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[PartlyCloudlike]

If you're having hundreds of bites with no evidence of the bed bugs then you might be in luck. One way to draw them out and check if they're just expert hiders is to run a hair dryer over the edges of the bed in order to trick them into thinking that there's some body heat. Bed Bugs are super dumb and will crawl towards any comfortable heat source (as long as it's not TOO hot).

Another quick way to check is to let out some CO2 near you bed somehow. This can be done either with Dry Ice or some kind of CO2 canister used in airsoft guns. Again, they're attracted to the CO2 cause they stupidly think it's a sleeping human.

Source:

My company builds Bed Bug remediation heaters.

If you cannot find any Bed Bugs after doing those two things then you very likely don't have bed bugs and you can find relief in knowing you aren't in hell.

I'm going to try those two steps. I've woken up with itchy welts, but what complicates the diagnosis is that I have bad eczema, so it's not so easy to determine whether its a bug bite or just another breakout. I've looked at my mattress but have not seen any of the popular signs -- it's brand new, so any blood stains should stand out right away. I also checked around bed for molted skin, but saw none. This is frustrating aggh. How long would I need to run the hair dryer before I saw them? And would they be pretty visible to the naked eye?

 

[Konka]

 

[GrizzNKev]

After some deliberation, I believe I have scabies.

My brother had it while at home during winter break, and his ex girlfriend ended up getting it too. I shared enough furniture and bathroom space with him that this is the most likely explanation. It started showing up on me about four weeks after I spent two weeks living with him, and the spots on my skin look just like his.

Gonna head to a clinic tomorrow and get it checked out. ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

 

[akira28]

I thought I saw a bedbug in my bed some years ago. But thinking back on it, it was probably one of these guys:

stinkbug

instead of one of these guys:

thank god. but apparently stinkbugs can bite too.

 

[PartlyCloudlike]

i saw one or two molted bug skins, but I'm 100% certain they were the carpet beetle.

 

[PartlyCloudlike]

Whoa, it's possible I could be having a reaction to the carpet beetle since I found a few of their shells, but no signs of bed bugs. Man I hope this is the root cause!

http://blog.epa.gov/greeningtheappl...-in-my-house-if-it-means-not-having-bed-bugs/

The moral to this story is: if you search for bed bug signs and find no traces, carpet beetles could be the pest, especially if you are getting a number of bites every night. Check the area (with a magnifying glass) for the shed larval skins remembering that even a single carpet beetle skin could result in multiple “bite like” reactions due to the number of hairs they carry.

 

[greycolumbus]

Had both fleas and bedbugs. The thing with bedbugs is that you'll eventually know you have them. Blood spots and bedbug poop are not discrete.

 

[Elfforkusu]

Had a bed bug scare a few months ago myself, turned out to be carpet beetles.

Spoiler

Or so I hope

 

[SummitAve]

Slice open your mattress and get them out of there!

 

[Ether_Snake]

I thought I had some a few months ago. I woke up in the early morning feeling an itch, and then the next day I'd notice a red bump where I felt it. It was usually on my lower back, thighs, or close to there. It happened a few times but I never found any traces at all anywhere and I searched pretty well. I just passed the vacuum which I hadn't in a while and it stopped. Who knows if it will come back though, but so far so good.

All in all I had maybe eight bites or so, over the course of maybe a month?

 

[Replicant]

Had a similar freakout a month ago. Thankfully it turned out to be something else as after I washed the sheet in hot water, the problem disappeared instantly.

 

[Dazzler]

Getting Bed Bugs was the worst thing that happened to me in my 29 years on earth

I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy

Apartment was treated three times before we successfully got rid

Most of the apartment towers in Vancouver's west end have endemic bed bug problems

It just takes one unit in an apartment building to not take the problem seriously and they'll keep coming back