# bedbugs!



## EdipisReks (Jun 6, 2011)

i think i have bedbug psychosis. a couple days ago, i found a bedbug on the curtain by my laundry hamper. i'm almost completely sure that it was a stowaway from somewhere i visited on Saturday, maybe the movie theater (Cincinnati is right behind NYC as the bedbug capitol of US). it was a late stage larvae, according to pictures i found online, so not an egg layer yet. i haven't found any signs of any additional bedbug presence, and i've torn my apartment apart twice in the last two days, with no evidence of an infestation, yet every time i feel something on my skin, real or imagined, i jump. my neighbors across the hall seem like the kind of people who would have bedbugs. i think the bedbugs are watching me when i go outside. i think the bedbugs can read my thoughts. i think the bedbugs killed JFK. arrrrgggghhhhh. i have a large bottle of sterifab coming to me and perhaps, if i douse myself and my environs with it, seven times a day, and wear tissue boxes for shoes like Howard Hughes, and perhaps burn the building down, the bedbugs will stop invading my dreams. my building does have a few nice house spiders, perhaps i can coax them into an alliance against the brain bugs that feed on my emotions. it's a communist plot to sap and impurify my precious bodily fluids

what is it about bedbugs that just drives one crazy, even when they aren't there?


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## Eamon Burke (Jun 6, 2011)

Because they are tenacious little a**holes, that's why! I've moved TWICE because of them, and lost thousands in furniture. My wife and I slept on a pull-out couch mattress directly on the floor(she even delivered a baby on it!), for 2 years because of bedbugs destroying 3 poorly designed, crack-riddled bedframes.

There is now a bedbug sniffer tool, and you can use dogs to smell them out.

We can't even eat flax seeds at our house because if one goes stray, my wife gets flashbacks and goes shell shocked, on an obsessive swat-search killing binge.

KILL
THEM
ALL.


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## EdipisReks (Jun 6, 2011)

man, if i have gone as crazy as i have over finding one stray, i'd hate to see what i'd be like if they infested.


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## Pensacola Tiger (Jun 6, 2011)

EdipisReks said:


> man, if i have gone as crazy as i have over finding one stray, i'd hate to see what i'd be like if they infested.


 
In that case, I wouldn't recommend watching "Joe's Apartment":

[video]http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi698941721/[/video]


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## EdipisReks (Jun 6, 2011)

roaches i can handle.


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## tk59 (Jun 6, 2011)

Yeah. A few years ago I picked up an English house sparrow chick outside. A little while later (a few seconds?), I realized little mites were crawling up my arm. I was paranoid about the little buggers crawling on me for weeks.


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## SpikeC (Jun 6, 2011)

You need to spray your space with DMSO. It will kill them all!


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## EdipisReks (Jun 6, 2011)

heh. i was thinking maybe hydrofluoric.


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## mr drinky (Jun 6, 2011)

Yeah, I have a bit of that paranoia going on too. I was in Dallas staying at an extended-stay hotel last spring and woke up to find an engorged bedbug on my chest. I slept the rest of the night on the table and checked out the next morning. Now when I come home from a trip, I put all of my clothes (dry) in the dryer at high heat, vacuum out my bag, and zip everything up tight. 

I think if I found one in my house I would pay for the heat treatment. I hear it is expensive, but what will cost more is if you throw out a lot of furniture, find that you didn't get rid of them, and then have to throw out another round of furniture. 

Now when I get any bug bite I wonder if it is a bedbug, and I about went nuts a couple summers ago when I got a bunch of chigger bites on my legs. And now it is wood tick season, and they even sort of look like bedbugs. 

k.


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## heirkb (Jun 6, 2011)

Bed bugs just suck. No way to get around it. I've had to deal with them once in NYC and they're a total pain. I'm surprised you guys lost furniture because of them, though. Can't you have the furniture, matresses, etc. sprayed like mr drinky mentioned? That's what I did and it was fine after than.

Like mr drinky I always worry that any bite at all is a bedbug bite. Until I see that "breakfast, lunch, and dinner" pattern, though, I don't think I'll freak out too much. That's when you see multiple bites concentrated really close to one another.


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## Eamon Burke (Jun 7, 2011)

They don't get sprayed, the bedbugs North America is seeing now are completely immune to attacks on their sodium channel, which is how most insecticides work. The only way to kill them is to squash them(which is hella hard to do successfully), heat them to over 110F, or dry them out by slicing up their shells(but they are thicker shelled now too). The heat treatment for an apartment is so expensive it is cheaper to move, and once they are there, they are in the walls, floors, ceilings, a/c ducts, unused heater vents, porches, carpets, EVERYWHERE.


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## Potato42 (Jun 7, 2011)

ok now I'm getting paranoid...:scared1:


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## heirkb (Jun 7, 2011)

Having dealt with them once, I would certainly recommend being paranoid. They are, as everyone else has said over and over again, a total pain in the ass. Don't pick up anything fibrous or porous off the street, avoid used stuff that can harbor them (fibrous or porous), and if you ever buy a used book, stick it in the oven at 120 or so for an hour, because they can live in the binding. I did that with all my books, notebooks, papers, etc. (being a student and getting bedbugs SUCKS, especially when it happens around exams) since I didn't want to buy any of the special heating units you can buy for killing bedbugs.

Oh and this post:


johndoughy said:


> They don't get sprayed, the bedbugs North America is seeing now are completely immune to attacks on their sodium channel, which is how most insecticides work. The only way to kill them is to squash them(which is hella hard to do successfully), heat them to over 110F, or dry them out by slicing up their shells(but they are thicker shelled now too). The heat treatment for an apartment is so expensive it is cheaper to move, and once they are there, they are in the walls, floors, ceilings, a/c ducts, unused heater vents, porches, carpets, EVERYWHERE.



All I can say is F***!


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## apicius9 (Jun 7, 2011)

Dang, the only good thing about them bugs is they create more work for my colleagues who do therapy. Nasty critters. I have just about arranged myself with the idea that roaches are impossible to avoid on a tropical island in a wooden house structure, but I really hope that these bed bugs never make it over here - well, most likely they are here somewhere, but I haven't seen any, yet. And I won't look.

Stefan


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## Eamon Burke (Jun 7, 2011)

Keep in mind that they don't transmit any disease or sickness at all. They are so common now, they aren't quite the stigma they were when I had them('08). Some people don't even get itchy from them! I thought the bites were some kind of allergy, and when it became apparent they were bites, everyone refused to come to my house(including some people that were supposed to be caring for and supporting my pregnant wife), and people at my job thought I was unclean. It was really embarrassing. Today it is different; as they said on SNL, if you don't have bedbugs, you ain't s**t.


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## heirkb (Jun 8, 2011)

I don't know, those bites are still disgusting. I'd hate to be covered with those bedbug bites even if they don't transmit diseases.


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## mano (Jun 8, 2011)

You know the bedbugs have taken over when they start using your small appliances while you sleep.

It's just a matter of time.


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## Francesca (Jun 13, 2011)

yeah agree with you...my testing also proving this thing.. read.. http://www.whatdobedbugslooklike.net/interesting-bed-bugs-pictures.html


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## EdipisReks (Apr 16, 2012)

i thought i would update this. i did end up having a small bedbug infestation, this past year. i threw things away, put hospital grade mattress and pillow covers on, and sprayed Nisus Fireback and Sterifab. that is what the hospital i work at (probably where the bugs came from) uses. it drastically cut down, but didn't quite finish things. then, my landlord sprayed BASF Phantom into all the floor cracks, and i sprayed Delta Dust into corners. i repeated twice, every few weeks (he left the can of Phantom, which was enough for several sprayings). i haven't seen any evidence since, and it has been several months. the Delta Dust and the BASA Phantom was almost magic. within three days of spraying, there was almost nothing. i then saw two more bedbugs, a couple weeks later, and then nothing at all. BASF Phantom and Delta Dust are easily purchased online, and i think they are great! i ended up giving my fiancé some bites (i never had any bites, so i guess i just don't have an allergic reaction to them), but a couple sprays of Phantom fixed that. it has been 6 months since she had any bites, so i'd say we are in the clear! Phantom/Delta Dust, winner. these ****ers can come from anywhere, but diligence will destroy the issue.


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## Johnny.B.Good (Apr 16, 2012)

I'm scared to death of them.

Speaking of scary, how about this:

[video]http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=e4a_1334156442[/video]

I don't know what I would do if this happened to me.


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## EdipisReks (Apr 17, 2012)

fire


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## Johnny.B.Good (Apr 17, 2012)

What did you feel the need to throw away when trying to rid yourself of the bedbugs? Clothes? Furniture?

I feel itchy just thinking about it.


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## EdipisReks (Apr 17, 2012)

the rug under my bed and curtains next to it. all Ikea, and nothing expensive. the Delta Dust and Phantom would have killed everything, but throwing away was the first thing i did.


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## Johnny.B.Good (Apr 17, 2012)

I'm thinking about buying my first place (probably a condominium), and the thought of one of my new neighbors having bedbugs really worries me. They sound like a nightmare. I'll have to make a note of your solution in case it ever happens to me.


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## EdipisReks (Apr 17, 2012)

go ahead and use delta dust and phantom.


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## Johnny.B.Good (Apr 17, 2012)

EdipisReks said:


> go ahead and use delta dust and phantom.



I have a touch of OCD when it comes to cleanliness and organization (just shy of needing medication). I'm sure before I move in anywhere new I will strip carpet (if it exists), paint all surfaces, and fumigate or whatever while it's empty before I do anything else.


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## EdipisReks (Apr 17, 2012)

I'm crazy about cleanliness, and it didn't matter. Spray. Seriously. Working at a hospital doesn't help, but spray.


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## Johnny.B.Good (Apr 17, 2012)

EdipisReks said:


> I'm crazy about cleanliness, and it didn't matter.



That's what worries me.

Let's just say I end up sharing a wall with someone that has them, am I then in danger?


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## Eamon Burke (Apr 17, 2012)

Here's my remedy for bedbugs. If you see one, the FIRST time you see it, go and get a strike-anywhere match and a blanket. Then burn your house down and sleep on a park bench.






OK don't do that. Bu that is how they made me feel. Seriously, Bedbugs are insanely tenacious. It's one of the reasons my wife and I couldn't wait to get out of our apartment. They aren't the end of the world, they just piss you off so bad all the time because they won't. go. away.


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## EdipisReks (Apr 17, 2012)

Johnny.B.Good said:


> Let's just say I end up sharing a wall with someone that has them, am I then in danger?



likely yes, but they really don't transfer as readily as the media likes to pretend.

Eamon is right about the buggers (heh) being tenacious, which is why multiple chemicals and physical barriers are the way to go.


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## Johnny.B.Good (Apr 17, 2012)

EdipisReks said:


> likely yes, but they really don't transfer as readily as the media likes to pretend.
> 
> Eamon is right about the buggers (heh) being tenacious, which is why multiple chemicals and physical barriers are the way to go.



Maybe I'll just look for a nice cabin in the woods somewhere made out of polished concrete with furniture of the same.


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## EdipisReks (Apr 17, 2012)

i think that's a good idea. or perhaps just an empty, featureless steel cube.


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## Eamon Burke (Apr 17, 2012)

:spitcoffee:


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## WildBoar (Apr 17, 2012)

EdipisReks said:


> i think that's a good idea. or perhaps just an empty, featureless steel cube.


Or, a nice firestorm damascus cube, with convexed walls and a mokume toilet with a burled wood handle :cool2:

Of course the leather strop T.P. with the 0.25 micron diamond spray might scratch a little...


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## Deckhand (Apr 17, 2012)

When I ran medical departments in Newport beach I treated a few outbreaks of scabies at treatment center houses. One client comes in with them. Then, they end up everywhere. Nasty creatures.


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## mr drinky (Apr 17, 2012)

If I ever had the bugs, I would use those bed bug sniffing dogs in conjunction with the heat treatment and the spray sh!t. Btw, I wish someone would come up with a plug-in container that you could put your travel bags in after staying at a hotel and it would slowly heat it up to ensure no bed bugs are living in the bags. 

k.


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## Andrew H (Apr 17, 2012)

mr drinky said:


> If I ever had the bugs, I would use those bed bug sniffing dogs in conjunction with the heat treatment and the spray sh!t. Btw, I wish someone would come up with a plug-in container that you could put your travel bags in after staying at a hotel and it would slowly heat it up to ensure no bed bugs are living in the bags.
> 
> k.



Patent that.


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## WildBoar (Apr 17, 2012)

Funny, but I met a guy last month who trains the dogs and makes a very good living sending them around the country to check hotel rooms.


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## Crothcipt (Apr 18, 2012)

Andrew H said:


> Patent that.


lus1: no joke either.


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## mr drinky (Apr 19, 2012)

Andrew H said:


> Patent that.



Too late. But I might get one of these. I remember I stayed in a hotel in Dallas once and found a bedbug feasting on my chest in the evening. I was worried for a month afterwards that those buggy bastards had hitched a ride in my luggage. I put most everything I could in the dryer, but some items like jackets, suitcases, shoes and other delicate items couldn't be put through the dryer treatment. 

http://www.bedbugsupply.com/product.asp?itemid=157&gclid=CL2-pIeywa8CFeUEQAodVE-lyg

k.


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## BobCat (Apr 20, 2012)




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