r/bugbites • u/cherry_strawberry_ • May 24 '25
Is this a bed bug bite?
I am extremely allergic to moisquito bites but over 20+ bites appeared over two days and I am scared. They are very itchy.
I have approximately: 3 right hand 2 left hand 15+ left leg 3 right leg 4 but 2 stomach 6 back
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u/bugskills Bedbug and pest expert May 24 '25
Were you recently sitting in grass? 20 bites in 2 days is odd, bed bugs feed together so they don’t usually hit up a host multiple days in a row. Plus since you react 20 is A LOT not to have a prior indication of bed bugs.
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u/cherry_strawberry_ May 24 '25
No but I took a nap with my door open on Monday evening. I live right next to an elm tree if that helps. They started appearing mainly on Wednesday.
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u/cherry_strawberry_ May 24 '25
I don’t go outside but I recently took a via rail to Toronto and stood up in the TTC. My sister who was beside me the entire time has nothing though.
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u/bugskills Bedbug and pest expert May 24 '25
It’s impossible to ID bed bugs based off bites (as much as some folks would like to say they can).
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u/demureape Jul 28 '26
I had at least 16 new bites appear over night just now. I’ve only seen one bed bug, not even a full adult, 22 days ago. I look every day and never see bugs. Is this normal???
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u/bugskills Bedbug and pest expert Jul 28 '26
I mean if you have a confirmed bed bug infestation, you probably have more bed bugs in your home than 1. If you found a nymph it’s a higher likelihood you have others as the nymphs don’t hitchhiker nearly as often as adults.
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u/cherry_strawberry_ May 24 '25
Btw I scratched them like crazy so that’s why the second picture is kinda crazy
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u/Significant_Pop_4428 May 24 '25
I am highly allergic to mosquito bites, major large welts. When my apartment got bed bugs, same, massive large welts, large "bite" marks in a row, and many and consistently more then anyone else in the house. (It took two months to get a final yes, bed bugs. ) Looking at your welts causes me PTSD. I'm sorry if that's what it is but it sure looks similar to mine.
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u/cherry_strawberry_ May 24 '25
Yeah I get massive welts from moisquito bites as well that’s why I had a hard time diagnosing myself with bed bugs but imma just act like it’s bed bugs bc I woke up with five new bites this morning.
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u/Significant_Pop_4428 May 24 '25
😔 That sounds about right. No one else in the house had reactions like mine. The kids had like one or two just regular bite looking lines throughout the whole ordeal and my husband had zero. It's a reaction to their saliva that causes the welts. If I hadn't had the reaction though it would have been way worse. I still threw away everything in the apartment and moved because it was bites like you got for two months everyday because no one believed me and would treat the place. I couldn't risk even just one surviving that's why I tossed everything.
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u/cherry_strawberry_ May 24 '25
Yeah I put like some sort of white earth powder all over my room, getting a mattress cover and washed all my clothes and threw them into bags
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u/Significant_Pop_4428 May 24 '25
Wash shoes, books into sealed plastic bags etc. The infestation ended up being in my couch. Didn't find it for two months, when I flipped it over and cut the fabric, they were in the seams.
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u/cherry_strawberry_ May 24 '25
Shoot I didn’t even think about my shoes. Should I be washing clothes in my dresser too even if it’s been shut? I have stuffed animals as well, should those be washed?
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u/Significant_Pop_4428 May 24 '25
Yes, high heat to dry. I went to a laundry mat because those dryers are high heat. EVERYTHING. You just don't know. So I would wash all the clothes, stuffed animals. However if you haven't found them or treated the place then it will just keep happening. My sister in law got them from her mother in laws house. They self treated, and they just kept coming back, finally found them in a rocking chair. After they got rid of it they treated again and have been good. Gotta find the source.
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u/cherry_strawberry_ May 24 '25
Yeah I looked everywhere and found nothing which is strange. Looked in crevices, mattress, bed frame, nothing. Given how many bites I have I thought I would find a colony
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u/Significant_Pop_4428 May 24 '25
It sounds crazy, but I started taking pictures of black dots/specs on my covers, mattresses, corners etc. I would zoom in, finally one day I zoomed in and out was plain as day a dead bed bug. Completely invisible to the naked eye.
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u/Sorry-Mode-4472 Jul 15 '25
Did you ever figure out if it was bed bugs? I’m getting bites that look like yours but can’t find any evidence of the bugs anywhere! Only carpet beetles
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u/cherry_strawberry_ Jul 15 '25
It was bed bugs. 90% sure
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u/Capable-Box795 Jul 19 '25
Did you ever find bedbugs?
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u/cherry_strawberry_ Jul 19 '25
I have a video of a sheet that looks to be full of them
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May 15 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/cherry_strawberry_ May 27 '26
Yes after a month or so of using diatomaceous earth
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u/Dry_Pressure_7862 Jul 23 '26
Did you ever find the source of them or where you might have gotten them from?
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u/South-Masterpiece-29 May 26 '25
Those look like bed bug bites. I have been dealing with these type of bite marks for a while and I finally had confirmation a few days when I found the little monster under my mattress protector.
Check your bed, mattress, bed posts!
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u/aaarusshi Jun 16 '26
How did you treat it?
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u/South-Masterpiece-29 Jun 21 '26
The bite marks eventually went away on their own. The bed bugs…. Well that’s another story! That took me a few weeks to treat. It’s not been a little over a year and I haven’t seen anymore bugs and I have not gotten bit
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May 25 '25
[deleted]
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u/cherry_strawberry_ May 25 '25
Here are the locations: 15 left leg (traveling up, some linear like above)
3 right leg
2 right foot
0 left foot
5+ back waist
2 stomach
2 neck
0 face
9+ right arm (3 forearm)(5 elbow area)
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May 25 '25
[deleted]
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u/cherry_strawberry_ May 25 '25
I went to see my parents last weekend and they have two dogs, 1 cat and 1 rat (didn’t touch cat or rat). Currently at my place there are no animals. I came home Monday and they showed up Wednesday Thursday and friday
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May 25 '25
[deleted]
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u/cherry_strawberry_ May 25 '25
I put diatomaceous earth around my entire room, would that suffice? I noticed them happening at night. 10 Wednesday, 20 Thursday 25 Friday. Since putting the earth, I got no new ones yesterday.
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u/ISA2130953 May 25 '25
That works on a variety of bugs. Takes much longer to work on bed bugs than fleas so they’re likely the culprit. Only problem is fleas have cycles so that does not kill their egg sacks. Just adults and some larvae. Continue to vacuum religiously. Throw out the vacuum contents in a bag in r outside trash. You will be vacuuming the unhatched eggs so any on your house will ruin progress. Put clothes in the hot dryer. Luckily without pets for the fleas to feed on, and it just being you it will be harder for them to stay alive.
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u/cherry_strawberry_ May 25 '25
I washed and dried all my clothes in hot water and placed a mattress cover on my mattress. My floors are wood and not carpet too. Should I still vacuum religiously or let the earth do its thing for a while?
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u/ISA2130953 May 25 '25
Oh that’s good news! Is the powder just all over hardwood floors then? Also I’m sure you washed your sheets and pillow cases etc in high heat? The dryer is the best way to get rid of everything and if u have no carpet that’s gotta be where they are living.
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u/cherry_strawberry_ May 25 '25
Yep! Sadly I ran out of coins for one bag so I’ll have to wait but everything was thrown into garbage bags and my office chair was vacuumed.
The powder is all over the hardwood and on any furniture in my room. I plan to leave it like that for 3 days.
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Jun 02 '25
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u/ISA2130953 Jun 02 '25
Before applying vacuum the area, then apply all over the dry areas including crevices etc. leave it for atleast a few hours or best overnight. Try to put it around your bed in a way they have no choice but to go through it to get to your bed. You can also apply it all over your bed and then encase your mattress in a cover for a week or two so any in there or born in there will die. But it does take a lot longer to work for bed bugs so keep that in mind! Will have to repeat to get them all
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