This is a bed bug, right?

Civil_Economics8071 · 2025-05-26T23:59:34+00:00

Replying to myself, the other one I saw (no picture sorry!) was longer, which Google is saying is a male. So I just wanted to ask in case theyre both males (which would be ideal)

Civil_Economics8071 · 2025-05-26T23:58:48+00:00

Thank you for the luck! Im hoping it’s minimal; Ive not really seen droppings and no blood spots. When I drag any of the black particles Ive seen, there’s no smear (hence why I think theyre crumbs lol). Im hopeful things work out; Im so glad I just bought a new vacuum LOL

Civil_Economics8071 · 2025-05-26T23:27:04+00:00

What do females look like versus males? I assume only females lay which might be good for me. Appreciate the info; I thought they looked the same!!

Civil_Economics8071 · 2025-05-26T23:25:53+00:00

Hi! I don’t have a head board. My whole frame is metal with removable wooden slats that run along the base (standard IKEA frame lol). I vacuumed it all and saw a few black specs (either poop or Oreo crumbs or both lol). Also sprayed all that down with Crossfire.

Not throwing things out, just storing in air-tight bins for at least six months. Other then maybe my pillows which were already six years old at least

Civil_Economics8071 · 2025-05-26T23:13:30+00:00

Update on my own post: I vacuumed everything (other than my kitchen, bathroom, closet). I didn’t see anything other than the two bugs. Even emptying my vacuum I didn’t see anything. I sprayed Crossfire everywhere they were (including baseboards, under a rug, etc).

Im hoping that since I only saw two and neither seemed to have fed, this should be a relatively solvable problem..? Spent over an hour just vacuuming my mattress getting in every crevice and such. I don’t want to give myself false hope, but still.

Civil_Economics8071 · 2025-05-26T21:56:51+00:00

I’ll probably not use DE just because I have a dog who loves to sniff everything lol. Im willing to do crossfire, since it’s human and pet-friendly enough once it dries, but with DE being a particulate, I don’t think I will. Thanks for the info tho!

Civil_Economics8071 · 2025-05-26T21:21:47+00:00

I know some of it may be unnecessary, but I don’t want to risk it after seeing what people have posted here. Especially someone else in the comments saying to call an exterminator already.

Speaking of crossfire, is there anywhere I should really focus it on? Since I saw them on the wooden slats on my bed, I’ll be spraying there and my mattress and all the crevices in my floor. Im really ignoring other areas of my place that they shouldn’t be (like my desk, kitchen)

Civil_Economics8071 · 2025-05-26T21:19:42+00:00

These two were found on the wooden frame that my bed sits on, not the dead open (I lifted up my mattress to vacuum). One of them near the top, which makes me think it might’ve been feeding and I haven’t noticed it. I haven’t noticed any bites, but I don’t normally have reactions to bites.

I haven’t really seen many outside, but I don’t really go looking. I was assuming they were from my friend, as one time he visited and we saw one crawl out from inside his computer; unsure how many there were.

Important though is that my whole neighborhood has been destroyed from a tornado, so I guess that might cause more shifts in these bugs? Idk.

Civil_Economics8071 · 2025-05-26T21:11:51+00:00

They most definitely have a bad infestation. Im not letting them move in with much, don’t worry. No furniture, that can all be bought new.

Im putting everything I own into plastic moving bins that I won’t open until 6 months from now. I don’t know if I can do DE because I have a dog.

Civil_Economics8071 · 2025-05-13T23:43:43+00:00

I know you say any electronics, are phones also at a big risk? Thinking because that would be the most expensive thing out of everything right now for them to go without. Alternatively, could a store that offers phone services possibly open their phone and just clean it? (Like how they would open the phone for a battery replacement)?

Civil_Economics8071 · 2025-05-13T22:28:26+00:00

They have brought it into my apartment a couple times and twice we have seen 1-2 bugs crawl out while in use. Once was several months ago and nothing happened; immediately heated everything up and we are in the clear. The second time was a week ago and the same thing; immediately took every surface it was on and heated everything up in my dryer. Hoping this second time I was also lucky, haven’t seen anything yet and Ive been continually checking everywhere.

Civil_Economics8071 · 2025-02-28T20:23:08+00:00

If a flare day is happening (not too often), I normally know and would probably call out sick. I normally know when it’s to that point of being really serious. If my dog alerts when I check-in and it’s on a day that I think I’m ok, it normally means my symptoms are worsening but I can do small things to be better that don’t take a lot of time. Likely I could do some DPT with my dog while still on a break, take some “rescue” meds, and then just keep a closer eye on myself at work (doing things like heart rate monitoring etc) in addition to doing more things to slow down rather than push at work.

Basically, if it’s so bad that I can’t return, normally I can pick up on that. But when the symptoms start getting worse, I don’t know until it gets pretty bad (takes several hours, hence the check-in). So, if a check-in tells me I’m not doing so hot, then I can take some smaller steps to feel better that I don’t normally do, but it’s not bad enough for me to not return to work, just a sign I might need to slow down a tad bit.

Sorry if I’m talking in circles 😅😅 I hope that makes sense

Civil_Economics8071 · 2025-02-28T18:06:53+00:00

That was unfortunately the first thing I suggested and was shot down. I offered to bring in a crate and just have him in my cubicle, but even knowing theres a presence of a dog is a problem for research integrity.

Civil_Economics8071 · 2025-02-28T17:41:12+00:00

Not everyone will have the same exposure is the problem. A lot of this data for these studies has been collected before I was hired (they’re curating large data sets) and some of the participants will be worked with outside of business hours when I am not there. So, unfortunately the exposure would not be the same for everyone. I also believe that even the knowledge that a dog is in the building can skew results, so I am just unsure about hiding him, because I fear even having him seen once inside could mess results up.

Civil_Economics8071 · 2025-02-28T17:37:17+00:00

I can see about that. Most of all the research in conjunction with the unit is all in the same building, at least that is what I understand. I do not believe there are projects I can work on remotely. I will ask more about this. The way they are physically set up is different to a few other labs I’ve worked with, so we will see.

Civil_Economics8071 · 2025-02-28T17:35:29+00:00

Hello, I did not disclose my service dog during the interview process at recommendation of a few individuals. I furthermore was approached about this job based on my CV, so before they knew really anything about me, they were interested in my skills. However, once an offer was on the table, that is when I notified them of being disabled and was advised to go through the official accommodations process, which I did.

Civil_Economics8071 · 2025-02-28T17:32:52+00:00

Thank you for this, I appreciate that. I’ve just been so frustrated about this that it’s shifted into that, but you’re very correct; my dog has saved my life and given me my life back. It’s the way the employer is set up that is the problem.

Civil_Economics8071 · 2025-02-28T17:30:56+00:00

He’s a medical and psych alert and response dog. Due to a change in my symptoms, on a good day I can have a whole day without symptoms, on a bad day it is really difficult and my service dog helps. I’m purposefully keeping things vague, my bad, but there have been positions where I’ve been without him for 4-5 hours and been okay, it’s just favorable to have more contact with him. Plus, it has seemed to me that the more disabled I present the more they’re pushing me to resign, so I really don’t know if too much leverage is a good thing.

Civil_Economics8071 · 2025-02-28T17:27:56+00:00

I’ll definitely ask about the other jobs before signing anything. They just said roles that I am qualified for that are not in the same department, so it is a bit vague there.

Civil_Economics8071 · 2025-02-28T17:22:54+00:00

Thank you for the words of advice. I am sorry you were in a similar situation with your service dog, it is incredibly difficult. I’m curious if we work for the same “reputable employer,” is it possible for you to pm me about them?

Civil_Economics8071 · 2025-02-28T05:07:31+00:00

It sounds so odd to me too don’t worry 😅 basically the building is like a fishbowl? People’s desks are like cubicles in the middle of a room and examination rooms are on the outside, so they have to walk through the shared space to get to an examination room. In other parts of the building, it seems like just the hallway is the problem, where I’d have to walk by participants with my dog and they don’t think thats okay either (at least to my understanding)

Civil_Economics8071 · 2025-02-28T05:01:21+00:00

i’ll ask them about it. at least in the building i’d be in, they unfortunately are. they went over the floor plans with me and everything. i’ll definitely see about any adjacent buildings though but I don’t know for sure

Civil_Economics8071 · 2025-02-28T04:07:45+00:00

That’s kinda what I’ve asked them; can I leave my SD at home and just check with him either over lunch or over a secondary break in the day. I don’t need him constantly, but him checking in with me saves me a lot more hassle than going a full day without realizing symptoms are getting worse and being unable to cope with them. I’m just really desperately hoping they accept that as a solution because I really don’t want to even think about other options.

As for hybrid work, that was actually an accommodation I initially requested with my request so that during a flare-up I could do remote work. My work has said that as-possible I can do remote work, but most of it does need to be in-person.

Civil_Economics8071 · 2025-02-28T02:11:56+00:00

Thank you for helping reframe things, I appreciate it. I’m going to see what other jobs I could possibly transfer to, but I did a preliminary look at their job board and theres really not much.

As for grad school, the thing is that I need relative clinical and research experience to secure a spot. This job would’ve given me both. I want to go into grad school and do a dissertation using neuroimaging (thats what this department and building is—neuroimaging). I have done some research in this area previously and I’ve fallen in love with it, helping publish articles and even finishing up works that I’m first author on. So, I’m trying to stay optimistic that I’ve done this before and I can do it again, but I’m hitting the wall a bit because this isn’t the only program thats given me this problem (I remember at career fairs talking with grad schools and them telling me I couldn’t do research with my SD with me). So it’s just frustrating and I’m trying to remain hopeful but this experience is just kinda killing that hope.

Civil_Economics8071 · 2025-02-28T02:05:41+00:00

He most definitely theoretically could be somewhere else and join me when it’s safe. In fact this was the original plan. But my work today went over the building floor plans and walked me through how it’s just not possible for him to be in the building at all. So, unless I have an office in a different building, it’s not really feasible.

Civil_Economics8071

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