# Help me not freak out- re: Bedbugs **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 23, 2007, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-not-freak-out-re-bedbugs/423680 "2007-10-23T09:23:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ArrMatey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/arrmatey/32/3522_2.png) [@ArrMatey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArrMatey)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2007, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-not-freak-out-re-bedbugs/423680/1 "2007-10-23T09:23:54Z")
Okay, so it’s a little past 4 AM, and I’m here at the computer, instead of asleep. Why? Well, for the second night in a row, and perhaps the fifth night over the past three months, I’ve woken up itching. Now, it’s fully possible that these are bug bites that I got durring the day and just didn’t notice until I woke up, and I will admit that I have a real phobia about bugs and other nocturnal visitors in my bedroom. I will also admit that, after visiting the harvard site ([http://www.uos.harvard.edu/ehs/pes\_bedbug.shtml#](http://www.uos.harvard.edu/ehs/pes_bedbug.shtml#) ) I have seen no actual -evidence- of any bugs… I’ve even taken apart my bed (a rather complex operation), checked my sheets, and moved furniture about. I would -love- to think this is just over-active imagination on my part. But I know darn well I won’t sleep until I’m sure one way or another. Can anyone help asuage me a little bit? The bites itch, and only one set of them is in the ‘breakfast, lunch, dinner’ pattern, so… I guess I have that going for me. At this point, I’m just giving a lack-of-sleep rant and hoping someone can come here and give me some way to figure out if I can get back to sleep or not. Thanks for your time. ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2007, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-not-freak-out-re-bedbugs/423680/2 "2007-10-23T10:08:05Z")
Maybe you could focus instead on the tiny mites that live on your eyelids? ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2007, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-not-freak-out-re-bedbugs/423680/3 "2007-10-23T10:09:04Z")
I don’t think this will calm you down, but when we had bed bugs we never actually saw them. We found little black dots in the seams of the mattress that were from their excrement. My wife had recently returned from a trip to Kenya and had apparently brought us a souvenir. We hired an exterminator to treat the bed, but they came back and we tossed the mattress and box springs. The odd thing was that I never noticed them (kinda the opposite of the princess and the pea), but they really attacked my wife. ---
**Author:** ![Fat\_Chance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8baadc/32.png) [@Fat\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fat_Chance)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2007, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-not-freak-out-re-bedbugs/423680/4 "2007-10-23T13:58:37Z")
We had them at our apartment before we moved. Never did see one, or any evidence (spots on the bed, etc.), but would find the lined up bites. In fact my gf was getting bit for a couple of weeks before I did (or at least before I started reacting to the bites). Since we were moving anyway, we ended up ditching the mattress and box spring before we left. We also had an exterminator come in since we were worried about bringing them with us to the new house. I would say if you have even once sign of the breakfast, lunch, dinner, than you have bedbugs. I would call an exterminator asap, and wash and dry all your bedding in hot water and heat. Replace the mattress pad, also. I also used a steam cleaner to blast the footboards and bed frame, but I don’t think that did much. You may end up having to just throw out your mattress and box spring, and wash/dry all your clothes. Only way to be sure… ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2007, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-not-freak-out-re-bedbugs/423680/5 "2007-10-23T14:15:18Z")
If you can’t sleep and you’re itching AND you can’t find any evidence of bedbugs… Take two Benadryl and go to bed. It will cure problems 1 and 2 at least. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2007, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-not-freak-out-re-bedbugs/423680/6 "2007-10-23T14:31:29Z")
What is this breakfast, lunch, dinner pattern thing with the bites? ---
**Author:** ![Fat\_Chance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8baadc/32.png) [@Fat\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fat_Chance)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2007, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-not-freak-out-re-bedbugs/423680/7 "2007-10-23T15:04:29Z")
[QUOTE=Maastricht] What is this breakfast, lunch, dinner pattern thing with the bites? [/QUOTE] Classic sign of bedbug bites is a series of 2-4 bites in a straight line, close together. Basically, the bedbug starts feeding, gets distibured (you move, roll over, etc) moves a bit and starts feeding again, etc. causing a series of welts. Also, I would say bedbug bites take much much longer to heal than other bites, such as a mosquito. ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2007, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-not-freak-out-re-bedbugs/423680/8 "2007-10-23T15:40:11Z")
[QUOTE=fishbicycle] Maybe you could focus instead on the tiny mites that live on your eyelids? [/QUOTE] Did you really have to? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2007, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-not-freak-out-re-bedbugs/423680/9 "2007-10-23T15:42:32Z")
Apparently bedbugs are making a comeback in the US. You really have to call in an exterminator. [Here’s the story I read](http://www.kentucky.com/179/story/203976.html) in my local paper. > [@](#): > > “It’s a growing, serious problem,” said Michael Potter, an entomology professor at the University of Kentucky. “I don’t see it getting better.” > > Bedbugs were common before World War II but the use of DDT and other pesticides in the 1940s and 1950s eradicated them in the United States. But more national and international travel, less effective pesticide use and the exchange of used furniture have contributed to the bug’s widespread return. ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2007, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-not-freak-out-re-bedbugs/423680/10 "2007-10-23T15:57:43Z")
[QUOTE=chowder] Did you really have to? :eek: [/QUOTE] Made you stop thinking about bedbugs for a minute, didn’t it! ---
**Author:** ![missbunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/76d3ee/32.png) [@missbunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missbunny)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2007, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-not-freak-out-re-bedbugs/423680/11 "2007-10-23T16:01:24Z")
Try vacuuming your mattress, paying special attention to the seams. Use the vacuum’s crevice tool if you have one. Of course wash all the sheets, blankets, pads, etc., in hot water if you can, but bedbugs tend to live in the crevices and seams of the mattress. They’re not walking around on the sheets waiting to be tossed in the wash. Make sure to throw away the vacuum bag each time when you’re done, even if it’s not full. Put it outside, not in an interior trash can. I’d try that, perhaps a few times, before throwing out the mattress. ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2007, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-not-freak-out-re-bedbugs/423680/12 "2007-10-23T17:07:36Z")
Ugh. I was attacked by bedbugs once in Italy, and it was very, very hard to go to sleep after I realized what was going on. I ended up sleeping in a chair, which really didn’t help me out given that I was teaching classes all day long. ---
**Author:** ![Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e56c9b/32.png) [@Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harriet_the_Spry)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2007, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-not-freak-out-re-bedbugs/423680/13 "2007-10-23T17:17:14Z")
You may get some benefit from the mattess encasings sold for dust mite allergy sufferers. They now advertise that they protect against bedbugs living in the mattress. This is probably something to do in addition to the exterminator, or until the exterminator, rather than instead of the exterminator, though.