Invisible bugs that bite

[Larbo1]

A few weeks ago we entertained a friend of the family with baby. The baby had a few bites on her. In a couple of weeks, my wife and I are  now entertaining some kind of biting bug. The baby had napped on our bed and now we are getting bites there. The raised bites are not in skin folds or joints, they are 1/4" to 1/2" wide and kind of irregularly shaped. No heads on them and they seem happen 3 or 4 at a time in a line or arc. Happens on arms, shoulders, backs, necks, legs but not behind knees, in the scalp or groin areas (thank God!).

So far we have not been able to see anything. Not a single bug of anykind. Our home is kept very clean. We do feel like they are crawling on us. When this first happened our Dr prescribed a Pemerithin cream for me as I was the first to get a bite (always the case). We washed the sheets, pilowcases, pad and blanket in super hot water with bleach, then again with ammonia. Home Depot carries an aerosol pesticide spray for mites and I treated the pad, pillows and mattress surfaces thoroughly, as well. THEN, we steam ironed the pad and sheets. It got better but we are still getting bit and showering does not seem to bring relief to the sensation that we have crawley things on us for very long. We are in Los Angeles so we are not near tall grassess, oak trees, bird nests or rats.

Can you offer any suggestions/observations?? We are hesitant to do more without knowing what it is???

Thanks, "Itchy in L.A."

[AnnieSanDiego]

Sounds similar to the problem I've been having.  If it's still an issue, you should try 1tbsp of diatomaceous earth at least twice a day.  I was also prescribed permethrin 5% by my doctor while I waited a week for an appointment.  It worked except my doc wouldn't prescribe it anymore since she didn't see any signs of bugs but it was still a problem, at night especially.  Make sure to dry your clothes on the hottest cycle.  I just fixed the tube that carries the air out of the dryer because it had a hole and wasn't on tight enough, which made a big difference in my clothes coming out with little to no bugs and I'll dry the same clothes 2 or 3 times and respray them with a little water so the sensor in the dryer won't turn off too early.  You're probably going to have to throw out your sofa and mattress but you could try ironing them on a regular basis to kill the bugs.  If you get new furniture you should buy plastic covers for them until all the bugs are gone.  But hopefully your problem is gone and you don't even need this advice.

[ShammyRandall]

I cant see them.  They bite.  There are no marks, welts, bumps, or rashes.  They crawl on my body and bite me when I sit on my furniture, sleep in my bed, or wear my clothing.  I left my apartment for 16 days of vacation with fully washed clothes.  The biting occured only a few times on vacation.  I washed my clothes again on vacation.  When I returned from vacation, to my horror  they were still living in my apartment and resumed their buffet on my body.  

Dermatologist couldnt identify anything.  She was probably just not experienced enough in such an issue or that invisible bug knowledge and detection are not amongst her brightest skills.  

This all started one night after three things happened during a week.  1. I sat on a sofa chair at a Starbucks.  2. I did all my laundry at a ghetto laundromat.  3. I took care of my neighbors outdoor cat for a week and the cat frequents undesirable places and probably brought them in my house.

I threw out my bed and box frame. 2.  I will probably throw out my furniture.  3. Next step: drench clothing in boiling water.  4. Set off bug bombs and leave for another few days.  5. Return and steam clean carpets and wipe down floors and scrub body again.  

No one in my family believes me and I dont want to tell any friends due to embarrassment.  Life ***** donkey dicks and whatever powers that be took a big dump on my life.  This is the will of some force against me, a hex, or curse or ...  HELP!

[Larbo1]

Hi Robert, your issue is different than mine but it sounds like "no seeums". With all the monsoonal rain AZ had, maybe there is a water source for them. Also, ck around to see if others in your area are having similar issues. Lastly, try calling an exterminator for advise... they have seen it all. One last idea. Get some glue boards from the exterminator (usually free as they want to know what it is, too)  or a hardware store. Even 99cent stores have them. When you see them, swing a board around and try to catch some. The exterminator will take it to an entymologist for ID. That will give you a definitive answer.

As far as my situation is, we did find a dead bebgug in the washer and one under the box spring. We tossed the box spring and had to put the mattress on the floor until we got a new box spring for it. We cleaned and sprayed the bed frame and dusted boric acid around the baseboard of the entire bedroom. Our exterminator also suggested that put a ring of double stick (carpet) tape around the mattress sheet to catch anything that might crawl onto the mattress. Once we got rid of those 2 bedbugs we saw absolutely nothing anywhere, though we did continue to get bites for a few days. Still washed the sheets daily and showered twice daily. To be sure it wasn;t a bug that stays with you, we would finish the shower with a rubdown of Listerine using a shower scrubby glove to dislodge them. Some of this stuff is folklore and some scientific. We were determined to cover all angles. The bites in our bedroom finally stopped. I mostly credit the washing and the boric acid (which is still there). Use gloves and a respirator (not just a mask) for the boric acid.

Them came the living room. We kept getting the itchies and a few bites there too. After having sprayed all surfaces (incl pillows), I waited a day and literally dusted the entire 2-piece couch assembly with boric acid and the floor areas under and around them. The baseboards near them, too. Then we waited a week or so for the boric acid to work its magic over maybe 2 life cycles of whatever it is, and last night (with gloves and respirator) vacuumed it all up... couch, pillow and floor. To get rid of the residue, the couches are being professionally cleaned today (overdue anyway).

Last word of note. Rugs. If you have wall to wall carpet, you may have a serious stumbling block ahead of you. My suggestion is the cordon off one room at a time (more than one if you can afford to stay out of them for extended periods of time), clean it thoroughly and boric acid the heck of it. Leave it for a few days and follow the above instructions.  Throw rugs can be treated with a carpet flea/tick powder and boric acid. With protection, sprinkle them on and broom them to get the powder to fall down deeper into the carpet. Wait a few days, just use shoes, never barefoot. Vacuum up thoroughly with protection and maybe have cleaned. Area rugs may have been a major culprit in my case. One is also getting cleaned today and 2 more are still in plastic bags, tapes shut. I am afraid to open them up!! I will stick them outside on the next hot day and let them bake in the sun.  

Hope that this helps someone. It is funny but now any itch or movement of hair on my arms or legs is like a mini-event now. Cannot wait for that to go away. Larry

[samplerman]

I have the same problems here, in Tempe, AZ.
It's driving me nuts.  You can see the little critters flying around if you use a flashlight in a dark room.  They are no bigger than a speck of dust but fly around in groups and the bites are sickening and itchy.  I have not been able to kill them with poison.  I need help.  This is other-worldly hell.  Nobody knows what they are!  HELP
"Robert in Tempe"

[invisiblebiten]

please post cant get any sleep same problem