To ask if you ever get blood on your bed sheets? Bed bugs..

[Waitrosescheapestvodka]

We had bed bugs confirmed 18 months ago. Tiny infestation, no bugs seen or evidence found other than blood spots smeared on the sheets, and 2 bugs caught in a trap that you put on the legs of your bed. No bites, we assumed that neither me or DH react (apparently 1/3 of people don't).

Since then I've become very neurotic about checking bed sheets for blood. I check every morning. When we've found blood I have insisted on getting pest control out and washing everything on a hot wash. This has happened 3 times now. We haven't seen other evidence or caught more bugs, despite the traps still being in place.

I have found a blood spot today again. DH thinks it's from scratched acne or (sorry) his outbreak of piles. He thinks I'm being neurotic. I want to believe this but feel triggered!

So MN, do you ever find blood spots on your linen?

Op it sounds like you're being a bit obsessive over this. You had a problem and I think it has been solved now... It sounds like pest control seem to think so anyway. Sorry I hope that's not sounding horrible but it sounds like you're worrying too much. I don't know if we ever have small spots of blood on our bed because I've never checked for them. My period often leaks (heavy flow and super night time pads don't seem to contain it) but it's immediately apparent and the cause is obvious when that happens.

It sounds like there's rational bed-bug free explanations for small blood spots on your sheets and you need to calm down a little bit. Easier said than done maybe. I really hope I don't sound mean as I know it's awful when you start to obsess over things and you can't stop.

I have worked in an environment where there were bed bugs and they are practically indestructible unfortunately. They live behind pictures, behind wallpaper and soft furnishings and feed at night. Attracted to heat and CO2. Much worse in the summer.

I would get rid of the bed, boil wash all bedding, wet wash carpets, wash and dry all clothes in your drawers and wardrobes on a hot wash and hot dry. Consider changing all of your furnishings, including sofa's. Call a different pest control company who understand the difficulty in treating bed bugs - it's ongoing.

I have scratched myself in my sleep and bled. I've also had a few occasions where I've had blood on my pillow from a little nosebleed at night

Ok, not many night time bleeders. And I'm not convinced hemorroids would cause a little blood spot.

I have been quoted 1k for a heat treatment. Seems like a small price to pay for relative sanity.

And if there are more blood spots a couple of weeks after the heat treatment, what then? Would you accept that it’s probably not bedbugs or is this going to carry on? I don’t think the treatment will necessarily give you piece of mind.

It just seems unlikely it's from DH. Hemmorroids don't cause blood spots in beds, do they? I can't find a single reference to this online. And he has no obvious broken skin in the area (lower back/arse).

And if there are more blood spots a couple of weeks after the heat treatment, what then?

To be honest, in that case it will be more likely that the bed bugs are not gone than the OP is being paranoid. Unless you have had them it is almost impossible to understand how tenacious they are and how difficult to irradicate. The pest people we use change their chemicals every few months because the bugs develop resistance. You have to be brutal about heat treating every single piece of fabric in the house, eliminating clutter, bagging everything in between treatments. This isn't like getting rid of ants or mice.

OP, I suggest you do a fair bit of googling before buying any more treatments. Heat treatment really only works in very small areas - I wonder if it would work in a house. A different pest control person who takes you seriously might be better. Also google what you need to do with regards to treating clothes etc. There are actually a ton of blogs/sites etc out there - they are a huge problem in big american cities, especially NY.

You can also buy a heat drier thing that you can put your bags into after travelling to make sure you kill anything.

Complete sympathy with your state of mind OP

We had bedbugs earlier this year and NOTHING could have prepared me for the psychological after effects. In the past we've had flea infestations and when the DC were little we had the inevitable headlice several times, I've lived in properties with mice and rats, even cockroaches in one place.

None of them compare to bedbugs in terms of the anxiety and paranoia you are left with afterwards. I still lurch awake sometimes if the corner of a pillow tickles my face.

It's highly unlikely you have them again though, and pest control companies really should not be treating for them unless they have positively identified that you have them (not from blood spots on the sheets but from sightings of live bugs, cast skins or, most commonly, faecal spots.)

You could put the traps round the bed legs again, just to monitor, if that would help your peace of mind. Also you might want to post on this forum:

bedbugger.com/forum/

There are a lot of pest control experts on there who can help you keep things in perspective.

So I called three new companies.

Bedbugsuk won't even come out without hard evidence of bugs. And they don't fumigate or use heat.

One said only heat treatments work alongside fumigation

One said heat trestments don't work and are a waste of money, only thorough and persistent fumigation works.

I have no idea what to do, but I'm now itchy as fuck.

No experience with bedbugs, but DP has psoriasis and we have blood spots on sheets around his side of the bed several times a week probably. Just small ones I just notice when cleaning. So in our house it would be standard enough.

I have no idea what to do

What you do is stop.

I forgot to answer your original question - yes we sometimes get small blood spots on the sheets - from cut fingers, scratched spots, mosquito bites, eczema, kitten injuries, sore nose skin, cracked lips bla bla bla bla. This is normal.

No reputable pest control company will treat bedbugs that they have not confirmed are there.

Bedbug spots are often more like black felt pen dots than fresh blood. Fresh blood may well be a spot.

Bedbugs are horrible but a single blood spot isn’t evidence they are back.

I completely understand where you are coming from.

I had and still have bites often. However, 2 years have passed and never seen any evidence of them so I don't know the source of my bites, I know by this point in time, they'd have reproduced plenty and I'd have seen signs by now, but I recall spending every evening for a week reading about them on various websites and how horrendous they are to get rid of. It genuinely troubled me.

So I understand where you're coming from.

But I sometimes get blood smears on the sheets and I know it's because (yes I know) I pick at scabs or ingrown hairs etc so don't immediately assume it's bugs.
It was horrific and I was so so scared that it was them

We used bedbugs uk. It took 4 months to be completely clear.

We had moderate infestations on two beds. They sent out a lovely calm woman who took the beds to bits and steamed the fuck out of them, then put everything back together and dusted all the joints with diatomaceous earth. She showed us where they were living and what the signs were, and explained how to repeat the treatment in 2 weeks. We only had to bag up a few things that were next to or under the bed, plus all dirty laundry was sealed in soluble bags to be washed at at least 60.

It didn't solve the problem 100%, a few stragglers were left. These were eventually dealt with by dusting around with Cimexa, which is a fine powder made from silica gel (do not eat!). It works in the same way as diatomaceous earth but is much more effective - it dries them out within 24-48 hours. It's not available in the UK but you'll probably find it on ebay with a hefty charge for posting from the US. Still cheaper than a heat treatment.

Crucially none of these methods make matters worse. Bedbugs are becoming resistant to all known chemical pesticides. People say 'bring back DDT' but even that had stopped being effective by the time it was phased out. If you overdo chemical treatment, and especially if you use foggers or bug bombs (or let a pest control person use one) you risk making things worse. What doesn't kill them makes them scatter and that's when they turn up all over the place - behind wallpaper, in electrical sockets, all over your house etc.

The trick with bedbugs is you need to ninj up on them, not blast them with shock and awe.

Also you have a 4 month old child in the house and any pesticides you use will be far more harmful to him than the bedbugs themselves.

If you do have bedbugs at the moment, then they are clearly pretty well under control. If you don't, then you might theoretically get them again after another trip abroad by your dh.

Either way the absolute certainty that you don't have any bedbugs which you're looking for is a mirage. You'll never get that certainty, or if you do you won't necessarily be able to keep it very long.

I would be inclined to keep right on top of all the cleaning and clutter as a general principle, hot wash all the bedding regularly, and otherwise not worry about it unless one day you see actual definite evidence, at which point at least you'll have something definite to show pest control firms.

Oh god. I don't know what to do. 'Wait and see' feels intolerable, I know I won't sleep tonight as it is. It's disturbing that before we did have them with only blood as evidence.

But I also don't want to expose DS to chemicals.

Bed bugs are all I can think of right now. They have really sucked the joy from my life.

It's disturbing that before we did have them with only blood as evidence.

No, you also had live bugs in your traps.

Nothing you have written suggests you still have bedbugs.

There is almost always blood on my sheets. I have severe skin allergies and I scratch myself in my sleep.

Better recently with new meds, but dozens of spots a night was normal for a couple of years.

We never found a live bug in a trap, only ever dead ones after fumigation.

More blood today, on DH's side again but in a totally different location.

I really, really want it not to be bugs, but I just can't see another explaination.

Bedbugs.co.uk are the only company, in my opinion. Sprays and fumigation prolong the process, driving the bedbugs away who then return ages later. They can survive without feeding for a year.

They move very quickly so be careful how you wash your bedding - fold it up very carefully in your bedroom, don’t just take it to the washing machine in a random heap. We bought special plastic bags that went into the washing machine (but your infestation seems light so I wouldn’t bother with these).

You’re in it for the long haul. Do NOT sell your bed. Once you resign yourself to it, it is fine. We spent £££ and 6 months getting rid of it, but we’ve never had them again.

Buy their trap: www.amazon.co.uk/Bed-Bugs-Limited-Passive-Monitor/dp/B00SJEH0R0/ref=mp_s_a_1_5?keywords=bed+bug+trap&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&qid=1575353784&sr=8-5#aw-udpv3-customer-reviews_feature_div. And check it every week - just remove the plastic top, and stare into it against the light, checking the corrugated card is clear.

They are nocturnal so you won’t find them easily.

The worst bit is effect on mental health due to being unable to relax in bed.

Remember it is a finite process and you can only do what’s within your remit of control. Calmly checking for bites, blood, and traps regularly, and knowing who to call if you find one of them!

If you want to be thorough, you can strip the entire bed and mattress and visually check yourself. Along every seam of the mattress, underneath each little button thing, and in every drilled hole in to it bed.

Ok, what does DH sleep in? If boxers or whatever then check them. If he is bleeding from his piles in the night you will find blood on them.

If he sleeps naked, get him to put some pants on tonight and then see.

Bleeding piles are a perfectly possible cause.

There’s a difference between fecal spots, which are dark brown/ black sharpie type dots on the bedding and don’t come out in the wash, and regular blood spots from a spot/bite and does wash out.

As pencils says, get some cimexa (and a respiratory dust mask... it’s nasty stuff when airborne, but inert and non toxic when settled). Dust all the bed joints and nooks, crannies and crevices around the room. It’s a dessicant so dries them out and they take it back to their nests where it kills their mates too. Don’t throw stuff out, unless horrendously infested or stained. You’ll just be throwing good money after bad in a never ending cycle.

Wash on 60+, Tumble dry if you can.

Put things like backpacks that can’t be washed in the deep freeze for a few days.

Hoover, steam clean and declutter regularly, keep the environment as clear and simple as possible.

We put plain white cotton sheets and pillow cases on our bed (like hospital ones) when we had bedbugs as they could be bleached. Bleach also kills them.