Do you see this beautiful sanctuary, a.k.a. my bedroom, I recently created for myself? Well, it is a sanctuary no more. I seriously feel like I am currently living in a horror movie. I am 90% sure that we have the beginnings of a bed bug infestation occurring!
I grew up thinking that bed bugs were mythical insects dreamed up by teasing parents, but now I am sadly enlightened to the truth. While at dinner at a friends’ home, I was casually sipping my shiraz and mentioning these horribly itchy bites I received several nights ago on my wrist and neck.
My friend joked that they might be bed bug bites. At first I laughed it off..and then I panicked. And what do I do when panic sets in? I hit the internet and read every scary article on the topic until I could easily receive my Masters degree on said topic. Seriously. Do you want to know the latin name for bed bug? It’s Cimex lectularius. How long can they happily survive in your home without eating? Over a year! Their mating habits? It is disgusting and in no way can be enjoyable for the female. I could go on and on here! The worst thing to know about these bugs is that they come out at night, violate you several times while you’re asleep, suck your blood, and then run off.
(Image of my neck a week after several initial bites. Beautiful seaglass necklace won in giveaway from Scarborough Seashells.)
Uh, yeah Beth that is pretty gross. Sorry you’re dealing with yet another thing on your plate…or in your bed as the case may be…but why in the world do we need to know any of this? Because they travel into your homes on used objects! Hello?! All of those great thrifty treasures you highlight each week could be hosting more than you bargained for! Bed bugs are hitch hikers and will often be brought home from luggage from a recent trip, but also can be brought in from used furniture, clothing, and even electronics. That great free headboard you found on the curb? Those fantastic used chairs you found in the dumpster? Even those bargains at Goodwill and yardsales are all potential bed bug modes of transportation. Before bringing any of these items into your residence make sure you scrub them down with a brush and vacuum and/or steam vac them. Clothing should be brought into the home in a sealed plastic bag and immediately washed in the hottest water possible and dried on high heat.
I don’t know how these bugs came into my home, but I am guessing the old doors, antique dresser, or free throw at the end of my bed might be the culprits. I washed the throw, of course, before putting it on my bed, but it was lying on the floor waiting to be washed for several days.
Most articles I read indicated that bed bugs will hide in the creases of your mattress and will leave fecal matter stains on your sheets and mattress where they reside. These stains look like mildew stains. I went over my entire mattress and boxsprings and found one, 1 inch area that looked just like they described! It wasn’t nearly as bad as anything seen on the internet, but it can’t be ignored. Needless to say the mattress is getting replaced tomorrow. That might seem extreme, but we need a new mattress anyhow, and I’m not sleeping a wink on this thing right now. We need a new one and it will be sealed in bug proof covers this time!
This sucks… I am at the same point. We went to a wedding/stayed in a hotel in Sept and now in Nov I am waking up once a week with bites. I have ripped my bed apart. I think I am finding the Empty exoskeletons on the mattress. I am freaking out it seems to only be in my bedroom, I would like to keep it that way and get rid of them. I have ordered diatomaceous earth and plan over kill myself. Thank you for that suggestion. No where else was it mentioned. I plan on taking my bedroom apart tonight including light switches and outlets. GRRRRR wish me luck
You are a very brave woman for posting this! Most people would just keep it a secret and pretend it never happened. Thank you for sharing this information. The people I work with laugh at me because I am always talking about bed bugs. It scares the living day lights out of me. Some facts I'd like to share that I learned while reading everything I could get my hands on. 1) These pesky little bugs can walk about 100 feet. This means that just because you put your luggage in the garage, you may not be safe. You must vacuum the luggage with a powerful vacuum and then discard the bag. 2) They only need to feed once and they can live for up to 500+ days without any more food. The females can lay over 500 eggs during their life spans. 3) They are master hiders. They can hide behind light switch covers or electrical socket covers, pictures, in alarm clocks. They love to hide in crevices like between the carpets & trim boards. They also live in your furniture. Your bedroom is not the only place they hide & feed. They also love your carpets. 4) Other countries don't fear them as much as we do so they don't do much to prevent them. When you purchase new items from stores (putting to rest here that you can only get them from used items) like clothes, bedding, pillow, throw rugs, etc you may be purchasing more than you bargained for! They are master hitchhikers and can be brought over to your house by friend visiting who may not know they have them. You are 100% correct that clothing items need to be washed in hot water but more importantly dried on high heat for at least 20 minutes. You can iron or steam other items. Wood is a little harder to clean with heat but do your best. Water needs to be 120 degrees. Some exterminating companies will heat your house to 120 degrees for 6-8 hours. Can you imagine? My heart and prayers are with you! Everyone else be cautious! These little critters are in over 80% of hotels nationwide and hotels are not obligated by law to report infestations so the bed bug reporting sites may not really reflect all of the hotels that are really dealing with bed bugs. I have stop traveling because I can't relax knowing I may bring these home. Just think, every time a housekeeper comes into your hotel room to clean and make your bed they may be transferring bed bugs from another room! Too scary for me. God bless you for talking about this. I don't have them but I thought I did awhile back because I was being bit at work by something at my desk. I don't know what it was but it scares the S*** out of me! Now I'm like Paul Revere "The bed bugs are coming". Google them and look at the images of how they look and what to look for.
It's better to be informed than suprised!
EEEEK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh my gosh!!! I'm itching all over!!! I got bit by bed bugs at a hotel we stayed at, a very nice one!! I hope I didn't bring them home with me!!! How do you clean suitcases? How do you clean wood!?!? I have a dresser I am getting ready to bring in!! I have an armoire I just brought in!! Now I am so nervous I hate bugs!!
I feel your pain! My encounter with bedbugs was at a very nice hotel in Toronto. Awful! After contacting a lawyer and then getting TONS of info on the subject from a bug-guy – I learned some uncomfortable news. They can live for a year without feeding…so even when you think they may be gone – they may just be dormant. NOT to scare you…but I wanted to inform you. We, unfortunately, had to leave our luggage there and all of our clothes because of the threat of bringing them home. That year after our trip I could not sleep thinking they would appear. But they didn't. You gave great advice, though, on what to do with our goodwill finds. I had SUCH a hard time returning to my hobby of finding used goods but I have. I'm just SUPER careful now. This was 7 years ago but the problem seems to have gotten much worse…scary. Good luck! And I hope they BUG OFF! 😉
My husband and I are just finishing our war against them. As far as I can tell, they came in the house by way of a second hand nightstand- although that's just a guess.
You seem to be doing all the right things- just try not to panic and keep up the fight!
Our pest guy sprayed something called Bedlam- since then we haven't found a single live bug. Hopefully it will be over soon!
Beth were you able to get rid of them? My hubby has his own pest control company and won't let me buy 2nd hand furniture because of this!! they are VERY hard and COSTLY to get rid of.
you poor thing!!
Oh, you poor thing! Take care of yourself and I'm praying this all goes away, and soon!
Good tips about washing/cleaning used goods. My high school travelled to Spain last year, and in one of the hotels they had bed bugs. Lots of teens with lots of bites! Yuck. I'm not a fan of hotels.
Horrible yucky bugs! We too had them…I discovered them when I was 2 weeks postpartum. LOVELY. Our Christmas present was….we bought each other an exterminator. I washed every shred of fabric in the house, encased our mattresses and enjoyed imagining those **** bugs dying from the exterminator's spray stuff. YELCH! I do hope they are gone and that you haven't had any recurrences!
I'm so sorry :(. We had bed bugs last year. I wrote about it here: http://vivatic.blogspot.com/2009/05/bugged-out.html
They were truly awful. For the first time, I really understood the phrase "I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy."
For us, they came back twice and we ended up throwing out our bed and bedframe. They haven't reappeared so hopefully that did it. 🙂
You may have already heard this but the super large ziplock bags are great because you can actually see what's in them and know that they're sealed.
Anyways, I'm sorry this has happened to you and your family!
Aviva
Ugh! I feel for you. They are hard suckers to get rid of. I've got a case of poison ivy, so I'm itchy scratchy right there with you.
WOW WOW WOW Beth you poor darling of course I will pray for you !!! And I don't think it's overkill what you're doing I would do the same….YIKES
I remember reading once that if you travel you should never bring your suitcase into your bedroom (house)…because you just may bring home an uninvited guest…made sense to me that anything could hitch a ride…so we always leave ours in the garage …
Good Luck I will be thinking of you.
Kathy 🙂
apparently reading about bedbugs is rather like reading about lice. I now itch head to toe!
what a nightmare – good luck
Love your blog and I am passing on an award to you…stop over to Pandora's Box and grab the button.
ALso, enter my CNS LANTERN giveaway ~patti
Oh no, Beth! I don't think I've ever had them (geesh, I hope I haven't). I'll be praying for those little monsters to be gone and for a peaceful moving process for you. Stay sane, girl!
Ohhh, nooo! You poor thing! I keep hearing about people having to deal with them and it totally freaks me out. No wonder you're not getting any sleep. Yikes.
Oh Beth! I cannot believe that this is happening to you after all you have been through! God must think you are pretty tough!
I am praying for you girlfriend!
You know what they say "that which does not kill us makes us stronger" You have got to be one of the strongest women on earth now!
Oh Beth,
I am itching for you! I want to thank you for your tips with our trifty finds! I had never even thought that I could bring some critters home that I wouldn't want as a room mates!
I will be thinking of you and cross my fingers that these critters will be gone asap 🙂
Wendy
YOu poor thing….hang in there!
You gave me a completely different outlook with garage sales and thrift shops…yikes-
sandy toe
Oh I am praying for you! My SIL dealt with this and literally burned her mattress, bed springs, and bed frame because she couldn't sleep one more day in it. Get the mattress OUT of the house ASAP and seal it in plastic. Wait, seal it first and then get it out so you don't give the bugs place to jump ship while you're dragging the mattress through the house. 🙂 I will continue to pray and use borax while vacuuming and then empty the vacuum bag or container immediately and seal and get rid of blah blah blah. UGH!! The work involved!
I hate to admit, but we've battled those stupid bugs since we moved back into our home about a year and a half ago! Our renters brought them in, and oh, man… what a NIGHTMARE!
We spent HUNDREDS of dollars on the darn things, and tried everything under the sun to get rid of them. FINALLY, one day, out of desperation (I was pregnant and getting dined upon nightly, and frankly was about to lose my ever-lovin' mind!), I grabbed the spray jug of Ortho Home Defense Max that we had bought for ants…
IT WORKED! Now, we have a lot of kids, and we had quite an infestation before we even knew about them… when you have this many kids to munch on, the bb's reproduce at an alarming rate!
Anyway, we thought we'd eradicated them altogether for about 6 months.. until about 2 weeks ago, we found more stupid bugs… ARGH!!! We've ripped everything apart (again!!!), and sprayed and sprayed…
When our addition is finished, before we let the kids move out there, we're getting new mattresses for everyone. SIGH…
Horrific!! I am literally sitting here itching just reading this. Thanks for the warning!
sounds like you are gettting rid of them the right ways!?! I would go to extremes as well. This is gross, but I'm so glad you shared, so we can all be a little more careful when buying used items! I'm so sorry Beth!
Our son and his wife had these in their apartment. Came from a bad infestation from another apartment. Horrible! Can you imagine returning from your honeymoon to find unwelcomed guests in your apartment! They put their mattress and box springs in plastic matress bags and then sealed the zipper with duct tape. That and cleaning and washing every day or two. The exterminator did his "magic" and they seem to be doing okay now. Horrible thing to deal with! I pray you have rapid success!
This is a great cautionary tale for me. I often buy vintage sheets for sewing with. Sometimes they sit in a pile before I get to washing/sewing with them. No more. Straight from the car to the laundry. Good luck!
Oh my gosh….I started itching as I read your post. Never ran into this but I have been hearing that it is on the rise. I worry about this stuff so much that I take my own sheets and pillow to motels when I travel…going home with them in plastic bags. Best of luck with your issue.
Oh no! I am so sorry you have to deal with this! 🙁
But thank you for the good warning. I bet it is something people don't even think about. Hopefully the paint that most people apply to all of those used pieces of furniture kills them off!
Ewwwwww! I'm so sorry you have bed bugs. I've read that most urban areas have them. You'll get rid of them and DE is good stuff. We used it last summer on some very persistent fire ants.
Bed bugs are everywhere, even in the cleanest of homes. ICK!!! I always leave my luggage in the garage when I come home from a trip- in fact, I unpack in there and immediately launder everything and steam the luggage. Phobia? I think not- just practicality. Hope all goes well with the job hunting for your husband, the cleaning, and your sanity! hugs, Sue
Beth, I just emailed you with my information…
Oh my gosh, I feel your pain, Beth! My sister and nephew had to deal with bed bugs last summer after (we believe) a suitcase from her mother in law came into her house- likely carried them from the hotel room she had been staying in. My tiny little nephew was covered from head to toe in rows of red bites!
They had to bomb the house multiple times, vacuum every inch of everything and get rid of the couch (which is where they flocked to and most of the biting seemed to happen).
Bugs stress me out, but the thought of bed bugs and fleas- take my stress and multiply it by 10.
I hope your clean up goes smoothly and quickly! Best of luck!
Years ago, when I was living in Ethiopia, bed bugs were common. My host family (uh, no pun intended) would put their mattresses and bedding out in the sun. Maybe hanging out bedding, blankets, etc. outside on a warm day could help eradicate and freshen things up? I'll be praying that your peace and comfort are restored very soon! MIKI
Oh no, oh ew! I am so sorry, Beth. Good for you for waging war. Hope they leave quickly!
Oh boy, I can go on and on about this. I work on the corporate office of a Mattress company and the Pictures and stories we see/hear are horrible.
The company only delivers EAST coast… From Boston to VA…if you are in that area, let me know and I may be able to get you a friends discount.
I definitely don't blame you for taking so many precautions! I would have pulled out the spare air-mattress and slept on that in the middle of the living room until the whole problem was solved! I hope you guys get it taken care of and you can get back to your regular life! And of course, back to having your bedroom be your sanctuary!
Oh GOSH! How terrible for you!
You can get lots of info at bedbugger.com…..if that helps.
I got bitten up from a mattress my Mom bought at a public auction. That was years ago, I think she had it burned later.
There seems to be a heavy infestation in the Hbg area. I saw several stories in the news a few weeks ago. Good luck gettin rid of the nasty suckers!
I will pray. I can't imagine how upsetting. I anticipate travel in the next few months and am deathly afraid of bringing home bedbugs. Can't wait to see how things turn out.
Aghhhhhhhh! I'm totally freaking out now!!!!
Ewwwhh! Hmmm… I guess that is a lesson for those of us thrifting! Can you treat something upon bringing it home? Let us know!
Beth, you poor baby. You're handling everything else going on in your life with such grace…and now this. Why does it always seem that this type of crisis happens at the worst possible time. I got hit with a mice infestation while my dad was in Massachusetts General for major cancer surgery, and I just wanted to run away, so I can so relate.
One thing I do want you to remember is this: I used to run my own copywriting business, and one of the clients I wrote advertising for is a Pest Control Service. The owner always told me that it's so common for women to think they have a pest problem because they weren't clean. THIS ISN'T TRUE! It can happen no matter how clean your house is. Things get tracked in, and you are NOT to blame.
All the best — we will all be praying for you, I'm sure.
Judith Ann
Jude at http://www.dolcecapecod.blogspot.com
a few years ago a friend of mine had these little critters visit her home and she about lost it too! keep cleaning, sterilizing, etc. they are real pests, hard to get rid of and it's a good thing you're having the exterminator come! good luck to you! i don't envy you, but think of how clean your house will be!
I just saw a story on these on the news on Monday night. If it makes you feel any better, they're making a comeback.
I would be reacting just the way you are.
I have my mattresses in allergy cases because I'm allergic to dust and therefore dustmites could cause an issue. These cases are sold by allergy places on line. I bet they would help protect your mattress.
I am praying for you. Make sure you keep inhaling AND exhaling so that you don't pass out from being stresses.
Beth I am so sorry to hear about the bugs. I will be praying that they vanish and your bites heal quickly. I just recently saw a program on T.V. where a lady had her dog trained to sniff out bug bites. Very crazy stuff!
YUCK! Hubby felt a tick crawling on his leg the other night after he got into bed. I FREAKED out! Started itching, wanted him to go check the dog, the kids (who cares that it was just shy of midnight) and get out of MY bed. ICK! I HATE BUGS!!! Oh, I'm sure you are wondering… He didn't do ANY of those things >:( "Sleep tight, don't let the bedbugs bite. If they do, kick 'em with a shoe….."
Good luck Beth!
That is horrifying! So sorry. :o( I don't know about bed bugs, but I know about ants. They are crazy here in TX heat. Once I see one, I go crazy, scrubbing everything (they love crumbs and moisture). I have nightmares about them now— never before the summer ant takeover o' last year. They came POURING out of our phone jack on the kitchen backsplash. I just know what if feels like to be paranoid-crazy about bugs!
I kindof know how you feel, except our problem was a major flea infestation in our bedroom. I would find 15-20 of them each time I looked under our sheets. I had bloody ankles from all the scratching; it was horrible!!! Lasted almost a month until I waged war against them with Borax and flea spray. No more fleas!! I WILL pray for you; I know what a nightmare that can be and it affects your sleep, which then affects your whole day and your life! UGH!
I heard that there are dogs that can sniff out where the bed bugs are. Make sure there are not any places that the bugs can crawl between your house and the one attached to you. i also knew a family that kept their clothes in sealed plastic bags until they were sure they were rid of the bed bugs.
Oh, Beth, I am so sorry!!! My Nannie's house had them last year and the only thing she was able to do was have the entire house fumigated by a special bed bug guy. I saw on TV last week that bed bugs are making a big recurrence in the states. Ugh.
Your words made me think about whether or not I have washed the clothes I've found at consignment sales right away. :s
Our nasty icky neighbors moved away last year and the new owner started gutting the house. The previous people had like 5 dogs, a cat, and 6 ferrets and they lived in squalor. *Oddly* enough, we started noticing a major problem with fleas within a few weeks. Before we knew it, we had a major problem. We had to bomb the house twice and put our poor dog on a special monthly flea pill. Don't know if we ever did get rid of them from our yard, but at least the dog is protected. :s
ick.ick.ick.
We had a mouse in our house once. I sent my husband to Walmart at midnight to get mouse traps. I wouldn't walk in the room until it was dead. And 6 or 8 traps later…. he was dead. But it still made me want to move.
I am soooooooooooo sorry.
Oh Beth, that's just AWFUL!!! I really can't imagine what you're going through. What a horrible experience!
As a young adult I lived in this big old house. The bottom unit had animals and got a flea infestation. So they hired an exterminator, which caused a flea migration to the upstairs suite (ours). I put down a piece of paper at one point and couldn't count the number of them hopping around. It was awful! Flea bites are itchy and I had SEVERAL!
I hope this gets dealt with in a quick and timely matter. I'm so sorry for your dilemna! I really am!
Oh NO!!
Prayingfor you girl!!!
I'm suddenly very itchy and feel the need to go and vacuum around my bed…ew gross! Hope it gets better soon! 🙂
Oh gosh, I hope you don't! We thought we had them a couple of years ago. Hubby used to have to travel a lot for work and you can bring them home from hotels or dorm rooms, too. No one else had any problems with their skin {he must have had an allergy to something at the time} but we took the safe route and he got some lotion from a doctor. It smelled horrible but the whole family had to put it on – ALL OVER our bodies!
Ugh, I am so sorry!!! That's miserable. This isn't quite the same thing but I can relate on the whole "cleaning" process. We had two mice in our garage (thank god none in the house) but I went crazy vacuuming and cleaning EVERYTHING. It gets you so grossed out. Good luck!
Jiminy Christmas! That is all you need!!!! I am so so so so sorry and grossed out! There is no such thing as overkill when you are waging war against a beast. Jemma got lice last year in her daycare. We were living at the time with out neighbors for two weeks as our house had sold and closed. We were sleeping in the same bed. I also got it. What a nightmare and it wasn't even in my own home, but my best friend who, did I mention, is a germaphobe?!? Nightmare. Sadly, Jemma's favorite bear got thrown away in the hulabuluu. I wish you all the best and will be sending prayers your way that the critters are destroyed in a most painful, but quick fashion!
Oh, I'm so sorry. I haven't had a bed bug infestation (yet)–one dragon we haven't had to slay–but I've heard some horror stories. Really, I don't think your measures are major overkill. . . you can't mess around with these! I'm just so sad you're having to deal with this now, on top of everything else.
So I will pray for you. And you can practice your French as freely as you need to. Maybe you'll scare some bugs.
God bless you. And God please make the #*%@*# bedbugs die!!
Oh this is awful Beth! Hope fully it will be taken care of quickly and painlessly. We had lice in our family last year and It was a nightmare for all. I know it is only our heads and not our home but you get that same itchy feeling even when nothing is there! Hope this is over for you soon.
Beth oh my goodness! I am so sorry you are going through this on top of everything else. Ewww. Thank you very much for all of the info you have provided. My hubby just got home form the airport and I am looking at his suitcase with disgust. Gross! I hope it's not covered with them.
I am hoping and praying all goes well for you. Keep us posted.
Blessings, ~Melissa 🙂
OH gosh… praying! I'd wage war too. Right at this point and time, I never want to bring old crap in the house ever again!
Ok, time's up. I had to change my mind. I don't know how to do any other kind of decorating.
I'll just heed your warning and be ALOT more careful!
Donna
A person I worked with had them. He said he got his after a business trip. He now checks the bed bug registry before going to hotels. He tried everything but ONLY the exterminator worked. Get him or her there ASAP>…. Bella
Oh no! I'm starting to itch as I read your post! Just Kidding! However, it does make me wonder about the quilt I just purchased at a garage sale!
I'm so itchy now. So sorry you are dealing with this but thanks for sharing!!!! I'm creeped out for you. I hope you get rid of them quickly and easily!!
-heather
I feel like I have bed bugs crawling all over me right now!
So sorry! I hope the extractor of el bugo saves the day!
ahhh! that is so scary! you are so right to go overboard – i hope you win your war quickly 🙂
Oh no! I'm so sorry! They could be from anywhere!
I hope you get rid of them quickly!
I am here to tell you that it is possible to live through this. 🙂 We had bed bugs, or possibly bat bugs. The exterminator said they are very, very similar. We were living in an old mansion turned into small apartments when we had our bugs. He thought our bugs were either from a neighbor or from a bat nest. A good dose from the exterminator and they were gone. You'll make it. I have faith in you! Hang in there!!!!!!
I have never had them that I know of. For once I guess I can be glad to say that I never have much luck thrifting!
I wish you the best with your problem. I know it will clear up now that you have declared war!! ;-D
xoxo
Jane
oh god, oh god. i've gotten itchy just thinking about this! good luck getting rid of these things, i have heard it involves serious purging, more than just cleaning! i just read somewhere (think it was a blog) that you should check behind pictures on walls in hotels and stuff b/c they stay there til night? i don't know, but i have to go shower now. goooood luck!!! i am so sorry you have to deal with this!