Bedbugs Are Back

Oh God, tell me about it. 2+ months later, I still have these mofos biting the bejesus out of me. Here's a hint: if anyone in your building has these assholes, so do you.

i can't go back to my apt for 5 hours becasue of these stupid bugs. luckily for me i'm not alergic to thier bites, after 4 visits by the exterminator i hope they are gone now.

How do they know to go only in beds? What about sofas, chairs, futons, tatami mats, etc?

I had a bad infestation six years ago and didn't realize what they were for a long time. According to my landlord, they came from the (horribly filthy and run-down) apartment next door, which was completely infested. I discarded my mattress and box spring and most of my bedding, washed every stitch of clothing a few times, and had 2 expensive exterminator visits, and eventually that did eradicate the problem. Those little fuckers are resilient, though - 2 weeks after I thought they were gone, I found one on my jacket, just moments before shaking hands with Martha Stewart. I wish I were kidding.

All upholstered furniture should be treated around the bases and thoroughly vacummed. And then lay in a heavy supply of your favorite sleeping pill, because the psychological residue takes months to wash away.

Actually, it's the Greenpoint hipsters, as reported in the NYT last November:
Sleep Tight, and Don't Let...Oh Just Forget About It
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/02/nyregion/02bedb.html?ex=1086235200&en=f5adce643d6bae45&ei=5070&ex=1069040728&ei=1&en=af4dd4de9fcf4018

"The apparent number of bedbugs invading Greenpoint apartments and bloodstreams has exploded in recent months. Anthony Lopatowski, the manager of Safeguard Exterminating Services on Driggs Avenue, used to perform one or two bedbug exterminations a month. Since August, he said, he does several every week."
...He suggests that the increase is due to the recent influx of young Greenpoint residents who pick up used furniture from the street or sleep on mattresses close to the ground.

I would have been so much happier having not read this. I won't be able to sleep for days.

Are they easy to spot? Can I relax if I toss my blanket in the air and see no bugs flying around?

Bedbugs locate you by your body heat and exhaled carbon dioxide. And they are a serious nuisance to get rid of. A couple of weeks of treatment in my building seems to have done the trick, but I'll have to wait another year before I can say for sure--they can live as long as 18 months without feeding.

While you await the exterminator, Chlorpheniramine maleate (e.g., Chlor-Trimeton) is the only thing I found that stops the itch, though ice helps if you notice the bite soon enough. Good ol' Avon Skin-So-Soft (the bath oil, in the blue-capped bottle) worked fine for me as a repellent. (And now you can have a blogger for your Avon lady.)

I heard that if you steam clean the bed, this kills them too. Is Sweden it is common to put a steam cleaner inside the matteress through a small hole and let the steam work it's magic......and it's totally environmentally friendly, and cheaper than calling out the bug man too

:)

I woke up one morning to flick something away that was crawling out of my ear. Later I when I smashed it the blood was bright bright red. I had a moment of complete revulsion. This was on 11th St between B and C. After washing every surface in my apartment with NEET, wrapping all my objects in plastic for 6 weeks, bombing the rest and moving away for the summer, I still couldn't shake the feeling. I found bugs in the cracks of my wardrobe, behind paintings, under couch pillows. I had to move out. If you have them, everyone in your apartment building will have them since they crawl through minute cracks in floors and feed off mice too. Be safe and get a real professional exterminator and alert your neighbors no matter how embarrassing.

does anyone know of the landlord's responsibility regarding bedbugs? we've had them since november, and have been told repeatedly by the landlord that they have no idea why this is happening and that there are no other bedbug reports in the building. we just found out that 5 other apartments in the building have bedbug problems, some for longer than us, and that all of us have been told we are the only ones with a problem and have been repeatedly treated by the exterminator. the landlord has paid for multiple exterminations over the months, but it now makes sense that they are coming back if they are in the walls and travelling between apartments. we have requested a meeting with the landlord and the office is refusing to meet with us and said that it is not our concern what is happening in other apartments, so they are not exactly being helpful at this time. we are in the process of writing them a letter, and consulting an attorney for advice, but also do not want to completely ruin our relationship with them, do things that would cause future difficulty in getting an apartment, or be forced to spend any more money. help!

i have just discovered i have bedbugs. I am so disgusted, i cant sleep without fear of being bitten, i have nightmares and anxiety. They dont leave welts on me but they love my boyfriend-we share a bed and his body has been ridden with bites for months. They will live in your couch as well, and travel from apt to apt ( apparently, i believe it) We have had an exterminator come but they are still alive. Gross.

sweet jesus. i'm itching just reading about this! i walked by a bunch of furniture on the street on ave b the other day and have been struck with fear since then. is there anything one can do to prevent these disgusting monsters from invading? i feel so helpless as i hear of their inevitable approach to my ave c building!

I thought I had a serious case of hives. I never suspected anything despite seeing doctors, etc., for my many "hives". I even got a serious case of cellulitis from scratching one. I woke up one night feeling something crawl over my face. I sleepily brushed it off and made a mental note to check my bedding the next morning. Imagine my horror, disgust when I lifted my mattress and saw something I never thought I would see. I was reeling. Sleep, sex, all the lovely things one does in bed-forget it-I haven't slept in ages, and I am now rather hurried with physicall affection-I WANT TO STAY OUT OF BED!!! I am a clean person, live in a decent building in a good neighborhood. I have only confided in my best male friend, my beau and now you all. I am on a mission to rid my home of them, I don't have the money for a professional extermination and dare not tell my landlord-he is not the nicest guy. I won't entertain, nothing till my home is clear of them.

I thought I had a serious case of hives. I never suspected anything despite seeing doctors, etc., for my many "hives". I even got a serious case of cellulitis from scratching one. I woke up one night feeling something crawl over my face. I sleepily brushed it off and made a mental note to check my bedding the next morning. Imagine my horror, disgust when I lifted my mattress and saw something I never thought I would see. I was reeling. Sleep, sex, all the lovely things one does in bed-forget it-I haven't slept in ages, and I am now rather hurried with physicall affection-I WANT TO STAY OUT OF BED!!! I am a clean person, live in a decent building in a good neighborhood. I have only confided in my best male friend, my beau and now you all. I am on a mission to rid my home of them, I don't have the money for a professional extermination and dare not tell my landlord-he is not the nicest guy. I won't entertain, nothing till my home is clear of them.

I was actually lying in bed too grossed out to sleep and found all of your postings. I am completely repulsed by this and never though I was a basketcase before, yet have broken down in tears a number of times in the past week about this. I live in what I thought was a perfectly nice building even though the landlords are highly incompetent, and am definitely a clean person. But apparently for months and months other apartments in the building have been having problems with bed bugs. I learned of this a week after I resigned my lease (which was about two months ago) by reading a note posted by a neighbor about the building being infested. Since then I have officially been infested as well, as I woke up last Sunday to find one crawling across my leg. The exterminator came and sprayed my mattress (where he saw two more) and around the walls. He is in the process of treating the apartment where it actually originated. Is this going to do it? Should I be laundering every article of clothing I own, or only if I continue to see them? I know that everything I've read lately says it doesn't necessarily have to do with being clean, but I can't help but feel like I am dirty or something because they are in my home, my bed, my stuff. Eww, ewww.

Well, it's been almost a month. Here is what I have done:
1. Threw away my mattres
2. Washed ALL clothes in hot water and dried on high
3. Bombed the apartment
4. Throughly cleaned everything
I finally had peace for two weeks until yesterday when I woke up and found one crawling around on my sheets. I spent hours cleaning, washing, scrubbing everything and they are back again.
I'm a very clean person and am beyond trying to deal with ridding this place of them anymore. I'm moving out next month and am almost certain it's coming from other apartments.

My silicone gun is empty.....
Anthony

I'm from singapore and i'm attacked by bedbugs too!!! i know the feeling...jus last nite i couldnt sleep till 5 am. It's been like this for the past 3 days or so, extremely terrible. this insecticide chalk thing that my bf got for me didnt work though in his experience it worked!! last time i thought that bedbugs are jus existent in tropical countries and if i move out it'd be fine. now i know better!! i really hate them!!!!!!! last nite i woke to find like 20 bites on each leg then when i put some insect repellant on my legs they attacked my face and upper body instead!! i decided to get up at 4 am to look at my bed though 2 days ago i had just taken a look and caught all the bugs i could find and drowned them. shock!! i found like 5 crawling on my blanket!! and i had only jus changed my blanket 2 days ago. the one i had previously i used for only 1 week because i got attacked. it din help at all.

Can anyone tell me exactly what they look like? I found some in my 17 month old daughters crib and am so upset and freaked out that I can't sleep! I've looked on-line and they don't look exactly like the pictures - these have more bulbous bodies and kind of long heads and they're pretty small, the body the size of a pin head, but bigger when filled with blood - is that what you are all dealing with? Help!!! I can't stand that my baby had them in her bed - I don't think they're in ours yet, but our bed is next to her crib, so...AAAAAGGGGHHHHH!!!!

Can anyone tell me exactly what they look like? I found some in my 17 month old daughters crib and am so upset and freaked out that I can't sleep! I've looked on-line and they don't look exactly like the pictures - these have more bulbous bodies and kind of long heads and they're pretty small, the body the size of a pin head, but bigger when filled with blood - is that what you are all dealing with? Help!!! I can't stand that my baby had them in her bed - I don't think they're in ours yet, but our bed is next to her crib, so...AAAAAGGGGHHHHH!!!!

I have the little bastards in Hoboken. No idea where they came from. Possibly a somewhat shady hotel in San Diego where I thought I saw a tiny, speedy spider on the side of the mattress. Last night I went to Bug Off on 163rd and St. Nick Ave. and spent $80 on 4 different kinds of sprays. The guy who runs the shop, Andy, told me that it's very important to think vertically when spraying for them. They will climb up, to the moulding around the ceiling, behind picture frames, etc. Just replacing your bed or cleaning carefully won't do it. The little bastards are much more resilient than that. If you think you are safe by slicking up your bed posts with Vaseline the bastards will drop onto your bed from the ceiling. Really! Also, like someone else mentioned, don't bother applying bug repellant because they will find that one spot you didn't apply it, like your eyelid, and bite you there.

It seems bedbugs are everywhere. I have them in Oregon. Partial relief from steaming the mattress with a hot steam iron. dousing my skin with vinegar seems to kill the itch and repell the little bastards. I am completely impressed and depressed by how much it takes to get rid of them once you have them. Looked up the entry in an old medical book from the turn of the century (before the last one), and the author recommends burning down the house - or shack - as he called it. It seems shacks are no longer the only residences of these beasts.

I've just discovered I have the little bastards in my bedroom. I am completly grossed out. I have no idea where they came from, and by the sounds of things I won't be getting rid of them any time soon. I won't be able to sleep until I know that they are gone.

Two yrs ago I started waking up with BB sized itchy red welts on my ankles and wrists. Mosquito bites? spiders? roaches? Hadn't seen any in my apt. in over 15 yrs.
One night I woke up turned on the light to see a little brown tick on my pillow, then another, and another. Couple of days later an irate resident posted a notice in the lobby that the bed bugs were coming! Neighbors pointed fingers at each other. Landlord ordered a mandatory extermination at our own expense. 2 sessions for a total of $189. No more bed bugs. End of story.

Not quite. I buy tick killer at the local pet store, spray once a week around the beds, furniture and picture frames. I Mix poison into vasilene paste and brush it on the bottom of all bed and furniture legs, and keep all furniture away from the walls. There under control, but I still spot them on occasion. Next door neighbor is infested and keeps blaming me (thru the l/l).

People joke about their roaches, mosquitos, flies and mice - all disease carriers - but hardly a peep about their bed bugs, which are not. It means poverty and filth, although experts say even the rich and clean have them.
Is this the "beginning of something big?..."

That is just NASTY how do you get those things out of your bed

thyme definitely does work - sprinkle it everywhere in the morning - leave the windows/bugscreens open and they will be gone by evening

i live in singapore and have not slept in a week. my ordeal started 6 weeks ago when i moved here from china (where i didn't have the problem). i was staying in a hotel for a month, during which i guess the bed was infested because i was being eaten alive. but at the time i didn't know much about bed bugs, and despite my many complaints nothing happened until finally i got the room changed. no problems in the new room. then i moved into my new apartment and was getting bitten again. i found one crawling around my duvet, but didn't know it was a bed bug and just flicked it away. next morning i woke up with a cluster of bites on my right arm. so i did some internet research and went home, took the mattress off the frame, searched everywhere but couldn't find anything. that night i slept on the floor and still got bitten. i have since disposed of the mattress and will dispose of the frame tomorrow (found eggs there, but still no live bugs) but am worried that they will infest my new bed.

i am delirious from the lack of sleep and the paranoia. i am terrified of the mere thought of going to sleep. there should be a support group because most people who have never had the problem don't see it as a problem just because it isn't "diagnosable."

Hi i'm in Ontario Canada, my ordeal started when we got a chair off a neighbour, i started getting little bites all over, so i thought maybe my bed had dust mites, so we threw away the mattress. So i started sleeping on the couch, the bites started getting worse. I started thinking i was allergic to the laundry detergent. so i started seeing these little bugs while im about to go to sleep, and see these little tick looking things on the floor, but just think, thier the common little spider, so i switch into my moms bed sin ce she was at her boyfriends. Bad move, i brought the bugs into her bed, so 1 day i see on the news a picture of a bug and the news are saying they are getting really bad lately, so i have my girlfriend go on the internet and get some info and pictures of these things, sure enough i had them,hundreds in my couch, on my chairs, my moms bed. Well that started it, we threw all our furniture away, washed and dried all our clothes on very hot, wrapped all our beds in plastic, put veseline on the posts, sprayed the whole house with insecticide, put thyme around new furniture and beds, and checked behind every picture, vacumed everything and sprayed insecticide in every crack. so we thought we got rid of the problem, i have seen atleast 5 since all that 2 months ago, my mom has not slept here since, i have not sat on new furniture yet, and will not let anything on my bed touch the floor, these things ruin lives

im so scraed im 15 and i just found a couple bed bugs in my bed my daddy wont believe me and dismiss this what can i do by myself, will cleaning the house work i will not sleep in my bed till they are away :( :(

Bed bugs have nearly destroyed my sanity. I live in the Boston area. For 6 weeks I have not been able to sleep and I have many itchy bites. My back, shoulders and arms are covered with bites. I have even been bitten on my face. I have thrown furniture and bags of books and clutter out; I have self-treated with sprays; I have left the lights on at night--nothing works. My landlord exterminated once--ineffectively, just fogging--without telling us it was for bed bugs. I had to figure that out on my own. Though I have seen bed bugs, I have not yet been able to capture any bug samples to prove they are back after the one treatment. The proof is just my itchy bumps, and bed bug excrement and blood trails on the bed. I have called exterminators on my own but they will not come to treat since it is an apartment building. I don't have a lease so if I report them, I can be given notice of eviction and I am hesitant to do that. Mostly I want to know how to move without taking bed bugs with me, and how I can tell if a building has bed bugs. People are moving into my building and they do not know we have them. Is it true I cannot take anything with me when I move? No books, no papers, no electronic equipment? I wish there were a bed bug on-line support group.

i had the same problem in the upper east side last week. pink pen looking marks on the bed and red bites all over my body.
then i found a bug on the couch. my landlord sent over an exterminator the next day (they are responsible to do so). i had to take off of work and move to my boyfriends place in brooklyn w/ nothing except my 2 cats.
i went back to check on my apt yesterday and there were dead bugs everywhere. cockroaches in the tub, worm-looking things in the kitchen, and bed bugs on the cat-tree.
i'm going to leave the windows open for the next 3-4 weeks since they can't live in temperatures below 32 degrees. then i'm going to bag in the mattress in vinyl and grease up the couch and bed legs with vaseline.
and pray.

My husband and I and our two kids, 4 years old and 3 months old, had to stay at a hotel while having some renovations in our Richmond, VA home a few weeks ago. Upscale hotel chain, executive penthouse...you got it! BEDBUGS! At 4am when I woke up to feed the baby, I threw the covers back and turned the light on. They were everywhere! We were packed and outta there within 10 minutes, totally mortified...and off to another hotel. It didn't even occur to me till the next day that we should wash our things. I am totally freaked out by this and can hardly sleep at night thinking that we may have brought these disgusing creatures back with us into our home. No signs as of yet. Anyway, my husband and son had slept in the loft upstairs so they did not get any bites. Thank god the baby slept in her pack-n-play so she didn't get any either. But let me just tell you, I have hundreds of bites on my arms and legs and they look nasty. I went to the doctor because I had an allergic reaction a week after the bites occured. He gave my zyrtec samples, a prescription for an antiobitoic ointment, and told me to use Sarna lotion freely since it wouldn't hurt the baby, to control the itching. I have never experienced such intense itching in my life. That has subsided mostly but these ugly bites are still here, three weeks later. I am terrified they will leave scars. The hotel manager told us they had to quarantine the building we were in, brought in Ecolab, and reported there was an infestation of bed bugs. Insane!!! I pray these things don't end up in my house....

TO all my suffering friends that have written about our horrendous experiences. I wont rehash what has already been said. yes I was nearly suicidal from this bed bug infestation. I had 4 EXTERMINATING COMPANIES FAIL. I took a step back and did some serious homework. I was lookig for the consummate company that knew how to really kill these fucking bugs without killing me. I found PEST AWAY EXTERMINATING. They were rated BEST OF NY bt NY magazine, they were rated so highly in somany places i went with them. Guess what? its been 2 months, and I HAVE NOT BEN BITTTEN SINCE THEY WERE HERE. This is the first time I could say that in 11 months. My friends, if u are suffering from these fuckers, call PEST AWAY, trust me

OMG. I too had the same bed bug situation in april of 2005. I lived on west 48th st and 10th avenue in Manhattan and our entire building was infested. We had the exterminator come in about 4 times and it did absolutely nothing. I seriously contemplated suicide because I had nowhere to stay and the places I was staying at when possible, it was difficult to get to and from work with all my stuff in a bag and people sleeping on the couch and not being able to turn on lights etc. etc. etc. Basically it sucked real bad and finally me and my sister (we both lived there) got fed up and decided to move. We were so terrified of bringing the bedbugs with us that we put all our salvageable items in a box and then put a trash bag sealed shut around each box. We put stuff that we use all the time in a separate box and left the other items still inside the boxes and trash bags for a month after we moved in to make sure all the bugs, if any, were dead. Needless to say, it worked!!! We have not had a single bed bug in our new apt except a dead one we found when we first moved in. I dont know that there is a way to get rid of them without moving but I wasnt willing to risk waiting it out in the vain hope that everything would be ok.

Those sons of bitches, that's what those things were. They bit me all over and suck the hell out of my sister. We have not been able to sleep and decided to look up these so called bed bugs. When we saw the picture at the top it was like spoting a criminal at a line up. "that's them!" I can't freaking sleep and I have exams to take in the morning. It messes with me mentally aaargghhh!! My sister found one in her hair at school. And some people who doesn't have them will think of those who have them are dirty and homeless or something. It's not true! These bastards are coming from the neighbors downstairs...heck this is good reason to move the hell out of my place without my parents asking why.

Yep, bed bugs suck.
Facts and helpful identifying photos may be found at:
http://www.uky.edu/Ag/Entomology/entfacts/struct/ef636.htm

Well, I found bed bugs in my apartment approximately 4 weeks ago. It seems that they were localized to one area of the apartment - the master bedroom. We threw out our bed, and the first night we tried to sleep after our discovery, we put carpet tape around us. The next day, we found 5 bugs on the carpet tape. Bed bugs are insidious creatures. We have had the exterminator come twice so far. We encouraged him to use Drione Dust, because that was the only way to have a fighting chance against these suckers. Right now, our bedroom is empty. I am afraid to move back into that room. I don't know what to do!!!

I live in Singapore, and these few days my sister gets all freaked out after she discovered bedbugs EVERYWHERE in our room, and both of us (we share a room) are scared of sleeping nowadays...

Is there anyone out there who can give advises on how to effectively get rid of them, even for just a while? I know of Drione Dust but from what type of shops can I buy it from?

p.s. suprisingly, the bugs seemed to bite my sister more than me, in fact, I didn't even realise there are bugs until she complaint to me =X

Hi ! has anyone used thyme?
Please can you let me know where to find thyme to get rid of bed bugs?
please mail me at..chhavi.raizada@gmail.com

I recently moved in with some friends who have been in their apartment for over 2 years now bed bug-free. After 3 weeks in my room, I woke up 2 or 3 nights in a row with nearly 100 bug bites, inflamed and itchy. I googled them right away and as soon as I found out what they were, I flipped my mattress and box spring, only to find the bottom of the box spring torn and covered in blood with some adult bugs running around on the frame, which had feces on it. I found that spraying live ones directly with lice spray will kill them and I taped the dead ones to a piece of paper to show the exterminator. I threw out my box spring, covered my mattress in a plastic case and duct taped the zipper and started sleeping on the couch in another room. I would go into my bedroom late at night to find them on the floor, on the walls, under pictures and in their frames. I washed everything in my room 3 times so far (put anything that cant be washed in the dryer on high, either dry clean clothes that aren’t too delicate and pillows/blankets that you just don’t want to wash over and over again. Everything that isn’t in use stays in giant black trash bags at all times. I threw out my carpet, my rollable guest mattress, most of my pillows and so far this ordeal has cost me over $1000. I tried tea tree oil, but they still came out at night. I put Vaseline on my bed legs and put the legs of my bed in bowls of water, but I read that they are crafty enough to crawl up to the ceiling and drop onto your bed. I have yet to try thyme, but since having 3 exterminator visits (its been three weeks since the first bites) I haven’t seen any in a week. I want to believe that they’re gone, but I’ve read enough to believe that they aren’t. i found out that the girl who sublet my room over the summer went on a trip to Aruba and returned 2 days before i moved in.

Has anyone had similar results initially but found that they still return?

Oh and unless you have a big apt an exterminator is a waste of money, and the only stuff that works is that spray I got from that store (as far as I can tell). If I go by there I'll drop in and ask the name of it. I didn't have to throw anything away and have since moved and never had another incident.

I had a bed bug problem awhile back... I was getting bit often. Then something interesting happened... I went on a strict diet (not related to bed bugs) and cut sugar out of my diet. I was eating lots of fruits and vegetables and salads. I remember eating lots of complex carbs and whole grains (no white bread, rice or pasta) and I occassionally ate sugar-free sweets, like diet sodas and sugar free pudding and jello. I noticed the bed-bug bites went away and it seemed to no longer be a problem. I wonder? Are bed bugs attracted to sugar in the blood, like refined sugar?... I suggest anyone try it if you are having problems with bed bugs, and see what happens...

ok, its me again.... I can't help but wonder if it's something in the blood that attracts bed-bugs... if they aren't attracted to your blood, then they will not hang around you or your bed... and seriously, when I cut all sugars, refined sugars (except fresh fruit) out of my diet my problem completely went away. And hasn't been back, and that was a year and a half ago. Anyone else tried this?

Here is a great idea!
If it is true that bed bugs drop onto you and your bed from the ceiling then...
Use double sided tape! First, put it on your ceiling in a large square right above your bed, outlining the shape of your bed below and any bed bugs that crawl on the walls twards the ceiling above your bed will get stuck on the tape. Also, you can try using the double sided tape on your sheet, on your actual bed. Use it to surround yourself with a sticky trap while you sleep. stick the double sided tape in a square pattern around the corners and sides of your sheet on your mattress. Any bed bugs that crawl twards you at night will get stuck on the tape. I think this idea will work and also the idea of using Vaseline on the bed posts sound good. I have never tried this idea, but maybe it would work. If the bugs do get stuck on the tape, then you will see them. And I would suggest large, thick double-sided tape. But be careful not to get your hair on it while you sleep. LOL... maybe wear a night cap, or tie it up. Anyone else think this idea would work? Double sided tape?

i'm fifty two years old and just saw a bed bug for the first time in my life. i haven't been bit, was reading about the people on sugar free diets. maybe this is the answer. i dont' do alot of sweets. i wished i could wake up, from this awful dream. i'm trying to keep a since of humor. in the meantime everything is out of the apartment tonight, into the dumpster. i killed at least 22 bb's last night. may as well be living in the street.

Would like to get about a dozen of these to test a new type of all natural powder I made that does a good job on killing roaches.

Augh, we got these beasts in Sept. Didn't bother me, but ate wife and kid like crazy. Landlord claims her laywer says she doesn't have to pay. Super doesn't seem interested in notifying the board, other tenants, etc.
I think they came from our neighbors, who had out-of-country visitors. Exterminator said they mostly move horizontally in apts, rather than floor-to-floor.
Used Advanced Exterminators - they were great. So far seems to work, but we're supposed to do another treatment in a month. Expensive, though! Still much to do, also - still have to wash all the clothes, etc etc etc...
http://www.advancedexterminating.com/prep.html

Jesus f&^*&(&*ing Christ!!! I talk to my family (aunts and uncles in their 70s) who say that when they were young they just got DDT'ed and that did it. They laugh and think I've lost my mind. I have. We've had them for about 2 months. I discovered a uggghhhh! small village of them in my son's crib, he's 7 months old. He now sleeps with me, and by sleep I mean I close my eyes about every 20 minutes at night, but we've had to learn to sleep with the lights on since I don't dare sleep in the dark. My life has become a nightmare and I sure as kaka want to wake up. Life before this was like Eden...All of my baby's clothes are now in large rubbermaid containers, I obsess about washing sheets, the mattress is double wrapped in plastic with a layer of the dust in-between like a large hot lasagna that doesn't let our bodies breathe at night. The Exterminator has been by twice, I want to kill my landlord...I'm constantly itchy though I don't have welts. The other day my fiancee (who works nights--needless to say he's not paranoid) and I spent a night at his mom's (I WASHED EVERY ARTICLE OF CLOTHING WE TOOK BEFORE GOING), I took a container of dust because I thought "I'll die if she gets BBs" I forgot the container there, and started to hyperventilate. I think about the fuckers all the time... will someone please bring back DDT if only for a couple of years...please...but thank you all for your postings, as long as I realize I have company...good luck to us all, and as a side note, as my fiancee says "I blame the President."

these comments and rumsfeld resigning were the highlights of my past two months. i laughed for the first time. thanks you. now i know i have THEM but have NEVER seen any wondering. i only knew i had them b/c of bites. i never had bites in a row tho. i pulled my matress away from the wall and there was a cluster of them by the DO NOT REMOVE tag. other than that i have never seen any in my apt. those m----fers have me freaked. do they bite dogs? or is my dog just in need of a bath? and someone wrote her sister (i think) had them in her hair. i thought that place was safe. what about pubic hair then? i am on my way to calling jeff. damn!

Hi all...My Norwood, OH Apt is apparently infested with bedbugs..I didnt know until I was on the computer one night and realized there was one on my hand sucking my blood...It's disgusting and embarrassing. I have trouble sleeping, feel ashamed...etc. I'm also afraid I'll bring them with me when I move. I am hoping to be able to get out of ym lease. This morning I woke up with 6 bites all in a line on my wrist...and 3 more on my upper arm. I didnt think they were really this bad, but I guess they r.

he y lucy. i have them and i live on austin street - 77th ave. damn since september. im buying that stuff too. we have done everything in the book. i only saw them once clustered by the tag on my bed, threw matress out and have only seen 1 dead one since i got sprayed the first time. had a few bites and sprayed a second time. still get welts after 10 hours out of the house and never see one anymore. maybe i have mental bedbugs. where did you hear that the buildings in queens are infested? FOR YOUR SAFETY GET THAT STUFF - IT IS USED FOR CRACKS IN WALLS FLOORS CLOSETS, ETC. AND SPRAY. BE PRECAUTIONARY. THEY ARE MISERABLE, EXPENSIVE AND TIME CONSUMING. LET ME KNOW.

I just found out about the bed bugs we have last nite- now its 2:30 am and i cant sleep knowing i'll be bit again (I've been being bit for 2 months now) i'm even going to wear mittens and a jacket with a hood to sleep-yees, i know they can still find me//
oh well- just wanted to share my frustation! exterm. guy coming on monday- hope that helps.
good luck everyone

I'm not kidding when I say I'm an emotional mess right now because of bed bugs. Never had them before in my life...but those who've had...know they are a NIGHTMARE.

I've been getting bites for months but always thought they were just mosquito bites. I wish they were just mosquitos. We've had bedbugs for a few months now. It doesn't seem like a HUGE infestation...just scattered bites and an occasional sighting every few days. The more reasearch I do, the more upset I get, because it seems almost impossible to get rid of them and I seriously can't live like this any longer. Plus, I have OCD so the combination of obsessiveness and bedbugs is just a total nightmare. It takes me forever to get into bed because of the checking rituals and even then I'm a nervous, anxious wreck in the bed. I freeze at night because I can only sleep with a sheet and light blanket, don't want those damned things crawling all over my thicker heavier blankets. I can't sleep at night because I have this paranoid itching all over my body and I'm constantly jumping out of bed to recheck everything. The lights stay on all night which really doesn't help the sleeping thing either. I feel like a pariah, I'm so paranoid of infesting my work, my congregation, my friends and family by being the harbinger of bed bugs. They could be on my clothes, in my purse, anywhere, and the emotional toll of that fact is just unbelievable.

Reading everyone else's stories is kind of comforting because I know at least I'm not alone in my emotional suffering, but seeing how incredibly hard it is to remove them makes me feel hopeless. I don't have money, I can't afford to buy all these products and I sure as hell can't afford an exterminator. My mother refuses to tell the landlord for whatever reason she's got in her little head. I'm such a wreck, I can't sleep, I long for rest but I'm too scared to get into my bed. Even though we threw out the mattress and the couch, and I sleep on an airbed in my wooden frame, but now that I know they hide out in the frame... AAAAAAHHHH!!!!! It seems like there's no getting rid of them.

So do I need to throw out everything I own here? What about shoes, bags, books, dressers, what? I read that bombing doesn't work, which is depressing, as I was going to bomb tomorrow and I really thought that'd be my salvation. I'm officially traumatized and it's gonna be a loooong time before I have a peaceful night's rest. I'm going to go cry now.

akbarrett@gmail.com
If you have any inexpensive tips and cleaning suggestions...some ENCOURAGING advice on how to get rid of the damned things...get in touch. I'm taking the day off tomorrow to tear my house apart. And then I'm investing in sleeping pills, alcohol, anti-depressants, therapy, a hazmat suit...whatever it takes to get me somewhat calmed down. :'(

this is my advice.

first create a safety bed bug free zone by removing all sheets, comforters, duvet etc... bag it up and wash hot water and dryer to kill bugs+eggs.

take the mattress and encase it in a plastic cover. tape the zipper. be v careful since they can escape thru tiny holes. keep this encased for @ a year since they can live without feeding for this long. be carefull not to reinfest the mattress. prop it up somewhere that is not infested.

then wrap the box spring in another plastic cover.

and spay the crap out of the bed frame. soak it in the spray then vaseline the legs of the bed and make sure the bed is not touching any walls.

leave the room make sure that the light is on so that no bugs will want to come out of hiding and reinfest the plastic cover mattress and boxspring.
also leave a fan on and window open.

A couple of hrs later you can come back in the room and place the boxspring and mattress back on the frame. then place your washed bedding back on ur bed.

buy t tree oil and dilute it, spray it all over the bed ( this is not as bad as using chemicals) then make sure you have a shower and wash ur hair before going to bed at night and also just b4 you get in the bed spray ur feet with the t tree oil (incase they/or their eggs get on to ur feet) b4 u tck yourself in bed.

voila now u can sleep and not be bit. u have to make sure your bedding never touches the floor or the walls. and continue washing ur self before stepping into bed.

everyday you will have to vacum ur entire bed and also wash +dry ur bedding every week. continue this till you get exterminator to kill the bedbugs and are sure that they are gone.

This is the just the FIRST step. remember theree are still bed bugs in your room and you need to kill them otherwise they will just go to the next room /or apt with bloodfilled poeple.

I think this is a good first step because before you can start tackling killing the fuckers you need to @ have a decent nights sleep and have a safety zone. goodluck.

akbarrett - sorry to hear the news. i was sprayed with tempo 3 times and KNEW it wouldnt work b/c tempo does not have IGR in it. IGR kills their reproduction abilities which yo uhave to do. i used this guy b/c he was cheap. so 4 months later, $375 later im getting the real deal. they will dust with drione dust, spray with a residual like tempo or the other one and spray an irg or incorporate it into the spray. $400 for three times whether you need it or not. you can go online and get the ingredients yourself and do it yourself but remember you will have to take off liteswitch plates and dust in there, behind pitcures hanging on walls and also inside your alarm clock. they go everywhere. they usually live within 10 feet of a "warm place" (YOU). under your wooden dresser - also eggs get stuck (they are sticky) to wood so the wood needs a scraping with a brillo like brush. i could go on and on but ill throw up. i also want to shoot myself. my dog gets bit too. that makes me cry.

happy holidays to all us sufferers and may the new year bring quiet to our homes.

thanks ab. this morning we had different exterminator come who told us, much to my chagrin, that we did have to wash and dry and bad our hanging clothes, all dry cleanables, shoes, go through the TONS OF PAPER and vynal albums and put all in sealed plastic bags. then he will come back and be more thorough. so the first round of incompetant exterminators $375, this one comes 3 times and with a guaranty - $400, laundry, well over $600 (so far) and i swear nothing is seeming priceless. barely have my sanity anymore. friction in my marriage just generally ANGRY. my huhsband does not get bit and i do so we sleep in different places - he in bed cuz i get bit there and me on couch cuz i dont get bit there. feel like a virgin again. RAID will not do. there are certain levels of certain chemicals that need to be sprayed. OTC's dont have them. you also need an IGR - this inhibits the reproductive capacities of the females so after you exterminate any ones not killed will not reproduce. IGR also kills the eggs. google chemicals that kill bedbugs - there are the dusts which you must use and a spray called demand, tempro something with an s. they need to be used in conjunction. ill keep you posted and hope you are truly bug free. i spent so much money with no end in site i wish this was a tax write off.

oh - also zip lock makes large and very large clothing baggies which i bought (expensive) so you can store your clothes until the appropriate time and you can see what is in the bags. they are re-sealable of course. buy them for this purpose. also if you have anything stored in your bed frame or under bed store it in these bags so that in case your papers have an egg on them you wont reinfest. i will do this forever now.

got 3 bites last night. im headig to belleview, seriously.

This is a frusrating situation.My wife gets bit, my 4 year ols daughter and 3 year old son get bit. However nothing happens to me. That is so frustrating on so many levels. I wish they were biting me and bot them. We have gone from sleeping in he bedroom, to the couch in the living room and now in an air mattress on the living room floor. I have no where to go but out of here. But New York rent is well as you know high. We live in a four family apartment. It all started the day my daughter started Pre- Kindergarten. We had lived here pfreviously for six years and nothing ever happed like this. Could be our messy neighbor downstairs but i dont know. I need resuults to get these things out. I cant take it any more. We have tried the crushed oystershell powder and 2 different inviromental bug sprays but no success. Oh well i guess here comes the exterminator. Pray for me.

go to bedbugger.com the FAQ section. do not travel from room to room - you are spreading them. they like body heat and your breath. you need a qualified pco ASAP. wash all clothes in HOT water and dry for one hour on high. then ziplock them all. live out of the bags. to not cross-contaminate. i wear clothes in living room then others for bedroom. complicated process. good luck.

I have to agree with the guy above. Pest Away is by far superior and most capable of solving this incredibly harrowing experience of my life. They guide u step by step. I would have moved but u cannot escape from these terrorists. I wish everyone luck.

I have to agree with the guy above. Pest Away is by far superior and most capable of solving this incredibly harrowing experience of my life. They guide u step by step. I would have moved but u cannot escape from these terrorists. I wish everyone luck.

I just rented out a room in Washington Heights NY. My 2 year old son my Fiance and Myself. Since moving in I have been noticing Itchy bumps on my hands arms and face. For the longest time I thought I had an allergic reaction to something, since my son and fiance were not breaking out. Later that week I notice the itching was getting worst. Around 7 in the morning I went into the bathroom of the home I was renting out and before I ran the water I noticed a bed bug crawling in the tub. I ran into my room and woke my son and fiance and told them what I saw. We then pulled back the covers and low and behold was an army of bed bugs. We still cant figure out why they were only attacking me. I told the person whom I was renting from and they said "how long are you planning on staying here because we know someone else who wants to rent the room, and as far as the bedbugs we never had them". OK so where the hell did they come from?????? and why am I being asked to leave now????? Nasty Jerks!!!! I have seen roaches crawling around in this same apartment but they didnt know about the bedbugs. I looked at their face for the first time and noticed small round black marks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

please go to bedbugger.com and find out all the info you need. before moving. you will take them with you if you dont do this properly.

My life has been a living hell ever since I found out I had bed bugs. I could go into a long diatribe like the mad Doctor above but he said it all. I have done as much research on this forsaken topic that can be done. Read every blogger and spoke to exterminating co's from here to timbuktu. BTW that John guy above is a selfpost, he knows little about bed bugs and should really not pose as a blogger. My only advice for everyone here is to don't panic about these fuckers, do the prep work, and make sure your exterminator has alot of experience, gives a warranty, is registered with the BBB and has a clean record. Oh, and dont have any guests over until you solve this problem. Good luck to all u poor souls who appear under here.

Here's yet another case of bb's all the way from Colorado. I live in a single family home w/ my 2 kids and 2 dogs... life was peaceful in the suburbs of Denver until one morning in early May when I woke up with a couple of bites on my right arm. I of course dismissed it as mosquito bites and didn't give it another thought... that is of course where my nightmare started. The days that followed i awoke to more bites on my arms, back and legs. I first thought it was ticks or even fleas from my dogs-- although they are clean, have never had fleas, and are bathed every 6 weeks or so. One morning, my son noticed a bug on my wall above the headboard. I didn't know what it was, but was amazed at what it revealed when i squished it-- Blood!!!! My blood!! Around the same time, my male dog developed an infection on his scrotum. The vet didn't know what caused it but in the end he had to be neutered and his scrotum tissue was sent to the lab. No specific diagnosis except a severe infection. I started to put 2 and 2 together and that's when i found all this info on bb's. I immediately threw out both of the doggy beds-- although no signs of bb's were on them. I sterialized everthing in my room. Washed all my bedding in hot water, pulled apart my bed and sprayed the mattress and box spring with Lysol, vacuumed the carpet including the base boards and vents. Washed all of my clothes. I have done this 3 times since early May in all 3 bedrooms. (Interesting aside, I found a few bb's in my sons room's but interesting enough, they have not been bit, except for my poor dog!). Anyway, the biting has decreased. I have not been bitten in over a week but yesterday I found another bb in the hall way and this morning I killed one on the couch downstairs! I finally thought i had this under control but now they're spreading to other rooms in the house!!! ARGH!!!I have called to get my couch picked up, and I will get my carpet in the family room steamed cleaned. I stripped the beds once again, washed everything throughly, vacuumed all crevices, around baseboards, vents, etc. and sprinkled ENFORCER FLEA KILLER (this was mentioned on another site and I readily found it at Walmart)on the carpets. I am leaving it on overnight- We're sleeping elsewhere tonight. I also bought a lice bedding spray and sprayed mattresses and boxsprings and couch. I read somewhere that lice spray kills bb's so we'll see how this new treatment goes. The psychological scars as someone else mentioned will be hard to erase, almost as hard as the physical ones on my legs and arms. I haven't had company over in 2 months and don't allow my son's to sleep over at friend's anymore. I constantly feel "itchy" and fear that a bb will crawl on my clothes in public!!! BTW, that is how we got the bb's in the first place. I traced the blood suckers to my son's sleeping bag. That thing was totally crawling with them!!! He had just used it the weekend before too but had no bites on his body! I wrapped it up and put it in a heavy duty trash bag and took it out IMMEDIATELY!!! My next move if things don't improve, is to tear out the carpeting all together and recarpet my hall and bedrooms upstairs. Talk about expensive!!! Good luck to us all....

There is a product by JT Eaton that stops BedBugs and their eggs. It only costs $20. YOu have to get rid of all your cluteer (old books, old newspapers, old clothes, etc..) so they don't have too many places to hide. It will stop 98% of the problem, without having to call an exterminator. If you have a very heavy infestation, you will have to use J T Eaton spray once a month for three months, initially to knock out the bugs. Hopefully you nip it in the bud, before you have dozens crawling around every night.

Hi everybody, I am 17, I live in NY.

About a week ago I have been getting some big-ass bites on my thighs. I though I was eating too much sweets and junk food. Then my mother told me that we may have bed bugs. Just the thought scared the urge to sleep out of me. But I disregarded it.Anyway as the days went by I discovered I new place to scratch each and every day. Today, right now, time 1:02 am, I found myself reading all this horror from all you guys b/c about 30 min ago. I woke up scratching to turn on the lights and find these god forsaken relentless assholes crawling on my bed sheets.
I am a very clean person, since one of the most high
tech electronics that I use every other day is a vacuum cleaner. Now I had found out that on the 3rd
floor, I live on the 4th, That a small family. Husband and a wife are complete pigs and their dog
(Frankie) constantly has the stench of shit.
Now thank you all who posted small ways or treatment, even for a little while thank you. I will most likely buy everything tomorrow excuse me
this morning that will wipe them of the face of the planet.

PS I forgot to say this:

I noticed some welts while sleeping in a bed in a five star hotel. I asked the maids to come in and change all bedding. I thought I was just allergic to the detergent. Now I am glad I did this...I think I may have even seen a small bug and thought it was just a random harmless bug...yikes. So this is not a question of rich or poor or dirty or clean.

Also another time at home, I noticed little round reddish brown bugs (one at a time) crawling on the wall near my bed three days in a row, I had this hunch they were originating from a kleenex box I had just bought. I threw the box away (putting it in a sealed bag first) and guess what. No more bugs!

So they can stow away all types of ways...I almost wonder if this isn't something other nations are doing to us??? Or maybe the eggs just get laid inside products which are made in other countries?? Or on the boats on the way over here. Who knows. But apparently they can even stow away in cardboard boxes. Thank heavens I killed the bugs each time, and did not let them crawl away.

I honestly can't recall if I had welts at the same time, I have allergies and may have passed it off as that at the time.

i cant believe this thread has been going for over 2yrs !!

im in the exact same situation as many others

i cant sleep im itching all the time i just want to move out!!1

does anyone know what the legal obligation is for breaking your lease if this is the situation ??

this site does not have much information regarding procedures for extermination and the thousands of other questions that need answering. please refer to www.bedbugger.com for a full menu!!

someone should be living at that apt so the bb can come out of hiding and maybe the source will be found. that is important. also please caulk your whole apt if the whole building is not going to be treated. research vikane.

my whole life i never been bloodsucking by bedbugs...i told my landlord to take care of bedbugs..all he gave me is 91 percent alcohol isopropyl? i called bugman come and said your apartment been infected with bedbugs...it would cost me or the landlord around 600 dollars for the whole single unit....i spoken to land lord what if i pay 600 and i get free rent by next month....he siad heck no you wont get free rent...then i asked why not you pay the bugman? the bugman said for landlord to pay fee he offered landlord 450.00 about 30 percent or so discount from a bug company....he turn them down....oh my god what a scumbug landlord he is!!do not come to 805 Madison ave Covington kentucky...the owner name is jeff schillins...he owns 4 building it stood all together(not even 1 inch apart)i am sure those bedbugs would spread next building to other building and he wont take care of it!also i plan move out soon and leave all my furnitures behind worth over 3000 dollars...also the owner own second hand store to selling furnitures....i am sure other tentants leave thier furnitures behind and landlord resell it oh my god.....i reported it to health department about that issues...they come and check his store there was no furnitures in there i believe he got rid of it before they come but health officals didnt check out my apartment...warning he rent apartment 500 dollars a month with bedbugs problems he knew it and did not tell others about it....that why he only cares making money and put it in pocket and not take care of infested units

My fiance and I realized we had bed bugs 2.5 months ago-we have washed anything and everything that can fit into a washing machine, moved most of our stuff into storage (so cold weather will kill them), bought a new bed/mattress, and had an exterminator come in and sprayed once, and has come back and done 3 or so spot treatments. THEY ARE STILL NOT DEAD. I am still getting bites, but he is not (my fiance). The exterminator basically told us that he doesnt know what else he can do-and neither do we.

Does ANYONE have any other suggestions on how to get rid of these damn things? I dont know what else to do, other than throwing all of our shit away and moving.