for the past three months. I have vacuumed like a mad woman and washed all the linens in extremely hot water as well as dried them and I am also in the process of removing all of my furniture in order to replace it.

My landlord has exterminated at least three times since I’ve been there due to a “roach” infestation from the tenants that used to reside upstairs, and he has renovated the apartment upstairs as well. Could they have traveled from upstairs down to my bedroom in the absence of the old tenants?

I am replacing my furniture as I mentioned earlier and there will be a period of time before the new furniture arrives that there will be nothing at all in my bedroom so I’d like to take this opportunity to treat the rug, do you have any suggestions?

Awais Q.::

I’m from Pakistan, currently living in Saudi Arabia, at night when I was sleeping, I don’t know if a bed bug bit me, next day when I was in office I feel some itch when I saw at home It was red spots at the backside, and day by day it’s getting worse.

In my room some times I can seen some different kinds of bugs/insects, please find the above picture, and suggest me any medicine as soon as possible, I am really horrible from this situation.

Thank you!

Awais Qurni

Update: 13 days later…

Awais used a product that could not be found in the FDA database but has generic names of Nystatin, Neomycin or Gentamycin.
Ask your doctor or pharmacist for a cream and mention these generic names to make sure you get the right product.

Fondy::

I woke up at around 4:50am the other day scratching my hand profusely. I have had bed bugs in the past and this was a sure sign of them. I have had two small red bumps on my hand for the past 3 days although they are not itchy and quickly stopped itching after the bites the morning after.

This is what was strange–usually the bites are itchy for much longer and get much bigger and are in a row of three, not two.

What could this be? I cleaned with bleach, neem oil and cleaner today and sprayed some Pyrethrins and Piperonyl butoxide pesticide all over my apartment. Hopefully this will help.

What do you think it is? Bed bugs, spiders, allergic reaction?

Thanks

Nikki::

I stayed in a filthy hotel in NYC 4 months ago on my way home from a trip. I noticed some bites in the airport next day and put it down to bad luck. Its now 4 months later and every few nights I was finding myself being bitten on the face and arms but could NEVER trace the source.

The bites were strange too – sometimes like mosquito bites – small and white and hard, sometimes with a distinctive puncture mark in the middle of an almost-perfect circle. Some even had what looked like a comet tail that curled around.

Today I waged all-out war, took up the mattress and scoured the bed frame. The entire underside (timber) was marked with what I had previously thought were small black mold stains. Turns out there were over 15 small cracks, each of them hosting one of more bedbugs.

Sprayed insecticide, hoovered, dismantled the bed and took it to the dump. So be warned the bedbugs definitely like to hitch rides in luggage.

Elizabeth::

I have been finding bites for the past few weeks, but they have been very very very tiny (definitely itchy, but I have eczema and am used to itchiness), but never became very raised or puffy. They seem to be healing and going away for the most part and I haven’t noticed any new ones in the past day or two…

Today I realized that some of the bites that seem to be healing are actually configured in perfect little circles. I have two areas like this on my arm, both about the size of a dime and consisting of a thin ring of tiny little red dots like pin pricks, with nothing in the center except for very slight yellowing of the skin. These rings rarely itch and seem to be just scabs from former bites, but I never noticed their circular formation before.

From everything I’ve read it seems very likely that I have bed bugs, but these rings look different from the other descriptions I’ve read.

I also live in the basement level of an apartment, and my room connects to a lower-level storage space that is used by the entire building and seems pretty dirty…

I sleep on the floor on a mattress and can’t afford to buy a new mattress (I’m an art student- no money)

Thanks!

Jim::

Hi Summer,

Early in the morning is their favorite time and chances are you have many more if you saw two in such a short time span!

They could indeed be living in your mattress but that doesn’t mean you have to toss the mattress. Instead, check out your local stores and get a mattress cover that prevents dust mites (which will also prevent bed bugs).

Make sure to review my checklist and look around the bed and in the room for signs of infestation.

Please, if you can send pictures, it will be a big help to those experiencing the same situation as you.

By the way – are you waking up with bite marks?

Thanks,

Jim.

Lou::

Yes, what Tim, Kevin, Vaughn are referring to is a spider beetle. This species is called the hump beetle or shiny brown spider beetle, Gibbium aequinoctiale. It’s all fused, no hindwings, just crawls. The larval stage is small & grub-like. They feed on organic buildup, dried plants, dried animals (incl. dead insects), dried food items, probably skin scales, hair, similar to dermestid beetles in the home.

kevin::

Vaughn:
Your “bulby bugs” are spider beetles. They are insects (6 legs) with a hard, round, almost spherical body. They’re harmless.

I live in Greenwich village and every time the landlord guts and rebuilds an adjoining apartment I get trouble. Next time I’ll put down a residual insecticide before they arrive. Home Depot sells a House & Garden (Ortho I think) in a white plastic gallon container. It’s the more expensive of the two they carry. May be a problem to pets, especially to birds.

trina::

This is my first time going through something like this and I’ve been itching the bites and then when I scratch myself a big red bump appears! Please tell me what to do.

Jim::

Hi Katie,

Bites from bed bugs may not appear right away and may not even show until later in the day.

Hey Missy,

You could send them a certified letter stating your problem and the anguish it is causing you. You could also get in touch with your neighbors to see if they are having problems and send a letter as a group – that would be pretty hard to ignore.

If I’m living in an apartment and bed bugs make their way into my unit because the unit next door is infected, you better believe I’m going to get upset and do whatever I can to get management to act.

Visit LawRefs.com and ask her ‘Renee’ what you should write. She is an attorney that offers free legal advice through on this site – she’ll explain exactly what to do to set yourself up for winning a case (should it come to that).

I would also spread around some Diatomaceous Earth (check out our treatment section for more details on how this works).

Also, there are a number of lawsuits that have been successful listed on the site that may help you.

Keep us informed as to your progress, will you?

Thanks,

Jim.

katie garcia::

Wow, I was really freaking out as I woke up this morning and found I have been eaten alive! My whole body has itching burning welty bumps that sting and look a lot like the bed bug pics. The weird part is that i have more bite marks now then what i did when i got up?

Victor::

I’ve been bitten all over by what I think are bed bugs. There is are little patch / yellow colored bump appearing at the tip of the bites, they itch and hurt a lot! Could those be the eggs? I just took a shower in relief.. sitting down now, comfortably and no itching but still going to go to doctor tomorrow. I’ll let you know what the doctor says.

Serenity::

My son has about 6 or 7 red pimple like bumps that are very itchy. They are larger than a pimple and hard to the touch but I have been told the hardness could be from scratching. Right now they are only on his arms. Some of the bed bug bite pics look the same but I don’t know. Does this sound like bed bugs or something else?

leroy::

What can use to get rid of bedbug bite spots, in my skin. What the best powder I can use to kill them and keep them away?

Jim::

Great information Krista!

Please let us know how this works out for you!

Thanks for sharing!

Jim.

Krista::

Hey Jim,

Thanks for getting back to me so quickly. I was wondering if you could tell me if bed bugs can cause awful sinus headaches and pressure and crazy dreams??

—-

No problem Krista,

I have not heard of headaches before, but I would imagine that if you have a large number of bites and your body is not reacting well to them, you could experience headaches (I’m guessing that the bites would be inflamed, etc).

As for the dreams, sure – a bed bug could be crawling on you while sleeping and your subconscious may craft any number of wild dreams!

Regards,

Jim.

Krista::

Hey… I found bedbugs in my bed when I was moving my mattress to get a new bed. We immediately disposed of the bed, washed all linen and pillows in hot water, removed all clothing to be washed from the room, moved all furniture and vacuumed the whole room out, cleaned the closet, etc etc….

Until leading up to the finding of the bugs, my boyfriend had been experiencing the bites for weeks. He went to the doctor and they told him that it was an allergic reaction and gave him so hydrocortizone cream. What I am wondering here is why would my boyfriend be noticing so many bites and have this reaction and I haven’t noticed one bite or even a bit of itching?

Lauren::

I’m not sure if its bed bugs……..HELP! So here’s my story. About 2 months ago I got a severe headache that lasted about 11 days straight. The doctors gave me several different medicines that didn’t work at all.

I thought I would have a headache forever until the 12th day when I woke up with no headache but a rash all over my arms and legs. I of course went back to the doctor’s office and he thought the headache was most likely viral and the rash was a sign that it was leaving the body. He prescribed a strong antihistamine for the itching and the rash disappeared within 4 days.

I have been healthy as a horse since that incident until this morning…..I woke up this morning with the exact same rash. It’s only on one arm this time. It looks exactly the same as before though. It looks similar to hives. Little raised red itchy bumps. There is no eye in the center of them or anything.

I was researching rashes when I came across a picture of bed bug bites. They look so similar to what I have. Then I started researching bed bugs. I am completely flipped out. I tore my bed apart and found nothing. I never see any blood or brown spots on my white sheets either. The one thing besides the rash that makes me think it may be bed bugs is when I read about the smell that is sometimes accompanied by these bugs.

I have driven myself crazy for about six months now trying to find where this weird smell is coming from in my bedroom. I’ve cleaned from top to bottom but the smell doesn’t go away. I guess the best way to describe it is to rotten tangerines?!?! I don’t know. Very weird. Nobody else smells it but me so maybe I’m just crazy. Does this sound like bed bugs?

Most of the stories on this site say the bites are constant but my rashes seem to be few and far between. I have had the same bed for over 7 years now. Are there any other ways to tell if you have them when you don’t see any sign of them on your furniture?

I’m so freaked out now =/ Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Lauren

Amanda::

Hello everyone – I’m desperately hoping someone can help me with my problem. Our apartment, and a few others, have bed bugs. While my boyfriend has the worst of the bites, I did get one in an …unusual place.

I’m wondering how long the irritation lasts, as it’s been about a week and just seems to be getting worse. I haven’t been able to get in to see my doctor, but I’m extremely worried.

Any advice/suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Charissa Griffin::

I have been living at my apartment for 6 months and experience bed bugs my son moved out after having bites all over his body. We brought spray and threw away two beds but nothing helped. I made the owners aware but since an attorney has been appointed to take over the building. I suffered nights without sleep and marks on my body as a result.

I haven’t paid my rent for 5 months and now the compensate attorney is starting eviction proceedings. I asked him who is going to me for all my pain and suffering and the beds I had to replace.

Do I have a case to sue or not?