Bed bugs??

[Bobbisocks]

Sorry, posting here for traffic and because I'm not sure where else to put it.

We've recently returned from a holiday abroad (Europe) where we stayed at a number of places, which all seemed clean and had good reviews.

However in the last few mornings (so from about a week after our return) I've woken with a few itchy red bite-like lumps in quite intimate places - under my boob, inner thighs - areas which could only have been accessed while I slept, and presumably by something that crawls. (DH is unaffected but he's currently sleeping in a different room - we often do when it's hot)

Could this be bed bugs? I've examined the mattress and can't see anything, but I've read they could literally be anywhere! How on earth do I begin to tackle this? Is there anything else it could be? We have visitors in a couple of weeks who are really looking forward to coming. If it's really bed bugs I'd have to put them off, but I dont want to do anything drastic. I'm feeling utterly horrified.

Hey! We had a similar dread after returning from a holiday abroad but fortunately we didn't bring them home as I didnt bring anything into the house. Bed bugs typically bite in a pattern of 3 lines or a triangle. You can also check the mattress seams for droppings or squashed bugs where youve been lying. They typically bite exposed skin so arms, legs, face even. Bits of you that are in contact with the mattress. When I was deep in despair about this thinking I'd potentially brought them home I read all things online known to man. When did you return home? Could you have been bitten there? Do you have a photo of the bites?

The areas that you mention are areas where skin rubs together which makes them prone to heat rash. They might not be bites.

Bed bug bites are usually arranged in a line/row, are yours?

I recently read some reviews on a hotel that had bed bugs. In order to verify the presence of bugs, guests were taking the room iron and placing it on the mattress while hot. That was apparently making the bugs come out 🤢

Could it be heat rash in those areas?

Bed bug bites are incredibly itchy after about 24-48 hours of being bitten (way more itchy than a normal insect bite) and they will be in a line. I was bitten recently but fortunately none came home with me. I had previous experience of bed bugs so knew it was a bed bug (plus I saw the damn thing that bit me!).

I've never been bitten in intimate places like you mention, it was always arms and legs.

I'm hoping this is the case, but they do seem very like bites - raised, 5-10mm in diameter and very itchy, rather than rashlike. There's three in a line on my inner thighs, one has now appeared on my lower abdomen, and there's two under my boob. Quite hard to reach places, so surely an insect would go for somewhere more obvious?

I just dont know at what point I should start really panicking! I've washed my sheets and checked my mattress, but there are so many places they could be hiding. I dont want to wait until an infestation is really obvious and spreads round the whole house!

These are the bites at the top of my inner thigh. It's my left leg, and I do tend to sleep on my left side, but still a strange place to get them.

Yes this is good advice and often recommended. If you see them you will have to mske some decisions about leaving your things behind. You really don't want them travelling home in your suitcase.

I hate to say it but, from the photo, I share your concern. It doesn't look like a heat rash and you have several in a row.

God I had this terror last year, I still don't know if it was bed bugs or awful tiger mosquito bites which apparantely can reactivate days later.

I over reacted and got pest control round as soon as I got home who said it could take weeks to show itself if it was bed bugs so I got some bed bug traps from Amazon so I could see if they actually arrived.

Mercifully they never did but the suitcases are still in the garage decontaminating a year on!

I've checked the mattress and can't see anything, but apparently they can live in cracks, and as we have dark stained bare floorboards in our cottage style bedroom (as well as bookcases and wardrobes etc), we dont have a hope of spotting them until the infestation is really bad. I'm absolutely despairing.

Oh no those bites do look like they could be from bedbugs.
We didn't actually get bitten when abroad but we thought we seen one on our bag in the airport so I tumble dried everything I wanted to keep at the highest heat in one of those outdoor garage tumble dryers. I mostly binned everything to be honest because they are such a nightmare to get rid of. According to my detailed research in a state of panic high heat kills them & their eggs & so does steam. But a tip people used was to put double sided tape near their mattress to hopefully catch any on the move. Also, if you search late at night with a torch you are more likely to find them. They are essentially attracted to the co2 when we breathe at night & that's why you are bitten at night. I feel for you because I was genuinely in a state of panic for months about it & I am extra, extra vigilant when we travel anywhere now. If youve been bitten since home there should be marks/blood on your sheet/mattress or droppings which look like a spot of ink. I actually used chatgpt to help me look for signs, if you upload your photo there they might be able to give you a more definitive answer.

Get a wet wipe and wipe around the inner edges of the bed frame a few days running. That's how I found them. Steam clean under the bed. 60 degree wash all the bedding and anything you've brought home that you can. Buy a matress protector. The bites do look like bites I had from bed bugs unfortunately. But if you're only recently home you should be able to stamp them out pretty quickly. We managed to get rid of ours ourselves, and we had been having skin reactions for a while.

I've had midge/mozzie bites in some very inaccessible places, definitely not bedbugs...

So the most likely answer is these are mozziie bites, because they're everywhere and damn hard to keep out of bedrooms/homes - bedbugs are possible of course.

The grouping of bites is sometimes a clue, as is placement (eg, fleas, you'll often see a lot of bites around ankles, where the socks/shoes stop, and clustered together as fleas bite, trundle, bite, trundle..).

The actual appearance of the bites tends not to be so indicative as thats everything to do with how your body responds to bites, more than the inflictor of the bite. I currently have a line of three mozzie bites that look identical to yours!

Treat your house as if its bedbugs - if it's not, then you'll be bug/flea/etc free for some time. If it is, problem solved.

Remember to treat the clothing and suitacases that went away with you.

I'm a bit of an 'expert' on those little bastards critters. I'm afraid it does look suspiciously like bedbugs, three in a row (breakfast lunch and tea). They tend to come out at night when we breathe out CO2. They normally infest round the head of the bed with black brown bits everywhere but you can't see anything on the mattress so it's not too established if you do have them. They give off a pungent odor too. We had to implement military style operations to rid ourselves of them. You could start by dusting food grade bb kryptonite; diatomaceous earth round the skirtings, gaps, bed feet, wear a mask. What type of bed have you got?

They look like mozzie bites to me, which also bite in patterns. If your windows have been open, you're bound to get some at this time of year.

I'll look into getting some of that. I think my immediate plan is to clear the room, wash everything washable, and spread DE all over the floor cracks. Our bed is metal and we store stuff in boxes under it - they'll have to come out of course. We were thinking of replacing our mattress soon anyway - I think we'll do that once I'm convinced the room is OK. Might approach an exterminator for advice as well.

I don't want to overreact, but nor do I want to risk a full blown infestation!

I know someone who’s dog is trained to find bedbugs, could you find someone like that then you’d not have to do military strip and search.

Hi OP, I had bedbugs a couple of years ago and the bites didn't look like those in photo. They look more like mossie bites to me.
Important to remember that bbs aren't associated with lack of cleanliness.
Is there blood on your sheets?
There was a lot on mine.
I was able to visually see the bedbugs but they weren't 'out" all the time.
I'm sorry that I can't give you definitive information.

I had similar and convinced myself it was bedbugs. It was really stressful. In the end I got a professional cleaner to clean my whole upstairs and mattress and it stopped. Never found out what caused it.

we had bed bugs once - got a professional pest control to come and spray the whole house several times but still they were still bedbugs… what i found worked a miracle (and no nasty fumes like the pro pest control) was to buy a plastic spray bottle, put inside some alcohol (90* from amazon) and spray all wooden parts in the bedroom. The alcohol just kills them instantly. It did not stain the carpets/mattress/bed frame
just open the window as you dont want to get light headed on the alcohol vapour.

There are things you can do. I write as a veteran of the mid-200s bed bug infestation in Manhattan.

Freezing and heating destroy them but it takes work (sealed in plastic in the freezer or in a giant black plastic builder's bag left outside in the sun on a scorching day.

They do not just live in mattresses, but in soft wood cracks and crevices. Beware the IKEA cot.

All of which is not fun if you have visitors coming. Can you get ahead of it now with a call to discuss alternatives if needed?

You can guard against bed bugs that aren't in the bed from entering the bed by putting each bed leg in a container of water and smearing vaseline above the water line.

You can also put your bed legs in large plastic yoghurt pots with Diatomaceous earth in a layer at the bottom. When we had nearly eradicated ours the clever little buggers were climbing the walls to get on the ceiling and drop down on us! The diluted alcohol spray idea is very good, we did that & used a hand steamer, they were running amok out of the seams and crevices in the bed. Before you have a near nervous break down like I did, make sure you have them first. They look like apple pips.