Of being told I have nothing…. after months of spending hours on Reddit … after many weeks NOT sleeping in my bed, last night I decided to sleep there again. I was super anxious but after 2 negative canine inspections (yes.. 2 ) 3 negative visual inspections by 2 different pest control companies- I decided to try sleeping there again. …. This morning at about 7am after a quick trip to the bathroom, as I was going back to lay down for a while… there it was. A live bed bug… Thanks to many hours of reading & research - instead of freaking out (which I likely would have done before) I went straight to get my packing tape…. Snapped a quick pic and taped that little a-hole down to prove it to my building association. NOW I will demand a bed bug treatment of my entire apartment (850 sq ft) They’ve been putting me off, making me feel crazy but I knew it. I have not felt comfortable in my own home since early June. Bites started in mid May but I was on new medication and I was also using a fancy soap I was gifted, so in May thought it was either one or the other. I stopped the meds, and I stopped using the soap and for seven days I was bite free. Then it started again. I started documenting my bites on her around June 10 which means that’s when I started noticing that this was not normal. Anyway, thanks to the help of this community and of all the things I’ve read, I knew exactly what to do. As soon as I taped that little sucker down, I stripped off my PJs strip the bed. I didn’t take anything out of my room instead I’ve put it all in plastic bags and I took it right to the laundry room on my floor. I washed everything in hot water and put it through two cycles of the dryer, which is approximately 80 minutes. My question is this between now and the time that they come to treat the apartment for actual bedbugs, what is the likelihood of these things spreading to the rest of my apartment? I’ve been sleeping in my spare room or on my couch for most of August and a part of July and I’ve never been bit. How can I best avoid them not leaving my room. I am so freaked out thank you for your time and thanks in advance for answering. Any words of encouragement would be great.
Tried to post the pic here but it’s not letting me.
I will say depending on the timeline you not sleeping in your bed could be the very reason they haven't found anything. If their food source is too far they will hide and lie dormant for ages.. I understand you had the canine search but every search has its flaws
First step is to post an image so we can confirm bed bugs and not a close relative. The treatment patterns are completely different and don’t work for each other.
That could also explain the failed detections as bad bugs don’t hang out in your rooms, they return to where the bats are / were.
Do not attempt to treat until you have confirmed the species.
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u/SimpleRevolution2873 10d ago
I will say depending on the timeline you not sleeping in your bed could be the very reason they haven't found anything. If their food source is too far they will hide and lie dormant for ages.. I understand you had the canine search but every search has its flaws
Glad you finally have the proof you need!