No, this is not going to be a media influenced rant on how bad guys will get you if you leave your home for an adventure. This is rant based on a true personal experience on how bad bugs will get you. By bad bugs, I mean bed bugs.
Greg and I accidentally collected bed bugs this summer from a hotel in Wurzburg, Germany. I'm going to tell you the whole story, and what we have learned from this nightmare, in hopes that the same thing will NEVER happen to any of our friends or family.
First of all, here's some information about bed bugs that we picked up along the way:
1. They do not limit their homes to dirty places. They do not discriminate. Anyone, anywhere, at any level of cleanliness, can get bed bugs. It just takes one little pregnant critter to hitch a ride on your belongings. They can come from anyone, or any place.
2. There are more bed bugs on the planet now than ever before. This is because more people are traveling around more now than ever before.
3. They live off of our blood. Humans give off a certain smell/scent when we sleep, which attracts them. Therefore, bed bugs will get you in your sleep.
4. Bed bugs come in a variety of sizes, depending on their stage of life. The eggs are so tiny, that they are nearly impossible to see. How severe your bite is, depends on the stage of life of the bed bug, so each one is not the same.
5. You will not wake up when a bed bug is sucking your blood. You will not feel it. This is because they inject some sort of anestheic substance into your body before they feast.
6. People react in different ways to the bites. For example, Greg, only got small, flat, red dots that did not itch. This being said, some people may not even realize they have bed bugs.
7. Bed bugs can go 400 days without eating.
8. They will not bite you every night.
9. Bed bugs are attracted to some people more than others.
10. They tend to attack around 3 am.
11. Extreme cold, and extreme hot temperatures kill the bugs at all stages. The best way to get rid of them is to heat your entire home (over 130 degrees fahrenheit).
So here's the story:
In June, we went to Wurzburg, Germany with a couple of friends. We stayed in a hotel called "Hotel Meesenburg". If you happen to be in town, never stay there. I booked the hotel based on the fact that it had a good price, parking, close to the center, and it had breakfast. It didn't look to be the fanciest, but we didn't need fancy. We wanted affordable, along with the other amenities mentioned above. When we arrived, it didn't seem to be the cleanest of hotels...but we sucked it up, knew we wouldn't be there long, and never once considered bed bugs. The first two nights were fine. But on the last morning, I woke up with a line of swollen, red, and itchy bug bites on my arm, a cluster on my back, and a cluster on my leg. In the morning (too early for us all to wake up...around 5 am) I woke up to use the bathroom. This is when I discovered the bites. I also saw a little black bug crawling across my pillow. Still, having no experience with bed bugs, I was not considering them, and assumed that was some kind of beetle, and that it bit me. Creeped out, I moved to the other side of Greg on the bed.
Once we left, I texted a picture to my mom, asking her what this was (since moms know everything). She immediately replied "Bed bugs. Wash everything right away in HOT water". Moms know everything until it is something you really don't want to hear. I googled "bed bug bites", and what came up looked totally different from the bites that I had. So, this one time, I assumed my mom was wrong. Lesson to learn folks: MOMS ARE SMARTER THAN GOOGLE.
We went home, and I did not immediately wash everything in hot water. In fact, Greg and I probably did the worst thing by letting our luggage sit in our room, maybe even putting it on our bed. I had travel plans for the next few days, and did not have time to wash and sort through everything.
I seem to have a lot of skin rash/problems, and I happened to have a prescribed lotion from a doctor for a fungal rash I got while kayaking in Croatia. I used this lotion to self-treat my itchy and ugly bites. I also covered them with bandaids, because boy oh boy, they were not a pretty site to see.
About a week went by, I did not have new bites, and my bites from the hotel were starting to go away. I had pretty much forgotten about them. Greg and I had a trip to London planned for early July (a couple weeks after Wurzburg). The morning of the trip, I woke up in my own bed with about 5 bug bites on each leg, including my upper thigh. I immediately through the bedding in the wash. These bites looked different to me from the bites that I had in Wurzburg. (remember bites are different depending on the bug's stage of life..). Instead of considering bed bugs (again), I thought "Wow, these big bites must be from a spider! A spider got in my bed!". I think it is safe to say that I was pretty much in denial at this point. These bites ended up being much worse than the ones that I got in Wurzburg. They started as small red dots, and grew. They slowly became more swollen. They even burned when rubbed against rough material, which caused them to blister. These ones were so bad, that when we got to the hotel in London, and Greg saw the bites on my thigh he exclaimed in a shocked fashion "WHOAH! Oh my God, you need to go to the doctor!" This is when my episodes of panic and anxiety attacks began to occur. My thigh was SO swollen, that it was uncomfortable to fit into my pants. Our first morning in London was spent searching for all of the antihistamine, hydrocortisone, after bite creams, and band aides we could find in the pharmacies. That first day in London was so incredibly uncomfortable. Every step that I took made the itch and pain from the bites permeate throughout my whole body...and we took a lot of steps! Greg could tell that I was totally not my loud/bubbly/energetic self that day. By day two in London, the pain and itch had subsided enough that I was more myself.
We came home from London, and another few days had gone by without any new bites from my bed. A week after London, I was flying to Italy for a two week vacation with my family. When I woke up super early that day to catch my flight, I did not notice any bites. However, once I got off of the plane in Italy (it was super hot), and started to sweat a little, I noticed some itchy spots on my arm and leg. I didn't pay much attention to them, because I was focused on my excitement to see many of my family members in just a few moments. I just assumed "wow, mosquitos are everywhere and vicious in Italy..". Well, soon, these bites started to resemble the ones that slowly grew in London...
I consulted my family on my now reoccurring bites. My sister gave me some natural oil to rub on the bites, and some of us brainstormed that maybe this is an allergic reaction to my sheets, or maybe even flea bites. I've dog sat in the past...maybe they had fleas? Maybe the fleas laid eggs that lay dormant until it is warm outside? Maybe flea eggs just hatched in my room? We googled bed bug bites again, and as what was googled did not match my bites, we ruled them out. Greg was still in Germany at this point, and I instructed him to throw away all bedding because I think we have fleas.
By the end of my two weeks in Italy, my bites had gone away again. I bought lysol first things when I got home, threw away the bedding that Greg didn't throw away when I asked him to (he didn't throw away because he had slept in the bed for a week by himself before he came to Italy and received no bites), doused the bed in lysol, and put brand new, clean, and fresh sheets on the bed. That first night, I did not get any new bug bites. But the second night, I did. My grandma was on her way from Italy to Germany on this day to visit us for a week. We had some trips throughout Germany and France planned together. I was outside earlier in the day, near a lake, and so I wrongfully assumed at first "Oh, I must've gotten bit by a mosquito by the lake". But again, these bites slowly turned exactly into the ones I've already had that summer. The day after my grandma arrived, we planned to drive to Dachau and Augsburg, Germany. I woke up that morning with yet more bug bites. Now I'm panicking. I e-mailed my doctor demanding an appointment as early as possible. These bites were not a joke: swollen, red, itchy, burning, blisters, etc. We were away for a weekend, and back by Sunday evening. Thankfully, the doctor was able to see me Monday morning.
This was the second time that I had seen this particular doctor. The first time was last year, when I had a fungal rash on my back from a life vest I wore while kayaking in Croatia. Lucky guy, gets to see all of my gross skin conditions. He wasn't able to determine the exact bug that was biting me, but he was able to determine that I for sure was having allergic reactions to whatever it was. He gave me some more intense creams to help the pain/itching/swelling to go down, and sent me on my way. The creams actually did work. By this point, I had already begun sleeping on the sofa, in order to avoid more bites from my room.
All the while, Greg had called military housing, telling them about our situation, and that we need pest control to come out and have a check. Since we live on a military base, anything that we need done in our home has to go through the housing office, who has to call another office, who has to contact the contractors (in this case, pest control guys). You will later learn that the military housing department (at least here in Stuttgart...but I imagine everywhere) is terribly unhelpful, and I have a strong dislike for them. Anyway, several days after Greg called housing, pest control showed up unannounced while my grandma and I were having a chill out day at home. It was very lucky that we were not traveling that day, and they caught us while someone was home. I was happy to see them, though they came unannounced. (this is because military housing has terrible communication with all parties involved, and told us nothing about the contractor's visit).
Pest control tore my bed apart. To my disgust, they did indeed find bed bugs.
I had pest control check the guest bedroom, where my grandma was staying. They didn't find anything. So I moved myself in with my grandma, and had Greg now sleep on the couch to avoid any bites.
Pest control guys told me that my bites do not look like bed bug bites. This does however make sense to me now, because of course my bites do not look like normal bed bug bites! I was having intense allergic reactions! You may be wondering "well what about Greg?" Greg was getting bit too! He just did not realize it because he did not feel anything where he was bit. You'd have to thoroughly search him to find little red dots (which we eventually did find).
They showed me a picture of a full grown bed bug. This picture looked familiar. Do you know why? Because it was the same bug that I saw on my pillow back in Wurzburg...when the bites began. I immediately contacted the hotel by the way, and let them know that I got bed bugs from them. For the record the day I woke up with bites in the hotel, I started a paper-trail to them informing them that I woke up with bites in their bed. So this time, I was confirming to them that I did indeed get bed bugs from their hotel. Of course, the hotel denied having bed bugs, however, I forced them to give me a refund. They ended up giving me only a partial refund, which took a couple months to get to me. I also made sure to share my truthful account of the situation on tripadvisor...hopefully saving future travelers the pain and agony of picking up a few bed bugs.
Pest control set up some "bed bug traps" (double sided tape in the bedroom doorways), and left. They were German and a bit difficult to understand. When they left that day, I had no idea when they were coming back, or what they were going to do.
Of course, no word from military housing. Why? Because they are terrible communicators.
The day we took my grandma to the airport to go home, pest control came back. Again, unannounced. He actually got to our home while we were gone, and just waited. Why is this the sensical thing to do? Wouldn't it make more sense to call us, and make sure we were going to be home before just showing up unannounced, assuming we have no lives and are always home? Anyway, on this day, he steamed cleaned, and poisoned our bedroom.
Phew. I was relieved. I thought for sure these bed bug monsters were gone. We began slowly boiling my clothing from my bedroom closet. Like, literally. I mean put a pot of boiling water on the stove, and dip each piece of clothing into it. This is because, in the event that any bugs had survived the poison, and happened to be hiding out in my clothing, the boiling water would be sure to kill them at any stage of life.
At this point, I also was exhibiting some signs of bed bug bite PTSD. I refused to sleep in my old bedroom, and Greg and I began sleeping in the guest bedroom.
About a month went by (from early August, to easy September), and I didn't have any new bites while sleeping in the guest bedroom. I had started work again (my teacher summer was over), and my life was getting back into a regular routine. One day in early September, while teaching my students, I noticed an itchy red spot on my hand, and a few spots on my arm. I thought "God help me if these are bed bug bites again...." By the end of the day, it was clear that they had grown to be the same bites I had over the summer. They were bed bug bites...again. This time, I was staying in the guest bedroom! How could this be? We called the pest control guy immediately (well, Greg called housing...but they take way too long to get anything done, so I took it upon myself to just call the pest control guy who was working with us). Pest control guy came out the following day to check out our house again. He claims that he did not find any traces of bed bugs in the guest bedroom, but sprayed a little bit of poison anyway.
I took matters a bit differently this time, from the first time the pest control guy sprayed. I took every article of clothing/bedding and wrapped them in trash bags immediately. I began the process of boiling one bag of laundry at a time. I also put loads of laundry into the freezer for a few days at a time (extreme cold also kills bed bugs at all stages of life). Greg and I bought a steamer (hot temp from the steam kills the bugs). I steamed cleaned the bed every night before going to bed. I wore long sleeved pajamas. I slept with bug repelling bracelets on my wrists and ankles. I was doing everything I possibly could to kill any left over bugs, and prevent ever being bit again. Let me tell you, I was 1000% OVER these bed bug bites. By now they had driven me insane. I became paranoid, and would have anxiety attacks often in the evenings before going to bed. Wouldn't you? I mean..there were literally MONSTERS possibly living under my bed! They would come out at night while I was sleeping to eat me. Their bites were itchy and painful. I was legit in a panic. So panicked, that I was ready to throw all of my belongings away, leave my job, leave Greg until he is out of the military in June, and move to Pennsylvania with parents. My mental health was depleting and I would spent more evenings than not, crying and stressing myself and Greg out. This is certainly not normal Gina behavior.
One week after pest control came for the second time to spray, on a Friday, my absolute worst nightmare happened. I woke up with 5 bites on my leg. I refused to lie to myself, and make the excuse that these must be mosquito bites, or perhaps my anxiety-filled imagination. I called for an emergency sub to fill in for me that morning at school, and I STORMED into the military housing office in a panic.
When I got to the office and asked "Who do I talk to about bed bugs"...their response was "Oh, the person who deals with that is not in today...". I (maybe not so politely) interrupted them with "SOMEBODY here TODAY, right now, NEEDS to be the person to talk to about this. I have had bed bugs since June, my home has been poisoned twice, and I'm still getting bit. I'm allergic, and having panic and anxiety attacks regularly, this is an emergency, and needs dealt with RIGHT NOW." I explained that my home MUST be treated with heat this time, not only poison. Heat kills the bugs at all stages. In order for the poison to kill the bugs, the poison needs to hit the bugs directly. Heat is better.
The housing office people had a little pow wow in some office, and someone who was able to help me came out.
Question: why does it take an insane panicked crazy woman (me) freaking out to get some help around here? Again, I say, military housing is terribly unhelpful.
This forced to be helpful housing office worker (who was clearly doing this half-heartedly) took me into her office. She wrote an email to DPW (some other office that all housing work orders must go through) requesting an emergency heat treatment of my home. Now, I had to wait for DPW to approve the request before anything could be set up. Was housing able to give me a timeframe of when my suffering would be over? Nope. I just had to wait.
The pest control guy came back to my home that evening. He informed that I had caused quite a stir in housing that morning, which I am very proud about. Good. I'm glad people were freaking out in the housing office. Hopefully now they would do something helpful...take this business seriously. The pest control guy wanted to just poison again. In my tearful, panicked episode of a reaction to his stupid solution, I demanded that my home needs to be treated with HEAT and poison. Not only poison anymore. I will not not rest if my home is not treated with heat. I will move away immediately if my home is not treated with heat. DO IT RIGHT THIS TIME. I think I scared the pest control guy into assuring me that he will get a team together to treat my home with heat as soon as possible in the next week. Of course...these were his words even before DPW gave the go ahead.
The following Tuesday, I received an email from housing informing me that the pest control guy will start the treatment in my home the following morning (Wednesday). I called the pest control guy, and he said that actually he will be starting on Thursday.
Communication problems with housing...exhibit 10 million.
Wednesday evening, I called the pest control guy and asked what we need to do before he gets there ( we were planning on moving in with our friends for the few days of treatment). He informed me, that as it turns out, DPW did not approve the budget for his team to heat treat the home. He would not be coming Thursday any longer.
WHAT, IS THIS SOME KIND OF SICK JOKE!?!?! Why did housing tell me that pest control could start the process? Communication problems, anyone? Again, I state, military housing is terrible. I hope you never have to experience their disorganized company.
This time, Greg and I both marched into housing to re-demand that our home must be taken care of as soon as humanly possible. As it turns out, someone filled the paperwork our incorrectly, which is why the budget was not approved by DPW. Military housing is so unhelpful. The man that spoke with us this time, filled the paperwork out correctly, and called DPW until they approved the request. Tricked us into thinking maybe at least one person in housing is honest and helpful.
Wrong. After he was informed that budget was now approved, this man called us to let us know "Best case scenario, pest control starts the treatment later today. Worst case scenario, they start tomorrow morning". Guess when they started? A whole week after this conversation. Communication error...yet again. Mind you, at this point we had moved out to stay with our friends. Greg and I were tired of sleeping on the sofa and floor, as I worried that the bugs will eventually find me in the living room. And yet again, do you get it now? Military housing is absolutely the worst. They are useless. I can't wait to no longer live with military housing. You know that if I was able to just call the pest control people myself, without going through the useless office of housing, I probably would have had this whole thing dealt with and over with months before. Gee, that would have saved me a lot of mental and physical stress. In my experience, military housing has done more harm than good. And yes, our military housing is paid for. But, I would prefer a million times over, to pay our own rent, if it meant we could live like normal people, and not deal with military housing to get things done.
So, eventually, the house was treated with heat and poison. Oh, also, the day that the treatment started, the housing office emailed Greg a document containing information on what to do before, during, and after this type of home treatment. None of the "before" protocol, we had done. Why? Because housing is useless and gave us this document way too late.
Here I am, about three weeks after the heat treatment. I think we are in the clear. We have booby-trapped our bedroom though...our mattress is zipped into a "bed-bug proof" covering. With this cover on, it will not allow the bugs to burrow into the mattress. There are less places of them to hide. We have these cups under each leg of the bed. Inside of these cups, we have put this powder substance called "diatomaceous earth", which kills bed bugs. We have pulled our bed away from the wall, so they cannot climb up to get us that way. If they try to climb up the legs of the bed, they will die in the cups. So far, we haven't even seen any dead bugs in the cups. Again, I think we are now in the clear.
BUT! I will not sit back and relax ever again in my life. For the rest of my life, here is what I will do to make sure that I never have this bed bug nightmare again:
1. All beds in my home will always be zipped into a bed bug proof cover.
2. Those cups I was talking about, will always be under the legs of all beds in my house. Greg doesn't think we need to always have diatomaceous earth poison in these cups, but I think we do (but I'm also insanely paranoid and scarred for life). For now, we are keeping the poison in the cups...in the future, we will always have diatomaceous earth handy in case I am feeling paranoid.
3. Every hotel we will ever stay in, we will do a search for signs of bed bugs before we get comfortable. This includes ripping the sheets off of the bed, and checking cracks and crevices (where they like to hide), and checking for blood stains (possible if a human rolls over in their sleep onto a full bed bug).
4. Even after a thorough check (just because you don't see signs, doesn't mean they aren't there...they are great at hiding), we will never put our luggage on the bed. Luggage can go on the luggage rack, or a desk.
5. When we get home from a trip, all clothing will go straight into the freezer for a few days, even if we saw no signs of bed bugs in the hotel. Remember, extreme cold kills them. We recently went to Romania, and did this when we got home. I even put a scarf and wallet that I bought in Romania into the freezer. Everything.
I know some of that might sound crazy, but I absolutely cannot get bit by a bed bug again in my life. I'm still a bit paranoid...to the point where sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night, just to check to make sure I do not have any red dots (beginnings of a bed bug bite). The more that time goes on without getting bit, the less paranoid I am. Maybe if I was more paranoid about bed bugs in June when we went to Wurzburg, a lot of this never would have happened.
So, that is my travel warning to you. Perhaps you can learn from my experience, and take the steps to make sure your trips are bed bug free!
And remembers...moms are smarter than Google.
-Gina
Greg and I accidentally collected bed bugs this summer from a hotel in Wurzburg, Germany. I'm going to tell you the whole story, and what we have learned from this nightmare, in hopes that the same thing will NEVER happen to any of our friends or family.
First of all, here's some information about bed bugs that we picked up along the way:
1. They do not limit their homes to dirty places. They do not discriminate. Anyone, anywhere, at any level of cleanliness, can get bed bugs. It just takes one little pregnant critter to hitch a ride on your belongings. They can come from anyone, or any place.
2. There are more bed bugs on the planet now than ever before. This is because more people are traveling around more now than ever before.
3. They live off of our blood. Humans give off a certain smell/scent when we sleep, which attracts them. Therefore, bed bugs will get you in your sleep.
4. Bed bugs come in a variety of sizes, depending on their stage of life. The eggs are so tiny, that they are nearly impossible to see. How severe your bite is, depends on the stage of life of the bed bug, so each one is not the same.
5. You will not wake up when a bed bug is sucking your blood. You will not feel it. This is because they inject some sort of anestheic substance into your body before they feast.
6. People react in different ways to the bites. For example, Greg, only got small, flat, red dots that did not itch. This being said, some people may not even realize they have bed bugs.
7. Bed bugs can go 400 days without eating.
8. They will not bite you every night.
9. Bed bugs are attracted to some people more than others.
10. They tend to attack around 3 am.
11. Extreme cold, and extreme hot temperatures kill the bugs at all stages. The best way to get rid of them is to heat your entire home (over 130 degrees fahrenheit).
So here's the story:
In June, we went to Wurzburg, Germany with a couple of friends. We stayed in a hotel called "Hotel Meesenburg". If you happen to be in town, never stay there. I booked the hotel based on the fact that it had a good price, parking, close to the center, and it had breakfast. It didn't look to be the fanciest, but we didn't need fancy. We wanted affordable, along with the other amenities mentioned above. When we arrived, it didn't seem to be the cleanest of hotels...but we sucked it up, knew we wouldn't be there long, and never once considered bed bugs. The first two nights were fine. But on the last morning, I woke up with a line of swollen, red, and itchy bug bites on my arm, a cluster on my back, and a cluster on my leg. In the morning (too early for us all to wake up...around 5 am) I woke up to use the bathroom. This is when I discovered the bites. I also saw a little black bug crawling across my pillow. Still, having no experience with bed bugs, I was not considering them, and assumed that was some kind of beetle, and that it bit me. Creeped out, I moved to the other side of Greg on the bed.
Once we left, I texted a picture to my mom, asking her what this was (since moms know everything). She immediately replied "Bed bugs. Wash everything right away in HOT water". Moms know everything until it is something you really don't want to hear. I googled "bed bug bites", and what came up looked totally different from the bites that I had. So, this one time, I assumed my mom was wrong. Lesson to learn folks: MOMS ARE SMARTER THAN GOOGLE.
We went home, and I did not immediately wash everything in hot water. In fact, Greg and I probably did the worst thing by letting our luggage sit in our room, maybe even putting it on our bed. I had travel plans for the next few days, and did not have time to wash and sort through everything.
I seem to have a lot of skin rash/problems, and I happened to have a prescribed lotion from a doctor for a fungal rash I got while kayaking in Croatia. I used this lotion to self-treat my itchy and ugly bites. I also covered them with bandaids, because boy oh boy, they were not a pretty site to see.
About a week went by, I did not have new bites, and my bites from the hotel were starting to go away. I had pretty much forgotten about them. Greg and I had a trip to London planned for early July (a couple weeks after Wurzburg). The morning of the trip, I woke up in my own bed with about 5 bug bites on each leg, including my upper thigh. I immediately through the bedding in the wash. These bites looked different to me from the bites that I had in Wurzburg. (remember bites are different depending on the bug's stage of life..). Instead of considering bed bugs (again), I thought "Wow, these big bites must be from a spider! A spider got in my bed!". I think it is safe to say that I was pretty much in denial at this point. These bites ended up being much worse than the ones that I got in Wurzburg. They started as small red dots, and grew. They slowly became more swollen. They even burned when rubbed against rough material, which caused them to blister. These ones were so bad, that when we got to the hotel in London, and Greg saw the bites on my thigh he exclaimed in a shocked fashion "WHOAH! Oh my God, you need to go to the doctor!" This is when my episodes of panic and anxiety attacks began to occur. My thigh was SO swollen, that it was uncomfortable to fit into my pants. Our first morning in London was spent searching for all of the antihistamine, hydrocortisone, after bite creams, and band aides we could find in the pharmacies. That first day in London was so incredibly uncomfortable. Every step that I took made the itch and pain from the bites permeate throughout my whole body...and we took a lot of steps! Greg could tell that I was totally not my loud/bubbly/energetic self that day. By day two in London, the pain and itch had subsided enough that I was more myself.
We came home from London, and another few days had gone by without any new bites from my bed. A week after London, I was flying to Italy for a two week vacation with my family. When I woke up super early that day to catch my flight, I did not notice any bites. However, once I got off of the plane in Italy (it was super hot), and started to sweat a little, I noticed some itchy spots on my arm and leg. I didn't pay much attention to them, because I was focused on my excitement to see many of my family members in just a few moments. I just assumed "wow, mosquitos are everywhere and vicious in Italy..". Well, soon, these bites started to resemble the ones that slowly grew in London...
I consulted my family on my now reoccurring bites. My sister gave me some natural oil to rub on the bites, and some of us brainstormed that maybe this is an allergic reaction to my sheets, or maybe even flea bites. I've dog sat in the past...maybe they had fleas? Maybe the fleas laid eggs that lay dormant until it is warm outside? Maybe flea eggs just hatched in my room? We googled bed bug bites again, and as what was googled did not match my bites, we ruled them out. Greg was still in Germany at this point, and I instructed him to throw away all bedding because I think we have fleas.
By the end of my two weeks in Italy, my bites had gone away again. I bought lysol first things when I got home, threw away the bedding that Greg didn't throw away when I asked him to (he didn't throw away because he had slept in the bed for a week by himself before he came to Italy and received no bites), doused the bed in lysol, and put brand new, clean, and fresh sheets on the bed. That first night, I did not get any new bug bites. But the second night, I did. My grandma was on her way from Italy to Germany on this day to visit us for a week. We had some trips throughout Germany and France planned together. I was outside earlier in the day, near a lake, and so I wrongfully assumed at first "Oh, I must've gotten bit by a mosquito by the lake". But again, these bites slowly turned exactly into the ones I've already had that summer. The day after my grandma arrived, we planned to drive to Dachau and Augsburg, Germany. I woke up that morning with yet more bug bites. Now I'm panicking. I e-mailed my doctor demanding an appointment as early as possible. These bites were not a joke: swollen, red, itchy, burning, blisters, etc. We were away for a weekend, and back by Sunday evening. Thankfully, the doctor was able to see me Monday morning.
This was the second time that I had seen this particular doctor. The first time was last year, when I had a fungal rash on my back from a life vest I wore while kayaking in Croatia. Lucky guy, gets to see all of my gross skin conditions. He wasn't able to determine the exact bug that was biting me, but he was able to determine that I for sure was having allergic reactions to whatever it was. He gave me some more intense creams to help the pain/itching/swelling to go down, and sent me on my way. The creams actually did work. By this point, I had already begun sleeping on the sofa, in order to avoid more bites from my room.
All the while, Greg had called military housing, telling them about our situation, and that we need pest control to come out and have a check. Since we live on a military base, anything that we need done in our home has to go through the housing office, who has to call another office, who has to contact the contractors (in this case, pest control guys). You will later learn that the military housing department (at least here in Stuttgart...but I imagine everywhere) is terribly unhelpful, and I have a strong dislike for them. Anyway, several days after Greg called housing, pest control showed up unannounced while my grandma and I were having a chill out day at home. It was very lucky that we were not traveling that day, and they caught us while someone was home. I was happy to see them, though they came unannounced. (this is because military housing has terrible communication with all parties involved, and told us nothing about the contractor's visit).
Pest control tore my bed apart. To my disgust, they did indeed find bed bugs.
I had pest control check the guest bedroom, where my grandma was staying. They didn't find anything. So I moved myself in with my grandma, and had Greg now sleep on the couch to avoid any bites.
Pest control guys told me that my bites do not look like bed bug bites. This does however make sense to me now, because of course my bites do not look like normal bed bug bites! I was having intense allergic reactions! You may be wondering "well what about Greg?" Greg was getting bit too! He just did not realize it because he did not feel anything where he was bit. You'd have to thoroughly search him to find little red dots (which we eventually did find).
They showed me a picture of a full grown bed bug. This picture looked familiar. Do you know why? Because it was the same bug that I saw on my pillow back in Wurzburg...when the bites began. I immediately contacted the hotel by the way, and let them know that I got bed bugs from them. For the record the day I woke up with bites in the hotel, I started a paper-trail to them informing them that I woke up with bites in their bed. So this time, I was confirming to them that I did indeed get bed bugs from their hotel. Of course, the hotel denied having bed bugs, however, I forced them to give me a refund. They ended up giving me only a partial refund, which took a couple months to get to me. I also made sure to share my truthful account of the situation on tripadvisor...hopefully saving future travelers the pain and agony of picking up a few bed bugs.
Pest control set up some "bed bug traps" (double sided tape in the bedroom doorways), and left. They were German and a bit difficult to understand. When they left that day, I had no idea when they were coming back, or what they were going to do.
Of course, no word from military housing. Why? Because they are terrible communicators.
The day we took my grandma to the airport to go home, pest control came back. Again, unannounced. He actually got to our home while we were gone, and just waited. Why is this the sensical thing to do? Wouldn't it make more sense to call us, and make sure we were going to be home before just showing up unannounced, assuming we have no lives and are always home? Anyway, on this day, he steamed cleaned, and poisoned our bedroom.
Phew. I was relieved. I thought for sure these bed bug monsters were gone. We began slowly boiling my clothing from my bedroom closet. Like, literally. I mean put a pot of boiling water on the stove, and dip each piece of clothing into it. This is because, in the event that any bugs had survived the poison, and happened to be hiding out in my clothing, the boiling water would be sure to kill them at any stage of life.
At this point, I also was exhibiting some signs of bed bug bite PTSD. I refused to sleep in my old bedroom, and Greg and I began sleeping in the guest bedroom.
About a month went by (from early August, to easy September), and I didn't have any new bites while sleeping in the guest bedroom. I had started work again (my teacher summer was over), and my life was getting back into a regular routine. One day in early September, while teaching my students, I noticed an itchy red spot on my hand, and a few spots on my arm. I thought "God help me if these are bed bug bites again...." By the end of the day, it was clear that they had grown to be the same bites I had over the summer. They were bed bug bites...again. This time, I was staying in the guest bedroom! How could this be? We called the pest control guy immediately (well, Greg called housing...but they take way too long to get anything done, so I took it upon myself to just call the pest control guy who was working with us). Pest control guy came out the following day to check out our house again. He claims that he did not find any traces of bed bugs in the guest bedroom, but sprayed a little bit of poison anyway.
I took matters a bit differently this time, from the first time the pest control guy sprayed. I took every article of clothing/bedding and wrapped them in trash bags immediately. I began the process of boiling one bag of laundry at a time. I also put loads of laundry into the freezer for a few days at a time (extreme cold also kills bed bugs at all stages of life). Greg and I bought a steamer (hot temp from the steam kills the bugs). I steamed cleaned the bed every night before going to bed. I wore long sleeved pajamas. I slept with bug repelling bracelets on my wrists and ankles. I was doing everything I possibly could to kill any left over bugs, and prevent ever being bit again. Let me tell you, I was 1000% OVER these bed bug bites. By now they had driven me insane. I became paranoid, and would have anxiety attacks often in the evenings before going to bed. Wouldn't you? I mean..there were literally MONSTERS possibly living under my bed! They would come out at night while I was sleeping to eat me. Their bites were itchy and painful. I was legit in a panic. So panicked, that I was ready to throw all of my belongings away, leave my job, leave Greg until he is out of the military in June, and move to Pennsylvania with parents. My mental health was depleting and I would spent more evenings than not, crying and stressing myself and Greg out. This is certainly not normal Gina behavior.
One week after pest control came for the second time to spray, on a Friday, my absolute worst nightmare happened. I woke up with 5 bites on my leg. I refused to lie to myself, and make the excuse that these must be mosquito bites, or perhaps my anxiety-filled imagination. I called for an emergency sub to fill in for me that morning at school, and I STORMED into the military housing office in a panic.
When I got to the office and asked "Who do I talk to about bed bugs"...their response was "Oh, the person who deals with that is not in today...". I (maybe not so politely) interrupted them with "SOMEBODY here TODAY, right now, NEEDS to be the person to talk to about this. I have had bed bugs since June, my home has been poisoned twice, and I'm still getting bit. I'm allergic, and having panic and anxiety attacks regularly, this is an emergency, and needs dealt with RIGHT NOW." I explained that my home MUST be treated with heat this time, not only poison. Heat kills the bugs at all stages. In order for the poison to kill the bugs, the poison needs to hit the bugs directly. Heat is better.
The housing office people had a little pow wow in some office, and someone who was able to help me came out.
Question: why does it take an insane panicked crazy woman (me) freaking out to get some help around here? Again, I say, military housing is terribly unhelpful.
This forced to be helpful housing office worker (who was clearly doing this half-heartedly) took me into her office. She wrote an email to DPW (some other office that all housing work orders must go through) requesting an emergency heat treatment of my home. Now, I had to wait for DPW to approve the request before anything could be set up. Was housing able to give me a timeframe of when my suffering would be over? Nope. I just had to wait.
The pest control guy came back to my home that evening. He informed that I had caused quite a stir in housing that morning, which I am very proud about. Good. I'm glad people were freaking out in the housing office. Hopefully now they would do something helpful...take this business seriously. The pest control guy wanted to just poison again. In my tearful, panicked episode of a reaction to his stupid solution, I demanded that my home needs to be treated with HEAT and poison. Not only poison anymore. I will not not rest if my home is not treated with heat. I will move away immediately if my home is not treated with heat. DO IT RIGHT THIS TIME. I think I scared the pest control guy into assuring me that he will get a team together to treat my home with heat as soon as possible in the next week. Of course...these were his words even before DPW gave the go ahead.
The following Tuesday, I received an email from housing informing me that the pest control guy will start the treatment in my home the following morning (Wednesday). I called the pest control guy, and he said that actually he will be starting on Thursday.
Communication problems with housing...exhibit 10 million.
Wednesday evening, I called the pest control guy and asked what we need to do before he gets there ( we were planning on moving in with our friends for the few days of treatment). He informed me, that as it turns out, DPW did not approve the budget for his team to heat treat the home. He would not be coming Thursday any longer.
WHAT, IS THIS SOME KIND OF SICK JOKE!?!?! Why did housing tell me that pest control could start the process? Communication problems, anyone? Again, I state, military housing is terrible. I hope you never have to experience their disorganized company.
This time, Greg and I both marched into housing to re-demand that our home must be taken care of as soon as humanly possible. As it turns out, someone filled the paperwork our incorrectly, which is why the budget was not approved by DPW. Military housing is so unhelpful. The man that spoke with us this time, filled the paperwork out correctly, and called DPW until they approved the request. Tricked us into thinking maybe at least one person in housing is honest and helpful.
Wrong. After he was informed that budget was now approved, this man called us to let us know "Best case scenario, pest control starts the treatment later today. Worst case scenario, they start tomorrow morning". Guess when they started? A whole week after this conversation. Communication error...yet again. Mind you, at this point we had moved out to stay with our friends. Greg and I were tired of sleeping on the sofa and floor, as I worried that the bugs will eventually find me in the living room. And yet again, do you get it now? Military housing is absolutely the worst. They are useless. I can't wait to no longer live with military housing. You know that if I was able to just call the pest control people myself, without going through the useless office of housing, I probably would have had this whole thing dealt with and over with months before. Gee, that would have saved me a lot of mental and physical stress. In my experience, military housing has done more harm than good. And yes, our military housing is paid for. But, I would prefer a million times over, to pay our own rent, if it meant we could live like normal people, and not deal with military housing to get things done.
So, eventually, the house was treated with heat and poison. Oh, also, the day that the treatment started, the housing office emailed Greg a document containing information on what to do before, during, and after this type of home treatment. None of the "before" protocol, we had done. Why? Because housing is useless and gave us this document way too late.
Here I am, about three weeks after the heat treatment. I think we are in the clear. We have booby-trapped our bedroom though...our mattress is zipped into a "bed-bug proof" covering. With this cover on, it will not allow the bugs to burrow into the mattress. There are less places of them to hide. We have these cups under each leg of the bed. Inside of these cups, we have put this powder substance called "diatomaceous earth", which kills bed bugs. We have pulled our bed away from the wall, so they cannot climb up to get us that way. If they try to climb up the legs of the bed, they will die in the cups. So far, we haven't even seen any dead bugs in the cups. Again, I think we are now in the clear.
BUT! I will not sit back and relax ever again in my life. For the rest of my life, here is what I will do to make sure that I never have this bed bug nightmare again:
1. All beds in my home will always be zipped into a bed bug proof cover.
2. Those cups I was talking about, will always be under the legs of all beds in my house. Greg doesn't think we need to always have diatomaceous earth poison in these cups, but I think we do (but I'm also insanely paranoid and scarred for life). For now, we are keeping the poison in the cups...in the future, we will always have diatomaceous earth handy in case I am feeling paranoid.
3. Every hotel we will ever stay in, we will do a search for signs of bed bugs before we get comfortable. This includes ripping the sheets off of the bed, and checking cracks and crevices (where they like to hide), and checking for blood stains (possible if a human rolls over in their sleep onto a full bed bug).
4. Even after a thorough check (just because you don't see signs, doesn't mean they aren't there...they are great at hiding), we will never put our luggage on the bed. Luggage can go on the luggage rack, or a desk.
5. When we get home from a trip, all clothing will go straight into the freezer for a few days, even if we saw no signs of bed bugs in the hotel. Remember, extreme cold kills them. We recently went to Romania, and did this when we got home. I even put a scarf and wallet that I bought in Romania into the freezer. Everything.
I know some of that might sound crazy, but I absolutely cannot get bit by a bed bug again in my life. I'm still a bit paranoid...to the point where sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night, just to check to make sure I do not have any red dots (beginnings of a bed bug bite). The more that time goes on without getting bit, the less paranoid I am. Maybe if I was more paranoid about bed bugs in June when we went to Wurzburg, a lot of this never would have happened.
So, that is my travel warning to you. Perhaps you can learn from my experience, and take the steps to make sure your trips are bed bug free!
And remembers...moms are smarter than Google.
-Gina
