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!

If bed bugs actually got inside a metal bed and started eating the metal could they become indestructible?

No, eventually they’d have to come out and feed and would walk over a treated surface. A chemically treated surface lasts months so long as you don’t clean it off. It would kill them, but an adult might take days to die

They only feed on humans, not pets or furniture

Oh ffs, we found 4 live adults this morning. They were moving slowly, but we need to get a second treatment. Will ask the bug guy if we can use the chemical spray in conjunction with the D. Earth. I think the fxxkers are living in the headboard. I was having nightmares about it last night

I'm so sorry @BeLimeTiger , it's just grim. And it will have totally tainted your memory of your holiday. I never want to go back to our holiday city. I am well aware this is totally irrational but it's hard to shift the resentment.

I’m still trying to be patient. We had a first (heat plus chemical) treatment, then a follow up (chemical only) ten days later, a week ago. I’ve got all new bed linen, and frozen the teddy bear. I’ve only found three since then, and fewer bites in the last couple of days. I’m giving it another week before I decide whether I need to call them in again. The main problem is that my flatmate’s room, which is the source of the infestation, doesn’t appear to be clear yet, and until it is, there’s still the risk they will spread to my room again. I’ve got traps on the bed legs, and I’ll put down Cimexa on the bed frame, slats and floor under the bed.

We managed to get rid of them from our bedroom, but I think we were really lucky. I used a horrid chemical spray thing from a company nearby - they said it was the strongest stuff I could buy without getting professionals in. We had to spray everywhere in the room - all around the floor, the skirting, etc and then leave it for 4 hours. Then sleep in the room (so that they come out). We did it every day for a week and we haven't seen them since. It properly wrecked our wooden floors though... The company explained that they can get in the smallest of small spaces - behind skirting, around windows, between wooden floor sections. Ours seemed to be mostly in our bed - we found adults and eggs all around the bedframe and in the mattress. The mattress got chucked out, and we bought a new one which we now keep in a special bedbug cover thing (from Wrappybed).

Good luck! Bedbugs are truly the most horrible thing I've ever had to deal with.

The psychological effect of having bedbugs is really horrible 😞

I hope you get rid of them permanently @BeLimeTiger and @LoserWinner

Just use the dust, wear a mask, open a window in another room and spread a small amount around with a hard brush, sprinkle it on a mat or rug or just on the carpet and brush it hard to make dust in the direction of the bed and leave the room until it settles.

I had them years ago and used spray/bug bombs and a steam cleaner - despite what I’d read online they weren’t that difficult to get rid of thankfully. I hope it’s the same for you.

How long ago did you do the treatment? It takes a while. They have to all come out and walk all over it. And they can go 10 days without feeding, that’s why you don’t get a second treatment unless you have evidence that it’s failed after nearer three weeks

By the way we did have to get rid of our bed entirely too.

I thought it was a lot longer than that?

It’s 6 months without feeding.

its also really normal to see alive bugs between 1st and 2nd treatment

What about after the third treatment? Sure I read somewhere, or saw it on TV that they could go 12 months?

Do the canister/bombs work that you can use for flea infestations?

I have heard they do but are they not just the same as spreading the dust you can buy on Amazon about yourself but just a larger drop of the stuff? I think you have to stay out of the room for a couple of days once the "bomb" has been used?

No, they're resistant to them but it pisses them off and they go walkabout so you end up with them in every room. Chemical pesticides are best left to the professionals because there's nothing on the retail market that they're not at least partially immune to.

That's a shame. I hope you soon get rid of the little shots!

I have been there. . Can you get rid of the head board?
I did all the chemical treatments, hoovering & hot washing possible, then got a “bomb” cannister from chemist & let it off( room sealed for 24 hrs)
I also put bedding & mattress out in the hot (Mediterranean) sunshine ( they dont like UV.)
I put jar lids on the bed feet with water & bleach , (like a moat) so they cant get on or off the bed.
I washed & scrubbed with bleach every drawer etc
I treated the car & sofas too
Lots of stuff went in the freezer.
I won, but misery.
Luggage stays outside now, then laundered before touches it anything !

We had the second treatment 19 days after the first. It might have been okay just to leave it after the first, but a second spray should get any missed harbourages and speed up kill time because the chemicals will be more potent. We found four living ones underneath the bed and one underneath the drawer in the wardrobe. I really this treatment should do the job. There was one on the headboard this morning. It was slow and hadn’t fed. We aren’t seeing any evidence of nymphs. I’ll be ordering DE in the future to prevent this happening again

The bed was my dream bed! A replacement headboard costs £1000 and they are sending me swatches of similar fabric colours as they don’t do mine anymore. It was sprayed to within an inch of its life yesterday so I’m hoping we can just get rid of the buggers ad have a professional clean

I’ve just today had a third treatment; three weeks after the last. My headboard is rattan and seems to be the perfect haven for them (you never think you’ll have to consider these things!).
despite believing that we had caught early the bugs seem to have been persistent.
This visit they used steam again, chemical spray and D.E. the technician only saw one live bug so I am really hoping this will be it now, it’s been pretty gruelling mentally so again sending sympathies to all who are experiencing the same

Almost three weeks after a second treatment, I’m only seeing a few nymphs now, presumably the ones that were eggs when they did the last treatment. I think we get another treatment next week.

It really is long and drawn out process. I really hope this last treatment will be the end of it for you too. I’m surprised they’re not more common tbh. Perhaps they are, but very few people admit to it!