u/Lilu1414

This is long winded, so in a nutshell: My bug ocd was triggered by coming into contact with a roach at the mechanic as well as his behavior. Now, I can’t stop imagining them in my car and apartment.

So, today was a bad day after having a week of marked improvement with respect to my bug ocd. I went to the mechanic to get my inspection sticker. I saw a roach in his waiting room and said I was scared of bugs so I’ll be waiting outside if he needs me (I didn’t want him to not be able to find me). I also stupidly asked since he had to move my bins (two in my trunk) to the floor to fix my brake lights that failed if the bugs were an issue there because I just get nervous about bugs in general getting into my car. I know it was an awkward question and I apologized for it (the minute it left my mouth, I felt so upset with myself) but I don’t think it excuses his reaction.

He got extremely offended and said “If you’re scared of bugs, you should act like it. Your car is too messy to say anything about it. It’s a perfect place for them to breed. Most places wouldn’t even inspect your car like this.” He kept going, saying that my clutter was a liability for mechanics since a bug could have jumped out at him and I was just stunned into silence. My car was cluttered, but I had moved enough out to have everything accessible for the inspection.

Once the sticker was put on my car, he said the amount he was charging me without telling me the cost first. Luckily, it wasn’t too much. When I was paying him, I asked for clarity if he saw bugs in my car since it wasn’t clear with how he was talking. He smirked and rolled his eyes, looking away. I said “I just want to know if that is why you were talking so much about it.” I didn’t want him to think I was insulting his garage. He said “I can’t guarantee there aren’t any in there because of your mess, but I didn’t see any.” He then started saying that he never saw any bugs in there. I said “I understand. I didn’t mean to offend you. I know bugs can come in from outside sometimes.” He was so rude.

I was doing so well this week with my bug ocd and now it is ramped up. I just felt both embarrassed and angry.

Right now, I am trying to stop myself from checking everywhere in my car and apartment for roaches. Having those are my worst nightmare. I already had to deal with bats in my walls and bat bugs that came with them as well as carpet bugs. I am in a redone attic apartment on the third floor of a multi family house, so things like that can happen sometimes but it doesn’t make it any less stressful.

I always imagine bugs everywhere when I worry. I checked some of my trunk after and moved some things out, but resisted checking the entire car. I had to put the outfit I was wearing outside in a trash bag for laundry (my landing is hidden and private, so my neighbors don’t have to look at the bag). I also showered right away. I felt like since I came into contact with one that it will somehow cause my apartment to be filled. I also worry that thinking about these things will almost will it (my therapist says I have magical thinking linked to my anxiety, which is accurate).

I am wondering what sort of strategies people use for silencing or interrupting the horror movies ocd creates in your own brain. I don’t want to have this ruling me thoughts.

Thanks ♥️

I am using the app on an iphone with a backbone controller. What setting to I have to use to make the display vertical?

So, I live in a finished attic. Today is the first day after a few days of rain. I was walking into my living room and saw a millipede crawling up my wall. I killed it and immediately checked the area. No other signs of others. I am on the 3rd floor. Is it normal for one to wander in this high up?

It’s exactly what it says in the title. I put the time in wrong on my calendar. I am not officially starting for two weeks, but my meeting was my first one on one with my new boss since he interviewed me for the job before hiring me. I did see him yesterday online for an optional meeting I chose to attend prior to my first day, but that was a department meeting. I am so mortified. I emailed him when I realized about 5 minutes before the meeting was scheduled to end. I didn’t get any email or call asking where I was, so my stupid memory wasn’t jogged until then. I said exactly what happened and apologized, asking if he still had time to meet. He emailed me a minute later, saying, “No worries- I have a meeting in three minutes. Today is a busy day. Let me know what tomorrow and Thursday looks like for you.”

How screwed am I? I feel like I have ruined everything. This job means so much to me and I am sick at the thought that I have possibly wrecked it.

So, I had bats for months in my walls (I live in a redone attic apartment). I had wildlife professionals come out and seal the entry points and put bat doors in. I no longer hear any and have had no evidence of any in the past eight weeks. However, about five days ago, I saw a bat bug that was clearing-ish but still adult sized with a small dot of blood. I found another one this morning on the floor (a light brown/reddish flat one) that didn’t seem to be moving. A couple years back, there were also bats and a real bat bug issue for almost a year. This time, I know the little bastards are bat bugs. I found two in a few days which alerted me to the bats being back and didn’t seem any for seven weeks after exclusion. Now on the eighth week, I saw two about five days apart.

How long is normal to have to deal with them after the bats are gone? When should I worry about them being a clue about a bat issue again? (Like them getting back in or something). I am annoyed but okay with dealing with the occasional one so long as I know it’s them dying off rather than breeding.

When should I worry if at all? Am I freaking out about something I just need to wait out? My baseboard gaps have cimexa in them, but I don’t want anything harsher since I have cats. An entomologist told me that Cimexa is the gold standard when poisons are out of the question. I am friendly with my landlord who has been amazing about moving quickly on this. I really don’t want to put more on him if possible.

Heeelp lol

I hate that I have to make a second post in one day.

I am absolutely finished.

I was jostling things in my messy car around to grab something and saw something after few minutes afterwards. I am dealing with a bat infestation at home and was texting about how I didn’t even want to go home and suddenly, something was slowly creeping down my steering wheel. I crushed it with a tissue out of panic and threw it out and noticed silky webbing (drop lines?) across my windshield that I haven’t seen before. It is the only one I have seen. I have a 2013 Hyundai Sonata and never had an issue with pests.

Help. Is it possible this is a one time occurrence?
I am going to clean out and vacuum my car tomorrow.

So, my cat has been having these bumps on and off for months. She has been on antibiotics this past week and it doesn’t seem to be getting better. I also noticed sneezing and congestion that stopped after the antibiotics. I also usually use scented candles a lot and stopped this past week, so I don’t know if that is connected to her sneezing. I checked today and there are three hard bumps very close together.

She doesn’t seem to he scratching or overgrooming. She has been treated for fleas and mites. It definitely isn’t fleas. I would have seen them by now and any curious things on her fur has been tested with water to see if it was flea dust and it wasn’t. There has been no hair loss. In fact, I have to work hard to part her undercoat to get a good look. Any ideas?