What are these?

[CareerChange24]

I change my sheets every week. No signs of any bugs. Other than - I feel what feel like grains of sand, quite a few of them on my sheets. I’ve taken a few of the grains and put them under my phone to zoom in. Can someone reassure me these aren’t the eggs of a beg bug or flea or something? It is my one phobia in life and is really bothering me. The first one is how tiny they look from a distance. And the others are zoomed in on my phone. The last one is one squashed

I’m sorry you feel so stressed. I would buy a proper magnifying glass to take a closer look at the stuff you’ve taken photos of to find out if they’re just the bedding pilling a bit.

Oh honestly thank you. I’m certainly not really itchy.

Check the link from @Sogrossineedtonamechange - you’d possibly feel unwell, might see them in poo, but you would itch round your bum especially at night.

Even if it is, really not a big deal and you can get medicine from a pharmacy.

Only you can tell what the bits feel like, are they like cotton fibres or more squishy and solid? Difficult to tell from photos.

Are they dry and wispy like? Maybe moth cocoon?

I have never seen anything that looks like a thread. I just think these “bits” are something as bedding piling in my experience sticks, or is still attached to the bedding. These are like grains of sand on the top of the fitted sheet

Yes, honestly. They look nothing like bugs to me - just bits of cotton off your bedding or pajamas.

Common but easy to treat. Chemists carry the tablets. I think it looks likes bedding piling rather than anything else though. Are you the poster who posted a while ago about not being able to sleep in a hotel room because you thought you found evidence of bed bugs? If you are you have a very severe phobia, I cant remember if that person was on medication or getting counselling, but if you're the same person I think you could benefit from medical help with this. Seeking answers in this way isn't helpful to your mental health, reassurance isn't much use against a phobia or crippling anxiety. In fact to much of people trying to reasure you can actually reinforce the phobia.

No im not the same poster. In fact, I had the nerve to think that lady about the hotel, as I read that, was over the top and irrational. Yet, here I am. Worrying myself to death

Surely I’d be itching like mad too if I had worms. But I will check for them best I can.

Thank you for those trying to reassure me.

Not sure if you meant to quote me for the second time. The only real symptoms I know of are having sore/itchy bum or vagina.

Anxiety and phobias are often like that, if being rational would solve them there'd be very few people suffering from them. I don't have any real phobias outside snakes and heights and they're usually easily avoidable, but my anxiety sometimes gets fixated on something and it's overwhelming and horrible and not rational at all. Sorry just reading my other post back and I don't think I expressed myself well, I was worried for that person and if was them seeking reassurance again on here after how badly that went for them last time. Thats what I meant in terms of the problem with reassurance, depends how deeply in you are. Sorry if that came across badly.

That is definitely NOT bed bug bites.

Bed bug bites are very distinctive. They are usually 3 bites in a row, and very often in the ankle region or on the arm. They are EXTREMELY itchy, very big and usually at least one gets quite inflamed and they look awful especially after itching them.

You really wouldn't mistake them for acne. I'm 100% sure you've not already been bitten by a bed bug!

Also, you haven't got worms!! Worms make you very very itchy and you would see them all wriggling around in your poop!! and they'd be on the tissue after you wipe in the toilet! (Sorry TMI) Its Definitely not worms!

I love you if you are correct (really hoping you are) I’ve got down a rabbit hole reading how these worms are so common and I was living in bliss thinking only people with children had to worry. I don’t look at my poo but I do look at the toilet paper. I hope my mind has ran away with me and knowing me, I am now thinking my last step in the shower is to use a body scrub, so is it grains from that after I hop out the shower straight into bed.

I know you were asking out of concern if I was the other lady and not malice. It’s made me realise don’t judge as I’m the one irrationally spiralling. I’m lucky I have no fears of any animals, or heights, flying. Just this one that is tied to my ocd. Which I think I should finally seek therapy for

Yourself and @biscuitsandbooks I really appreciated you responding to me, and even though I’m still worried as I’ve read you can be asymptomatic, and haven’t been on mumsnet much, I’ve read both of yours posts today on the woman who was scared of losing her house after her husband was being taken to court, and it made me realise the female solidarity and support that is still out there. I don’t have it much in my life, and maybe made me realise how much it’s needed, but speaking up in support of a woman who will be going through and has been through so much, touched me today ♥️

If you had worms you would know it would itch like hell. really looks like random bits of bed fluff. Are you on medication to deal with your anxiety OP?

I had things that looked exactly like this!!! It turned out that because it was winter and I wasn't shaving my legs as often (but still moisterising) it was causing moisteriser and dead skin to pill from the friction of the bedsheets.

I know it sounds vile, I am a clean person, but I just wasn't exfoliating my legs with the razor so there was a build up that I couldn't see in daily life but appeared when sleeping.

I only realised finally because I firmly rubbed my legs one day and the little bits appeared and they were the exact same as what was in my bed.

I now use an exfoliating glove on my body when I don't shave.

Could it be this OP?

It definitely doesn’t sound vile your issue, it could be my problem. My skin looks like a cracked Sahara desert. I really hope that’s my issue!

Really? That’s why I hate googling stuff as the internet says you can be asymptomatic with no itching. Can’t see them in your poo. I foolish live with anxiety and ocd and think I manage it. I think me in tears today has proven otherwise. No medication, it took me a long time to wean myself off mirtazapine. I’ve tried talking therapy, but never really clicked or got anything from therapy other than listening to myself not come up for air. I once said to one, I should listen more to you. And she said. No. Listening is my job. So off I went filling in awkward silence. But not learning anything from the sessions