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Not everyone reacts to bed bug bites or flea bites too.
If you are getting bitten by fleas you will find some on your cat. Bed bugs can crawl inside your mattress and hide.
Try using some neem soap. You can find it in healthfood stores. It will kill the itch and help repel whatever insect is giving you bites while you are trying to figure out what it is. If its a mange type deal it will help kill that as well. Hope you figure it out soon!
Thank you everyone for your posts. Here is some more information, to answer some of the questions you all have posed.
I had an allergic reaction to an antibiotic and broke out in hives once. These bites or spots don't look anything like the hives I had before. But thanks for mentioning that.
The last time I traveled anywhere was the weekend of May 4, and I checked the hotel bed for bed bugs because that kind of stuff freaks me out (however, I did not inspect the furniture because I have since learned they can hide there too). I would think I would have noticed "traveling" bedbugs immediately. This problem JUST cropped up this week.
I have read quite a bit online about bed bugs and flea bites, and these places don't look anything like the pictures that have been posted. They are not in clusters...even the two bites on my hand are spread far apart. The same applies to other areas where I have two bites (on opposite sides of my foot and my upper arm). If it were fleas, the adults should be killed within 2 hours of my cats treatment. Advantage, the way I understand it, turns your animal into a walking flea bomb (so to speak). I can remember a flea infestation that my parents had when I was younger and based on that I can strongly say that we are not currently infested with fleas. I did not see any fleas on the cats after a careful inspection and I do not see any in the apartment. I am still kind of hoping that it is fleas because that is easy to deal with (relatively speaking).
I could even deal with the presence of bed bugs, but again did not see anything after a careful inspection (I read online where you should look for bedbugs, what they look like, what their waste looks like, etc). I am going to put out a sticky card this evening on the floor near the bed to see if I catch anything. And I think I am going to try sleeping on the couch to see if I get anymore bites.
They have a mattress cover which will seal mattress 100 percent,we bought one,queen size for traveling.
It does sound like bed bugs most likely , or fleas. When I was in India I washed my room with Dr. Bronners peppermint soap , you can find it in health food stores. It is truely the most amazing product a few drops go a long way and it kills bed bugs and acts as a natural repellant to insects. It also can be used for body wash, toothpaste, deoderant and what ever else. it is totally safe.
So clean your room, if you have carpets(ewww) then use the soap as the cleaning agent, wipe down the bed, clean linens, vaccum the matress... both sides, clean with a vengence. then see if doesnt clear up.
Well, thank you everyone for all of your help. I am bit baffled, but the bites have stopped. I guess they were caused by fleas and it took a day or two for the Advantage to work (am still confused about that because I never saw any fleas). I gave the cats the Advantage on Friday and cleaned my apartment like crazy that day. That is when the bites got worse. I woke up Saturday morning with more bites....so I started thinking it wasn't fleas. I woke up Sunday morning with only one more bite. And no more bites after that (four nights now). I have been taking Benadryl for the itching, which also helped me sleep better at night. Because all of the bites still itch, I have continued with the Bendadryl. Is there a chance that I am still getting bitten, but the Benadryl is preventing a reaction? Well, I guess I will find out when I stop taking it. Wish me luck! I will keep y'all posted.
BTW: I went crazy for a day when I starting reading about bird mites (thank you cmacf1 for the link). That sounds even scarier than bed bugs, and I will now think twice before ever removing an empty bird's nest with my bare hands.
Well, thank you everyone for all of your help. I am bit baffled, but the bites have stopped. I guess they were caused by fleas and it took a day or two for the Advantage to work (am still confused about that because I never saw any fleas). I gave the cats the Advantage on Friday and cleaned my apartment like crazy that day. That is when the bites got worse. I woke up Saturday morning with more bites....so I started thinking it wasn't fleas. I woke up Sunday morning with only one more bite. And no more bites after that (four nights now). I have been taking Benadryl for the itching, which also helped me sleep better at night. Because all of the bites still itch, I have continued with the Bendadryl. Is there a chance that I am still getting bitten, but the Benadryl is preventing a reaction? Well, I guess I will find out when I stop taking it. Wish me luck! I will keep y'all posted.
BTW: I went crazy for a day when I starting reading about bird mites (thank you cmacf1 for the link). That sounds even scarier than bed bugs, and I will now think twice before ever removing an empty bird's nest with my bare hands.
I found out about old bird nest causing the mites to come inside also.
I don't know but I thought bed bugs were not itchy the way a flea
bite is. Maybe that isn't true but I thought I read that.
Can someone who has had bedbug bites help?? Are they itchy??
Well, thank you everyone for all of your help. I am bit baffled, but the bites have stopped. I guess they were caused by fleas and it took a day or two for the Advantage to work (am still confused about that because I never saw any fleas). I gave the cats the Advantage on Friday and cleaned my apartment like crazy that day. That is when the bites got worse. I woke up Saturday morning with more bites....so I started thinking it wasn't fleas. I woke up Sunday morning with only one more bite. And no more bites after that (four nights now). I have been taking Benadryl for the itching, which also helped me sleep better at night. Because all of the bites still itch, I have continued with the Bendadryl. Is there a chance that I am still getting bitten, but the Benadryl is preventing a reaction? Well, I guess I will find out when I stop taking it. Wish me luck! I will keep y'all posted.
BTW: I went crazy for a day when I starting reading about bird mites (thank you cmacf1 for the link). That sounds even scarier than bed bugs, and I will now think twice before ever removing an empty bird's nest with my bare hands.
Didn't mean to scare you!!! To tell you the truth, I hadn't seen ALL of that website before I sent it to you, but I started reading it later. We had NOTHING like what those people had. It seems like the mites were only on me and didn't infiltrate our house. But definitely, don't pick up any bird's nests!!! I learned my lesson.
Glad to hear that you're getting better!!! I still have marks where my bites were and it's been almost 4 weeks now! But they don't itch now.
I found out about old bird nest causing the mites to come inside also.
I don't know but I thought bed bugs were not itchy the way a flea
bite is. Maybe that isn't true but I thought I read that.
Can someone who has had bedbug bites help?? Are they itchy??
I seem to be very attractive to bugs. When I lived in Africa, I stayed at a hostel once that apparently infested with bed bugs (the morning after my first night there, I actually saw them.) The bites are horrific! They itch horribly, more than flea bites. My worst experience with bed bugs, though, was when I was flying home from West Africa. I had an 18 hour layover in Lagos Nigeria and I fell asleep on a bench. I woke up with bedbugs crawling on me and biting me. Then I noticed that they were ALL over my backpack. I got onto the airplane with bedbugs still on my bag and bites all over my arms and legs. I think the cold cry air in the airplane killed them, because I didn't see anymore when I got off the plane (though the bites lasted for a long time.) But I still wouldn't let my dad touch the bag OR bring it inside until I fumigated it.
Bedbugs are awful awful creatures. WORSE than fleas (and about the same as the bird mites, though the bird mite bites lasted much longer.)
I'm glad it's cleared up 95, and thank you for posting the question in the first place! I learned a lot--never knew about the birds or all these different remedies, so you've been helpful! (even if I AM itchy all over just reading, now....)
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mattress cover
