(no subject)

[auntiemeesh]

Ugh. I went to bed at 2:30, tossed and turned for an hour before finally falling asleep, slept for one hour and woke up with three new bites! I couldn't bear the thought of getting back into bed, so I've been up since 4:30. This is not a good long-term solution. I guess I'll be calling around and talking to exterminators, trying to find someone reputable, who sounds like he knows what he's doing, who I can afford. And if I can find such a miracle person, I'll have to start believing in Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny again, too. In the meantime, I have to face work on one hour of sleep. And the biggest challenge there might be finding clothing to wear that doesn't actually touch any of the bites, because every touch aggravates them and makes them itch more.

Comments

[shirebound]

So frustrating about the bites! If I run hot water (as hot as I can stand) over bites, I find that it soothes the itching temporarily.

[auntiemeesh.livejournal.com]

I tried that in the shower this morning. :)

[lyda-pearl.livejournal.com]

another thing to try is get a plastic bed cover and wash all bedding in hot water...means a laundromat I know :(....good luck. Never get bites sitting on floor? Sure it isn't fleas?

[auntiemeesh.livejournal.com]

I can't be a hundred percent certain about anything, since I haven't seen any actual bugs. But the bites are consistent with bed bug bites, in appearance, the way they're clustered, and the fact that they are growing progressively more itchy as the days pass.

Bed enclosures are on the list of things to buy, along with a steam cleaner if I can find one that gets consistently good reviews. I washed all the bedding on Saturday but at this point, I think I need to do an intensive de-cluttering of the apartment and then a deep clean, get the bed enclosures and wash everything again once they're here. In the meantime, I may have to start throwing the next day's clothes in a hot dryer for an hour or two in the evening, sealing it up in a bag overnight so as to not be carrying stuff to work with me.

It's really too bad that cleaning isn't my strong suit. I feel hopelessly outsmarted by these bugs.

[eve11]

Ugh :(

If you want help doing a deep clean let me know. You can rent steam cleaners and stuff from places like Lowe's or Home Depot. D and I are going away this weekend but I'll be around in the evenings this week if you want help scrubbing/vaccuuming/transporting cleaning equipment/etc.

(Also I can totally understand the frustration and helplessness feelings and stuff; at one point last summer I was so infuriated by the stinkbugs infesting my house that I broke down crying in my living room)

[auntiemeesh.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the offer of help. I may take you up on it later in the week. Morgan is coming over tonight (weather permitting - she's on her bike) to help me out. She claims to be a super cleaner, which is what I need. I walked in my door after work, looked at the disaster awaiting me and just froze. I don't even know where to start. *sigh*

On the plus side, the building manager at work, who is just a really good guy, let me borrow his steam cleaner for as long as I need it, so I don't need to buy one. One thing I can save a little money on, thank goodness!

[kay-brooke.livejournal.com]

Ugh, I'm so sorry about the bites and the itching. If your deep clean doesn't work and you still can't find evidence of bed bugs, I'd suggest going to a doctor. Several months ago I had itchy bites all over me that just kept getting worse, and I thought they were caused by bed bugs. It turned out to be scabies, which can be mistaken for bed bug bites (red bumps occuring in clusters, the itching getting worse over time, etc.), but which is way easier and cheaper to eradicate than bed bugs.

I second using hot water to ease the itching. Have you tried Benadryl? It didn't really help with the itching, but it did make me drowsy enough that I was able to get more than an hour or so of sleep at night.

[auntiemeesh.livejournal.com]

I'm all in favor of anything that is easier and cheaper. It's interesting that you mentioned scabies because all of the bed bug sites mention people who got treated for scabies by their doctors to no avail, before finally finding a bed bug and getting the proper extermination plan going.

Hot water seems to aggravate the irritation and burning itch of the bites, but ice feels pretty darn good. I'm tempted to just sit in a cold bath all evening.

[ani-no-mouse.livejournal.com]

Oh no! I'm so sorry! I hope that work was not too terrible and that you are able to get this taken care of quickly!

[auntiemeesh.livejournal.com]

Work was sort of bearable in that way that you can achieve when you haven't slept but it hasn't really hit you yet that you haven't slept. Made a little bit awful for the misery of the bites.

[antbee362.livejournal.com]

I think the ice is a much better way to stop the itching. I am glad you have friends/coworkers or whatever who are willing to help you out. Take full advantage and I hope you find the cause and a solution soon.

[auntiemeesh.livejournal.com]

The doctor put me on once a day claritin, but it only provides relief for about seven hours, so the rest of the time, it's ice all the way.

[westwindschild.livejournal.com]

Just starting to read LJ again. So sorry you are having this problem. Your landlady should pay for the exterminator - that is fairly standard landlord-tenant procedure. Have you tried applying a baking soda paste to the bites? That sometimes soothes them. A clean compress soaked in white vinegar also sometimes helps, although if the skin is broken it will sting a bit before it starts to soothe. When I was about 5 and we all had chicken pox, Mom sprinkled the lesions with cornstarch. I don't remember that I stopped scratching, so it may not have been very helpful, but as a last resort it might be something to try. I hope that you get relief very soon!

[auntiemeesh.livejournal.com]

I'm very happy not to have to pay for an exterminator!

Baking soda worked but now that the blisters are breaking and oozing, it just stings without providing any relief. Ice helps a lot. If only I could wrap my body in ice 24/7 things would be a lot easier, lol.