OK, so I just can't work out if I have BB or if my problem is something else.
I have some reasons to think I have an active bedbug infestation... and some indications that it might not be. It'd be great if you could let me know what you think based on the following:
Reasons I think I might have bedbugs:
(1) I wake up every morning with at least 5 red itchy welts of varying sizes. Some days there are 20 or even more. They can appear at various times throughout the day.
(2) I have found some black marks on the my bed frame and on the baseboard at the foot of my bed.
(3) I think I have more black marks on my bed frame than I did a month ago.
(4) I had a pest control professional visit to treat my room, and he was pretty confident that the marks I showed him were BB fecal.
(5) I found what I thought was a 1st stage BB nymph. (I killed it with alcohol but then annoyingly I lost it when I was trying to photograph it)
(6) I know I react to BB bites because I was bitten before in a confirmed infestation in a hotel
Things which make me doubt an active infestation:
(i) I have had a passive monitor installed for over a month which has produced no evidence.
(ii) If I'm not mistaken, this number of bites would indicate a fairly heavy infestation... but I haven't made any positive sightings and neither did the PCO.
(iii) The treatment made absolutely no difference .
(iv) I don't know if the new black marks I have found are actually new or if I've just got more eagle eyed as a result of practiced paranoia.
(v) I might have misidentified the bug which I caught. It was less than 1mm long and I'm no entomologist.
(vi) My girlfriend spent two weeks in my bed since I have been experiencing these symptoms and she did not get any reaction at all. I know many people do not react, but she has had a reaction to BB bites in a past (confirmed) encounter with these critters
(vii) I recently visited two different locations for a week each. Despite taking very stringent precautions,* I got about the same number of itchy welts each night as when I am at home in my suspected infestation. Both places are almost certainly BB free. One of them was visited by a PCO who turned the place inside out and found no evidence of BB whatsoever.
*(tumble dried all clothes on high heat, inspected carefully and steamed non-launderable items such as coat, shoes, bag)
FYI this is my previous topic if you wanted more details or photos:
http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/please-id-bites-fecal-stainsblood-stains-thank-you