Well, for those of you living with bed bugs, get ready to feel further depressed.
The Village Voice's blog, Running Scared wrote about a Bedbug Control Seminar held by Pest Control Technology Magazine this month at the Park Central Hotel. According to the blog, the unofficial theme of the seminar was, the bed bug problem's getting worse and we don't really know how to deal with it. A note of warning: the entry features a disgusting YouTube video of a bed bug feeding on an arm.
Here's a few excerpts from the blog entry:
“We have to be in an absolute bed bug state of mind,” warned Dr. Michael Potter, an entomologist at the University of Kentucky and leading expert in the now global bed bug war, with no apologies to Billy Joel. “This problem is not going to go away. I don’t see how the problem is going to get better. It’s going to get chaotic.”...it appears that even the exterminators' deadly pesticides are no match for bedbugs...
More horrifying was Potter’s assertion that these tiny vampires are growing increasingly resistant to the arsenal of mostly pyrethroid-based compounds currently approved by the EPA. “We’ve had cases where we’re spraying 200 to 300 times the label dose of toxins and we can’t kill ‘em,” Potter said.The only solution offered to affected New Yorkers were mattress covers, which to me are not only disgusting but do not put up a substantial defense in your bed bug infestation if the bed bugs are not in your bed, or are in your bed and in other areas of your home. The name bed bug is misleading, because beds are only one of the only many, many places in a person's home these insects can live.
Notice that the blog mentions "currently approved by the EPA", hinting that, as many bed bug bloggers have, the long-banned DDT just might be the only hope in combating bed bugs, just as it did half a century ago.
While effective solutions were non-existent at the seminar, one exceptional idea to decrease the spreading of bed bugs was discussed: a hotline that New Yorkers can call to pick up their bug-infested mattresses rather than have them lying around on the sidewalks, or worse, in an apartment hallway.
Long story short: bed bugs growing epidemic, nothing in sight that can stop them, give up hope, find a nice corner to sit in (corners should be easy to find once you throw out your furniture) and cry silently. Or howl like a banchee, whatever works for you.
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6 comments:
Hi, I just discovered your blog last night. Seeing the phrase "living with bedbugs" in your opening paragraph made me so sad.
This looks like it's been going on for almost two years now. It doesn't have to be like this. This bedbug menace is so unfair.
I self-treated in early 2005 following the directions of a pest management professional and tips from Caitlin Heller's old blog, which I think you've got linked here.
The most important thing is to have a COMPREHENSIVE wipe out strategy, involving:
vacuuming EVERYTHING - baseboards, molding, furniture with a crevice tool,
laundering all fabrics and drying on high heat then ziploc bagging those clothes to protect from reinfestation,
having a reputable, experienced pest professional put down pesticides - or - applying them yourself under their direction. Laying down a long-lasting dessicant dust is supposedly also very helpful.
caulking and sealing all cracks in your walls, floorboards, window frames etc.
treating the ENTIRE apartment, including closets.
Also, read & re-read the FAQs on bedbugger. Occasionally throwing away a piece of furniture that you've found bedbugs on is not the solution.
I wish you the best. You've probably done so much and are so tired of all this. But you can beat them. Thank you for generously sharing your story like this and providing this space.
Speaking of depressed. I got bed bugs about a year ago in June 2006. We live in a semi-detached house in Toronto. I was bug free for the winter and most of the summer until I was bitten in the 3 bite pattern in August 2007. After speaking with my father he had been bitten on his legs for about 5 days prior to my bites. I am depressed and listless. I've lost motivation in doing the things I used to do. I don't really plan to socialize much anymore. I have to make excuses for not going out in people's cars and homes because I'm desperately afraid of infecting them. I've only told 2 of my friends. On top of this, I live with 2 elderly people who are denying the existence or re-occurence of bed bugs in our home and combatting my every move to try and get rid of them. All they do is criticize me for vacuuming too much or for wasting too many garbage bas or for using pesticides. I know there are worse things like being trapped in a mine or having cancer by all of a sudden my life really sucks - again. I'm sorry. My bf doesn't understand. He's been really supportive but no one really believes how transmissible these buggers are until you get them. And then can't get rid of them successfully no matter how much effort you put into washing, cleaning, spraying.
have you tried using a product with hydroprene? they stop the bugs from maturing to an adult stage. i heard that it takes about 3 months to get rid of them, but you know they won't be coming back. i just started using it this week...let's hope it works. good luck to you.
Though I have never commented, I read your blog religiously. As you might have guessed...I have bed bugs too. And I need to thank you, profusely.
I'm a nineteen year old college student. After my first year at a big university in a small town, I decided to take control of my life and start following my biggest dream--to live in the city. I changed schools, friends, and locations to live in beautiful apartment in downtown Denver. I bought all new furniture and decorated my apartment with care (and all of my student budget). I even bought myself a cat and--presto!--insta-home. I woke up one morning about 6 weeks ago with some strange bug bites on my stomach. I am very allergic to mosquitoes, so I passed the blame to that and went on with my day. As time went on, I kept getting bites. Of course, my boyfriend never recieved one. I must have tasty blood. After research, I realized my true problem--bedbugs. As no one here seems to understand the problem, my boyfriend and I took it upon ourselves to rid my apartment. We isolated my bed and for two blissful weeks, I was bite free! Then I woke up a week and a half ago with 23 bites in a circle on my thigh, a line of them on my ribcage and my back...I'd been practically eaten alive. And that brings me to where I am now. I got out of my lease (after much arguing with my landlord who STILL doesn't believe there are any bugs..) and have signed a new lease in a fully-furnished (YES!) building. This is REALLY nice considering my new bedroom set and living room sets are in a junkyard somewhere. My new community doesn't allow pets so my cat has found a new home. I'm washing every item of clothing I own.
It doesn't matter though. At the moment I can feel them on me. Crawling. Biting. Sucking away my blood. I wish I could explain rationally to those darn bugs that I'm anemic! I need my blood more than they do! I don't sleep much, and when I do, I have vivid nightmares. Last night when I was eating sushi, I became convinced that a sesame seed was a bug that had brazenly followed me to dinner. My family thinks I am crazy---they are probably right. I saw a commercial for that new movie Bug. I burst into tears. I cannot wait until I think back on this and it's been years since I saw one or felt one.
Anyway, the purpose of this disgusting long comment was to say thank you. Your blog made me feel less alone. No one I know really understands and I don't like to share. Some people act like I have a communicable disease when I try to explain it.
On Saturday morning I will cart away the last of my belongings. Hopefully that will be a start to the end of the nightmares, the paranoia, the crazed searches in the middle of the night. I'll continue to read this blog...makes me feel like not such a freak.
That is pretty awful. I've just stumbled on this article by mistake while searching for beds online. Hope all is well now. ;)
Nov.6,2007--I don't have a rash. No,it's not hives. It's not an allergic reaction. YES, it is "BEDBUGS" and my nightmare is just beginning.
Threw out the infected couch and rug. Cloroxing everything, not sleeping after 2AM. I just wake up and can't go back to sleep. Get on the internet to try to get information. I'm just paralyzed- haven't told anyone.
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