The Bed Bug Thread: Our Finest Hour?

There are other threads which discuss bed bugs but they are of the "something tried to eat me last night what was it?" variety. There are other places that one could put a thread about bed bugs, but since this post will deal with getting relief from them, I thought that putting it here in the medical forum might be the most efficacous way of getting the word to the desperate. Maybe people could post their strategies for dealing with the pests.

I don't know about bed bugs as a vector for disease but they certainly cause a lot of mental stress on those suffering an infestation.

We have been sprayed once where I live and now, months later, we are getting ready for our next spraying. People who have gone through this process will know that it is a non-trivial disruption to life as you fomerly knew it. Particularly if you are a "clutter bug" as I was.

I no longer am, of course, since everything I own is packed into plastic tubs and sealed plastic bags. If you think about that a little, you will realize why people are not taking bed bugs lightly.

Anyway, here's the good news.

If you are invaded by bed bugs, it is likely that you will wind up sleeping in a zipped sleeping bag of some sort, until the exterminators can treat your home.

I'm assuming that you are short of money to pay an exterminator and that you are already sleeping in a zipped bag of some sort. That you already have several small strips of masking tape stuck nearby, as ammo, so you can instantly grab one and trap the bugs you see coming for "breakfast, lunch and dinner", as the three bites are often called.

From personal experience I can tell you that, despite these sorts of precautions, you will still be having trouble with the bugs, but after reading up on them recently, I came up with something that radically reduced the frequency with which I encounter them or their bites.

By simply placing a small fan directed at the floor a few inches from my face and running it during the night, I got virtual instant relief from their predations.

Repeat: By simply placing a small fan directed at the floor a few inches from my face and running it during the night, I got virtual instant relief from their predations.

The reason this works is that the fan disperses the carbon dioxide that you exhale when you breathe. Carbon dioxide is the chemical indicator that allows the bed bugs to locate their prey. One of the peculiarities of carbon dioxide is that it is heavier than air. When you exhale, the carbon dioxide sinks to the floor and pools outward from the location of your nose and mouth. The bugs follow that flow of CO2 back to you.

The fan disperses the CO2 and destroys the trail leading to you. The bed bugs are no longer able to find you.

I know it sounds incredible and too simple to be true, but it works.

Over the last four days of employing this method the graph of my bed bug encounters went into steep decline. It wasn't a vertical drop, but a very steep decline to near zero.

I fully realize that this is not the end of the bed bug war, nor is it the beginning of the end, but it may well be the end of the beginning.

I am having the same issue, but the crazy thing is this. if your neighbors in your complex has the bed bug's but don't get treated, it's pointless to do it to your domicile due to the fact of possible re-infestation.

the good news is, (the real good news lol) if you have them at least it proves 1 thing...you're a hygienic person or at least your house is clean, because if I am not mistaken (can't find the link at the moment) bed bug's do not like filth.

reply to post by ipsedixit


Have you tired tea tree oil and rubbing alcohol? I know that it kills germs and fungus as well as help keep mosquitoes and fleas away. I am sure that it would not be a permanent fix but it might help through the nights.

reply to post by remembering

I haven't tried the remedies you suggest. How do you use these things? The direction I have gone is toward isolation, sleeping in a sleeping bag etc., and basically being well armed with masking tape strips for when they come for me. That is one of the advantages, curiously. The bugs must come to you to eat.

Personally, I don't think that we in North America are going to get rid of this problem easily. I think one of the next steps I would like to try, is to make a CO2 emitting bed bug trap.

reply to post by Ronin22


Ronin I"m sorry but you are mistaken. Bed bugs love clutter as anywhere there is clutter there are more places to hide. If you get them it isn't really a reflection upon your domestic habits at all. Bed bugs can hitch a ride on house guests, luggage you take with you on a trip, new clothing and linen purchases, and even in library books.

Here are a few tips that are very useful that may help:

1. Use the luggage stand at the hotel (keeps your bag out of reach of the bed bugs)

2. Wash new clothing and other textiles when you first bring them home.

3. The only way to bed bug proof a bed is to use bed bug proof zipper equipped encasements for your mattress, box spring (foundation) and pillows.

4. If you never assume bed bugs have any relation to other social or economic factors you will be far less likely to suffer an infestation. There is no hotel to good for bed bugs or any one certain hotel that is synonymous with them.

Some thing else that might help is cedar soap, to wash with, it might keep them from biting. I don't have bedbugs, I live in the country. Nobody I know has bedbugs. A new rental type store just opened up about ten miles away. They prey on poor people and people with bad credit. I've read awful reviews about them and most of these reviews were about bedbugs, all the furniture and bedding that they rent or sell is full of bedbugs. Scary.

The fan thing works for mosquitoes too.

The problem with cedar soap is that it can be irritating to those of us who are allergic to the cedar oils. Although I LOVE the way cedar works and the smell.

Apparently diatomaceous earth works as well. It's a very fine dirt that can kill the BB's over time. Just don't inhale it yourself. Leave it in crevices or cracks where it won't be disturbed by anything else but the bugs.

Originally posted by ipsedixit
reply to post by remembering

 

I haven't tried the remedies you suggest. How do you use these things? The direction I have gone is toward isolation, sleeping in a sleeping bag etc., and basically being well armed with masking tape strips for when they come for me. That is one of the advantages, curiously. The bugs must come to you to eat.

Personally, I don't think that we in North America are going to get rid of this problem easily. I think one of the next steps I would like to try, is to make a CO2 emitting bed bug trap.

Get a small spray bottle. 8oz is the size I have. I fill the bottle ¾ of the way with rubbing alcohol and then I put in 1/3 to ½ of the bottle of tea tree oil. Shake it a little and you ready to spray. I started using it because my toe nails where starting to turn yellow. I spray my toes before I put on the socks. No yellow nails. No athleats foot. And when there are mosquitoes or fleas around I spray my cloths and they do not come near me. I do not know if it will work with bed bugs. But it is something that you might give a try. You could either spray yourself or you bedding or both.

reply to post by remembering

Thanks for the tips.

I wonder if spraying the blades of my fan would be useful, or putting a coat of the Tea Tree Oil on them. Might be worth a try. But things are going well with the fan anyway. I haven't seen a single bedbug in my last two sleep periods.