bed bugs.

[reece]

so, i hate the news. i have mentioned that before?
along with my HA i have a little bug phobia. roaches, fleas, ticks, LICE and bedbugs. anything that can become an INFESTATION.
i have had the bedbug obsession before a few years ago when they said they were making a comeback.
but, yesterday i saw on the news about them really being infesting places like hotels and movie theaters!

so, i just investigated my mattresses. cleaned under the beds. vacuumed the box springs, etc. i'm sweating and really pissed that the news might have triggered this for me again.

it's not like they would be harmful, right? just a nuisance. right? right?

[eduk8or]

reece,

Right.  They would not be harmful, just a pain in the butt.  A few years ago my family and I took a trip to the Florida Keys and rented a condo.  After the first night, everyone woke up feeling all itchy.  I had never had experience with bedbugs before, so we were like, what the heck?  Maybe it's the detergent they used to wash the sheets... so we all showered and ignored it.  The next night, same thing.  I talked to the manager of the building the next day and she agreed to have the cleaning lady strip all the beds and rewash everything using detergent I had gotten at a grocery store.  Needless to say, that didn't help.  Then we noticed we all had these little teeny, tiny red dots on us.  I went on line and my discovery of bedbugs was made.  Eeeew.  Sure enough, that's what it was.  We asked to be moved to a different condo!  So, in the nd, we all survivied, were a bit grossed out, and had the inconvenience of moving to a different place, but it all worked out in the end...  BTW you would definitely know if you had bed bugs or stayed in a place that did, they make you ITCHY!

[YellowBird]

Ugh, I know.  I also have a bug phobia...it used to be a lot worse, but it's still pretty bad.  Mine's not necessarily infestation related...I really just fear seeing bugs.  The weird thing is, the things I fear most (roaches, crickets, grasshoppers) are the ones that really don't do any harm.  Spiders I can deal with for some reason.  I used to live in Florida, and the huge, flying Palmetto bugs (big, disgusting outdoor roaches) really freaked me out.  I mean, I would completely freeze up if I even saw one.  There would be no way I could even try to kill it. 

Anyway, when my health anxiety starts to flare up though, I do also get a flare up of obsessive cleaning compulsions.  I mean, don't get me wrong, I ordinarily clean more than a lot of people I know (my husband says I'm like "Monica" like on "Friends"), but when my HA is bad, the cleaning/sterilizing gets a lot worse.  I will stay up and clean and sterilize the whole house...Lysol is my best friend.  Part of it is I think fear of contaminating someone else, part of it is a fear of getting sicker if I'm exposed to germs.  I do a lot of extra hand washing too.  Since I tend to be most scared of contagious types of diseases (HIV, hepatitis, TB, etc.), I get super nervous if I sit next to someone who I think may be at risk for one of these things (regardless of the fact that I know rationally that I wouldn't be able to catch anything from simply sitting next to them.  And it also doesn't make sense because I'll think I have a disease already but still get scared being in certain environments because I'll think that if I don't have it by chance, I'm definitely going to get it by being there).  I think my type of HA may be somewhat OCD-related because of this. 

All this said, I saw the bed bug thing on TV this morning too, and was really freaked out.  It brought together the worst of my HA/bug phobia/contamination fears.  I don't think someone could PAY me enough to sleep in a hotel right now...even a 5-star one because I would think that it would have bed bugs.  And forget about going to the movies -- they said theaters were now infested with them.  Truly disgusting.   

[gecko]

Not harmful just annoying!you'd know if you had them by the sounds of it! I recently had my mattress cleaned by a guy with a super strong vacuum with special uv light to kill bugs etc. Maybe for peace of mind you could try this? Also available are special duvet and pillow protectors. I get bad allergies so I know about this stuff!x

[reece]

thanks y'all.
well, at least they wouldn't be harmful, although i think the creepy-ness factor would keep me from ever sleeping again if they were in my house!!

hey eduk8dor that sounds so ewwwww.  LOL - i'm glad they didn't hitch a ride home with you.
yellowbird, sounds like we are quite similar..i'm definitely more monica than phoebe that's for sure. and going to a movie this weekend doesn't sound very appealing at all! 
gecko - i'll do that if i have to.. thanks!!

[reece]

so, i'm really trying not to reel from all this media hype about bed bugs. i know this isn't HA, but it's tied in because of the obsessive thinking and panic it causes.

my husband will have to travel soon and i'm scared he's going to bring bed bugs to our home.  i vaguely remember a few years ago that i googled about bed bugs and found that they can hitch a ride home with you.  i went through this panic back then, because of the news and we were traveling alot. it died down in the media and so did my fear.  but they are back at it again and now, I really want to google to relieve my fear that the bugs will come home in your suitcase.  I'd like to dispel what i read several years ago and i'd like to know that the likely hood of bringing them home is small.
but, i can't google. i just can't. it will make it worse for me i'm sure. it's the same as googling about a disease, ya know. you think it will relieve your fears and you'll find that one sentence that will convince you, but it never turns out that way cause there are 20 other sentences that make your fear worse!

is there anyone out there that wants to google for me?  LOL

if so, only tell me if it's UN-likely they'd come home with me!! i don't need to know any details lol

[eduk8or]

Well, youknow my story about the condo in the FL Keys.  We did not end up bringing anythig home with us, BUT I did all our laundry before we came home, not because of the bed bug issue, but because there was a washer and drier right there.  The chance of your husband even staying in a place that has bedbugs is actually very small, even though they are hyping it in the media right now.  If you are really concerned and can't get past it, have your husband take some plastic garbage bags to put his dirty laundry in and have him leave his stuff in the garage until you can launder it.  Probably just feeding in to your fear by doing these things, but at least then you won't panic every time he travels...

[GillLFC]

I just had to post about all the Monica from friends similarities, my hubby says that I'm like Monica too lol but I would so rather be a 'Phoebe' lol

Oh and I'm allergic to bed bugs and dust mites so I get your obsession too!

[valleyplayer42]

Reece, I'm afraid I have bed bugs as well. I live in the basement of my parents house, and my face has been itchy for 3 years... Anyway, what your saying about the news hyping you up and triggering your bed bug fears, and once it leaves the news slowly your HA dissapears slowly. That's how I am with bird flu and stuff like that, if I am sick and I hear on news bird flu is around, I have it and i am crazy.

[reece]

so i've cleaned and vacuumed and inspected all weekend...
i'm stiill a little freaky about it though.
i have the "what if's"

so, i think i'll be ok for now.

i'm a little nervous though because i am going to visit my friend labor day weekend to stay with her at their cabin and i'm wondering what if they have bedbugs and i bring them home with me? what if i don't know they have them and so i can't be guarded against bringing them home?  it makes me not even want to go.  BUT!! i do want to go. I want to see my friend.

what can i do?

i've been trying to tell myself that it's not like i'm going to go there and get leukemia or something!! it would not be the end of the world, etc...
but , well, you know how that goes..

anyway - thanks for all your help. i know it's not HA , but it is related for sure.

[goodnightangel01]

I am the same way...I just replied to another post about bed bugs on this site.

I am afraid to go ANYWHERE. I am terrified that if I stay over someone's house, I am going to bring them back. If I sit in an office chair that I am unfamiliar with in an office somewhere, I am going to bring them back. If I go to the movies (which I tell my husband I will not do right now), that I will bring them back. If I even go to NYC at all without staying over somewhere...I will bring them back. Especially now that I know they've infested office buildings, AND department stores!! What the hell??

I wish I knew what to tell you, but today I cleaned and checked and took a flashlight to the apartment along with a magnifying glass. I have book lice in the apartment so sometimes I get convinced that they aren't book lice, they are bed bugs. But, they come out during the day and they are really tiny.

I get what you're going through and I'll be checking in to see if anyone else has good advice for people like us!! :-)

[SM15]

Oh goodness- I have the same exact fear- i'm 16, and it's like paranoia. It's insane and stupid but can you send you into feeling like you're insane! Just focus on that fact that they don't really matter,and have fun, from people I have talked to have actually had them, they say their just very very annoying and don't take too long to get rid of. They just tick you off and are just a pain. So that being said, if you start panicking, start focusing on how much fun you will have with your friend, or how they aren't a big deal, even people who have had them say that. Good luck (:

[mapshog]

A few years back I was in Thailand and woke up to a massive cockroach sitting on my arm and looking at me. When I moved my arm the stupid thing just jumped on the floor and started running around. I didn't feel like killing it so I've just somehow threw an ashtray on it upside down so it would catch it and I could throw it out.
The bloody thing was so huge that it kept running with the ashtray on top of it on the floor with its two tentacles hanging out on one of the gaps you're meant to put your cigarette into. It was an awesome sight - only comparable to the look on my girlfriends face when she woke up to the noise :D
I'm not sure that there's any conclusion except for that these things are mostly harmless and they are probably as scared to see us as we are.