Bed bugs in my bed. I’m horrified!!

[BeLimeTiger]

We got back from holiday in Italy three weeks ago and my partner was complaining of bites (I thought he was being a bit of a hypochondriac). Anyway, I noticed bites today and specs of brown/red on our pillows.

I found one of the critters and took a picture of it… definitely bed bugs.

Has anyone successfully treated an infestation and if so how? I’ve put all the sheets and mattresses protectors in the wash. I’m so horrified!

What?! THey are famously tricky little feckers to remove.

I can't believe that you have to stay in the room to act as bait. This makes it even worse!

does he see them alive, or dead? One of my concerns at the moment is I’ve only found one dead bug on the floor.
the rest I see in the middle of the night- they do seem to be quite slow and there are a few tiny ones who died after biting. The pest control person said I’d need to wait around 10 days to see if it has worked or if it needs more treatment. He seemed confident but I’m not quite on the same page yet… It’s been a very long few weeks!!

Let"s guess now, I think it will probably need more treatment?

With the dust it just takes one of them to carry traces back to the nest and they are all exposed, very nasty if you think about it but effective.

I used to think that until I found the dust, no doubt the professional treatment companies want you to believe that. I read somewhere that they disappeared for many years but made a comeback in the 1970"s as hotel travel got more popular?

Yes, otherwise they just come and find you and the infestation spreads through the house.

I think this is part of why they are so mentally distressing.

Get pest control in asap. We’ve had bedbugs and it was an absolute nightmare, it took 6 months, 3 treatments and a new bed in the end before we were finally free of them. That was 16 years ago and I’m still traumatised by it.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5224961-best-bed-bug-treatment-london?utm_campaign=thread&utm_medium=app_share

Just to add, I feel so sorry for you. It seems they are horrendously difficult to get rid of.

What happens if you have pets and all this fumigation going on?

Does the dust affect breathing

Im in a job where we have clients who have bed bugs, its a nightmare

I would also recommend professional treatment without delay, however not all councils offer this service for free and it can be extremely expensive.

Some of the companies the councils send out require an enormous amount of preparatory work - far more than more expensive companies. We were told we had to empty out every piece of furniture in all the bedrooms and move it all away from the wall. We didn't have to do any of that with the company we eventually went with. Sometimes this level of disruption is more than people can cope with, especially as at least two visits are generally required.

Most companies rely on chemical pesticides and there are growing issues with resistance. Sometimes they have to come back again and again and again, for months, and eventually some people simply can't face another visit so look for ways to finish the job themselves.

DIY with Cimexa is really useful in conjunction with professional treatment and if used properly can also be an effective alternative.

DIY with DE will be ineffective but won't make things worse.

DIY with chemical pesticides is likely to make things worse because there is nothing available on the retail market that they are not already at least partially immune to. It can make them scatter to other rooms.

There are some horror stories on Reddit and rather a lot of pictures which some people may wish to avoid, however the information and advice on the bedbugs subreddit is sound, especially for anyone who is unable to access a professional service for whatever reason. The set of guides they have produced in the sidebar are especially useful.

That is fair.
it sounds like people have had success with cimexa which is good to know, I’ll definitely consider this as a protection after treatment.

I have cats, with the treatment I have had (steam and chemical) they need to be out of the house for around 3 hours after. I also have asthma and my breathing has not been affected

Neither DE or Cimexa are great if inhaled so you need to wear a mask when applying. Also wear gloves as it's very drying to the skin. DE is more harmful because the dust particles are jagged and sharp whereas Cimexa is like tiny smooth round balls. For this reason DE should only be applied in cracks and crevices whereas cimexa can be used in more open areas, but still, don't fling it everywhere.

Think about where the bugs will have to walk to reach you and then apply the dust in bands, e.g. around the legs of your bed, a continuous band around your bed frame, above and below skirting boards. You can use it a bit more liberally inside the bed base, behind the head board and other places where it won't be disturbed. We worked out that if we put a continuous band around the bed just where the sheet tucked in, the bugs would have to cross it whether they were coming from inside the bed or further afield.

For either dust, you should only apply a very very light coating, so it's just visible when the light catches it from the side. If you can see piles of white powder you've overdone it. Then leave the room for a couple of hours to allow it to settle. Once it's settled it's pet safe.

DE is effective, it kills them and they don"t come back as long as the dust is there!

Get a metal bed, they can"t climb up on the metal, the dust shouldn"t be in piles, drop a pile them sweep it into the air with a hard brush then leave the room, go outside for a while if you can or hang out a window in another room until it settles, don"t breathe it in.

Clothes in a hot wash and rucksack on balcony in a big sealed plastic bag for over a week. Not sure if it was the reason, but I have survived 4 returnees from dodgy hostels

No it's not effective. As I discussed above, it does kill them eventually but not fast enough to stop them reaching adulthood and breeding.

https://www.pctonline.com/article/pct1213-diatomaceous-earth-study/

https://www.pctonline.com/article/pct0814-silica-gel-research-bed-bugs/

Don't do this! Your bed will be coated in it and as soon as you get in bed it'll be disturbed and you'll breathe it in. This is particularly hazardous if you're using DE which should only be used in cracks and crevices. You'll also end up with extremely dry skin if you sleep on a layer of dessicant dust.

They disappeared due to DDT.
That got banned, because although it kills them very effectively, it’s also pretty poisonous for people. They became immune over time to other insecticides used and were never eradicated as effectively in other, warmer countries. They are now making a huge comeback due to travel and their resistance to various chemical treatments.

Cover the bed with a plastic sheet then, you don"t sleep on the metal bed anyway unless you are a monk or something, you sleep on a mattress, which if you followed my earlier posts should still be in a plastic wrapper! (remove it from the room while you "dust")

"their resistance to various chemical treatments."

Which is why I keep saying - Before you spend 2k on a "treatment" try the dust that costs £16 from Amazon!

But they are breeding into a dustbowl! They can"t survive in a dusted environment! When was the last time you actually used the dust? There is real world experience and then there is "information" from online sources who maybe have a VI in selling you some chemicals that don"t work perhaps?

But they're most likely to be found in the bed ...