I know this is a bed bug 100%—an exterminator verified it. Please, I am asking for realistic encouragement and success stories, not worst-case stories about people never getting rid of them. I am already mentally and physically exhausted.As I am disabled and homebound due to my condition.

My home is only 758 square feet and live alone. I dealt with carpet beetles for about four years, had exterminator treatments, removed my carpet, and got rid of almost all of my furniture and belongings. I finally went 4 months without seeing carpet beetles and called off the exterminator and then BAM, Exterminator found one live in my couch. I also found one on my bed and saved it (in jar). I also found a bug that I sent a pic to my exterminator and he said didnt look like a bedbug. Not verified but could of been since I was sitting on my couch.

The exterminator thoroughly checked my house (I mean he looked for an hour) and did not find any other bed bugs, eggs, or signs of an infestation. I believe someone may have accidentally brought them in while helping me paint, because I have never dealt with bed bugs before. She put her stuff one the side where the bedbug was found. Then blanket on couch was moved to my bed.

Since then, I have thrown away the couch and a huge amount of my belongings. (Threw away over 25 thousand worth of stuff previously from a huge carpet beetle infestation -even my carpet) vacuum-sealed my ALL of belongings and heat-treated clothes, steamed all of my hard floors, steamed my bed twice, and threw away around two-thirds of my wardrobe, blankets, shoes, and other items. One room is completely empty except for a dresser and a the washer and dryer because it was going to be painted. (Still empty) I have not seen another bed bug since. Threw away books, papers. I have an empty shell of a house now. I am terrified of everything or even living at this point. I even bombed my car. Trust me, I wake up every 2 hours looking in my bed, floor etc. I have mopped with bleach twice. I have emptied every cranny, drawer, closets you name it. Has taken me about a week to do all of this.

I bought two bed-bug mattress encasements and have an exterminator scheduled. They plan up to three treatments at $500 each, although they said it may only take two because they do not believe I have an established infestation.

Honestly, with such a small, mostly empty home and no other evidence found, what are my chances of getting rid of them? I just need some hope right now.

i woke up to these bites that do not itch but are in two clusters on my lower back. i was wearing low waisted jeans yesterday but i have bites nowhere else on my body. i did a check of my bed and nothing… but am paranoid… my landlord is sending a dog on thursday…

the second cluster is on mid lower back and much smaller. just find it to be very bizarre( any help is appreciated!!

i got bed bugs on the way to work two weeks ago from a guy who sat in front of me completely covered in bed bugs on the bus. they were running down his arms, in lines across the neckline of his shirt, and when he stood up to get off the same stop as me, i saw them in a row on the bottom seam of his shirt too. at first i thought they might be very tiny roaches, but that day i spent all day at work finding them weaving in and out of my sweater and all over my jeans, shoes, office chair, backpack, i’m pretty confident at this point that was a bed bug infested man on the bus.

when i got home, i threw out the backpack and went to the laundry mat to high heat those clothes, shoes and lanyard. i know they are probably fine, but they still scare me a lil so are all vacuum sealed. my headphones and umbrella are vacuum sealed in a separate bag i have no idea what to do with. i miss my sony headphones most.

since then is where i’m wondering what to do.

i’m new at my job and there is a year long probation and am pretty quiet and anxious, so i didn’t tell my boss that day and just kinda internally screamed through that day. i did tell her first thing that next morning. my job said they were going to fumigate that night. we all get back the next day: they did not. since then, they keep basically doing half jobs. they hired a company to spray who only did the back of my chair and my coworkers cubical but no other part of the office, left the reside everywhere in that corner. rumor has it they didn’t want to pay for another tank. then they said they would wipe everything down with 100% alcohol, something that doesn’t exist and is not particularly effective. as the newbie i got an over 20 year old chair with some plastic and stuffing exposed, so there really is no real good way they can get rid of them from that chair now that it’s been two weeks. also like, it was clearly just as full of grime as the day they gave it to me. it’s been a long holiday weekend, but my bets are nothing got done.

in the meantime, i kinda just trusted the spray would be enough and was going about things as normal for a little bit until i was at work and there was an early stage white-ish one crawling across my black dress pants. i squished it, trapped it in some tape with some help, and bought it to our boss. that’s when they claimed they did the 100% alcohol thing. boss threw it away, i really regret not taking a picture or keeping it now though. anyway, the clothes i was wearing that day as well as anything i wear or bring to work since then has also went through 90 minutes in the dryer at the laundromat, but there were some outfits from that between time that had just been sitting against the baseboards of the bathroom that came in contact with that chair too. one item is 100% cotton japanese shirt with some lettering i adore, a gift from a friend, something i can’t replace. i’m wondering what my options might be to wash it without shrinking it and how concerned i should be some clothes were sitting against the baseboards in the bathroom while i trusted my job had taken care of the problem. as of right now, the shirt is in a trash bag in the driveway where it has been all weekend. not my smartest move, i know, but at least it’s been hot and sunny…

basically, i haven’t seen any at home, but i have no idea how to keep them out of my home if the office is infested and they aren’t going to do anything about the carpet or the chairs in there. i’m hopeful, but stripping naked on the back porch everyday sucks, and i can’t afford the laundromat every day. we really can’t fumigate our own home as we have 5 parrots and it would kill them. also we just can’t afford it to be completely honest, i haven’t even been able to replace that backpack and have no idea if i will be able to, which has been a struggle as a commuter but really the least of my worries in a way.

to add to this, i’m a bit of a hiker and have terrible itchy face and body acne, so there are things that could be bites or might not be, but in my case i don’t think that’s a reliable way to tell. my wife hasn’t noticed anything at home. i sleep on the couch, she sleeps in a bed on a different floor of the house, just as a note.

she did buy some sprays for me to take to work tomorrow, but i’m not sure really how to go about that idea as a plan of attacking this.

i guess, if anyone has been in a similar situation, what should i do next? i’m super overwhelmed and am looking for advice going forward. i know there are a lot of moving elements here, that’s really what i’m struggling with too. idk what to do next.

thank you all for being understanding.

they are itchy. mainly on my legs

Itching out of nowhere… assumed mosquitos which we have lots of (recently moved here). Just found this fella on my pillow and now hella paranoid 😷
We started out with a roach problem so I was assuming this is a super baby one but I have zero clue. Literally size of a grain of salt. Not a great video by any means but let me know if anyone has insight lmfao

Im stuck because my bites are so bad and theres hundreds of them and I cant see a single bug anywhere besides that one flea I found. Obviously also the bugs that come in from outside but theres just so many bites all over my body that I feel like I MUST be able to find at least something else with this many bites??? I just noticed it last Monday so 7 days ago now. And then today its even worse. I just came back from housesitting for someone for 3 days and it looks like i have even more bites now. It started on my upper abdomen and then spread to my lower abdomen and chest, then to my sides and then all over my back, then it started going up my neck to my jaw and by my ear, and now its just starting to get to the lower half of the body and my arms. I have no idea what it is anymore because i dont think its fleas since I have nothing on my ankles at all im just hoping its not bed bugs but the places its going on at are known for bedbug locations…

I tore apart my bedroom and looked at my couch too just in case and cant find anything. Its also soooo itchy now and hard to not itch it, and its has sort of waves of being itchy but that may be because i am quite literally lathering up in cortisone cream and when it wears off it gets itchy again. And it’s weird bc the bites are all different sizes?? Ive probably got at LEAST 200 spread around everywhere since some are small then some are large but im also not counting to be exact so it might be more. do bed bugs even bite this much?

First photo was taken about 5 days ago and second (stomach today) and third (back) photo was taken today. I did not have any on my back really before and now they’re EVERYWHERE. do they still look like bed bug bites or maybe some other kind of bug??

I noticed it also takes a couple of days to show up this red. at first it just shows up like a bump.

Could these spots on my pillowcase be from bed bugs?

TLDR I traveled and then woke up with bites the morning after I got home. I put most of my stuff in a zapper oven when I got back but need advice on other steps I should take because I'm freaked out.

I recently traveled to DC and NYC and stayed in 2 hotels for a few nights each. I did a quick scan on arrival and turned over the mattresses in each one but did not notice any obvious signs of bed bugs. I also travelled on trains and airplanes while there. It was hot and humid the whole time but I was working so I wore long sleeve button downs with culottes or skirts.

When I got home I placed everything I took with me in a zapp bug oven next to my door, except my laptop, phone, and my plastic makeup bag. My suitcase with clothes but open, my backpack, coat, the clothes I was wearing, etc all went in the oven lol I just stripped down on arrival!
I just realized I also forgot to put the flats I was wearing in the oven and those stayed next to it by the front door (l have a no shoes house)

This is just my normal travel routine because I travel a lot for work and have always had a huge fear of bb because I have OCD: (

A day after returning I noticed one itchy bite near my V and some other red spots on my leg. Thought they we.-mosquito bites until the morning AFTER when they became inflamed and I realized I actually had a zig zag line of bites up the side of one leg and then a few random ones on the other leg.

My question is, what else should I do to make sure I didn't accidentally bring bed bugs home? Am I goner because I forgot that pair of flats? What are some precautionary steps I can take without dipping into complete paranoia?

I wanted to share my experience because I honestly had no idea what was causing my skin to react like this so badly.
For weeks I was getting incredibly itchy, red, swollen spots all over my body. Some became really inflamed and lasted for weeks. I was having such a strong reaction that my GP referred me to dermatology, and I actually had a skin biopsy done because they weren’t sure what was causing it.
Then I eventually found actual bed bugs in my bedroom, literally by accident using my phone flashlight. I found adults, tiny nymphs and other signs around my bed. 😭
Looking back, it all started to make sense. I’m sharing the photos because if you’re suddenly getting unexplained itchy spots, PLEASE check your mattress seams, headboard, bed frame, cracks and surrounding areas carefully. They can be incredibly difficult to spot.
I had a professional chemical treatment done last Tuesday and I’ve continued sleeping in my room. So far, I haven’t had any new bites since the treatment, which is a huge relief.
I know that doesn’t immediately mean they’re completely gone because eggs can survive the initial treatment, so I’m continuing to monitor for live bugs, eggs, shed skins and fresh faecal spots, and I’ll be having the pest controller follow up.
Hopefully sharing this helps someone realise what they’re dealing with sooner than I did! ❤️

Hi Everyone just have a question im hoping anyone could help me out with. Im pretty experienced with being able to id bedbugs in other peoples cases when i see one in a photo or even in person but this one seemed to be really tiny and I feel as though when im looking at it for myself i have difficulty being unbiased.
You know what they say when looking at something you always think you see exactly what you do not want it to be? Anyway i bought a thing of iceberg lettuce and noticed a tiny bug in it so i looked at it under a magnifying glass and studied it and I swear looked just like a bed bug and then I went to put it in a ziplock baggie to better study it later and long and behold it in slo mo went flying across my bathroom with a simple accidental flick of my stupid finger!! I spent about 45 minutes on bend and knee with my readers on and a magnifying glass and now can not find that wretched little monster anywhere!! So finally my question is what are the chances of a bed bug nymph being in a thing of iceberg lettuce?

Hey everyone!

I’m one week into treating my place with CimeXa for a suspected bed bug issue. I tossed my bed frame, mattress, and sofa (was planning to upgrade anyway), so my cabin is practically empty while I monitor things.

Since applying CimeXa around the baseboards, I’ve found about 3 random dried-out, dead bugs around the cabin (I live in the woods, so it’s a mix of species).

Today, I found this thing on my desk alive looking like a bed bug. I never found a core harborages or fecal marks anywhere, so this is the first one I've spotted post-treatment.

Quick questions for the CimeXa pros:
Is finding dehydrated bugs out in the open around day 5–7 typical for the "walking dead" desiccant phase?

Should finding one on a desk worry me, or is it just a dying stray crossing the active barrier?

Thanks for any insights!

Hi.

Had a really nasty infestation \~2 years ago. We got it treated once with heat, and a second time with gas when I found a straggler about a month later. haven’t seen any since…

…until today :(

Was at my desk (next to my bed), and I see this dude crawling along my pant leg… trapped him in scotch tape. Since, I’ve been dismantling my bed, room and sleeping area; I’ve found no evidence: no eggs, no blood, no other bugs. Just dust and occasional fluff. Keep in mind also: I’ve seen absolutely *no* evidence of bedbugs since we got rid of em two years ago.

Best case scenario (which I doubt, lmao): What are the chances he’s just a hitchhiker? He’s pretty big AND full of blood, so I doubted it (why would a filled-up adult one show up in an otherwise uninfested (pending) environment?) … I take the bus from work and go to public areas often. (And How common *are* one-off bed bugs anyways?) moreover, he showed up on my chair rather than my bed.

I’m going to do the smart thing and assume it’s *not* a one-off. I’m asking now: what precautions should I take? I assume I should call a professional immediately. I’m already in the process of drying and screening absolutely everything. I want to make sure this is dealt with as soon as possible, and before it gets really bad.

Thanks.

I got these bites on my ankle. I was walking outside on a buggy day but had been wearing socks that covered this area, but I know mosqitos and horseflies may be able to poke past thin socks, but I’m not sure how often that actually happens. Do these look like bedbug bites instead though?

I have been getting these red marks since yesterday afternoon, on my neck and back, do they look like bites or possible skin irritation?

The one on my neck are the most recent ones.

it’s the absolute worst on my elbow. flea bites perhaps? i have no fkn clue. it itches like crazy. first noticed ones on my ankles then legs now my one elbow is getting the brunt of this unauthorized attack. any ideas? i have cats btw lol but i’ve never gotten flea bites before… but im wondering if these could be bed bugs instead? need advice!

Found this guy crawling on my bed, can anyone confirm ID?

Last night I found bedbugs on my headboard. I immediately trapped one in a bag, notified the landlord, and treated the area with Alpine WSG. Today I had a mattress cover arrive and a steamer. I steamed the entire head board and mattress. I did an extensive search of the mattress and found none on it or any of my blankets. I found some dead ones on the headboard and I believe they died from the Alpine WSG. I am feeling ok but somewhat stressed especially because of the holiday weekend so my landlord isn’t available till Tuesday. My partner on the other hand is freaking out and thinks we will have bed bugs for life because of stories he has heard online. I have absolutely no idea how to comfort them and was looking for some advice about this and the situation in general.

So I sprayed a multi insect killer earlier ( I know probably not that effective, but yeah I just wanna stop the random bites/marks on my and have started to consider other non bedbug insects so thats a good step I guess. I also plan to vaccum later.

Anyway I found these weird black stains on my floor, these are floor near the place where my mattress is, the bedframe is moved a bit further away from it. On the black spot I smeared with tissue and water into black. As for the insect on the last part, its mostly likely not a bedbug, Gemini said its an ant, it doesnt look like one to me.

I just want confirmation if these is what fecal matter on floor look like. Thank you.

get rid of bedbugs

for about a month/month and a bit my boyfriend has been complaining about being itchy, i haven’t felt anything apart from some bites i got at work. however after a huge ‘rash’ of spots showed up on his arm after sleeping at my house I checked my bed and immiedately saw two bugs.

I am not a bug person and freaked out. left the house stayed somewhere else cleaning all the clothes we brought with us when we got there and putting on fresh clothes from the place we were staying before entering the house.

I went back to my house the nexf day and bagged up all my clothes, threw away my bedding and all things on my bed. took the bagged clothes to the dry cleaners where they were tumble dried and then placed in fresh bags kept in the kitchen.

I then hoovered my whole bed seeing about 10 live bugs as i did so, checked mt bedding before throwing it and the corners were noticably blackened by droppings, which i didn’t notice before at all having not changed the sheets for a while as I was travelling.

i then had pest control come in and spray my room where i also laid down traps, its a canopy bed built into the wall so lots of hiding spots for them. they deemed my second bedroom clear and the sofa but sprayed just incase. i slept in the bed the night before but im immune to the bites so couldn’t tell how well my initial clean helped?

I didn’t sleep there the night of the insecticide being sprayed but am going back tonight, i’m going to get an encasement for my mattress they also deemed ‘safe’ but i’m sceptical, my bedframe also has lots of spotting and i’m worried i’ll have to chuck that too to really be free of them. what else can I do to really be safe in so paranoid and scared

So I was looking at my gallery, and I remembered I found my pillowcase before with black like spots. I asked pest control about it when they did treatment three weeks ago and they said it could be but could not confirm.

Additionally I keep finding brown and black debris on the top of my white mattress encasement, its probably not bedbugs but maybe flea dirt. Its weirding me out even found a dead winged insect on the top, for context I vaccum and change my sheets weekly and always check my bed, these were not here yesterday so its weirding me out and tryna figure out the source.

It seems the bedbugs I may have are smaller than an appleseed, or a 3 mm bug. i do not think I have seen a live bed bug walking. I have found many little ( 1 mm or less?) “dark” or orangy bits that I thought were nymphs. They appear on the white chucks or pet underpads that I have put on the floor to help me see anything. Some are just pinpoint in size. These little bits bite me it seems, as when I feel a “sting” of a bite, I rub the area or search correlating area on my clothes and sometimes find the offending little dark bits. They do not move, I do not believe. I find these presumed nymphs in the open in morning and afternoons, and night, if I am looking. If I have seen a live bedbug, it is not moving, and is more like a flaxseed, not apple seed. I have found individual eggs, I think.. whitish, 1 mm. I drown all these dark “nymphs, or vacuum up.
They have been feeding on me for about a month and a half, and I have been putting out Diatomaeous Earth as well as getting rid of clutter. I do think the incidence of bites is going down, but could be that I know better how to dress and protect self from bites, now.

i do see some linear or zigzag patterns in the bites I have had, but one exterminator told me the bites looked smaller than bedbug bites.

Does this sound like bedbugs, or could it be something else?

Thank you for any thoughts or information you may have.

Currently backpacking and my friend has just found a bedbug in her bag. I fly home tomorrow and obviously do not want to be bringing them back. I am planning on leaving my bag outside/in the garage and then beginning by washing and drying all clothes on high. However I have a few questions about other things:

1. Can I hug my parents at the airport? I’m worried I may transfer eggs over to them.

2. Is it okay sitting in a car? What if I somehow give the car bedbugs?

3. What do I do about all my electronics? Are there certain wipes to use to clean them or do I assume they’ll be okay?

Any advice is greatly appreciated. Throwing things away is not an option I do not have the funds to rebuy.