So I have had a super serious fear of bed bugs since they started hitting the news. I have psoraisis, and severe reactions to bugs in general. I am always itching and have random splotches. I even get splotches from time to time that swell up, look like a bug bite and then go away. Wheals, hives, you name it. I hate getting bitten and I hate bugs in general. You can't even imagine the panic attack that ensued when I was attacked by a room of fleas. But in any case...
I had some guests stay on Friday and Saturday this weekend. I ended up sleeping in the guest room which I do from time to time as there is a black out curtain in there and it keeps things dark. No one else but me has slept in there for over a month. On Sunday afternoon, I get this weird sensation and I am like "uh-oh" because I know it is a bug bite developing. I can just tell. See, when I get flea bites or mosquito bites, nothing happens at all for hours. Then out of nowhere, my skin freaks the hell out and I get a welt. I got this splotch of bites and it looked like two bites. Later after my skin calmed down, it looked more like three bites in a line. Of course this has me spazzing out. They are right above my waist line on my stomach. I have a bit of a gut so this is the part that hangs a little tiny bit over my waist. Ok maybe more than a tiny bit.
My husband (we're both men) was house sitting for a couple who have a cat and I went over and saw him at their house the night before. I did squat down to pet and play with the cat. I also took a shower and laid down on the bed for awhile.
So I guess my question is what other bugs would be able to make that three bite line? When I get flea bites, they are usually much worse than this. These bites are mild and now that they are dissipating after two days, I see that they are in a line and there are three in a tight line. I sleep on my side and so I could see that being a way for the bed bug to get to that spot.
I live in an apartment building and called the management company today. The woman on the phone was very nonchalant like "do you see any actual signs of bed bugs?" and "if you did have them, you could have brought them in from a restaurant or theater". I asked if they would come in and spray and she said no that they don't just come in and treat because someone has three bites in a row even though I assumed that is a telltale bed bug sign. Maybe they get insane people calling them a lot. She said "we use COMPANY NAME for bugs but we use OTHER COMPANY NAME for bed bugs and termites" which was not that reassuring. I asked if they have ever had bed bugs in other units in my building (they manage a large number of apartment buildings) and she said no. But then she also said that once they (the bbs) have a host, they don't up and move to another place (I thought they were highly mobile) so they probably would not go from unit to unit (which according to what I have I read is not a true statement).
I ripped apart the room looking for anything. Vacuumed everything I could. Searched through the dust with tweezers and a magnifying glass in the tub. Cleaned the bedding. No signs of blood, feces, etc. Got rid of lots of things. Did I mention that I went through this in the fall when I got two bites on the back of my leg? We travel a lot and I am super paranoid when we go so I would consider myself quite cautious. And I find it odd that a bed bug would rise up out of nowhere and start biting me even though I had been in the room for the past month on and off and the last people that stayed there as guests do not have bed bugs as far as I know.
I guess that my only choice is to play the waiting game. I feel that I did my duty in warning them and if a full fledged infestation occurs, it won't be my "fault". My mind races like crazy. I have panic attacks a lot about stuff so this is nothing new. I was pulling down the art on the wall (too look for bugs) and there was a picture with a huge black mold spot on the wall behind it and I was like "whatever" and my husband was like OMG OMG OMG so I guess we all have our "things". The mgmt company fixed that problem the next day.
ANYWAY- anyone else have bites in a row that never turned into anything serious?