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.

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.