9 Responses

1. dre

   July 14th, 2009 at 10:35 am

   1

   could be bed bugs…you need to wash all your bedding in hot water and maybe even get a new mattress…if they are bed bugs you can probably see little black dots on your mattress. could also be fleas, which even though you don’t have pets, could be brought in on clothing…fleas can jump from animals onto people, so it’s very possible.

2. kyle d

   July 14th, 2009 at 10:35 am

   2

   You may have bedbugs.

3. Cora

   July 14th, 2009 at 10:35 am

   3

   The Problem Might Be Bed-Bugs. You May Have To Get A New Matress And Wash The Sheets And Comforters in Hot Soapy Water.

4. Heather B

   July 14th, 2009 at 10:35 am

   4

   you said you dont have pets so that was my first guess.

   has anyone been over with pets?

   you could be having a allergic reaction to a laundry detergent that your using.

   maybe even a new body wash?

5. kelly e

   July 14th, 2009 at 10:35 am

   5

   Have you been to a friends that may have fleas?
   How about a neighbor with a pet ??

   Do you have any windows open?

   Try washing your bedding in a hot soak in the washer.
   Towels, sheets-

   Mattress cover??

   Cortisone cream may help the bites – but keep a mental journal with insects, pets and such.

6. bob shark

   July 14th, 2009 at 10:35 am

   6

   might be fleas, even if you don’t have an animal, old flea eggs in the house could have hatched.

7. jeopardy

   July 14th, 2009 at 10:35 am

   7

   Same thing happened to me last year. I can’t say for sure what’s biting you, but I can tell you what was biting me. Beg bugs. Seriously. I thought they were just a myth ("sleep tight, don’t let the bed bugs bite…"), but they’re real. And a real pain.

   Most of my bites occurred on my neck, and, just like you said, weren’t there when I went to bed but were there when I woke up. They didn’t hurt, but they itched and took forever to go away. They were red and raised, much like mosquito bites.

   Does that sound like what you are experiencing?

   If so, then you probably have bed bugs – or at the very least should rule that out!

   Bed bugs are nocturnal, and they’re most active between 3 and 6 am. The can sense a heat source (i.e., YOU) and need to live near the heat source to feed. So that’s why they’re most commonly found in/on/near mattresses. They feed on your blood (little vampires!) while you sleep. The idea that little bugs were crawling on me while I slept almost put me over the edge, but that’s the truth. They’re too small to notice most of the time, and even when they bite, you don’t feel it.

   Bed bugs are TINY, and they breed like crazy, laying hundreds of eggs at a time. So even if you see one or two adults hanging around and kill them, you’re not out of the woods yet.

   As I mentioned, most bed bugs live on mattresses–usually on the underside right around the seams (so they can hide during the day). You may also find them on the boxsprings. If you’re brave enough, lift up the mattress and see what you find. You may see live bugs, but as I said, even the adults are tiny (like half the size of your pinky nail), so there’s no way you’d see the eggs with the naked eye. What you’ll probably see is some reddish-purple stain on your mattress. Looks like dried blood. It IS dried blood. Your blood. That’s what they feed on, as I mentioned, and that’s what they excrete. If you see this kind of stain on your mattress, that’s a tell-tale sign…

   So I know you’re probably thinking "How did I get bed bugs?!?! What do I do now?"

   I don’t know where yours came from, but in my case, they came from a neighbor’s apartment. They’re small, so they came under the baseboards from apartment to apartment. He got them from a hotel. A nice one. In New York City. And they came back with him in his luggage. Bed bugs were very active in the US 40 or 50 years ago but were mostly eradicated (DDT was very popular then!). They have not been eradicated from all countries, though, and I read that they were still a big problem in parts of Australia and France. And with the rise in global tourism, they’ve become a problem in the US again in recent years. Have you traveled recently? Slept in a hotel? Or if you live in an apartment/condo/townhouse, it’s possible you got them from a neighbor.

   As for what to do now, it’s extremely important to take this problem seriously. Bed bugs are VERY difficult to get rid of, so be persistent. Based on my experience, my advice is below:

   First, if you live in an apartment, call your landlord. Ask him/her if anyone else in the building/complex has complained of similar problems. If so, ask if he/she has determined what the problem is. (My landlord was extremely reluctant to admit it was bed bugs, even though he knew it was, because he didn’t want me to freak out.) Tell him/her you think it may be bed bugs and ask him/her to call an experienced exterminator immediately. These bugs will not go away on their own, and it will only get worse as they spread. My landlord was very lazy about it. He was a good guy, but he had never dealt with bed bugs before and had no idea how serious the issue would become. I wish I’d been more firm with him in the beginning, which is why I’m suggesting you push HARD for your landlord to do something immediately.

   If you live in a house, call an experienced exterminator immediately. (If you live in a condo or townhouse or other place that you own yourself, you should still contact an exterminator but you should also contact your association to report it in case others have had similar problems.) Tell the exterminating company that you think you may have bed bugs and ask them if they are experienced in dealing with them. If they hedge or even say the word "um…" then call someone else! You need someone who knows what they’re dealing with. They’ll first come out with some kind of LED light to inspect your mattress/boxsprings. An experienced inspector would know this, but make sure they also check the bed itself (especially if it’s wood – they like wood better than plastic or metal) and all furniture (dressers, nightstands) near the bed. They should also check rugs, carpeting, floor pillows, etc. They may suggest that you throw out some things (if they can’t be washed), and they’ll certainly suggest that you wash everything else (sheets, mattress pad, pillows, rugs) in HOT water. They’ll spray the mattresses and furniture and all along the walls. Make sure they spray everywhere! If you have others living with you, make sure they check all bedrooms.

   There are "bug proof" covers you can order for your mattress and boxsprings ($100/ea), but since you said your mattress was 12 years old already, maybe it’s a good time for a new set! But DON’T get it til you’re sure the bugs are gone. It may take a few treatments. It took 5 treatments by the exterminator to actually exterminate them from my apartment. (Probably because the problem was bigger than just my apartment…)

   There’s really nothing you can do to make the bites go away/heal faster, but you can use a hydrocortizone cream to treat the itching. I saw a dermatoligist because I had so many bites and they itched so bad, but all she did was give me a prescription cream ($40+) that didn’t help that much more than the hydrocortizone I got a the drugstore. You could also ask your pharmacist for a recommendation. The other thing the dermatologist said, though, was that you should stop using all scented soaps, shaving cream, etc. where you have bites. And no shaving at all. She recommended also using a high-quality, frangrance-free moisturizing lotion (like Cetaphil) to keep the skin hydrated (dry skin will only make the itching worse). And of course, no scratching!

   So anyway, those are my thoughts. Sorry if I gave you more than you wanted to know, but I just went through this last year, and it went on for MONTHS. Ugh.

   Hope this helps! Good luck!

8. Pauline P

   July 14th, 2009 at 10:35 am

   8

   Try the source below. It discusses many different types of insect or bug bites.

9. Noi m

   July 14th, 2009 at 10:35 am

   9

   Bed Bugs are biting you

   sk a professional to clean your home, along with carpets, drapes and couches and sofas. These creatures can move around and live off your pets and move over to other corners of your house. Freeing your home from them should be the most important thing to do. After they are gone for good, buy plastic style mattress covers and pillow covers that will prevent these creatures from thriving again.

   http://www.pillowsandmattresses.com/category/Bed-Bugs.html