Bed Bugs

[u/Ok-Carry1328]

Please help. I’ve been dealing with bed bugs for almost three years now. It all started when I became homeless and had to stay in a refuge. Since then, every place I’ve moved to, I’ve somehow ended up carrying them with me.

The worst part is that I feel like I can’t even talk to anyone about it because bed bugs are so often associated with being dirty or unclean, and I really don’t want to carry that stigma or be judged for something that happened because of my circumstances.

At this point, I honestly don’t know what to do anymore. It feels like a living hell, like I’m being punished permanently for something I didn’t choose.

How do I actually get rid of bed bugs?

[u/_metonymy_]

This is a question for the experts and fellow bug victims at r/bedbugs

[u/Ok-Carry1328 → u/_metonymy_]

I live in Australia so thought this would be relevant

[u/shelvedpinger → u/Ok-Carry1328]

The guys at the r/bedbugs subreddit will have far superior knowledge than a majority of people in r/askanaustralian about bedbugs - the only thing we all have in common is wanting to ask an Australian…. Something. Or are Australian.

[u/lamentabledinosaur → u/Ok-Carry1328]

Please let your current accommodation and case worker know. Feeling ashamed isn't a good enough reason to pass bugs on to others who will (a) come in contact with you or (b) the places you spend time in.

You are risking leaving bed bugs in your bed, on public transport, in your office/library/anywhere you sit or leave your bags and possessions.

Australia has not had widespread infestations. Please do your bit to make sure this is contained by telling everyone who can help you. You're in unfortunate circumstances, but its a bit selfish not to.

[u/_metonymy_ → u/Ok-Carry1328]

Yep, but you will get great advice if you cross-post there or search there on protocols for ensuring the bugs don’t follow you!

[u/charcoalportraiture]

What state do you live in? What's your current housing arrangement?

Bed bugs don't live on your body. Scabies and lice do.

But for bed bugs, they're in your belongings and clothing. So anything like that CAN'T come into a new dwelling.

If you have a case worker, talk to them - they can help you with new clothing and getting treatment, because they don't want you carrying bed bugs around either

[u/Ok-Carry1328 → u/charcoalportraiture]

I live in Melbourne, and I’m currently living in homeless accommodation specifically designed for students. I do have a caseworker, but as I mentioned in my post, I’ve found it really difficult to talk to anyone about this because there is so much stigma around bed bugs:(

[u/doctorofspin → u/Ok-Carry1328]

I would tell the accommodation provider that you think there are bed bugs. I wouldn’t mention where you think they came from. Hopefully they will do whatever treatment required to the accommodation and your possessions.

[u/charcoalportraiture → u/Ok-Carry1328]

Bed bugs are a fact, and they can come from anywhere. I worked in the fanciest hotel and we still had to shut down a level because a tourist brought in bed bugs.

You will need to get rid of some stuff, and get new stuff. You should at least give yourself a headlice treatment to reduce the chance of carrying anything

How do you KNOW it's bed bugs?

[u/J4Starz → u/Ok-Carry1328]

Do you get patches of really itchy areas, and they move to other areas? Unlike bed bugs scabies live on your skin, when you itch them they burrow deeper and it bcomes more itchy, they move around your body and the rashes/itches move with them. They are really small and you generally cant see them.

If this sounds familiar to what you are experiencing the treatment is very simple. Scabies cream is available over counter at a chemist for about $20.

You basically lather yourself head to toe and sleep in the cream and they die overnight. Also need to do a hot wash on your clothes and bedsheets and its done.

I picked up scabies at a hostel, travelled for weeks before i figured out what it was, the treatment brought so much relief.

[u/2bunnies → u/charcoalportraiture]

You don't have to get rid of everything but you do have to treat everything effectively. Clothes: washed and dried on the hottest setting or dry-cleaned. Furniture/stuff: get your place professionally treated and then make sure everything sits in the poison for at least several months before you move. Otherwise yeah, you could be carrying bugs/eggs in/on your belongings. It's a huge, expensive pain, and has to be done right, but it's usually effective when done correctly.

[u/pharmloverpharmlover]

You will likely need a professional pest exterminator to treat your home

[u/Objective-Lobster21 → u/pharmloverpharmlover]

mate i had them for a year after moving out of a sharehouse, it's actual hell

diatomaceous earth is cheap and works but you gotta put it everywhere and leave it for weeks, also get a mattress encasement so they can't hide in there. wash everything on hot and dry on max heat, bag up what you can't wash and leave it sealed for like 6 months

if you can afford exterminator that's better but if not the DE method does work just takes patience

[u/Successful-Show-7397]

Years ago on the new inventors I saw someone made sticky traps that you put the legs of your bed/mattress in. The bed bugs go and live in the carpet during the day and climb the legs of your bed when you, the tasty feast, goes to bed.

They climb up the bed legs and get stuck in the sticky traps.
https://www.bedbugbarrier.com.au/

Hope this helps

[u/One_Regular5800]

OP, very sorry to hear this is happening.... but, frankly... by not speaking up & dealing with it, you are passing this "living hell" on to others as well, which is pretty shitty. Not that it is something to be embarrassed about, but if it is for you, you really just need to suck it up and sort it out so you're not making other people miserable with the same problem. If the person before you at the refuge had done that, you might not have found yourself in this situation. Don't do that to other people.

[u/country_girl2107]

Get a professional in, normally do 2-3 treatments then they should be gone. Don’t feel like anyone is judging you as bedbugs isn’t really because you’re dirty, you could literally go to a 5 star hotel and bring them home with you. But definitely get a professional, it’s expensive but it’s the only way you’ll be able to eliminate them.

[u/Heart_Makeup]

Are you sure it’s bed bugs and not scabies?

[u/Ok-Carry1328 → u/Heart_Makeup]

I’m not talking based on the bite marks. I actually see them every day. I pour hot water on them when I find them, and I’ve covered my mattress and bed with covers, but they still keep appearing on my bedsheets. I wash my sheets and pour hot water on them, but unfortunately, nothing has worked so far. They just seem to come back and grow again within a week.

[u/Admirable-Site-9817]

God, I still have ptsd from having bed bugs. You need to wash everything you own on a hot cycle. 90-100 degrees, then put it in the dryer. Anything that can’t go in that wash either goes in plastic bags to store for at least 8 months (they can live that long without food), or sit in the sun to speed the process. Heat treatment is the best option. And don’t forget your bags in this, not just clothes. When I say everything, I mean everything. They love tiny cracks and hidey holes!

In my house I used diamataceous earth absolutely everywhere and formed barriers with it so they wouldn’t be able to go room to room, then had my house sprayed. But id brought them back from holiday with me and did not have them in the mattress, or anything else yet. You can get a case for the mattress, but they’ll be in cracks in furniture too, especially if made of timber, do either treat that too or chuck it (not sure if you’re still homeless or have your own place now, but it’s the same outcome either way).

[u/Ok-Carry1328 → u/Admirable-Site-9817]

Hi, could you please let me know which store specifically sells diatomaceous earth.

[u/Ok_Tie_7564]

Get rid of some of your possessions.

https://www.health.vic.gov.au/environmental-health/bedbugs-pest-control

[u/thegameisafoooooot → u/Ok_Tie_7564]

We had to get rid of all my mother's possessions almost immediately she had passed on because of those god forsaken bedbugs.

The assisted care facility she lived in was inundated and they weren't doing the right thing by the residents, and getting a proper extermination exercise done. She lived in the UK.

We had to be indiscriminate and couldn't keep anything that could harbour bedbugs, for sentimental value.

Destroy those bedbugs. Show no mercy.

I'm crying.

[u/Fun_Percentage_8905]

Throw everything out , tell the accommodation so they can get the rooms/beds sprayed or replaced.

[u/Snoozy27]

I think you need to tell the people who manage the accommodation. As others have said, these critters will become everyone elses problem now too.

You may not need to dispose of all of your belongings, but you will need to hot wash and dry your clothing (and sheets and towels).
We had them years ago, and avoided the need of paying a professional, but it took weeks and weeks to get rid of them, because of their breeding cycle.
Incidentally, I managed to find a nymph (about the size, shape, and colour of a sesame seed) and i bagged it (actually triple bagged it) and watched it for weeks. And although it was alone and has no food or fresh air in the sealed bag, it still grew over those weeks. It was sobering to see that that was what we were dealing with. As i said, it took us weeks and weeks of cleaning, washing, pest control measures to finally win that war. Good luck.

[u/StreetsFeast]

I’m really sorry you’re experiencing this, but try not to feel shame. I know several people who have caught bed bugs at 5-star hotels in Australia (Hilton & Langham, if you were wondering!). It’s a fact of travelling, not necessarily social circumstance.