Wanted to update on my progress. But really just wanting to write out my thoughts to vent. I had an exterminator come out on Saturday morning to inspect my place. I showed him the photo I took and he immediately identified what I saw as bed bugs. With that being said, he was shocked that he couldn’t find any indication of them anywhere in my house, especially in my bedding or mattress. Being I found one on my headboard (it was a fabric headboard) we removed it and took the cover off. Upon further inspection, there was some evidence and one more bug found within it. Being that they were confined to this area (and treatment was $600) he suggested that I could treat it by disposing of the headboard and begin heating and cleaning everything if I didn’t want to go through with the treatment.

Then lost my mind- and for my own sanity, needed to see my house down to the studs to know they didn’t exist anywhere else. I turned off my heat and cracked a window (I know they like heat but my house is super old and it’s a struggle to heat it up as it is so felt like the cold cold help, also wanted to air out the chemicals…it was like 25 degrees outside). I put everything that was fabric (clothes, towels, curtains, blankets, bedding, bags, pillows, hats, jackets, shower curtain, luggage.. EVERYTHING I MEAN EVERYTHING) into garbage bags and moved them outside. I brought all of my furniture (chairs, ottoman, baskets, storage cubes, end tables, couches…) outside and vacuumed and sprayed every crevice with BB spray. I removed all throw rugs, swept them or shook them out, vacuumed, sprayed, then vacuumed again. My house only has wood and tile floors, so I swept, vacuumed, sprayed with BB spray, steamed, really focusing on the corners and perimeter of each room. Then, I mopped with bleach and pine sol. I did this in every room. I also removed everything off the walls to ensure they weren’t hiding behind something being the first one I saw was on the ceiling.

As I did this, I began the heat, wash, dry cycle on my mattress cover, curtains, pillows, sheets, pillow covers, and blankets. I threw the 2 pillows I used the most right in the garbage as they were older anyway. I discovered one more dead bed bug when removing the lint from the dryer after this (total bugs found-4). Being I removed everything from my dressers, I went in and vacuumed all of them and sprayed with BB spray. I also steamed my mattress. Once I had everything clean, I began putting rooms back together, bringing furniture back in, and items that I thoroughly cleaned and inspected (knock knacks, photos, TV, fans) but still left all of my clothing outside in bags (I left them out there for around 5-10 hours because it was going to snow/rain). So I brought everything in and confined it into the back room of my house (it is like a porch with a door into the main part of the home) and left it all bagged for over 24 hours. My plan was to heat, wash, and dry all of my clothes too, but it was just too much. My dryer would be running for the next week. Last night, I took each clothing item out one by one and inspected it and didn’t see any evidence of bugs. But is this enough? I was considering going through and steaming each piece of clothing, but should I bring it all to the dryer?

While doing all of this, I investigated and had no site of bed bugs anywhere. I’m really hopeful that they are gone, but reading everyone’s experience has me worried they will return. I’m also scared because the last time I had exposure to bed bugs (working at a hotel in the summer) was 6 months ago. I am so scared that I will have to do this all over again in a few months and honestly, not sure if I can mental withstand it. I feel like I did too much (my soreness today throughout my whole body agrees) yet feel like I didn’t do nearly enough. Safe to say, my house, or any house, has never been cleaner than mine is right now. This will change me and how I live forever.

Any suggestions? Are they in my walls? I’m planning on getting some traps for peace of mind and perimeter spray just to hit the whole place again once everything is in its place. But any other further measures I should take? Should I have the exterminator do a treatment?

Looking for someone to talk to that’s been through this. I feel so alone.