I had bed bugs two years ago in college due to an infested couch me and my sister bought secondhand. We immediately caught it, tossed the couch, got our apartment professionally treated, and cleaned/bagged the entire apartment before we even had a chance to move into it. After that, despite there being no signs of bed bugs, I wasn't been able to sleep well (or at all) at night at all and I always feel itchy and paranoid. (I was crazy upon the first instance of finding it since I'd done research on them after waking up one morning in a hotel with lots of red bumps and I knew what sneaky little bastards they are. I used to get naked and spray my entire body with rubbing alcohol as well as my shoes and clothes and sit crying in a fetal position... it was that level of crazy and more! I've never been quite as sane as I was before since. Also, side note/tip: once, during the infestation, I sprayed my shoes a ton with a bottle of the rubbing alcohol and a bed bug ran out of the underlining of the shoe like it was panicking and then ran back inside the lining as I kept spraying it. I think it eventually died but I tossed the shoes before I found out.)

Anyway, I just spent a year in Spain post-graduation and moved back home with my parents after getting married a few weeks ago. Both in Spain, and at home, and in every hotel we went to on our honeymoon, I was always afraid of having bedbugs. In my apartment in Spain, I would find bumps all over my body upon waking up that would fade to nothing later in the day and made me feel like I imagined the entire thing. Now the same thing happens when I'm back home but I feel a lot itchier and I can see small raised red bumps all over the more sensitive parts of my body (like my stomach and near my underarms) ESPECIALLY after I take a shower. What's making me panic this time though is that some of the bumps stay and new ones seem to be cropping up. This time I feel like I'm trying to be more in denial than I was before because I haven't actually SEEN one yet, and honestly I really don't want to. My husband keeps getting angry with me for being so paranoid all the time and says I'm completely imagining it and that he doesn't have any bumps himself. However, lately he does seem to be itchier (he doesn't have any bumps anywhere though which is odd cause his skin is a lot more sensitive and much whiter than mine) and after looking at my bumps is starting to believe me more. I can't sleep at night and I'm already practically ruining our marriage (just three weeks in too) with how paranoid and sleep-deprived I am all the time.

Does ANYONE have symptoms like this that turned out to just be psychological or did it turn out to be another infestation? I can't imagine that I'm just imagining all these bumps and itches but at the same time I wish I were... At this point I'm just desperately researching on the internet and avoiding bed as much as possible. I feel better just writing this all down but I would be interested to hear about anyone who actually did just imagine red bumps into existence. Please let me know! Anything helps!

Hi all. I've found these forums very helpful through my lurking. Based on what I've read/pictures I've viewed, I believe I'm having an issue with carpet beetles, and not bed bugs. I'm taking furniture from a family member who admittedly had a lot of dust and cat hair build up in his room. Upon vacuuming the bed, I encountered carpet beetle larvae on the frame. I confirmed a few additional beetles/larvae on the support he was using under the mattress. Both the mattress and wood support have since been discarded, but now I'm not sure that I should take the bed frame at all in fears it still may have beetles on it that will “move” with me to my new house. If I vacuum (again) and clean down the furniture, should I feel comfortable in taking the set, or it there a good possibility that there are still beetles lurking on the furniture? Thank you in advance for your advice.

Ok, here's a maybe success story.

Started the beginning of July, had 2 preteens running out of a bedroom screaming they just killed a bug on the bed, they were not sure what type of bug it was, whatever it was it is now cut in half, I do a quick glance, don't see much so tell them to keep playing (we live in a old brick house with wood floors and a basement right behind a bunch of railroad tracks, so we tend to get tons of bugs). So the next day after they leave I decide to go check the bed and find a few signs and nymphs (which were confirmed on here, and by a PCO). I freak out as soon as I find them and take the mattress outside, that was before I knew about this forum, I just knew that I found a couple bugs on my daughter's bed, so out it went.

Find this place, confirm nymph and fecal signs. Call PCO in the morning, had 2 companies come out and check, both confirm the signs I found, neither find anything anywhere else, they check the beds, dressers, nightstands, chairs & couch. I decided to have one do chemical treatments for all the bedrooms and livingroom, since I can't afford heat treatment. He says no packing everything up, he said go ahead and carefully toss stuff if I want, but he prefers everything in the drawers/shelves so that hopefully any bugs crawl out and across the poison to eat. He did say to dry all the bedding every day, wash twice a week, and make sure all dirty clothes are bagged until they are washed. Clean clothes folded and directly into drawers (with teens in the house clothes tended to be set on top of dressers rather than in them).

Got first spray probably the second week of July, second 10 days later, third about 12 days after that. Still no signs or more bugs. Climbups on beds after the 1st spray. After the 3rd put passives on and took the climbups off. August goes by, no more signs, still doing laundry the way as during the spraying, a few skin reactions about a week apart, tell myself they are skin reactions and nothing else. PCO comes to inspect, says he sees nothing (really fast inspection). September, couch breaks, spring in the bottom snaps; the couch was 12 yrs old so no big surprise. I find a dead adult fenale bedbug (confirmed here) under the couch. *walked the mattress we tossed right past this couch since the couch is right beside the doorway* Call PCO, said it probably fell out of couch when spring snapped, but he did a basic "preventive" spray just in case of the beds and couch and tells me to toss the couch to be on the safe side since it's old, broke and has a few tears in the cushions and it's safe to get a new one. We planned on a new couch anyway so we tossed it, hubby buys a new couch (one I wouldn't of picked since I"m the one that does the checking). But whatever, no more signs or bugs since then. PCO also did another light spray 10 days after that. Overall all that was found was 2 adults and a few nymphs.

It's been a month since I found the dead one, no more signs, nothing on/in the passives. I do still have skin reactions that seem like ingrown hairs (bumps with white centers, they will pop if you squeeze them *sorry*) 4 in last week, two on one knee, one on the other knee and one on my hand. So even though my anxiety part goes "Oh s***!! They are still here!" I keep telling myself logically that it could just be skin reactions or flea bites (yes we are dealing with fleas at the same time, our flea treatment doesn't work so hot when the neighbor moves in with quite a few freaking dogs in a tiny yard) I have found the occasional flea on the dryer lint thingy, although none jumped into the lighted flea trap I set up. So either they are gone, I'm just having skin reactions, and I'm another success story or well we'll find out.... (I'm really REALLY hoping for success here)

i didn't know they could do this. of the 10 bed bugs i've found in my apartment in the past 10 days, none have been fed. except this one today. i popped him/her, but he/she kept walking.

https://vid.me/WZ4f

these things are EVIL!

As a resource, this is a placeholder for a thermal FAQ.

TempAir has a new site listing TempAir providers of thermal bed bug treatment:
http://thermalremediation.com/bed-bugs/find-a-service.aspx

ThermaPure has no similar listing at this time, but they have a locator form you fill out here:
http://www.thermapure.com/pest_info_form.php

(I have written to ThermaPure and asked them for a full list such as that provided by TempAir to be provided.)

Hello dear bedbuggers,

My wife was not careful enough and brought some bedbugs to our home from Spain. Sigh. (My bad actually, I booked that cheap hotel...)

I've read a lot about bed bugs now, and now I need your advice: I live in Rio de Janeiro, and in summer it gets REALLY warm here - 105 F (41 C) in the shade is not uncommon in December-February. I am now wondering: will those blood suckers survive such a summer? I know they're supposed to die after a few hours under such temperatures, but how about real life situations?

If they'll really die, I'll spare my money... any insights are appreciated!

Help! My husband and I have been getting eaten alive for the last few weeks. We live in the Monterey Bay area and haven't known anyone who has dealt with bed bugs before so we assumed at first that it was fleas. All of our pets got new rx flea meds and I've been vacuuming like crazy but yet the bites have continued.

Bite info: the bites happen mostly in area where clothing is tight: waist band area, underwire area of my bra, behind knees, in armpits. There have been a few bites elsewhere: butt cheeks, back, arms, legs- but most bites have been behind knees, arms and under breasts.

I started to rule out the flea idea since I combed my 2 cats and 1 dog and didn't see a thing and plus I didn't see any around the house, which I would expect with the amount of bites we are getting. Since we were mostly getting bit at night we decided to clean our room from top to bottom- vacuuming the box spring, mattress, and every inch of our room including the walls. We never saw any evidence of bugs on the mattress (i checked in the seams, all around our upholstered headboard and saw nothing).

Today I finally found a bug on me- it was right near my belly button and was so small I almost didn't see it. I was sitting at my desk at home so I quickly grabbed a piece of tape and caught the bug. It was clear-ish color to maybe a light tan, but mostly looked clear and I could see its insides. It was very similar in size to the photo in your FAQs page that is on a guy's finger (very, very, very small).

Ever since finding this bug on me I am extra paranoid and feeling so itchy. Ugh.

I will attach a pretty crappy pic I took with my macro lens (sorry, it's not the best). Please help me figure out what this is. I would like to have an exterminator come ASAP since this is grossing me out.

The saga is far too long, depressing, and boring to type out so here's the short version. We first detected a mild to moderate case of bed bugs in my Brooklyn apartment (4 bedroom, 1 bath, approx 1000 sq feet - giant building) back in May and began treatments. After 5 treatments, we thought for sure we'd sorted this however the bugs were detected by a K9 in 2 bedrooms and the living room. Neither of the bedrooms detected were mine. We received 3 more treatments - this time much more thorough and again bagged/cleaned everything in the apartment. That was maybe 6 weeks ago since the last treatment and it seemed like we were in the clean. Then 2 weeks ago I found two large blood spots on my pillow - today I woke up to 3 very small ones clustered together. Nothing on my sheets or comforter. I don't see any turds anywhere either. None of the other roommates are being bitten. I'm so confused. They weren't detected in my room (which was sprayed anyway), no one else is being bitten, I have interceptors underneath my bed and it's moved away from the wall. How is this possible?! Here are some photos.. The second photo is from this morning when I woke up.

Well I'll start by saying I apologize for the quality of the photos. My wife, daughter and I stayed at a hotel last week while traveling home. In the morning my wife woke up with several bites, 2 on her forearm, 1 on the ankles and another somewhere else. I shook it off and wanted to believe it was something besides bed bugs which she was quick to think, so we didn't do any investigation in the hotel room afterwards and just left. We got home several hours later and at this point she had been doing research in the car while I drove so I was starting to succumb to the inevitable case that this was bed bugs.

We got home, took everything out of the car in the garage, emptied the suitcases with all clothes going into trash bags and took those to immediately start doing the laundry. After this a series of poor choices may have began. While she started the laundry I ran to get some Hot Shot bed bug spray at the store, used this on the suitcases and other belongings in the car that couldn't be washed, and then proceeded to spray the entire house more or less around the trim, outlets, bed/furniture footings and other crevices we could think of where they could get. Then it hit the fan for me when I found several bugs in the laundry room (unfortunately the timing is also bad because we live in the north and usually around the late fall little critters decide they want to move inside and warm up). We slept in our bed and my wife had another bite over night, I still have not had a bite.

The next day I began calling PCOs assuming the worst. Before having someone come out we decided to go straight for the heat and chemical treatment to be thorough and got encasements for the bedding. We started prepping the long checklist of cleaning all clothes in the house. Meanwhile I sent this photo to the PCO, he called me back the next day and said "you definitely have bed bugs", due to the quick response and perhaps poor quality I was reluctant as I was going to be several thousand dollars to the PCO by fixing my problem. My wife then took some of the samples I had obtained to the local health department, they first said they didn't think they were bed bugs. Then put them under a microscope and said they didn't think so but were not 100% certain and their expert would be in Monday.

So anyway, if you're still there I have done a bit of reading on the forums over the past few days and would appreciate any opinions or feedback on what you think about these. We have not seen any of the tell tale signs such as fecal matter, sheddings, eggs, and the only big sightings have been in the laundry room and stairway. I am going to get some of the interceptors just to try to get a better idea if there are things going on, in the mean time I am still freaking out and fearful to go to work or leave the house due to fear of spreading this.

20151015_161802_resized_1 by [/url], on Flickr

[url=https://flic.kr/p/zRwNzY]20151015_161746_resized by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/135280254@N05/][/url], on Flickr

Hello!
From what I have seen on here, BB hiding places are not limited to just your bed. My PCO (who recently did a chemical spray) tells me my closet, which is only about 5-6 feet from my bed, is "too far" for them because they prefer to be very close to the bed. But don't your preferences change when your life is threatened?

Maybe I am just overreacting; I was told we only have a minor infestation (about 40 bugs found in the past week) and that they can do a heating treatment of the apartment to be sure that they are gone.
Is this very reliable/needed in addition to the chemical spray?
And is it accurate that they would not be found in my closet/dresser/anywhere farther than, say, 2-3 feet from bed?
It isn't that I don't trust them, I just have such paranoia from this site haha!

I'm trying to formulate a plan of attack after finding about 10 bed bugs in my tiny 200sq ft apt in the past 10 days.

I have a "captain's bed" that looks like this:

http://cdn1.bigcommerce.com/server1200/56383/products/207/images/5586/IMG_2284_001__06037.1358883744.1280.1280.JPG?c=2

I called an exterminator and it looks like he got rid of the bed bugs from the mattress, but I'm still seeing them on the walls, and I'm worried that there could be more inside the wooden bed, which is largely hollow. I got a mattress encasement, so I'm OK sleeping on the mattress for now, unless bugs are inside the bed and crawl into the bed. (shudder) Unfortunately, since the bed does not have legs (see the image), I can't use one of those "ClimpUp" entrapments.

I removed everything from the drawers under the bed and put it in garbage bags, but I'm worried because the garbage bags are not sealed like a giant Ziploc bag would be. Should I transfer everything from garbage bags to giant Ziploc bags? Also, how should I treat the stuff in the bags? I'm worried there could be stray bed bugs, nymphs, or eggs in the stuff which was removed from under the bed (now in garbage bags) .I was thinking of putting the stuff in the garbage bags in a freezer, but I don't know if there's an easier way.

As far as inside the bed, I have a real difficult time getting in there, even after removing the drawers.

Hi everyone I need help. So I have been having weekly intensely itchy bites on my arm and ankles for about 2 months. At first I thought it was just mosquito bites, but more recently I have come to suspect bedbugs. Some of the bites have had a "breakfast, lunch, dinner" pattern. This morning I woke up to two large itchy welts on my waist.

Some backstory. I had a very small case of bedbugs about 7 years ago in an old apartment. It was taken care of with a combination of throwing everything out and pest control agency spraying. I have not had any hint of bugs since and I have moved 3 times since then. We had a baby 9 months ago, and because of sleep issues, I have been sleeping fairly consistently on the sofa in our office. That is where I have been getting the bites. Neither my wife or baby have had any bites upstairs in the bedroom.

I have look all around and in the crevices of the sofa and have found no bugs, skin, or blood spots. I have found no evidence anywhere around the office area. I put some passive traps around the sofa about a week and a half ago and have not caught anything. I did find a bug and a skin cast underneath the sofa which I will post a picture of, but it looks more like a carpet beetle to me. Please help with identifying.

I guess my questions are, do I have bedbugs? And if I do, is there a safe way to treat with and infant and does anybody know a good PCO in the Philadelphia area. Thanks everyone.

http://imgur.com/a/Z4eCo

Placed pactite monitors on piece of cloth hanging over top side of box frame because beds are too difficult to move regularly to check. I am wondering if lifting the cloth to check will affect the monitors? Any input is greatly appreciated.

Yes I know, you tell yourself not to, and that it could be anything and that skin reactions are not a sign. But during the time you are counting down to being "safe" and "clear" they say go 50-60 days with no bites or signs/sightings of bugs. I made it a couple weeks and suddenly having 4-5 bumps on my knees, with no reason for them, they are red bumps with sometimes white head centers to them. Still no sign of bugs, and the passives are clean but I can't help my heart start racing and my mind starts freaking out that they aren't gone. Then I get more anxious and stressed.

Could there be a reason they may be avoiding the passives, I took a wet rag and wiped the area around the monitors after each time they spray.

I can't say for sure they are bites, I had a few bumps during our treatment and before but it was only 3-4 during the whole couple months so they could of been from anything, so I don't really know how I react to bites. Everyone else in the family is saying they not having any skin reactions but no one was during the treatment or before either.

I just don't know, I want this to be over. I'm tired of freaking out and crying and my anxiety being overboard. I don't really like my PCO but I can afford another one right away and my guarantee time is up now, it's been just over 3 months since they first sprayed.

So the last time I was on this forum was roughly a year ago, the pest control came and I did not have bedbugs. It was a case of carpet beetles. I reacted allergically on them.

However now, I woke up with ( I would say) five zigzag shaped bites they are on the side of my head in the hair (which I think is weird) I would blame it on my acne, I sometimes get acne pimples in my hair even 2 or 3 close together however this seems to be too much of a coincidence?

The only thing I changed recently. I bought a new duvet and bedsheets. they feel kind of itchy but that can't be it (they are brand new)

And I slept over at my friends' place, but they can't travel on me a whole day right? and as far as I know, they don't have Bbugs.

any ideas, suggestions before I turn my place around?

We had bed bugs a few months ago and are still in monitoring phase. We had enormous difficulty getting proper PCO treatment (were sceptical that they needed to do a repeat treatment, did not do an inspection, were reluctant to give a warranty) and made comments like 'oh bed bugs, we don't get them much here' (Canberra, a city of people from elsewhere and tourists!).
So this forum has been so helpful to us as opposed to all the people here in denial!
Bed Bug Barrier has supplied me with floor barriers and DE, and I have encased our mattresses.
However DE is really slow and I Really would like to use other more effective products like , zappbug, pack tire, Cirkil/Proof, and Cimexa. But none of these are available which is so frustrating.
Does anyone know, if I asked a friend to personally bring Cirkil or Cimexa in the U.S. for me, would it be allowed through Customs? Apparently US law prevents them being mailed to me.

I posted about my situation yesterday but I want to update and see if anyone has any new ideas. I've been getting these "bites" for a a few weeks now. At first I got one or two weird red blotches and I thought they were spider bites. As time went on, I started getting these itchy red almost welt like bumps. They only seem to be appearing on exposed skin. It's strange because the bites don't look like typical bites to me. They look more like something that resembles hives kind of. I don't believe I'm having an allergic reaction to laundry soap or dryer sheets because I'm only getting "bites" on my exposed skin and not under my clothes.

I've checked my bed EVERYWHERE for bed bugs for weeks now! I have not even so much as seen an insect, eggs, casings, or even spots and the futon I was sleeping on was white (convinced it was bed bugs I threw out the futon and bought an air mattress as I am paranoid about sleeping so low to the floor now). I check sheets, blankets and pillows daily have not seen anything. My dog does not have fleas, I've checked her daily all over. I've had pets with fleas so I know what the bites are like and how to check. We live in a studio apartment so I thought that finding bugs would be easier but I've seen nothing but the occasional spider and a doubt the same spider is victimizing me night after night.

What I think seems weird is that I have noticed that when I sit in our leather chairs I do not experience any bites however, if I sit on the carpet my skin exposed I have gotten "bites" that are red and welt up. Yesterday I did not sit down in the apartment as I was cleaning for most the day. I ended up with three new "bites" on the back of my leg behind my knee. I felt the itch and looked immediately and saw no bug but the itchy welt instead. Two of the "bites" that were close together seemed to have grew over night and formed one welt which I think is weird. I tend to get the get "bites" when I sleep as it is the only time I am still. I am usually sitting in a plastic ikea chair, standing up or in our leather chairs (metal legs) at home. The problem seems to be the carpet and the bed. As I said, we have an air mattress now so NO cloth. I woke up this morning with a new "bite" under my jaw. I slept covered from the neck down last night. I even covered my hands as the night before I got three "bites" on my hand.

I have no idea what is causing this and it's driving me insane! My husband works 16 hrs a day so he is only home late at night to sleep and he hasn't experienced anything. I feel like I am 90% sure it could be bed bugs because I don't know what else it could be but I haven't seen anything so I can't know for certain. From reading other posts and online I'm wondering if we have carpet beetles? I've never seen ANYTHING like that in our apartment either! But I've read that the hairs can sting and cause an allergic reaction. I'm wondering if it is this now because the "bites" reminded me of stings I got from a stinging nettle plant once as a kid. Another strange thing is that sometimes I feel like a sting or prick under my clothes like there is a pointy hair in the fabric. I check immediately to see if there are bugs or bites and don't see anything.

I'm at my wits end and so stressed out to even be in our apartment! Any ideas? Thank you for reading. I really appreciate it and any help you can give me.

I know these are a lot of pictures but I think they help:
<--I know this one is hard to see but all the "bites" look like this. This one has been healing for a few days. All have a red welty circle with a small bump in middle. They look slightly like bruises as they heal.
Noticed after taking off tight jeans
strange welts
Then to my arms

pretty sure this is a spider beetle and not a bed bug, but need an ID please just to be sure. I found it crawling on the wall right above my sink. If it is a spider beetle: we had a few in the bathroom a few months ago and then they stopped. How do I remedy the problem?

http://imgur.com/EQbRGAf

The Nuvan Strip (65g) and Hot Shot No-Pest Strip (65g) seem to be the same product, no? They are both 18.6 % Dichlorvos (2,2-dichlorovinyl dimethyl phosphate). However, I am curious about their differences:

- The Hot Shot strip is way cheaper ($5.97 per 65g unit at Home Depot vs about $36 for 3 [$12 each 65g unit] for Nuvan online)

- the Hot Shot strip is not indicated for use on bed bugs. In fact, Hot Shot actively says they are not for use on bed bugs (how can this be if they have the same active ingredient??); and

- The Hot Shot strip is available in NY (they sell them in-store at Home Depot in Manhattan), whereas Nuvan strips cannot be shipped to NY due to "regulations", despite being the same active ingredient and size.

Can anyone shed light on their differences?

Also, since I can only get the 65g Hot Shot strip in NY, would it be possible to use the 65g strip in a sealed bag? I know it's overkill, but it's all I can get in NY and they're still cheap ($5.97 each).

Hi

Could someone please tell me if it's not the washing part that kills the bb s but the drying then wouldn't bb s be left behind alive in the washing machine?

Thank you.