Insect Bites, GRRR!

watna

Ok ladies, I wasn't sure where to put this question so mods if you can think of anywhere better please feel free to move it.

I moved in to my flat about 4 weeks ago. A week after we moved in my bf notied a big red mark on my back. It proceeded to get bigger. 3 weeks later and I am absolutely covered with itchy, insect bites. I look like a leper... it's hideous. My bf hasn't a single bite on him (the baxtard). I can't figure out where they're coming from. I've put the sheets and blankets on the hottest wash possible as well as all my coats as I wear them every day. I have no idea who is biting me or where they are coming from. I don't think it's work because I've been temping and been all different places. It's winter here so it's not like I'm outside much or there's insects everywhere.

Any advice ladies? Has anyone else had problems being bitten by invisible creatures? Do you think there is something in the mattress? why hasn't himself been bitten? Will I need to fumigate the place or something? So many questions!

thanks,
Watna the leper

jaffa20

it sounds more like an allergy than an insect bite. So it could be something you are wearing etc.. You probably need to go the doctor i'm sorry to say as much as i hate the majority of them.

Black Swan

I'm like your b/f and don't get bitten by bugs. Now, I had an ex-b/f who would bite me. Does that count?

watna

jaffa20 wrote: »

it sounds more like an allergy than an insect bite. So it could be something you are wearing etc.. You probably need to go the doctor i'm sorry to say as much as i hate the majority of them.

Hmm, interesting. Can allergies be bumpy and really itchy?!

EDIT: @ blue lagoon. No, that doesn't count but thanks for the tip-off!

/goes to bite bf in revenge

Nevyn

If it's bedbug then you have to treat the matress not just the sheets.
I'd suggest starting with getting the hoover to it.

If it's other sorts of inscects then I woul dsuggest going to a chemist or health store and getting some burt's bees products.

I'd suspect bedbugs.
Insects prefer celtic blood.

watna

Thaedydal wrote: »

If it's bedbug then you have to treat the matress not just the sheets.
I'd suggest starting with getting the hoover to it.

If it's other sorts of inscects then I woul dsuggest going to a chemist or health store and getting some burt's bees products.

Hmm, I'll give it an oul hoover tomorrow after work. I like Burt's bees stuff but I doubt you can get it in New Zealand, what with them being backwards and all! We were told to set off a fumigating can in the morning and then come back at night but tbh, I don't like the idea of all those chemicals around the house. I wonder is there another more natural way to kill bedbugs?

Moonbaby wrote: »

I'd suspect bedbugs.
Insects prefer celtic blood.

Damn us celts and our sweet, sweet blood!

Burts bees is american isn't it?
They probably will have in NZ.

watna

Moonbaby wrote: »

Burts bees is american isn't it?
They probably will have in NZ.

I'll have a look-see around anyway. There lip balm is great so wouldn't mind finding a stockist. You'd be surprised what they don't have here though!

Zaph

For the lumps themselves, anti-histamine tablets for hayfever like Zirtek or Clarytin should help make them less itchy and go down.

fits

The giveaway for bedbugs is that you tend to get three or four bites in a straight line. You can look for them or their faeces in nooks and crannies around the bed.

I thought I had bedbugs last year, but it turned out that a bucket of water outside my bedroom window was nookie ground for some mosquitoes and they were flying in the open window for breakfast. Thank goodness it was easily solved. Bedbugs are not easy to get rid of seemingly.

watna

Boo-urns!

After some research I think it is bedbugs. The bites are in lines and clusters and are taking weeks to go down. Also, on our way to NZ we stayed in hostels in Singapore and Malaysia and apparently they can travel in your luggage etc. When we got to NZ and my in-laws house, where the bed was being kept we unpacked with our bags on the bed so it could have happened that way.

I'm pretty freaked out. I no longer care about having chemicals in my house. I want the strongest thing possible to kill all the little fúckers. I hope they die a painful death. I am NOT lunch. Went to the hardware store after work but, like everything in NZ it closed at 5.30. Going tomorrow to find the strongest bug killer there is. Apparently you can get something called DE which is harmful to the little buggers but not to mammals.

I feel itchy, so very very itchy.

/shudders

fits

You might want to consider getting professionals in to do it. They're stubborn little buggers. They're very common though, and I'm not surprised you picked them up on the way over.

watna

fits wrote: »

You might want to consider getting professionals in to do it. They're stubborn little buggers. They're very common though, and I'm not surprised you picked them up on the way over.

I can hardly afford to feed myself at the moment so I'll to do my best with the home stuff and maybe suffer with bites until I start getting paid again.

Isn't it funny that when you're already broke loads of things go wrong and you need money to fix them?!

fits

watna wrote: »

Isn't it funny that when you're already broke loads of things go wrong and you need money to fix them?!

Oh I know exactly how you feel. I couldnt have afforded the pros either when I had my false alarm over the critters.

little lady

Hiya, not sure if you can but this in NZ but if you can it's the best cream ever, Anthisan bite and sting cream. I'm allergic to mosquite bites, and most insects LOVE my blood, this is the best I've come across, takes away the itch in a few minutes and gets rid or the lumps.

Best of luck

Crumble Froo

yikes, watna... i got bitted by some nasties earlier in the year, had a thorough wash and hoover of the bed, and ok since, but those ****ers swole up enough to worry me.

watna

Good news: It's not insect bites

Bad news: I look like even more of a leper.

I'm allergic to something and I don't know what. Apparently something that my body hasn't encountered before moving to NZ. I'm thinking the washing powder (it is pretty harsh) but I'm not sure. I just have to try changing different things.

doctor evil

Thaedydal wrote: »

Is this stuff good for the sweet blooded types that biting insects oh-so-love?

Hard luck OP, at least you can put the insects off the list.

The Sweeper

Crumble, my mosquito bites come up like that. Mozzies hide in my room until I'm asleep, then light on uncovered bits of skin - arms, shoulders, back. They don't bite hubbie, I'm obviously tastier.

Watna, how do you know it's not insects? Doctor say as much?

watna

Minesajackdaniels wrote: »

Crumble, my mosquito bites come up like that. Mozzies hide in my room until I'm asleep, then light on uncovered bits of skin - arms, shoulders, back. They don't bite hubbie, I'm obviously tastier.

Watna, how do you know it's not insects? Doctor say as much?

Yep, he's pretty sure do to the pattern of bites (i.e. they are EVERYWHERE, not in clusters) and also because after examining me he didn't see any bit marks. Also the fact that my bf hadn't been bitten was a clue (although he said that it isn't rare for only one person to be bitten when sharing space)

I frequent another forum for emigrants to NZ. Posters are mostly from the uk and a lot of them have said their kids have come up in a rash with most washing powders. A lot of them got family back home to send some. That's what makes me thing it's washing powder but really, I don't have a clue.

I'm allergic to New Zealand!

The Sweeper

I find the best way to take the itch out of bites is to superheat them. Boil the kettle. Pour boiled water in a bowl. Dip corner of clean tea towel into water. Then, careful not to burn yourself, apply the teatowel as hot as you can stand it to the site of the bite. The heat dissipates the histamine, and stops the itching. It's the only thing I found really, really works - even antihistamines don't work that well for me.

Try some of the eco-friendly washing liquids instead of powders - they're mild for the environment and have to be septic-tank friendly mostly, and I find them pretty gentle?

Oh and have you eaten any fruit or veg recently without washing it, or do you drink cartons of freshly squeezed orange juice? Finally, do you drink the tap water? I refuse to drink our tap water (and everyone who persists around me wonders why they get diarrhea all the time and can't see a connection) and I've had reactions to eating unwashed stone fruit from the supermarket...

Beautybeanie

Due to the delay you've described, sounds like you've had a reaction to a spider bite. Did the doctor mention urticaria and prescribe you with an antihistamine?

Maple

Crumbs Watna, glad its not bed bugs. Those things itch to the high heavens.

Crumble, that looks like a mozzie bite? I always do the scalding hot water thing like MAJD. Then I poke it with needles sometimes but thats just sick.

DAWNRISER

First thing to do is take an antihistamine. Sounds like you are allergice to bites.
I am, and break out with what looks like marbles under my skin from bites.

Even if i sit out in the garden I get bitten and they break out terrible.
Could be mites in the carpet. This is very common. And if so will have to go. Very hard to get rid of them,

Quality

I got bitten by an ant on Saturday, I kid you not.... And I tell you one thing the bite was sore. I squished the little fecker into my arm.

Now 3 days later I have a hive like lump on my arm... Its very itchy...

The idea of bed bugs creeps me out completely. Oh jesus it would be fumagators in for me...

flywheel

bed bugs are on the increase, having seen friends suffer major infestations in dublin and in vancouver, the only thing most of them could do was move out or get several courses of professional treatment...

this stuff managed to help some of them rid their property of the creatures
http://www.doefp.com/InsectPests.html

i now check hotel rooms i'm stying in before unpacking, and travel with everything bagged... and on return home check everything again

once they take hold in your home you are in for one hell of a ride, financially, psychologically (imagine these things crawling over you sucking your blood while you sleep, feel itchy eh!), and time wise dealing with trying to rid them form your home and life...

and unfortunately it is only going to get worse... check out some of your favourite vacation spots in N. America:
http://bedbugregistry.com/

and if you have the stomach for it, happy watching:
UK: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qx751dNw7Q
US: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U44Zo-aoBNg

Nevyn

doctor evil wrote: »

Is this stuff good for the sweet blooded types that biting insects oh-so-love?

Yes