It has been a month now...........  

Since the last discussion on bed bugs was created. I want to share my story with the little buggers, and attempt to explain why they are back.

When I first moved back to the Chrleston area, I lived in a shelter or a couple months. Unbenonced to me, the place was infested with bed bugs. They do not tell you this when you first move in. At first they didn't bother me, didn't get bit, I didn't even see any. Till one day I was sitting on my bed, and I seen what I thougt was a tick crawling on my bed!! I freaked!! I am terrified of ticks. One of my room mates told me, that it wasn't a tick, it was a bed bug!! HUH???????? Oh noooooooo. And yes, to me, I had heard about them, but only in the mannor "good night, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite" That was my experience with them. Till then.

All along, the staff at the shelter was treating them, but nothng seemed to work, then they started steaming and freezing places they were, well, that just made them mad!! And that is when they started to attack me!! I am like "Hey, it wasn't me!!" lol they didn't listen. It got to the point that I couldn't sleep at night, because I was getting bit 30 - 40 times a night, I would sit up all night, killing them off my bed. "Sleep with the light on, they will stay away" I was told, yea right........WRONG!! They didn't care.


I was finally able to move out of the shelter, and I made sure them little so and so's didn't come with me!! And I was very lucky, because they did follow many to their new places, they didn't take the precautions needed to ensure they didn't. Since then, I have had two people move in with me from the shelter to help them out, luckily it is summer, and I make them put all their belongings in a big black trash bag, seal it up and sit it in the direct sun for 2 or 3 days. That kills them. This last one, my room mate now, no different. I refuse to put up with them now.

Now, why are they back? Back in the 70's, a chemicle called DDT was banned from the USA due to potential harm to humans and pets. Before it was banned, the USA didn't have them, but other countries did.

http://bedbugger.com/2006...

And with the world travel that has grown more these past few years, he bed bugs are brought back in luggage, on clothes, in coats. You are in a pace where there are bed bugs, you sit something down, bingo, you have bed bugs!! And if you are not careful, you will transport them to everywhere you go, even if it is to go to "Aunt Sally's" for the weekend. And if you do not take precautions, you will be in a lot of truble, because just like a roach, a bed bug is very hard to get rid of when infested with them.

If you do travel, Motels now have them, beware, and wether you suspect bed bugs or not, take these 2 precautions......

1) If time permits you, put everything that you travled with in black plastic trash bags, set out in direct sunlight, or keep in your car in sun, the heat kills them, and they will not be able to live in your car either. Might want to, just for peace of mind, keep them there for 2 days at least.

2) Wash everything that you can, and dry them, the heat from the dryer kills them. Best bet here would be do go to a laundermat to wash them, that way you know that you will not be bringing them into you home.

As a rule, bed bugs are not harmful, they are just a pest. But they do leave nasty bite marks and welts, and some may be allergic to the saliva that the bed bug puts into its host while biting them. Will the problem every go away? Maybe, if everyone is educated enough to know what to do 1) to keep from getting them, and 2) what to do if you do get them.

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/bedbugs/

http://www.bedbugsguide.com/

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/bedbugs/DS00663

Be on the look out, trust me, I do not want anyone to go through what I did!! Hope this helps.