Saturday, September 12, 2009
Necesito bolfo
Most days I don't think I have the Peace Corps experience (except when I'm riding in a dump truck). My life now is far cushier than I ever imagined--ie I have a toilet and running water for 1/2 the day. But as a mean to be reminded that I am indeed a Peace Corps volunteer, right now my room smells strongly like cat pee and I think I have bed bugs/fleas. So it's Saturday night...I'm alone in my room...covered in itchy little bumps...scratching away until my skin bleeds...like some animal. :( This is not attractive. I am missing life in the states right about now.
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DO NOT SCRATCH YOUR BITES - IT WILL JUST INFECT!! I did some online research on this topic - see below. Please respond on what I need to send to you to help with this problem. Not being able to get a good night's sleep is UNACCEPTABLE - so it's important that we try to address this ASAP!
ReplyDelete--- Excerpt from WikiAnswers (Part 1) ---
Itching to Know...
I had bed bugs and Omigod, I just hated them - I got bitten and I itched; it was torture every night. I treated my room for bed bugs with products that I bought at www.pestmall.com and encased my mattress, box spring, & pillow case with this encasement called zip-it-bug - and, wow, it works! I didn't have to worry about getting bitten when I went to bed. It's great! Its soft, durable, & MACHINE WASHABLE! How convenient is that?! Honestly, I am now 100% bedbug free! I recommend it to everyone!
Bed bugs are a pest and really hard to handle. I once had a bedbug problem too. So I called in a professional. They had stated that bed bugs do not go away in just one treatment, but usually takes 3-4 different treatments. So they had recommend several different products that I could purchase on line and use to treat the bed bugs.
One of the products I found that was very useful is Steri-Fab, which you spray almost everywhere: your mattress, clothes and even carpets. Also using natural products (such as Rest Easy) is a good idea too, taking these types of product when your traveling so that you don't bring them back with you. Also getting box spring and mattress en casements is a good idea: it not only helps eliminate them, but helps prevent them. If you try to cover your mattress and box spring with plastic, the bed bugs will just chew right through it. Spraying the mattress and putting dust into the holes in the sides of the mattress before covering the infested mattress is a good idea.
I was able to find a lot of reasonably priced products www.pestmall.com
To get rid of bed bugs, you must contact an exterminator (Pest Control Operator). Home remedies may give limited relief, but bed bugs will continue breeding and you will have a much bigger problem within weeks. They are very tenacious and usually require two or more visits from a professional. The exterminator should come back two weeks after the first treatment, and if you see bugs during the following two weeks after the second visit, they should come again, until two weeks pass and you see no live bugs, and feel no bites. The eggs take time to hatch and the sprays do not kill the bugs, so once the eggs hatch there will be bed bugs (this happens within two weeks). Follow all of the exterminator's instructions exactly.
(Part 2)
ReplyDeleteIn addition to having someone come in and spray, you need to do lots of things yourself, like launder all of the clothing and linens (curtains, sheets, comforters, etc.) in your home in hot water and dry in the dryer on hot. Bag all these items in sealed, airtight bags (XL Ziploc or carefully sealed garbage bags - no air should be able to escape. The smallest bed bugs are 1 mm in size and the largest are the size of an apple seed (1/4"); the small ones are difficult to see. Do this washing and bagging before the exterminator comes. In addition, get a mattress cover that entirely encloses the mattress (cloth is more comfortable and more secure). It should be designed to keep bed bugs out. Put one on the mattress and one on the box springs. If there are bed bugs inside, they will not be able to bite you and will die within 18 months. All of this information and more can be found at Bedbugger.com
One doctor told me to change the bed twice a week, and wash the sheets in hot water; also wash your pajamas the same way. Make sure that you dry the clothes and sheets in the dryer and not on a clothes line.
The above suggestion about washing clothing and laundry is helpful, but is only part of a treatment plan. See the first answer above for additional steps, and be aware that laundering must be done on the Hot setting: washing on Hot and drying for a whole hour on Hot. You need to wash every cloth item in the house from bedding and PJ's to curtains, and everyday clothing. Thick items like a pillow or comforter might take much longer than an hour to safely kill bed bugs in the dryer. And it is the long time in the dryer, not the washing machine, that will really ensure they are dead. Nevertheless once clothing and linens are brought home, they must be kept in sealed, airtight bags (for example, XL Ziploc or carefully sealed space bags). Dry cleaning is alright for delicate which cannot be washed and dried for an hour on Hot, but you must tell the dry cleaner the item is infested with bed bugs (otherwise they can reinvest you and others). And when you bring dry cleaning home, it also must be sealed as the other items are (dry cleaning bags are not airtight and thus not sufficient.) And you will still have bed bugs in your home after washing all clothing and linens, unless you also take other steps, including finding and using a licensed Pest Control Operator who is experienced in eradicating bed bugs (they all are not; you should ask).
(Part 3)
ReplyDeleteI used to have a bed bug problem and tried a lot of stuff. I got rid of mine by washing everything in hot water and spraying all the furniture and carpets and everything else with tea tree oil - it worked like a charm; it kills them instantly.
Spray with tea tree oil, but do not dilute it. Bed bugs are very resilient. While a direct application of tea tree oil to a bed bug would probably kill it just fine, it is unlikely that you can directly hit all bugs with tea tree oil since they often hide in cracks in the wall or floor. You must use pesticides, including those which do not simply kill on contact. If you do not like that idea, realize that if you don't, you are giving them a chance to breed and in the end, you will need even more pesticide. Get a professional in and do it right. Tea tree is also expensive ($10 an oz. discounted in the USA) an oz is a very small amount. It would probably damage your furniture, since it is an oil.
People should be aware that doing your own pest control is a good additional step, but you must hire a licensed Pest Control Operator first. If you are a renter, it is your landlord's responsibility to pay (check local tenants laws). Pest control of bed bugs is not easy and using pesticides can be dangerous to people who are not experienced.
Note: in New York City, in a building that has 3 or less units, the tenant is responsible, not the landlord. UNLESS the tenant can prove it was not caused by them. (Like if the apartment had it upon moving in.) In addition, tenants who do not notify landlords are acting negligently.
Never underact to bed bugs. At the first sign of biting, clean everything nearby as proscribed above and call a professional to spray. Dragging your feet just a week or two can be sufficient time for them to really entrench themselves.
Be sure to find where they're coming from before the sprayers come in. Try putting double-sided tape around parts of your room in an attempt to discover their primary hiding spots. Clean these as best you can beforehand, and let the exterminator know of any you have found. You can't eradicate bugs yourself, but you can help the exterminators do so.
Bed bugs don't only like fabric. You may also need to treat or discard all paper products, including loose paper, books, journals, etc. The freezing these for two weeks may be effective, if you have the freezer space.
Unfortunately the apartments above, below and each side of you need to be inspected professionally, and treated if necessary. Entomologists say as many as 50% of people do not react to bites, and may have no idea they have bed bugs. Don't take their word for it.
You do not have to live with bed bugs. They can be completely eradicated from every home.
I got rid of mine with a high powered steam cleaner. These can be bought for around 50$. I started going trough all the cracks and spray hot air/steam into them for 2-3 seconds, kills them right away. I had to do that every week for about 2 months, and have not seen any again. When you find them first you start to know where they like to hide, do not obstruct these hiding places as newborn will also gather there and it will be easier for you to kill these too.
Get some DDT. Studies now show it did not thin the eggs of bald eagles. Bed bugs were eradicated until liberals banned the best insecticide known to man.
I got rid of my problem using Pronto. It is specially made for bedbugs and dust mites. After using Pronto for a few weeks, the bugs disappeared. This product is about $8 per can and works wonders. I never thought I would get rid of them until I found Pronto in the grocery store. It was my last resort and my only hope, and it worked!!!!
Put rubbing alcohol in a spray bottle and then spray your bed. Wait about 5 minutes or until the bed is fully dry. Steam your bed with a steam iron; and press the button several times if needed.
-- Note from your sister --
ReplyDeleteI KNOW that you can't implement all of these things - but I think trying to send a hammock, some sprays, double sided tape, alcohol, an iron are do-able. We need to get rid of this problem so you can sleep!!
Good luck - let me know what you need!!
I wanted to thank you for this great read!! I definitely enjoying every little bit of it I have you bookmarked to check out new stuff you post.
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