Bed Bugs.

[IanBZHD]

 I made the move to California from the midwest to get a career. It's been great skating famous spots and I actually found/got hired for a job in my field of study. Everything was looking up...

Then my roommate mentioned he hasn't cleaned his sheets in over a year and he was itchy every night sleeping. I suggested bed bugs, but he shrugged it off and blamed spiders. Turns out I was right and we're infested with bed bugs. As far as I can tell, my side of the place is clean because I've been sleeping fine and don't really have any bites while he is covered in them. I'm sure it's just a matter of time before my shit is infested too.
Does anybody have experience with these fuckers? We're getting the placed fumigated, but until then I'm pretty livid that this is happening and bringing down my 'high' from moving here. Any advice or experience with the parasites is very welcome.

[doomstation55]

I'm kinda dealing with similar shit. My roommate got a few bites and found one on his mattress like a few weeks ago. Kept it on a piece of tape to a notecard. The exterminator came and couldn't find any, but my roommate showed him what he found and he said it was definitely bed bugs.

Had to get the place fumigated or whatever, they did it while I was at work so it was whatever but I had to take all my clothes out of the drawers and take everything out in garbage bags while they did it. Totally sucked ass having to do that and move it all back in. We were supposed to wash everything in warm water, but I figured since I was fine I didn't need to go that far (I washed like half my shit, my roommate washed a lot of his too).

Anyways it's like 2 weeks since it was fumigated and a random buddy who was subletting the room than staying in bed bug roommate's room for the time being says he has bites and saw one crawl across the bed. Even though we're decently clean all things considered, I don't want this to be fuckin permanent. Gonna have to go through this shit again.

There are apparently special mattress covers you can put on to deter them for ~$20 on amazon. Also, putting vaseline on your bed legs helps keep em off as weird as that seems.

[Madam, I'm Adam]

I've had them twice, plus I've stayed in dirtbag hostels/hotels that were infested with them. But thankfully I didn't bring them home with me, somehow. I had my clothes cleaned as soon as I got home.

It was horrible, I don't know what else to say.  It's not the end of the world but I still get paranoid that I have them if I see a red bump anywhere. Just thinking about them crawling over me and feasting is fucked. Like you said, it'll be inevitable that they'll come for you. A new bite will be very itchy very quickly, then subside - it's worse than household spider bites or mosquito bites, at least it was for me - felt like small fires had just been ignited on my skin. And they bite more often than spiders in my experience.

Their bite sizes vary but judging by your roommate's situation, the bites will probably be big. They also bite in patterns, triangular or three in a row. People say the bugs prefer hairless areas but I still got rough bites on my legs, which are hairy.

Cleaning can help the situation, but don't try to kill every single bug b/c that's probably impossible since they hide. Really, the only thing that can get rid of them permanently is letting pest control specialists handle it, which is what I did. For me, they had to spray twice - once to kill the adults, then another time to kill the babies.  Make sure you do it twice, it's crucial, trust me - the wave will start again if not. And yeah, you'll have to wash all your clothes as well.

I never tried using bean plants, but maybe this could help: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/10/science/earth/how-a-leafy-folk-remedy-stopped-bedbugs-in-their-tracks.html?_r=0

Hope this helps!

[City of Drunken Totems]

neem oil helps deter them as well, scrub your base boards (even the cracks) matresses everything with a mix of neem oil and water , bed bugs can stay dormant for up to a year in the smallest crevice with out dying . had them bad in an apartment once , never got bit but my roomate did. found them hiding under the pillowtop on my matress and continued to do the neem oil trick and checked repeatedly . no sign of them after while my roomate continued to get bit, after about 3 months we moved out as our whole apartment building was infested and our landlords didn't want to do anything about it.

Also contrary to popular belief they have nothing to do with cleanliness of your household, they feed off blood. They are just associated with dirty places etc, as most pests are.

[essal]

moved into a place and slept there, first morning I wake up to find a full grown fucker on my thigh.
moved out the same day to a laundromat for a few hours, boiled all my shit and am thankful that these fuckers aren't in my life.

anyway, what I would do is to contact a professional to deal with it properly.
if you mattress is old, just throw it out and get a new one, with a cover. if you fully open your mattress you should be able to see if you have any in your bed, just check the entire cover.
you can also buy this dirt/sand thing that apparently cuts them up so they die, it's fairly cheap and works.. can't remember the name though. so put that all over the place until you are sure that they are all dead and gone, which could take a while cause bed bugs can stay alive for a very long time without any new blood.


and who the fuck doesn't clean their sheets in a year? jesus fucking christ that's more disgusting than bedbugs IMO.

[givecigstosurfgroms]

Dry ice    find some and put everything you own  (TV clothes computer whatever the fuk) -put into garbage bag with a bit of dry ice and the off gassing will kill the be bugs.  Get the fuk out of the house/apt.

[IanBZHD]

Thanks everybody for the words. I've been here for less than a month, so getting out of the lease isn't going to happen.
Seems the consensus is an exterminator/fumigation, which I'm in the process of getting my landlord on. Reading into it, I've found that I should definitely get the place sprayed once for the adults then again for the eggs/new adults. Afterwards, basically cook everything I own in the dryer to make sure they're dead and my shit is clean.

Like I said, I've only gotten 3 bites which are in a row pattern, so at this point I'm not sure what I'm more afraid of... bed bugs or living the next year with a questionably hygienic roomie.

[Decreed Bratton]

moved into a place and slept there, first morning I wake up to find a full grown fucker on my thigh.
moved out the same day to a laundromat for a few hours, boiled all my shit and am thankful that these fuckers aren't in my life.

anyway, what I would do is to contact a professional to deal with it properly.
if you mattress is old, just throw it out and get a new one, with a cover. if you fully open your mattress you should be able to see if you have any in your bed, just check the entire cover.
you can also buy this dirt/sand thing that apparently cuts them up so they die, it's fairly cheap and works.. can't remember the name though. so put that all over the place until you are sure that they are all dead and gone, which could take a while cause bed bugs can stay alive for a very long time without any new blood.



and who the fuck doesn't clean their sheets in a year? jesus fucking christ that's more disgusting than bedbugs IMO.

It's called diatomaceous earth.  You have to make sure you buy the food grade one.  It works but it's messy because it's a fine powder. 

[captainfalcon69]

fuck my roommate is the most filthy dude ever and this thread is making me paranoid

[wallieD]

fuck my roommate is the most filthy dude ever and this thread is making me paranoid

u good my dude
 https://www.aad.org/dermatology-a-to-z/diseases-and-treatments/a---d/bedbugs/who-gets-causes

[EXTRA SPICY]

My in laws got them while we lived with them. I was working in the Angeles National Forest everyday at the time and her dad was trying to blame me for bringing them home, having them confused for ticks. Turns out, not only was he a dummy on entomology, but he brought them home from the prison he works at. I never got bit, but we moved out asap after that. Super gross. Her sister qualifies as what is known as a BBW/chubby and I overheard some of the worst conversations of my life between her mom and her about bites in the under tit and corresponding treatments.

[baroque_0bama]

Havent had bed bugs but I've had scabies, and they're kiiiind of similar. I dont know if you take permethrin cream for bed bugs, but I compulsively washed all of my shit in hot water/ hot dryer, vaccuumed the hell out of everything, and kept clothes that wouldnt survive being cooked in sealed plastic garbage bags for a week. I've heard great things about the mattress covers that keep them at bay.

and if all else fails, burn your shit or get your hands on some Lindane.

[botefdunn]

The worst. I have dealt with these vampires more than once and all I can say is don't half-ass the fumigation process. Get all of your shit out of there but leave any wooden furniture, tape over bottoms of doors so the bugs are sealed in with the spray, otherwise they'll just migrate next door for awhile till the heat dies down. Good luck

[essal]

Havent had bed bugs but I've had scabies, and they're kiiiind of similar. I dont know if you take permethrin cream for bed bugs, but I compulsively washed all of my shit in hot water/ hot dryer, vaccuumed the hell out of everything, and kept clothes that wouldnt survive being cooked in sealed plastic garbage bags for a week. I've heard great things about the mattress covers that keep them at bay.

and if all else fails, burn your shit or get your hands on some Lindane.

don't use permethrin for bedbugs unless you spray you're entire house with it. if you use it on yourself, the only thing that you might accomplish is that the bedbugs don't bite you for a couple of weeks. they won't die or go away...

while I would of course clean everything, the problem with bedbugs is that they get into all sorts of cracks for hiding. for scabies its primarily their eggs that end up in your clothing and bed, which is why you vacuum. there is simply no way in hell that you can vacuum away your bedbug problem, but it won't hurt as long as you remember to throw the fucking bag out when you're done...

[Rusty_Berrings]

If you ever go to an Atlantic City casino resort type of place bring bed bug spray yep. Just cuz you did cocaine and drank all night/day and a half or whatever doesn't mean you don't end up passing out there. Well. You maybe,.

[Gnarfunkell]

Sorry you have to deal with that.

Last December I got scabies (mites) from a chick, but I didn't find out why I was so itchy until about a month or two down the road, so they had spread quite a bit. Needless to say... I feel your pain. Getting rid of pests like that can be so fucking difficult, but you just have to persist and not go crazy. That kind of a thing can really get in your head and make you have panic attacks if you don't keep your cool about it.

Good luck!

[shark tits]

i've been dealing w/  them for the last month or so. sometimes i kill so many in a night i don't get bit for half a wk and think i've won then they'll return. i don enjoy killing them for what it's worth but miss the days when my recliner wasn't host to thousands of candarian demons.

[colin]

I heard that heat is the only true way to get rid of them.
http://www.wikihow.com/Kill-Bed-Bugs

[shit_for_brains]

Get rid of all your shit and get new shit.

[Tracer]

Move out like a reasonable person, 1 year without washing your sheets is bonkers! I do mine atleast once a fortnight

[TEMP-GNAR]

never buy furniture off craigslit

[GAY]

Every once in a while here on SLAP a thread comes along that qualifies as "intensely sexy".

This is one of those "once in a while" moments.

[saucy ragu]