No-See-Ums?
This problem has been troubling me since the weather got warmer. Whenever I’m in my house (Garden and Parlor floors with large yard) I feel like I’m getting bitten by something. It isn’t painful, just a little itch, but i never see anything on my skin or flying or jumping around. I have a dog,…
This problem has been troubling me since the weather got warmer. Whenever I’m in my house (Garden and Parlor floors with large yard) I feel like I’m getting bitten by something. It isn’t painful, just a little itch, but i never see anything on my skin or flying or jumping around. I have a dog, but it definitely isn’t fleas (I know what they look like). At first I thought I was imagining it, then I thought it was dry skin, but it only happens at home. I keep my house pretty clean and shower a lot, so I don’t think it is a cleanliness problem. I have experienced no-see-ums in the Caribbean and that is kind of what this reminds me of. Could it be bedbugs? I’ve heard they’ve made a resurgence in NY. Are they visible to the naked eye? Is there some other 100-yr-old house problem that I don’t know about? It is getting very annoying. Help!
So I have had many of the same problems as you all. I am in San Francisco near the marina, which is why I think I might be having the problem. They come into my apartment through the screens every time I open the windows for some fresh air, but I was also concerned that they might be breeding in the apt because things can be so damp. Here’s how I’ve survived without packing up and leaving town. Granted I did not and do not have swarms of these and I really only got attacked at night while sleeping. Although if I dont wear socks in the apt, they will bite me once or twice on the feet. But its nothing compared to the 20+ I would receive at night sometimes. So for the itching my treatment has been a paste of baking soda and water. It really does wonders as nothing else would do – including prescription drugs, hydrocortisone, etc. I just put a big gob on the bites and leave it on as long as you can until it cracks off. I made a mess leaving little crumbs everywhere, but I was able to keep my sanity that way. I would then dab on some witchazel. As to solving the issue, I discovered http://www.mosquitocurtains.com. They will do custom cuts of mosquito and noseeum netting. The noseeum netting is something like 810 holes per square inch, competitors advertised only 500 something. So make sure you get the smallest holes you can (the most per square inch). We had them create custom curtains for our bed. My husband mounted them from a makeshift wooden frame attached to the ceiling. It had worked perfectly for the last four nights. Magnets seal each section of the curtain and the sides attach to the wall through snaps and magnets. We have also thought about getting some of the fabric to cover our screens with so they can’t get in through the windows. We dealt with a great guy named Scott, I believe, who was so helpful according to my husband and even would have given us our money back had it not worked. I really really hope this helps some of you as I completely know your agony and helpless feelings. I joined this forum solely to let you know of my “techniques” in the hopes that it might sooth some of you. Good luck!
I just came back from Veradero Cuba. While I was there i found these little red dots on my legs that look like mosquito bites. They werent really itchy until i arrived back at home. Now they are itching like crazy and more new ones keep popping up. i went to the pharmacy and the pharmacist told me calamine lotion and benadryl. The lotion only works for a few hours at a time. As for the benadryl it makes me so tired. I will write back to let you know if this has worked at all. in the meantime here is another site that has a bunch of different remedies. Some say these work and others dont. Im willing to try anything to make the itching stop. the thing that scares me is that some people say it leaves scars if you scratch too much.
http://www.mybugbites.com/my-foot-and-sand-flea-bites/
I do not live in Brooklyn, I live in Louisiana and like most of you my husband, doctor, etc… think it is nerves, allergies, or my imagination. I have bought covers for all the mattress, and pillows. I have been prescribed Hydroxyz HCL 25mg, Prednisone 20mg (these medications make me very sleepy even the next day, very difficult to function while using them) and Permethrin cream for scabies. This helps as long as you wear it and maybe a day or two later, that’s all. I have had bites, and what looks like blisters on my scalp that itch. The medicine gets rid of these. It feels like tiny spiders crawling on my skin, it has a sharp bite when it bites. Sometimes it seems to swarm or vibrates on my skin like it is trying to hatch out, then it bites. None of these symptoms are all the time, they come and go. It seems to be on the ceramic tile floor especially under the lip of the cabinet, in the carpet, in the cloth couches, on the mattress although for now it is gone from there when I removed the plastic cover (for good I pray), and as of late in my car (I have cloth seats and carpet)it feels like I am being pelted with something, even the covers for the mattress and pillows. I have also sprayed the house, car, mattresses, couches, floors, etc… 3 times to what seems no avail. If anyone can help I would appreciate it. I have had very little sleep in 8 weeks, although when I took the cover off our bed I found little black specks, I found these on me occasionally when I would itch or something would bite me. They are too small to see anything. It feels like they swam and collect under me on the couches and seats. They crawl, jump, and seem to fly. They seem to be able to penetrate clothing and bedding quickly. The only reprieve I seem to have is in a wooden chair with my feet propt up or away and even then sometimes you would feel them. Please Help.
No-See-UMs
I do not live in Brooklyn, I live in Louisiana and like most of you my husband, doctor, etc… think it is nerves, allergies, or my imagination. I have bought covers for all the mattress, and pillows. I have been prescribed Hydroxyz HCL 25mg, Prednisone 20mg (these medications make me very sleepy even the next day, very difficult to function while using them) and Permethrin cream for scabies. This helps as long as you wear it and maybe a day or two later, that’s all. I have had bites, and what looks like blisters on my scalp that itch. The medicine gets rid of these. It feels like tiny spiders crawling on my skin, it has a sharp bite when it bites. Sometimes it seems to swarm or vibrates on my skin like it is trying to hatch out, then it bites. It seems to be on the ceramic tile floor especially under the lip of the cabinet, in the carpet, in the cloth couches, on the mattress although for now it is gone from there when I removed the plastic cover (for good I pray), and as of late in my car (I have cloth seats and carpet)it feels like I am being pelted with something, even the covers for the mattress and pillows. I have also sprayed the house, car, mattresses, couches, floors, etc… 3 times to what seems no avail. If anyone can help I would appreciate it. I have had very little sleep in 8 weeks, although when I took the cover off our bed I found little black specks, I found these on me occasionally when I would itch or something would bite me. They are too small to see anything. It feels like they swam and collect under me on the couches and seats. They crawl, jump, and seem to fly. They seem to be able to penetrate clothing and bedding quickly. Please Help.
I have been fighting these little bugs for 3 years. I have had the house sprayed twice professionally. I have thrown out a mattresss, a chair, bedding, etc. I have tried so many things. My husband has rarely had a bite, but these little noseeums absolutely love me. I have had many sleepless nights, and many tears, and frustration, at getting people (including my doctor) to believe me.I am now at a point where my home is liveable again. I have tried so many different products, and methods I would be glad to share them with you along with the results. feel free to e mail. lighthousecountrycottage@shaw.ca
I am sure they nest in the furniture and carpets, and are attracted to smells. (I feel them when I cook dinner, or eat) They have been on every part of my body. They like darts, pleats, and around the edges of mattresses, and furniture. Vacuum, vacuum, vacuum, and get into all the little corners of your furniture. (Don’t wear socks on carpets) Just recently I turned over my couches, and chairs and sprayed well with peroxide. I have used a spray bottle of bleach and water for all the painted baseboards and cupboard fronts. I also think they are attracted to white. If you can find some white sticky paper, or make up your own, put it under your beds, and furniture. I have used white shallow dishes as well with a little sunlight lemon soap and a little water, and caught a lot.(they look like little black pepper) You can also use yourself as human bait. Oil up your bottom legs, and wear some capris. You will be able to pick them off your skin afterwards. They are miserable, miserable things, and I am sympathetic to anyone fighting a battle with them. We live near a stream, in a wooden area, in the pacific northwest. (Vanc. Island, B.C.)I figure that I have found a nest in a stump covered with ivy.I think we have brought them in, and then they have taken up residence in the house. You can put those same shallow white dishes (bought at a dollar store for a buck) outside in different areas, and see if you catch any. I hope I can help some people deal with this, as it is terrible, I know………..
Update for me. The little critters were very heavy this year in our town. I am fairly certain they have taken up residence in my house – in the walls – likely from 2 areas where water may be getting into the walls. I am taking care of that now. But this year I tried just about every natural repellant I could use and I discovered that while these things work for about 9 days to 2 weeks, I have to use increasing amounts of them until finally they no longer work at all. For example Buzz Away. It worked great for about 2 weeks, then it began to work less and less until finally after 2 months the no-see-ums seemed to love the stuff and used its smell to zero in on my where abouts.
How this happens is simple. Any means that does not fully repel or kill 100% of them, allows a tiny amount – event just three bugs – to sneak through and get their meal. This small pool of bugs then lays eggs and their offspring are even more likely to find the repellent less offensive. The upshot is anything that does not kill or block 100% of the bugs fails and ends up breeding just for your area super bugs. This is really not evolution, its mere adaptation. But more than that, I believe that over the 19 years I have been bitten by these monsters I have managed to breed a bug that is now designed to love especially my blood.
Lately I have found that baby powder made of talc works, but only as long as it remains on the skin. These bugs need a certain amount of humidity and getting a tiny amount of talc on their body messes them up. But will this really work forever? I doubt it. some seem to get through (the progenitors of a super-talc-eating-swarm in coming weeks no doubt). I read on guy on the net who referred to these monsters as god. More and more I agree with this guy.
Bottom line: I need one of three things to get rid of this plague: 1. a house that is a spaceship or like a Moon base – totally hermetically sealed, with air locks and super air filters. 2. Or I need a new planet, i.e. in my case a new country or territory where these things do not exist. Last but not least, a new body, one that these bugs are not drawn to – as some people seem almost immune to them.
I think I have finally gotten rid of these “no-see-ums”!!!
I did laundry (bedsheets)in hot water every day for all 4 beds – dry in delicate because I don’t seperate my colored laundry from whites; vaccumed the beds, and around them; took showers twice a day, (now I do it once a day)and make everyone take them at least once a day as well; vaccumed inside of my couches, vaccumed the rugs (I have hardwood floors). I think we got it from my son’s or daughter’s school, so when they come home I make them change their clothes almost right away, I toss the school clothes in the washing machine. I take their backbacks and coats and put it in the freezer for at least 90 min.- I watched a show on my local news station and freezing is supposed to get rid of bed bugs, since backpacks and coats are kind of hard to wash and take longer to dry. I did spray my house and inside of my couches and beds with the Mycodex flee spray (I payed like $21 for it! at my local animal clinic) I did that 3 weeks ago. No one has gotten bit in tree weeks, now I vaccum once a day, and do laundry (sheets) every three to four days, and I still do ALL the other I things listed. Wish you guys luck!
Oh my gosh. I just read all these posts and it seems like maybe I found out what is happening to me. I definitely feel the frustration and I feel like I’m going to be put in some kind of mental institution or something if I don’t find out what’s happening to me soon. I certainly can’t live like this for much longer. I played soccer outside on a grass field every day after work until the days got too short. I am a person with many allergies, but have never endured bites so incredibly itchy and annoying before in my life. I have been getting these things since June. All the similarities make me think that possibly I have found the culprit that has made me miserable for several months. The only thing I question is that I get these huge welts, but I haven’t once read on here anything about a vesicle filled with clear liquid that develops a day or two after being bitten. Once it bursts, it leaves me with kind of a hole and a red scab. On two occasions I have noticed a type of bruise or blood under the skin around the bite. No creams, ointments or allergy pills help. I can’t sleep. The itch is more severe at night. I have feverishly checked for bed bugs in the middle of the night but have not seen a one. Nobody else in my apartment has noticed any bites on them. Only me. I am going nuts. I don’t know what to do. It doesn’t matter where I am in the apartment, I get bitten anyway. I sleep with long sleeves, socks to my knees, long pants, long shirt and gloves. I still get bitten once or twice every 2 to 3 days. Is this the same thing everyone else on this forum is experiencing? Please help! I fear I may go nuts! I am seeing a dermatologist in a week. Probably won’t help. Please, if anyone can help, I’d certainly appreciate it! The only place I haven’t been bitten is my neck and my face or head.
I too have these “noseeums” I vaccumed my bed, and my kids beds, floors (I have harwood floors) and did laundry, including bed sheets everyday for a week, and they seemed to go away, so I stopped the exhausiting cleaning routine. Two weeks later they came back! But only bit me! So, the cleaning routine resumed, I also purchased Mycodex spray, it is supposed to kill all stages of fleas, so I thought why not these bed bugs as well, since fleas are so resistant – hopefully it will work. So far a week and no more bites!. I seriously thought I was going crazy too!
My kids were getting bitten up, my youngest actually named them : “itchies”. I have never seen them, so it is really hard to clean, you have to vaccum everything. I washed everything in my closet! I am so phisically exhaused and I feel so paranoid too, now.