lollie010 Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 (edited) Deep breath. Here's the situation. We came home from vacation a week ago. We stayed in a nice resort and had a great time. On the last day we were there I noticed what I thought was a dead bug in the sheets. My immediate thought was "bedbugs" but my perpetualy optimistic husband thought it couldn't be. We have since discovered that what we saw was in fact a molten bedbug.((Insert a high pitched frantic scream)). We came home and practiced the standard precautions. However, I woke up on the sixth night home with bites all over me. Hundreds of bites. They were concentrated on my left hip and so painful, I thought I had shingles. Until the next night when I had bites all over. The next night dh ha bites. So its official. We have bedbugs. We have fought for three days and still have new bites. Any suggestions?? Can we handle this if we caught it early? Oh and ETA: I just found out we are expecting. Its really early and I would be really hesitant to use insecticides. Edited April 28, 2012 by Laurel T. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AimeeM Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 If you found hundreds of bites, I would hesitate to assume you "caught them early". My father in law had them (genuinely generous man who allowed random strangers to stay in his guest bedroom - grrr) and his house was infested by the time we had it taken care of (we were visiting for the holidays and "discovered" them)... but even at their worst, we only woke with a dozen or so bites. Maybe. If that many. I'm not optimistic about the little demon bugs, to be honest. My FIL shelled out every bit of 10K for an exterminator to take care of the bugs AND had to trash his carpet, couches, clothing that couldn't be cleaned... on top of hours of bagging things for heat treatment. They (the bugs) can live in furniture, carpet, books, drawers, etc. Of course, that price could be reflected in the size of his house (three story, very old, brick home). Do you live up north? If so, they are a common problem and I urge you to call a local exterminator -vs- a large chain. Much easier to deal with and the prices are much more reasonable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jentancalann Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 Have you actually seen the bugs? Wash all the linens (I'm sure you have) and look for them in the seams of the mattress and any cracks or crevices nearby - bed frame, behind headboard, etc. It seems strange to me that you wouldn't have been bitten while on vacation. Hundreds of bites seems a little weird, too. Bedbugs feed and get off like mosquitoes. No need for them to bite over and over. Dh is a licensed pest control tech. He says if you don't want to use chemicals about all you can do is wrap the components of your bed in black plastic and set them outside to kill bugs with the heat. My guess is it is something else, though. Scabies or something? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lollie010 Posted April 28, 2012 Author Share Posted April 28, 2012 Oh no. I am going to be sick! We haven't seen any bugs. Or the other signs they say to look for. All we have to go on is the bug we saw at the resort and then the bites that we have now. I think my son may have had a few bites on the trip but at the time I thought it was mosquito bites. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AimeeM Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 (edited) Have you actually seen the bugs? Wash all the linens (I'm sure you have) and look for them in the seams of the mattress and any cracks or crevices nearby - bed frame, behind headboard, etc. It seems strange to me that you wouldn't have been bitten while on vacation. Hundreds of bites seems a little weird, too. Bedbugs feed and get off like mosquitoes. No need for them to bite over and over. Dh is a licensed pest control tech. He says if you don't want to use chemicals about all you can do is wrap the components of your bed in black plastic and set them outside to kill bugs with the heat. My guess is it is something else, though. Scabies or something? I would agree. Hundreds of bites would indicate (to me) that they've been around for a while (even then, I've never seen hundreds of bites, even in an infested house). The pest control man who came to my FIL's told us that the easiest way to check for bed bugs is to look in the crease of your bed - bed bugs leave excrement (looks like black mold spots). Edited April 28, 2012 by AimeeM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AimeeM Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 Oh no. I am going to be sick! We haven't seen any bugs. Or the other signs they say to look for. All we have to go on is the bug we saw at the resort and then the bites that we have now. I think my son may have had a few bites on the trip but at the time I thought it was mosquito bites. Don't be sick! If it isn't bed bugs, be grateful. Go to the doctor. Scabies is easier (in my opinion) than bed bugs. Of course, given my bad run with the stupid bed bugs, I'm a bit biased. I hate those things and do regular bed checks even now, years later. Lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hen Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 no experience, but I did see a tip to check for bedbugs was to set something slightly warm, like your laptop computer on - in the darkened room (on the bed) and come back in a few hours and see if you see them there, like they are looking for a warm body. I hope it's something else that you can get rid of easily. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingersmom Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 My mother had bedbugs last summer. She moved out of her apartment for over a month while it was being treated. She replaced all the beds and a couch. She first had a bedbug sniffing dog in (twice actually) to confirm they were bedbugs and then had it treated over and over and over. She has been bedbug free for about 9-10 months now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GingerPoppy Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 I agree that doesn't sound like bedbugs. Lucky! Almost certainly you will have an easier time dealing with just about anything else! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle in AL Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 Could it be scabies? They are usually red bites, very itchy, and sometimes have a small dash or track mark leading up to the bite itself. Google and see if it looks like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lollie010 Posted April 28, 2012 Author Share Posted April 28, 2012 Could it be scabies? They are usually red bites, very itchy, and sometimes have a small dash or track mark leading up to the bite itself. Google and see if it looks like that. Just googled in between the 8th and 9th loads of laundry today. I think I will make a doc. apt. The bites look like some of the pictures but not the advanced stage ones. So with bumps that look similar to pictures I've seen of bb's and scabies, but without seeing an actual bedbug in my home, maybe...this won't cost thousands of dollars to eradicate. I don't want to wait until Monday to see our family doc, would the urgent care doc think I'm crazy if I went in today? Lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FriedClams Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 no experience, but I did see a tip to check for bedbugs was to set something slightly warm, like your laptop computer on - in the darkened room (on the bed) and come back in a few hours and see if you see them there, like they are looking for a warm body. I hope it's something else that you can get rid of easily. Or you can use a heating pad. I've seen that recommended to do at a hotel if you are suspicious before you get into bed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cin Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 no experience, but I did see a tip to check for bedbugs was to set something slightly warm, like your laptop computer on - in the darkened room (on the bed) and come back in a few hours and see if you see them there, like they are looking for a warm body. I hope it's something else that you can get rid of easily. <<Shiver>>That reminds me of when I was little. We'd turn on the kitchen light and bugs would scatter. They called them 'water bugs'. And in my parents defense, this was the late 60's. Regarding Bed Bugs. We just had termite treatment, and living in the bedbug capital of the US (Cincinnati, OH) I asked the guy about them. He said they use a cold/treatment, because some of the heating treatments have caused fires. I don't even know what the hot and cold treatments are but I thought it would be a good thing to pass along ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bookfiend Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 Or you can use a heating pad. I've seen that recommended to do at a hotel if you are suspicious before you get into bed. Yes, you don't want to infect your computer with bedbugs - it happens. Look up Neem Oil as a natural treatment if you determine that you actually have bedbugs. What did you do the last day of vacation? Is it possible you have chigger bites? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle in AL Posted April 29, 2012 Share Posted April 29, 2012 I think urgent care would be totally fine. The medication for it is very effective, and all you would need to do is a little more laundering afterward. I would go ASAP too just to rest your mind as well as to stop the bites! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lollie010 Posted April 29, 2012 Author Share Posted April 29, 2012 What did you do the last day of vacation? Is it possible you have chigger bites? We spent the last day at Dollywood Theme Park. Then the next day headed home stopping and playing at a few park areas. I am going to Urgent Care in the morning. No more guessing and worrying. And whatever it is, we need to address the true cause instead of throwing time and money at the wrong culprit. Thanks to everyone for your responses. I'll let you know what I hear.:tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starr Posted April 29, 2012 Share Posted April 29, 2012 I hope it's easy treatment! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoVanGogh Posted April 29, 2012 Share Posted April 29, 2012 My FIL was in town last year and wanted DH to find the cheapest hotel he could find. DH found a hotel that was something like $29 a night. :001_huh: I kept telling DH it was going to be Bedbug Central. Every time DH came over to visit and threw his coat on our couch I thought, "Here we go... Bedbugs." A few nights after he left, I couldn't get comfortable in bed and moved to the couch to sleep. I woke up with what looked like hundreds of bites on my legs. It itched but not crazy bad. Next night, same thing. Moved to couch and woke up with even more 'bites.' Come to find out, I had poison ivy. :tongue_smilie: It took three/four days before it became painfully itchy and actually looked like poison ivy. The little blisters at first looked just like photos of bedbug bites. I have rolled in poison ivy before and never reacted - but last year my luck ran out. I am now considered horribly reactive to poison ivy. I share this since you said you went to a park before returning home. I always though poison ivy looked like a rash right away. Mine didn't. Please do keep us posted and best wishes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jpoy85 Posted April 29, 2012 Share Posted April 29, 2012 (edited) well guess what? Im in Cincy too and we have had Bedbugs 3 times. THREE TIMES! Heres my story. Take what you will: (MAY BE LONG!) We rented a 2 bdrm apartment by University of Cincinnati. Suppose to be one of those nice places, with 2 swimming pools, secured entry, heck even a BUG MAN to come spray every month. Well, I start talking to the neighbors and they talk about how they have bedbugs BAD and roaches. I tell them I dont have either. Our mattresses werent covered, we had no idea. We had my husbands cousins waterbed (king size) up against 1 wall in our room. Well one night I go to get in bed while hubbys already laying down. I pull the covers bacl and see 2 bedbugs go across the mattress. I SCREAM! We told the landlord the next day....... --- who sent out the bug people to "steam" them. They spray steam on the bedbugs to kill them. Well that MIGHT have worked if they pulled the beds, furniture, everything away from all the walls and actually gave a hoot. We STILL had them, even with multiple "steams". Then we ended up getting roaches. Ugh. So we gave our 30d notice and left EVERYTHING. EVERY. SINGLE.THING. I took NOTHING. Not even clothes. Nothing. We moved to a house in Northside with NOTHING. Im not kidding, my parents had to help us with everything. ------------------- Well, we moved to Northside, NO bedbugs the whole year we lived there. Then we moved to hubbys grandpas house due to job loss. We decide to get a bunk bed from the St Vincent De Paul for our girls........ --Then we end up in the SAME situation. I go to bed while hubbys in bed and sure enough a bed bug crawls across the bed. " Its a tick" hubby says- no its not. This time I WASNT messing about with these bugs! I called A ONE PEST CONTROL. A professional. They told me to empty everything before they come, pull it all away from the walls, etc. They actually sprayed chemicals. They had to come multiple times. They DID kill the bedbugs. However, we decided NOT to sleep in our bed or have the girls stay in their beds. (its a 2 story house with a basement, so we moved to upstairs). We did wrap our mattresses at hubbys grandpas, the bugs were under the wrap because we put them on too late and they were on the frames of the beds. ------------------------------- Then we moved from there. Again, LEFT the beds and furniture from bedrooms. Took everything else. We moved to Price Hill. Have lived here since July 2011. We have NOT had a single bedbug this whole time and everyone else in the building does. We again decide to get a couch from St Vincent Depaul. (we did get beds from a MOPS member who does NOT have bedbugs). We have ALWAYS had our mattresses covered since living here. --Well DH and I decide to sleep in the living room (its a 1 bdrm apartment). I usually would sleep on the couch and him on the floor. Again, I decide to get down and sleep with him and pull the covers back and see a bedbug crawling. DH says " Its a tick", I remind him, he said that last time and it WASNT. So I bag everything we were sleeping on and throw it in the dumpster. I tell the landlord. -- We check the beds in the bedroom, mattresses are fine- the bedframe? Yep they were on there. OUT THE WINDOW IT WENT. Decided to check the couch...OUT THE WINDOW IT WENT. They were ALL along the bottom on the couch. No amount of spray or chemicals would of saved it. ---------------- I decided to chuck everything that wasnt walking basically. I have no bed frames for anyone. I have no couch. No carpet (we ditched that on move in day because of our dogs and cats). Since then? No more bedbugs. _______________________________ Moral of the story? You need to remove the source. Bedbugs respond best to chemicals, not freezing or heat. Alcohol (rubbing) will NOT kill them long term. Simply wrapping your mattress will not solve it. Getting spray from walmart wont fix it either. They DO mate that quickly. If theres 1, theres more. I think it honestly is IMPOSSIBLE to have a "few". They are NOT just in beds and couches, they like picture frames on the walls, dark/warm places, cracks, nail holes, baseboards, outlets, drawers, under furniture. They also travel fast and easily. On a purse, a blanket, a shirt, a shoe. Anything. Thats how you can have them multiple places in your home. Cincinnati is awful for it. Edited April 29, 2012 by Jpoy85 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lollie010 Posted April 29, 2012 Author Share Posted April 29, 2012 well guess what? Im in Cincy too and we have had Bedbugs 3 times. THREE TIMES. OMG. I cannot imagine. It is HARD work. But, there is no corner of my house that has not been inspected, scrubs, steamed, vacuumed, dismantled, etc. We made a decision to never go on a vacation again. EVER. And we still don't know if we have budbugs! I am so sorry that so many of you have been through this. My sweet grandmother was telling me about how it was when she younger. She said the government had an eradication program and they employed young men who were like bedbug soldiers. They went from house to house inspecting. She couldn't remember who actually employed my grandfather to do this, but it was an interesting story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kroe1 Posted April 29, 2012 Share Posted April 29, 2012 I would think the pest control guy could diagnose the bed bug bites better than anyone. I'm sure he's seen a ton of people with those. I doubt that many people go to a doctor for bed bug bites, but who knows? Big hugs to you. I'm so afraid of bed bugs that we take disposable clothing on all vacations. We do not take luggage, only bags, and everything is left in the room when we leave. If there is something we take home, then it is left in a hot car for days before I'm brave enough to take it inside. We even do this now with all local purchases except food. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trish Posted April 29, 2012 Share Posted April 29, 2012 no experience, but I did see a tip to check for bedbugs was to set something slightly warm, like your laptop computer on - in the darkened room (on the bed) and come back in a few hours and see if you see them there, like they are looking for a warm body. I hope it's something else that you can get rid of easily. CSI Bedbugs! It seems awfully coincidental to me that you could discover a bedbug problem at a hotel, and then wake up a week later with hundreds of bites, and have it NOT be bedugs. (for your sake, though, I hope it isn't!) I'm wondering what are the "standard precautions" the OP took after discovering a potential bedbug problem at the hotel? The reason I ask is that IF this turns out to be a bedbug problem, I'm wondering what was done that wasn't sufficient to prevent the problem from traveling home with them. I will admit that I'm paranoid about bedbugs and ALWAYS check the seams of mattresses whenever we go to hotels. And if I discovered a bedbug after we were staying there, then I'd strip naked in the driveway and burn the luggage before entering the house. My understanding is the only ways to get rid of them once they're in the house is super expensive chemicals, or super expensive home heating treatment. So sorry for OP! I hope it's just an allergic reaction to the "thought" of bedbugs? Does anyone else in the family have bites now that you're home? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lollie010 Posted April 29, 2012 Author Share Posted April 29, 2012 Well, just got back from urgent care. I decided to go just in case it was not bedbugs and was some unknown contagious disease. Loved the doctor. He was very kind as he explained that it looked more like mites than bedbugs. He checked it out and gave me enough cream to treat the entire family even though my husband and I are the only ones with the rash. Ugggh. He said that the timing was just right for us to have picked them at the resort in Gatlinburg and then incubated them on the way home. The good news is no bedbugs, although no guarantees that we will not later discover some, since we did see a suspicious bug in the room. But, as for now we have mites. I cannot believe this and will really have a hard time ever staying away from home again. I am now an expert of bedbugs and mites, detection, prevention, and treatment. So if anybody needs any info. let me know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lollie010 Posted April 29, 2012 Author Share Posted April 29, 2012 I hope it's just an allergic reaction to the "thought" of bedbugs? Does anyone else in the family have bites now that you're home? Yes, this is what my husband diagnosed me with, until the morning he woke up with bites, too. LOL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jentancalann Posted April 29, 2012 Share Posted April 29, 2012 Good, I'm glad for you. Ds picked up scabies from the gym a couple years ago and it was an easy fix with that cream. Just make sure to cover EVERYWHERE. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melissad2 Posted April 29, 2012 Share Posted April 29, 2012 May I ask what hotel in Gatlinburg you stayed at? I never ever want to stay in a hotel ever again. Which is why we we bought a travel trailer and take it everywhere! We are trading it in next season for a bigger one since our family just expanded by one :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trish Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 Please update us on whether any bedbugs have appeared. I feel horrible saying, "I hope you have a skin condition...!!!!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jentancalann Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 Please update us on whether any bedbugs have appeared. I feel horrible saying, "I hope you have a skin condition...!!!!" Post #23 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rene' Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 Diatomaceous Earth for mites or bed bugs. Buy the food grade kind. http://wolfcreekranch1.tripod.com/diatomaceous_earth_mites.html http://www.stopskinmites.com/products/diatomaceous-earth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jpoy85 Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 Diatomaceous Earth for mites or bed bugs. Buy the food grade kind. http://wolfcreekranch1.tripod.com/diatomaceous_earth_mites.html http://www.stopskinmites.com/products/diatomaceous-earth Fleas and Ticks too. Its hard to find though. I tried 2 local feed stores and couldnt find it. :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
besroma Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 So glad you don't have bed bugs! :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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