u/alteredtome

I found this guy on a pillow that had been sprayed with Crossfire. To me it looks like some kind of beetle or maybe a roach, but I want to double-check.

I finally found my bed bugs. I've also been documenting the mystery bites for doctors so turns out I have a timeline from when this all started til today. I'm mostly wondering how bad is it.

Ok, the timeline:

May 20th - I get three mysterious red spots. 12 hours later they blow up into huge hives. I go to Urgent Care because I think I'm having an allergic reaction. Get a script for itch cream and prednisone.

May 21st - I feel achy and feverish so I head back to Urgent Care, wondering if these were tick bites or something. Get a script for antibiotics and don't even bother with the prednisone.

I vacuum my mattress, box spring, couch, my cat's basket and the carpets all around them, then wash and dry all my and my cat's bedding on high heat. Ya know, just in case.

May 28th - No more spots all week and then bam! A huge welt on my right thigh. I head to my PCP because wth is going on? We start trying to find things in my diet I could be allergic to but she told me to try the prednisone, which does help.

In the meantime, I was obsessively checking my bed and box spring for signs of fleas or bed bugs. Nothing.

June 12th - I catch a nymph biting my left arm while I'm just chilling at my computer desk. I took a crappy pic of it and folks here id'd it as a bedbug nymph. I sent my landlord a message and they agreed to schedule a pest control visit.

June 16th - Pest control comes and sprays Crossfire everywhere. Bed frame, box spring, bottom of mattress, carpet around it, baseboards, flipped my couch and living chair and sprayed both them and their cushions, baseboards again, computer chair and around my computer desk. Seemed pretty solid. No bug bites that night.

June 17th - Aw bummer, a bite.

June 18th - June 25th - no bites. Are we outta the woods?

June 26th - Nooooope. Today I caught a live, 5th stage full instar crawling on my computer chair. I posted about it here and it was only when someone said "I'd flip that computer chair over if I were you" that I finally went "Oh, duh, yeah let me do that". Y'all - well, you see the pictures.

I wrapped the chair up in four clear garbage bags, sealed it everywhere with Gorilla tape, wrote "Bed Bugs!!" and "No!!" on the chair in Sharpie, then tossed it.

I talked to pest control, showed him the pictures and they're gonna come back next week.

So, given all that and the pictures - exactly how screwed am I? It's a 5 week infestation now, and that's only that I know of. I don't know how I got them (possibly the neighbor I share this wall with?), and I'm not totally sure how to calculate their reproductive rate. Any ideas or experience on this?

I finally found my bed bugs. I've also been documenting the mystery bites for doctors so turns out I have a timeline from when this all started til today. I'm mostly wondering how bad is it.

Ok, the timeline:

May 20th - I get three mysterious red spots. 12 hours later they blow up into huge hives. I go to Urgent Care because I think I'm having an allergic reaction. Get a script for itch cream and prednisone.

May 21st - I feel achy and feverish so I head back to Urgent Care, wondering if these were tick bites or something. Get a script for antibiotics and don't even bother with the prednisone.

I vacuum my mattress, box spring, couch, my cat's basket and the carpets all around them, then wash and dry all my and my cat's bedding on high heat. Ya know, just in case.

May 28th - No more spots all week and then bam! A huge welt on my right thigh. I head to my PCP because wth is going on? We start trying to find things in my diet I could be allergic to but she told me to try the prednisone, which does help.

In the meantime, I was obsessively checking my bed and box spring for signs of fleas or bed bugs. Nothing.

June 12th - I catch a nymph biting my left arm while I'm just chilling at my computer desk. I took a crappy pic of it and folks here id'd it as a bedbug nymph. I sent my landlord a message and they agreed to schedule a pest control visit.

June 16th - Pest control comes and sprays Crossfire everywhere. Bed frame, box spring, bottom of mattress, carpet around it, baseboards, flipped my couch and living chair and sprayed both them and their cushions, baseboards again, computer chair and around my computer desk. Seemed pretty solid. No bug bites that night.

June 17th - Aw bummer, a bite.

June 18th - June 25th - no bites. Are we outta the woods?

June 26th - Nooooope. Today I caught a live, 5th stage full instar crawling on my computer chair. I posted about it here and it was only when someone said "I'd flip that computer chair over if I were you" that I finally went "Oh, duh, yeah let me do that". Y'all - well, you see the pictures.

I wrapped the chair up in four clear garbage bags, sealed it everywhere with Gorilla tape, wrote "Bed Bugs!!" and "No!!" on the chair in Sharpie, then tossed it.

I talked to pest control, showed him the pictures and they're gonna come back next week.

So, given all that and the pictures - exactly how screwed am I? It's a 5 week infestation now, and that's only that I know of. I don't know how I got them (possibly the neighbor I share this wall with?), and I'm not totally sure how to calculate their reproductive rate. Any ideas or experience on this?

Sorry I can't get closer but he's in a tupperware and that's as close as I can get my phone.

Found this guy crawling on my computer chair - the same chair where I got bit by what we think was a bed bug nymph. I just wanna see if I caught his brother so I know what I'm dealing with. He's 4.5mm long and he can't get out as he's slipping on the sides.

I was sprayed with CrossFire last Tuesday and I had him spray the crap outta my chair and desk area. I figure if this is a 4th or 5th instar, then maybe we missed an area I need to find. Just wanna confirm it.

Sorry I can't get closer but he's in a tupperware and that's as close as I can get my phone.

Found this guy crawling on my computer chair - the same chair where I got bit by what we think was a bed bug nymph. I just wanna see if I caught his brother so I know what I'm dealing with. He's 4.5mm long and he can't get out as he's slipping on the sides.

I was sprayed with CrossFire last Tuesday and I had him spray the crap outta my chair and desk area. I figure if this is a 4th or 5th instar, then maybe we missed an area I need to find. Just wanna confirm it.

I'm dealing with potential bed bugs and in combing through my stuff I found these. To me they look like carpet beetles, but I just wanna double-check.

EDIT: I'm near the Rocky Mountains.

I already know I have bed bugs - I'm just trying to find the source. This is an old Victorian photo album I got off eBay. I froze it for a couple days before opening it up but from what I'm learning lately, that's not enough time to kill all stages. Does this look like bed bug feces to you? And is the second picture an abandoned egg?

I already know I have bed bugs - I'm just trying to find the source. This is an old Victorian photo album I got off eBay. I froze it for a couple days before opening it up but from what I'm learning lately, that's not enough time to kill all stages. Does this look like bed bug feces to you? And is the second picture a hatched egg?

These two black blotches are on my fitted sheet. They look raised but they're actually embedded in the fabric.

Sorry for the not-great pics but I was shaking as I was trying to take it and this thing was tiny. Maybe 1 mm. I was sitting at my computer desk in my living room when I felt a bite. Turned my arm around and here was this bright red bug on me, happily eating away. I tried to save him for ID but when I tried transferring him from the paper towel to the tupperware, I accidentally squished him.

I've been dealing with hives (what I now know are bites) for three weeks but I haven't found any evidence of fleas or bedbugs despite constant surveillance. Until now. And now I'm wigged out that if they are bed bugs, I've brought them into my living room. I put a call into my landlord for pest control and just finished washing/drying all my bedding on high heat. I've vacuumed the mattress, box spring and frame but the most I found is either a pile of sand or a pile of eggs (see pic). Unfortunately I don't have mattress/box spring encasements or interceptors yet but they're on the way.

Help?