Bed Bugs

[Auey]

I just wanted to gage what others would do in the same situation.

Thursday night as I was getting Into bed I noticed what looked like a popped popcorn kernel in the sheet... I thought it was odd but it was family movie night so we had had popcorn down stairs so wasn’t impossible.

Friday morning I woke up with one bite

Saturday morning I woke up with 5 bites on my ankle.... did some googling convinced myself the kernel thing and the bites were bed bugs and booked an exterminator to come this morning.

Now I’ve searched through the bed and on the walls since booking them and can’t find anything else to suggest bed bugs. I had also been in a family members garden Friday and they have dogs.

So now I’m in two minds on what to do... I know bed bugs are notoriously hard to get rid of and the sooner the better with treatment, which is why I Panicked initially.

But in order for them to treat the house I need to bag you all of our clothes, towels and bedding in sealed bags.. then once the house is treated rewash and dry every item of clothing.....At the cost of £170 for the treatment also. I moved in here two months ago and spent 5 days to get the clothes sorted and the thought of destroying that and doing it again is soul destroying so now
I’m in a predicament and want to know what other would do so...

AIBU - sort the house out and get the treatment done now just Incase it is bed bugs

YANBU- leave it a week see if anything else happens before rushing into treatment

Pest control is due to come in 3 hours so I need to make a decision but I can’t decide 😖😖

Thanks

Did you Google flea bites and bed bug bites? They look different. Plus if bed bugs, how have they suddenly appeared in lockdown? Normally you'd introduce them though travel.

Have you been bitten every night?

Can you see any tiny spots of blood on your sheets..... these are a typical sign of bed bugs. I would hold off until you find more evidence.. it’s a lot of money and hassle if it’s not them.

I’m tempted to say you’ve been bitten by something in your neighbours garden, if there’s no blood spots.. I’d leave it a week imo. Even if they are bed bugs, you can still get rid of them if you wait another week. I’m talking from experience 😩

@Mumteedum yeah I did to me it looks more like bed bugs as it’s four in almost a line on my ankle which is apparently typical of bed bugs. Nobody has been in the house since I moved here... but the only recent change that I could think of is a second hand freezer so not sure how they would have got here if it is them.
Was bitten thurs and fri, no new bites since and I’m the only one in the house who has been bitten

@Dontsayyouloveme nope I’ve searched for blood on the sheets and can’t see anything.... that is what I am thinking too but keep worrying Incase I end up with a huge infestation.

I’m not sure you will end up with a huge infestation if you leave it a week. I was renting a room in an apartment, gorgeous room, gorgeous apartment but huge wooden bed frame! I think it took me about 4/6 weeks to realise it was bed begs... after the biting started. My GP treated me for scabies.. and only did I realise bed bugs was when I saw a blighter walking out the bloody bedroom! So ime I think you’re ok waiting a week to see if it continues. Do you share your bed, if you don’t mind me asking? I still think insect bites from outdoors can leave a tracking pattern! X

I’ve had bed bugs in my house before. It was horrendous (I hadn’t travelled either....you can pick them up from any soft furnishings - the cinema for example) I was the only one who got bitten for a long time, then my ex eventually and then we saw them (at this point they were in the bed and sofa (different levels of the house) I don’t think they’re easy to spot!!!!

I’m another house I lived in (rented) the previous owners had cats, the house was infested with fleas, but again, only me who was bitten and nobody would listen until someone else finally got bit)

Having been through it I’d have the exterminator out because it is truly horrendous

We had bed bugs a few years ago and I'm not exaggerating to say that it was horrific. We lived in a country where professional exterminators weren't an option so left it for a few weeks before doing anything in the hope we were wrong, and they multiplied so bloody fast. If you can afford the treatment then I'd do it just in case as they're so much harder to get rid of once established. We got rid of our own in the end but it was like a military operation. We took every single item of clothing or loose fabric and bagged it up in the kitchen. Then we put bedbug covers on all the beds. Then room by room we went over every inch with the steam cleaner, including the skirting boards. Once a room was decintaminated we put down... God I can't remember it's name now... A kind of fine black powder that kills bedbugs if they walk over it. Then no one was allowed in that room unless they were naked so as not to bring any new eggs in. Once all the rooms were clean we washed every scrap of fabric in the house at 60. We had to treat the entire house as either contaminated or decintaminated, and if anyone crossed from a "dirty" room to a "clean" one without stripping off first then we had to start over. It was actual hell but we got there in the end. We had to do this whole routine about 3 times over 3 weeks before we stopped finding the bites. It was such a nightmare. I sooo hope you don't have them!

Why did you jump straight to bed bugs? Wouldn’t mosquitos be a more likely culprit? They often bite in a row, and like an ankle to feed on.