For several days now I keep getting bitten while I sleep. The first night I had some on my back and ankles and then it started getting worse, getting almost every bite on my fingers. They are really itchy sometimes. I suspect they are mosquito bites because the weather started getting warmer in my city, but at the same time I have a window screen and I don't know how they have gotten inside. I just want to be sure.
For the record, I am also on week 3 or week 4 Accutane and I heard this might be one of the side effects, how true is that?
It could be possible that's it's a side effect, but the likelihood of bug bites is probably bit higher. There are pretty small mosquitoes that can in fact get through widow screens but these bits are all too reminiscent of a bed bug out break that my daughter had & it took us a good while to figure it out. I suggest inspecting your mattress and bedding well and looking in all the cracks and crannies. Maybe even get an exterminator to come and treat your home.
I think you're OK re this because you checked, but if you have bites on a 'track-like' pattern (IE all in a row) especially as you say on your back/neck, that appear the next morning, especially if it all started showing up 1 to 3 weeks after having been somewhere unusual or invited an unusual guest to your , not discount the possibility of bedbugs. Sometimes it is not obvious that this is a problem a month into the infestation because the buggers hide so well. But if you have checked very carefully your bedding area, inside the creases of where you sleep, and no found bug casings, of icky black spots on your sleeping quarters or (of course) seen actually small flat round brown bugs crawling around at night, then you're probably OK
this happened to me a few years ago a week or so after staying in a cheap motel in Ohio and I don't wish it on ANYBODY.
so the Accutane* bumps really are a thing, ecxema while your body gets used to it, and some people say they go away after a couple of months once your body gets used to the drug. Or obviously you could stop taking it a while and see if that makes it stop and then you'll have your answer
*accutane works by shrinking oil glands and slows down cell production within pores all which can have various odd skin side effects. That and other dire effects that I'm certain you already know are listed here www.byrdie.com/
I'm getting bitten by something, but not bedbugs or fleas. It's very cold outside, I live in Alberta. It has been -40s lately. The bites started in clusters on my ankles and legs. They're now moving up around my waist and arms. I thought I was getting the bites at night as I would wake up with red welted itchy mosquito like bumps.
I washed all bedding in hot bleachy water and what I couldn't wash I put outside (remember-40). I am noticing I'm getting them where my clothes are tighter. I have 2 dogs that are not scratching. My husband is not having any trouble either. I'm getting the heebie jeebies now. I feel like my skin is crawling. I wake up throughout the night scratching all of my various bites. Can anyone help me with this? I am so uncomfortable!
This one is very difficult to say what is really bitting you. I would go and see a doctor to get some medicine for this. In the meantime, you should get some mint oil and apply it to your skin. Whatever is bitting you will not bite if you use the oil. If most of the bites are at night I would really check your bed again for bed bugs. Also get someone out to your home to spray the house.
Web MD has this bite deck--look at #11 (fleas) or #17 chiggers.
www.webmd.com/
I am leaning to chiggers. I had a terrible experience with them in the late 1980s and it required medical care to get rid of them. I can't remember all the details now (I think I blocked it because it was so bad), but I had to use a cream and take an antibiotic because I had infection.
Post back with an update with what your medical professional tells you! I would go as soon as you can so you avoid infections!
I believe they are mights, wheals another name for all these are arthropods. Ask your doctor what can you do?
I feel something is biting me in my bed, but can't see what it is.
By Shawnster
It is likely bedbugs. I have just been listening to comments on the CBC, and apparently they are a real pandemic. They are terribly difficult and expensive to get rid of.
One thing that does work, but not instantly, and more as a preventative, is diatomaceous earth. There are many different brand names. You are supposed to spray this behind your baseboards. It destroys their exoskeletons and they die. However, if you already have them in your bed, you need more agressive measures. They are often resistant to bug sprays, and so an extiminator that uses steam may be what you need.
Do not fool around with bay leaves or cinnamon or any of those home remedies. If any of that stuff worked, bedbugs wouldn't be a problem.
Sounds like bedbugs to me. When we were kids we went to a house that some friends moved out of and got some quilts that they left behind and we put them on our beds and it was not long til we started getting bitten in the night on our legs and arms and we told our dad about it. He said, I bet you got a case of bedbugs from the quilts that you got from that house.
I started to research online and realize that this is a common researched issue that exists but no one has answers. I was getting very discouraged after reading all these posts with no conclusion. Scared out of my mind that this was going to go on for the rest of my life. It got so bad that I was becoming delusional and seeing black spots in random places. I am not sure if that was due to lack of sleep because as you know it is hard to sleep when you are constantly being attacked by invisible biting bugs. I read some home treatments that I found to not really be useful. The one that did relieve me a little was putting a little bleach in my bath water. After my relentless online research, as now that seemed to be my only source for information I came across an article that talked about fungus spores. This was not even close to what I was researching but read it anyways. It lead me further into researching into "MOLD SPORES". I had no clue about them and read all about them. I was experiencing the same exact symptoms (crawling biting invisible bugs all day and night) that most of these people are searching online for. The problem is people are not researching the right information. I know because for the last week I was looking up "Invisible Biting bugs or parasites on my skin" and that led me nowhere.
Anyways, after reading what mold spores are, they symptoms are the same exact thing as what I was experiencing. House plants, cold water vaporizers, humidifiers, and dirty air vents can be sources of airborne mold spores, mildews, and bacteria that could cause skin reactions that feel like invisible bugs biting on your skin consistently. I went home and for some reason decided to check my humidifier that is on every night in my room that me my fiance and daughter share. What do you know, it was infested with mold (like 3 inches thick). We didn't know about changing the filters so we have this humidifier on every night from bedtime until we wake up blowing these bacterial mold spores on us infested us and our room. It can also be in your air conditioner which was my next filter that I changed that had mold but not as bad or in your house (water leak). It all made sense now! My boys were not exposed to my room so they didn't have any symptoms but we did because it was directly on us through the night and only
building and getting worse (I now feel like I have respiratory problems due to this and only time will tell with my daughter). The scabies treatment didn't work because we were exposed to this mold all the time. So I removed the humidifier and bleached down my room (immediately upon bleaching down
my bed they exploding onto my body like they were clinging for dear life. Bleach kills the suckers) and then took a bath with a little bleach and washed my body with a dandruff shampoo. I felt so cleansed and slept like a baby. It was the first time that I had relief and realized there was an end to this craziness that no one seems to know anything about. I read about dust mites, bird mites, skin parasites and researched relentlessly.
OMG!!!! Finally, I'm sure people were thinking i was crazy. It got so bad i pitched a tent out back to sleep in. They still seemed to get me, like they were invisible! The mold/parasite theory is almost equally violating/disturbing, but that would explain most of the unexplainable. Wow, does this mean there's a solution. I can't possibly give you enough gratitude for posting this. Wow, incredible.
It's been 2 weeks and these bites keep coming back. First there were 3 and now theres 2 more new fresh bites. It hurts when I touch around it and water-like fluid comes out every time to time. I can't sleep and now I'm 100% paranoid to sleep in my own bed. I have washed my sheets with hot water and bleach.
I have even tried cleaning my mattress with Clorox hoping maybe itwill kill any bugs. My room is by a huge window and I am not sure if these bites are a spider or mosquito. I live in San Diego so we get all sorts of funky bugs around here. Please help I'm so sleep deprived :(Several questions:
How long have you lived in this place?
Are you renting/buying?
Is this your furniture or do you rent with everything furnished?
Have you been away somewhere (anywhere?) that you could have brought bedbugs home with you? In your clothing?
All of these questions will determine how drastic your next move will be to get rid of these bugs.
If you are renting and brought your own furniture (where did your mattress come from?) then you are responsible for exterminating the bugs and if you cannot do it yourself then you will have to hire a 'bug' man and pay the high cost to do this job.
If you are renting - with furnishings - and have not lived there very long (one month maybe) then your landlord will have to hire the bug man and furnish you a place to live while it's being done.
You will most likely have to get rid of the mattress and maybe even box springs as this is the biggest hiding place for bedbugs.
You should go to your local pharmacist/drug store and show them the bite marks so they can recommend a good medicine that will heal and stop the itching. Do that ASAP before serious infection sets in.
There are some DIY solutions but require doing everything mentioned as these bugs know no limit as to where they hide.
There are many sites on the internet to show you different methods to get rid of the pests but you will have to decide which method you can do or if you can get someone to help you.
Here are some good links but there are lots more if these do not seem to be doable for you.
www.doyourownpestcontrol.com/
www.youtube.com/
www.webmd.com/
cybergrannie asks excellent questions.
if would be good to identify if it is a bedbug infestation because that requires serious intervention.
another thing is, whatever this bug is, you are having a serious allergic reaction. You may need to, just for your peace of mind, go to a dermatologist who might prescribe prednisone, or just get some bug bite ointment at the pharmacy.
I have known people who have eradicated a bedbug problem by themselves, but it either involved
1) spending $600+ on pesticides, a brand new HEPA vacuum cleaner with bags, and a specific steam cleaner that goes up to 200 degrees, or
2) renting out a POD unit, putting every last personal belonging in there, and cranking up tons of space heaters to raise the temperature of all the belongings above 200 degrees. And I mean, every last thing. Except for electronics which heat will destroy which you can then treat with diatomaceous earth and quarantine inside large ziploc bags for a long time.
so at the end of the day you see you can't avoid a huge effort and expense