Bed Bugs Turn a Woman’s Life Upside Down
Bed bugs are becoming a serious issues more and more every day. In a devastating article, written by Hugh Adami for The Ottawa Citizen, Ms. Dziedziczak is a woman who was forced to live with bed bugs. Ms. Dziekdziczak is a Polish woman who speaks very little English and lives in public housing and isn’t taken seriously when it comes to bed bugs. Ms. Dziedziczak was forced to sleep in her bathtub, on the floor, or sitting at the table wrapped in blankets after being bitten constantly from bed bugs in her bed. She even bought a new mattress but was forced to through it out as well as her couch after they became infested with bugs as well.
People claimed that her apartment was dirty, but this isn’t the case, in fact Ms. Dziedziczak is very clean. Ms. Dziedziczak has had city-hired exterminators have been to her unit about five or six times in the last 10 months and says she was ridiculed occasionally by those who came to spray her bed. They told her that she was imagining bed bugs and they weren’t real.
How horrible, those who have had bed bugs know how traumatic and stressful it can be. Imagine no one helping you or even believing you? Her sister stopped visiting because she didn’t want the bugs to follow her back home. Have questions or comments? Please share with us below.
Full story found here:
faceoff.com%2Fscripts%2Fcolumns.aspx%3Fpublication%3DOttawa%2BCitizen%26byline%3Dhugh%2Badami&p=2
Most Popular Pages Listed Below
Hi Shanda, I’m so sorry that this is happening to you. Three years is far to long to have to put up with bed bugs. One of the things that makes it so hard to get rid of them is that they can be anywhere and in anything. I’ve seen bed bugs in the kitchen. And the professional who did the spraying said that they don’t spray the kitchen because they aren’t there. I know that they like warm places. They also like wood, cloth and paper.
I don’t know if the steamer method works but I think you’re going to have to get rid of absolutely everything you don’t absolutely need. Books, magazines, ect. I found one hiding inside an air pump. They can also be behind the baseboards or coming into your place if it is attached to another unit. Bed bugs were entering my apartment by crawling along the pipes and entering the bathroom.
I wish you the best of luck. Remember, it’s not your fault.
I have been dealing with bed bugs for over 3 years now. We have had our house professionally sprayed twice. We have invested in the same chemicals suggested by the professional (because we could not afford to pay him again for the third time). Chemicals were over $100. We have invested over $1000 with renting a pod to store all of our household items so that the professionals could get a “good spray” HA HA HA. (0f course we sprayed everything, cleaned everything and bagged everything before putting it in the pod).
We have washed and washed, bagged and bagged. Cleaned, scraped, replaced bedding. My son’s school sends home letters almost on a daily basis about the “bed bug” bites. I have tried to insure them I am doing everything humanly possible to get rid of this. Only one of my children shows signs of the bites.
I Give up! I live in denial until I can’t stand it anymore and than I try again. Now, I am looking to see about buying a steamer (I guess that is the way to go. I would like to just throw out the living room furniture but I am in terror of doing that as well. My neighbors know nothing about my nightmare for fear that they would stop allowing our children to play. If I throw away perfectly good furniture without any resources to purchase new. They will know I am hiding something.
I feel like the worse mother in the world! I can’t even protect my family in the one place called home!
I just don’t know what is the best way to solve my problem anymore. We have tried almost everything. WE have NOT tried the steam method. Can someone please tell me if it works?
I cannot afford to move, buy new furniture and I would never buy used for fear my problem would get worse. I read someone’s post above and they happen to mention Value City. Well my original problem started shortly after purchasing a recliner from them. I don’t have proof that it was the cause and it wouldn’t do me any good but I just thought that was ironic.
My apartment and 2 others in the building were sprayed for bed bugs. All the clothes washing was a tremendous amount of work. I was bed bug free after all this for a short while bug then they started coming back! I suspected that they were in other apartments. I called public health and they told me it is at the landlord’s discretion which apartments they want to check and which they don’t. The cost of extermination is $375.00 per apartment, so needless to say they don’t check many. Also, they put out no alerts to warn other tenants. Long story, short I left all my furniture behind and I’m with my parents. Lost a month’s rent. Be very careful when you move from an apartment with bed bugs. Remember they can be in or on just about anything. Even books!
im in low income and i know the bugs is in these apt.. my apt wont do nothing.. i had a toilet over flow three times since we lived here the floor was wet and dry wet and dry… i see spiders and bed bugs.. they say its me but no no no no no no… i think its these apts they dont want to fix… i know its mold under the carpet.. and whatever else and they cleaned the carpet once… and it flooded two more times… what should i do .i have three kids and a very very low income..but i feel like i live in mold unsafe water damage apt… so they could be coming from this nasty carpet …..do anybody no somebody who can help me and my girls out….. my face my body keep getting bit up …. no matter how much we clean they are here MEADOWBROOK APTS a call for help…. if i say to much they will find a away to make me and my kids homeless….. but i wonder if thats better then being in this mess….. please help …… i cant take the ITCH
I am so tired right now, but I can’t stand the thought of sleeping with bed bugs. I hate bugs of all kinds! Even Butterflies! Does anyone know if Diatomaceous Earth actually works? And where I can get it? I don’t want to throw out my stuff like my stuffed animals, dog leash, books, chairs, maybe the bed, umm anything else those little Nasties can get to.
I have a cat and I work at a Doggy Daycare, do the bugs bite animals? Is it safe to go to work? Or will the damn things follow me and infest the whole store? Geez this is frustrating, I’ve had them before and my mom got rid of EVERY single Stuffed Animal I had, and some other crap.
I don’t know what I’m gonna do…… but if I get bitten I’ll get bitten, I’m to tired I don’t care anymore. I hope my cat doesn’t get bit…
OH WELL!
If you got any idea’s for me PLEASE let me know!
Wait! don’t move or throw anything away. There are ways to exterminate them without spending a fortune. I had them, and now they’re gone. This guide explains how to get rid of bed bugs.
I had bedbugs in an old bad apartment where I immediately left. The home I moved to was great. Then I moved again and I saw two bedbugs (one of which I killed) in the place that I live in now. I don’t have any bites but it still drove me nuts and I used sprays all over the place. Then I realized that both bites and the fear of being bitten by bedbugs every night are less harmful than the damage caused by chemicals. So, I decided to use chemical sprays less frequently and cautiously, and bought a non-toxic one.
I think we should be more easygoing with bedbugs. Do not let them turn your lives into a nightmare. Be clean, use organic sprays, vacuum your mattress. But do not be obsessed with the idea of “getting rif of them” bcs they can come anytime again. Just accept the fact that sometimes we can see one or two bedbugs…keep on working and sleeping..
Bed bugs are a nuisance but you can get rid of them. Please be careful about using Diatomaceous Earth in your home. It should only be used where people don’t walk or sit, so mostly around baseboards and cracks and crevices. It’s made of silica and if inhaled is forever in your lungs, so caution. You can also get rid of bed bugs with chemical treatment from a professional or heat treatment (thermal treatment).
I do not know where I got the bedbugs from. I decided to get my hose fumigated in Sept and was told that anything living would be dead. One night later I was scared but had fallen asleep on the couch and was bitten the fumigation told me too bad. Do not get your home fumigated does not work so now 3 months later still trying to get rid of them also anybody have ideas on how to stop them from biting your dog. For right now I have him sleeping outside at night when they want to bite. Also I have been getting bites on neck and starting to look funny and red any suggestions to put on your skin?
I work at a hotel that thinks bed bug are no big deal…i feel so bad for my customers
Help, I saw a couple of bed bugs in my daughters bedroom,again in my bed room then the living room. had professional pest control come in 3 weekends in a row did whole house. bagged everything up emptied closets threw out my box spring.
It was as if I just moved in washed everything that would fit in the washing machine. They sprayed, put holes in walls put down dust and a month later i found a bed bug. I’m still washing and putting things back and throwing out unnecessary items. I had so many clear bags of clothing toys stuffed animals everything was in bags I had to put it outside in my gazebo so the exterminator had room to walk. what can I do. I don’t want to go through that again.
As I am reading through all of these posts, searching for an answer to the bed bug problem in our own apartment building, and of course it is an elderly & disabled one at that. What we have done so far is to circulate a petition having at least 50% of the residents signing the document. There were a few residents that were intimidated by the live in manager, and refused to sign the document, but we did get over 50% of the residents to sign.
We had looked up and found out that for them to threaten to evict anyone who signed the petition was against our tenant rights. And that the building must provide a clean and sanitary place for us to live. I had also read that people were blaming a dirty house. Bed bugs do not need a dirty house to infest, you could be a “Howard Hughes” type person who keeps things so clean that it was sterile, and still have bed bugs, cleanliness has nothing to do with this infestation. We have also contacted our state HUD office and a couple state politicians, who are all willing to work with us.
My husband and I have only recently moved into the building and this had been going on for over a year from what we had been told. The management group are the ones who have been trying to cut corners by only treating one apt at a time or when they had the professionals come in a spray, they only treated every 3rd apt. Well now with the petition they are going to have to treat EVERY Apt in the building. Plus you have to make sure that you use the pesticide that is only for bed bugs. Using roach, ant, wasp, bee, centipede or etc.. spray will not do the trick. plus the bed bugs can lay dormant for up to 5 months, so they place needs to be treated several times like once every 3-4 months for a whole year, to ensure that the next generation does not come back and start the problem all over again.
I do hope that this helps someone out there with whatever they may be going through as well.
Hi;
Well, I am just beside myself here with these stupid bed bugs. I had my place sprayed last week. I paid for that I live in an apartment building. Then the exterminators sent this guy back to do a follow up from March. He came he had a broken steamer he knew was broken. He did part of my big couch before the steamer crapped out.
He left came back with another steamer dis some of my love seat but was more interested in answering his 6 text messages than he was in steaming my love seat. It took him longer to plug in the steamer than it did to actually do his work. So I called the office (Exterminator Office). They said that he was coming back to put monitors down, and the proof would be in the pudding if after his so called treatment. I said that if I got any in the monitors he would have to pay me for my day off work.
My laundry all the bins I had to buy and he would have to pay for a PROFESSIONAL to treat my place. I am so angry right now. I woke up this morning and I have bites on me and I have a bed bug in one of the monitors. So does anyone think that he did his job properly. I realize that they could be coming from another apartment. But he apparently did his job in March when he was here. I keep reading that bed bugs are found in dirty places. I don’t have a dirty place. But I did hear that sleeping in the bath tub is better than sleeping in your bed when you have those stupid things.
When I get bit I swell up a lot and the bites hurt and they are just freaky things I can’t even look up what I am suppose to do for fear that I will see a picture of them.
I think that when they send someone out to treat a place that a video camera should be set up so the people who live there can KNOW that they did their job. If I was not here and that steamer crapped out he would have just left got paid and that would have been that. But as it turned out he did almost nothing anyways.
Well thanks for listening if anyone has any ideas I am interested in hearing them.
Thanks
Entarsha
I bought furniture at a garage sale, i was getting bitten but i never saw anything. My children saw bedbugs on the couch, of course I was in denial. I have scars on my arms and legs that will never go away. I cant wear short sleeves or shorts because of the scars.
I have gotten rid of everything and have started over, we have moved and i am starting to get bit again, i think the building is infested with bed bugs. I would not wish them on anyone cause it is painful and the itching will send you over the edge.
Sorry to tell all of you but i had bed bugs and the only way they disappear is to get rid of your mattress its terrible never shop at Value City Furniture…my mattress was brand new and they wont do anything
I finally got rid of my bed bugs, yeah!!
Here is how I did it. I used the power diatomaceous earth which I found at the local feed and seed store. It took about a month, but are finally gone. I put it everywhere, on beds, under the couch and everywhere else I could think of. It does work!!
i have bed bugs i got some liven room furniture at a yard sale .never do that it was infested with these bugs i have had to throw out every thing all the way to the carpet steam is all i know that will work . i have double sided tape every where to see where they are now.
Thanks and I would appreciate any advice
Hey, I’m in need of some help!!
Recently, I have noticed I’m being bitten but only at night, i instantly checked my mattress and washed all my linen.
The weird thing is that my hubby hasn’t been bitten at all, yet the lower half of my body is covered in them.
Could this still be bed bugs and should i call in professionals to help??
Thanks
From reading this website and also dealing with this problem myself for a year now, and also talking with BIGNAMED pest companies and fellow victims of bedbugs who live in my neighborhood. The spraying didn’t work the bugs scatter and the eggs never die from the pesticide, so those eggs hatch and your reinfested again.
Fogging (fumigating) worked and cleaning and steaming everything. Washing and Drying at high heat every piece of fabric including clothes, towels, curtains everything!! Steam every piece of furniture, of course rid yourself of the mattress and or anything else that cant be saved, be sure to spray paint it when discarding it mark “BEDBUGS” on it so someone doesn’t take it home and don’t get stuff second hand it might have bedbugs on it to. If you get a secondhand mattress please invest in a really good mattress cover any bugs cant get into it and lay eggs and any eggs and or bugs in it will eventually die it can take a two years so keep the cover on it and check for tears periodically.
Also I read recently to use Diatomaceous Earth but I’d verify and make sure its child safe before spreading it around. I haven’t tried it yet but I will search around to find it and use it one day. Steam steam steam that has been working for me. Where I live now (since I had to move out of the bedbug infested apartment building) somehow the bedbugs managed to follow me but they were only in my living room (thank GOD) but my poor husband falling asleep on the couch watching TV he was bitten everywhere that’s how we knew we brought them with us.
We rid our self of the living room furniture AGAIN!! furnitureless we have had the house fumigated twice and have steam treated the furniture, baseboards, walls, floors to kill any eggs that were left behind, for now no bugs! PLEASE LET THERE BE NO MORE BUGS PLEASE I AGREE I RATHER SLEEP WITH SNAKES!!!
I live in an apartment section 8 city building for the elderly and disabled. It is disgustingly infested with bedbugs! Even though many other units are infested, the manager continues to ignore my complaints and yet another cycle of the bedbug’s life happens. They had a professional exterminator come in and they came back but instead of treating the whole building at once, they fumigate one unit at a time and ignore the laundry room, a place where the bugs hop from one load to another.
I live alone alone and i get no visitors, nor can i get rides or visit others. My only company are those disgusting blood sucking critters; and forget a good night’s sleep!!!! EWWWWW
I live in a apartment and the bed bugs are so nasty that I am scared to sleep at night. My 4 year old and my 2 year old are also scared to sleep at night. The bugs smell so nasty even after they sprayed 4 times and still they live. What do I have to do to get rid of these disgusting bugs?
I hate bed bugs!!! I would rather sleep with (non poisonous) snakes than with them!!! But wouldn’t everyone?! [please] help me get rid of these little life ruiners, help me END their pathetic miserable creepy crawly disgusting little lives before I end mine………….. yea that’s how bad bed bugs make me feel!
Hi,
I live with my family and have been suffering from bed bug bites at our home for the last year now. We have tried all the insecticides and pesticides but still bed bugs are crawling on the wall.
It’s so bad that we have forgotten what a good nights sleep is like! Please, does anyone have a solution that will kill bed bugs forever?