Hi guys.
Here's my story. This is going to be long, so I apologize in advance, but I hope some of you read through it and can give me some advice and help me out.
Earlier in the year (literally January 3rd, my birthday), a pest control expert confirmed that I had a small infestation in my room after I found one a couple of days later climbing up the bathroom door. Happy birthday to me. He checked the entire apartment, including my roommate's room and our bathroom, and he found signs of bbs only in my room, more specifically, my bed. I was abroad at the time so as soon as I got back I did everything that we were told to do; wash everything that is fabric (we sent our stuff to a professional bedbug laundry and heat treatment service that had great reviews on Yelp), put mattresses and pillows inside mattress cover, checked all my belongings, cleaning them both with alcohol and clorox wipes, and throwing away stuff that I didn't need, and moving
The first treatment was performed on January 7th. I got bit the night before by two bbs that I caught running away after I woke up (the bites manifested themselves a day later, not immediately). I lived out of bags and containers for two weeks. The second treatment was performed January 19th. The pest control guy said we hadn't found any new eggs, droppings, shells or bugs, so he gave me green light to call the bb laundry service to have my clothes and stuff I sent to have heat treated back. I slowly started going "back to normal", still being very careful and checking my bed regularly. I also dusted DE under my bed and inside the drawers (I have a bed with storage drawers) just in case.
As most people did, since I saw the first bug, all my body would itch constantly. I have bad skin allergies as well as dry skin, so this is normal for me, but now I was hyper aware of it. I've also been diagonest with severe anxiety disorder and depression, so saying that this ordeal affected my anxiety is an understatement. I kept telling myself that it was just my dry skin and my brain playing tricks on me. Until January 29th, when I found two bumps with a red mark in the center of them, on my knee. I tried to calm myself down telling myself "a lot of other bugs bite! probably a spider or a mosquito bite!" Unfortunately, the next day, when I woke up and went to the bathroom to get ready for work, I found an adult bedbug on the bathroom floor. Again, in the bathroom. It was upside down, like it had just fallen of of me and trying to get up. I saved it with clear tape and called both my landlord and the exterminator. I was very upset during work, and when I got back, I decided to check my coat. There was another bedbug right in the middle of the back of my coat. I saved it, and freaked out.
The exterminator said that I was probably bringing them from work, cause he was certain he hadn't found absolutely anything the last time he was here. He still came back on February 1st and did a third treatment. He didn't find any signs of bedbugs and kept insisting I was bringing them from work.
I am a teaching artist and a movement/soccer coach for kids. I work in SEVERAL different locations during the week. I still called my supervisors and bosses and asked them if they could help me out scouting the locations and asking whoever was in charge of each if they had had bb problems before or if they could have an exterminator do a check. I am fortunate to work with very understanding and helpful people, and they have been helping me with this. Till now, none of them locations that have gotten back to us have found signs of bedbugs.
For the next weeks I went back to living out of plastic bags and the same three outfits. I packed everything again, throwing away more stuff and washing all my stuff again. It has crossed my mind that maybe those bugs came with the stuff I sent to the professional cleaning service. That they somehow survived, because the weeks before, which I spent sleeping in my roommate's room since he was out of town (the exterminator said it was ok since I had been abroad for several weeks and the stuff I had with me was clear of eggs and bugs), and also spent a couple of days at a friend's house, when my roommate came back and I couldn't sleep in my room cause I decided to throw away my mattress before the second treatment, and I didn't get bit or found anything during that time. My roommate has never been bit or seen anything in his room, bugs or evidence, confirmed by the exterminator, he is completely clear. Since all the clothes were already clean from the cleaning service, I put them through the dryer for two hours on HIGH. Yes, I ruined several of my blouse, but at this point, I really don't care. They're just clothes. I did this literally three days ago, when I finally got the courage of trying to go back to a normal living after not seeing any signs for almost a month.
I even bought a ZappBug heater, because it would be more affordable for me to invest in that and use it as many time as I needed that to send my stuff back to the professional service.
I had to bumps in the following weeks, without a red mark in the center, that disappeared a couple of hours after I found them. I still freaked out when I did, but they never itch. I figured, since I had had a clear reaction (bump with red mark in the center and itchiness) in the other bites that were confirmed bedbug bites, and these didn't have those signs, that these must be pimples or allergy hives.
I also bought a passive monitor.
Everywhere I went I would put all my stuff inside plastic bags and would constantly check my clothes before leaving and use a lint roller to get any stuff out.
I thought I was safe until the night of February 24th, when I noticed a couple of black spots on my pillows. I didn't find anything on the monitor, so I just took pictures of the spots so I could monitor them. I thought they could be just spots.
But tonight, at 2am in the morning, when I got up to go to the bathroom, again, a bug. This time, a nymph, on the bathroom floor. I am so paranoid and hyper alert that even half asleep I was able to spot it on the floor.
Needless to say, I had a bad anxiety attack, my roommate had to talk me through it. I put all my clothes inside bags, again. All my other stuff is still inside bags and containers, even the stuff I treated in the ZappBug heater.
So here come the questions. There are several.
1. What are the odds that these f***kers are surviving the treatments?
2. What are the chances they are surviving the washing of my clothes?
3. What are the chances that I am in fact bringing them in from one of the locations I work at, even though these locations haven't found anything, no one else that works there has had a bb problem, and I am placing all my stuff inside plastic bags as soon as I get there? Seriously, people think I am insane.
4. There are gaps between the walls and the floors in my room, which I "sealed" with steel wool a while back because we've had mice problems and I was scared they could come in through there; could they be living and hiding inside the walls and coming out after some time?
Please, someone shed some light on this. I don't know what to think anymore. Should I ask my landlord to call a different exterminator? I want to move out because, besides the bedbugs, the pest problem in this apartment is getting out of hand, and I cannot deal with this anymore. I realize I could be taking bedbugs wherever I go, but I wouldn't take any of my furniture. By now, I don't give a F about my furniture. I would rather start new and just take my clothes and keep heat treating the little stuff I haven't thrown away, which is basically my books.
Let me know if you need any more information. I know there's a lot of professionals and people with a lot of experience on this site, and I really need help. It's 5am, and obviously the exterminator and/or my landlord are not going to pick up the phone right now.
Thanks in advance.