Bed Bugs!?!? HELP!!

[ramanth]

I think I'm dealing with Chiggers. Still not a pleasant thought, but much better than Bed Bugs I think! :)



Well, this has slowly progressed into a downhill spiral. A couple weeks ago I noticed some insect bites that I thought were possibly mosquito bites. But then, more and more were showing up (and in places that no mosquito would dare go), so I thought they might be spider bites.

I stripped my sheets, looking for a spider and found nothing.

I kept finding 1 or 2 new bites every other day.

Yesterday I took my sheets with the rest of my laundry and showed dad the bites.

He said they looked like bed bug bites.

:eek: :eek: :eek:

So I whipped out the health journal and sure enough, bed bugs like to chew on ankles or any place they can find under your bed clothes.

*shudders*

In total I have

16 bites:

7 on the ankles (4 left, 3 right)

3 on the back of right knee

2 on the left calf

1 on my abdomen

1 in belly button

1 on the butt

1 on my lower back

Now, it's possible these are indeed bed bugs, but I'm not 100% sure. The bites look similar to that of a spider or mosquito bite. (And I'm hoping with all my might that it is a spider and not bed bugs)

Too big to be flea bites and I've checked the kids and found no signs of fleas.

I borrowed a flea, tick, roach, cricket, and silverfish killer from my parents and sprayed down my bedroom, mattress, and box springs last night. Everyone slept in the living room with me.

I'm hoping if it is bed bugs, the chemicals will still kill them.

The thing I don't get, is how the heck they got in my house and in my bed!!!

My home isn't immaculate by any means, but I don't live in filth.

*shudders*

Has anyone had a bed bug problem?

[caseysmom]

someone else on here had a question about them a while back so I did some internet searches and I think you can actually see them on your mattress.

[ramanth]

Really!? Because I didn't see squat when I hosed down my mattress with bug killer. *laughs*

I just assumed they were microscopic.

I'll do some hunting online. :) Thanks.

I'm just curious if they come from the wild and rode in on Kia or me. If it is bed bugs that I'm dealing with that is.

*shudders*

[Pawsitive Thinking]

Has anyone had a bed bug problem?

Only my husband
;)

[ramanth]

http://www.uky.edu/Agriculture/Entomology/entfacts/struct/ef636.htm

Well, my matress and bed springs looked nothing like those in the pictures in that link. But I'll go over the area again with a fine tooth comb.

"Unlike cockroaches that feed on filth, the level of cleanliness has little to do with most bed bug infestations. Pristine homes, hotels, and apartments have plenty of hiding places and an abundance of warm-blooded hosts. Thus, they are almost as vulnerable to infestation as are places of squalor."

grrr...

Fingers crossed that it is not bed bugs.

[wolfie]

Eww! I hope the bug killer gets rid of them.



And on an entirely different topic, I love your avatar!

[ramanth]

Thanks all.

After conferring with some people, I think I'm dealing with Chiggers.

Bleah!



Originally posted by wolfie
And on an entirely different topic, I love your avatar!
Thanks! :) PotterPuffs are way to cute for their own good. :D

[sirrahbed]

Kimmie I also wondered about chiggers. Those are so easy to pick up when you are out in the grass with dogs or whatever. We used to get them while camping and my boys who were scouts tended to bring them home, too. I bet you have zapped them by now!:)

[ramanth]

Yeah, this is a website I found and it described the welts and how they look and how they started to itch days later and their location to a 't'.

http://www.conservation.state.mo.us/nathis/arthopo/chiggers/

I can't seem to find if they live indoors, like how fleas can live in bedding and such.... so hopefully the ones that have bit me have either died, been washed away, or I killed with the Raid.

I can't seem to find any indoor treatments. Only how to treat yards and prevent them.

So I guess I'm okay? :confused:

I love summer.. just not the pests that come with it!

I'm giving Kia a bath in case she has some on her.

[sirrahbed]

Kimmie - I dug through the medicine cabinet and found what is probably a 20 year old bottle of the stuff we used - it is called Chigg Away. It is both a repellant and treatment for the itching - don't know if it is even something they make anymore. But the positive thing is that we would get them, itch for a few days and then they were gone until possibly the next summer, camping trip or whatever. Never any sort of infestation or anything. It seems that they do not live indoors but I am not sure. I would think a good lawn treatment would keep most everything away - hubby treats our lawn once a year just so we minimize the chance of bringing in fleas to the kitties on our clothing etc. We normally don't use anything on the kitties unless we think there is a flea in the neighborhood!:eek:

I suspect your "bugs" are gone by now:D

[Barbara]

When I had cats who went outside (20 years ago) I had flea bites and they were in my waist and wherever. And one of my co-workers who had outside cats had fleas as well one time.

But I've no experience with bed bugs. And hope never to have them. Whatever I know about bed bugs is you would have seen them.

Good luck.

[ramanth]

Originally posted by sirrahbed
Kimmie - I dug through the medicine cabinet and found what is probably a 20 year old bottle of the stuff we used - it is called Chigg Away. It is both a repellant and treatment for the itching - don't know if it is even something they make anymore. But the positive thing is that we would get them, itch for a few days and then they were gone until possibly the next summer, camping trip or whatever. Never any sort of infestation or anything. It seems that they do not live indoors but I am not sure. I would think a good lawn treatment would keep most everything away - hubby treats our lawn once a year just so we minimize the chance of bringing in fleas to the kitties on our clothing etc. We normally don't use anything on the kitties unless we think there is a flea in the neighborhood!:eek:

I suspect your "bugs" are gone by now:D

Thanks! I've been using Calamine Lotion and it's been working well. I'll look into that Chigg Away stuff. I guess I need to be more adament about putting on bug spray. Mosquitos never bother me much so I don't put it on everytime I go out with Kia.

I've learned my lesson!!

I'm in an apartment so I have no control over the lawn. But I'll do my best to stay out of the tall grass. Kia and I just love playing hide and seek in the weeds. :o :D

[sirrahbed]

http://www.chiggaway.com/

Same green bottle and all - hubby had this with his mobility stuff when he was active duty AF. Yes woods and tall grass seems to be where we would get them.

[catnapper]

Ick! I've been itching just reading this thread! I can't imagine how grossed out you must be!!!

Good luck in determining what they are and gettign rid of them!

*shudders* with you

[moosmom]

Kimmy,

Do they look like this??

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y201/Moosmom/bites.jpg

That's what I've got on my right shoulder. I noticed them this morning. They itch a little and have tiny "nodules" filled with clear fluid. Not sure what it is. I've been putting anti-itch cream on them.

[king2005]

Or like this?

http://jess.iahu.ca/albums/album359/IMG_3432.sized.jpg

I have no idea what bit me in bed, while I was in PEI. But 2 other people at work had gottenbitten aswell, except 1 ended up in the hospital & the other is just feeling ill. I felt fine.

[K9karen]

Ew..King.. that bite with the circle looks scary. That looked exactly like a friend's bite and he got Lymes Disease. Hope everybody is less itchy.....*Shiver*

[king2005]

Lymes Disease!!

Maybe thats why my friends at work have become so ill..
eeeee.. its been over a month since the bite & I still have a little mark.. I think I'll stop by the clinic next week to see about blood tests, & I'll tell my friends too.

However I have no idea what Lymes Disease is, but I know it kills cats. So I don't think its a good thing :(

[moosmom]

Lyme Disease caused by bites from deer ticks. The symptoms of Lyme Disease are achiness in the joints, fever, fatigue, flu-like symptoms and a bite mark with a red circle around it.

[Kfamr]

Ack, this gave me the creepies just reading it. Hopefully you find the cause and get rid of it soon! :(

Could it just be heat rash, or do you think it's actual bug bites?

[king2005]

ok, guess I don't have Lymes Disease, never became ill. But I'm gonna tell my friend at work that hasn't gone to the hospital yet.

But if it was a tick, wouldn't I have seen it?? I got the bite at night & nothing was there in the morning. My male friend was bitten at night too & saw nothing the next morning...

Evil creepy bugs

[ramanth]

Donna, yes, those look just like what I got.

Here's two of the bites I had when they first appeared.

Ankle bite
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y164/ramanth/misc%20images/IMG_5741.jpg

Abdomen bite
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y164/ramanth/misc%20images/IMG_5742.jpg

King2005, your bite looks like what I would get from some spiders, so it could be that.

Definitely get it checked out though.

My bites have begun to heal and no longer itch. The pets seem to be fine, so I'm guessing that no chiggers are living indoors with us.

Some friends suggested Lavender oil or lotion to keep insects from nibbling on you at night. I've been doing that, so it's either helping or there are no critters inside.

[Muddy4paws]

Maybe you should change your matteress? and try some tea tree products i think thats meant to repel insects