After 5 years I still can’t stand getting bug bites, any kind of bite.
My infestation left some deep scars in my psyche, many of which this website has healed with the knowledge it might help you with your bed bug infestation. After all the fewer of “them” the better it is for all of us. Most of the time I am 98% over it. But it doesn’t take much to pull me backwards into hyper-vigilance and honestly maybe mild paranoia that I’ve somehow brought them home. Along the way I’ve collected some tools to deal with the occasional but intense anxiety. I’m using those tools right now because I went camping last weekend and have two bites on my face.
I’m using those tools right now because I went camping last weekend and have two bites on my face. I don’t typically post about me or my infestation or how traumatic it was. I know there are plenty of people who get bed bugs and move on. They are not uncomfortable at the movies, or the coffee shop, or the Dr.’s Office. They can sit and relax on upholstered furniture in public places and not even think of bed bugs. I envy those people.
So what am I doing about it?
I’m going to pull back the curtain a little and be completely honest. It’s been a rough week and I’ve been disappointed at the degree of anxiety and fretting these two bites (one on my bridge and one above my eyebrow) have and are still causing me. So I wrote in my calendar journal the day and circumstances I think I remember them appearing, which was the evening I returned from camping. Logically, statistically, I tell myself they are mosquito bites, or spider or anything other than bed bug bites. But the fact there are two so close together makes it really hard to convince myself they aren’t. The fact there are two on a part of me that would be exposed while I sleep, another bed bug M.O., biting where you are exposed rather than under the covers so they are less apt to be squashed when they are bloated with your blood. I really don’t think they are…so I wait.
That’s the deal, I wait 3-7 days and see if I get more bites. This is day #3. Wish me luck.
I feel you on this one! After our infestation, it took me and my wife some time to back to normal. We would go to the movies and any slight feeling of something we both were jumpy, itchy for no reasons and just plain paranoid. Over time though, it got better and now everything is back to normal. It’s amazing how something like this will mess with your head.
Thanks for the share! We thought we were the only ones.