Mystery "bites" - what course of action?

Havin_it

More thanks!

I'll try some homebrew traps first of all: near the bed legs (recesses in bed frame are still a possibility but can't be checked without disassembling bed completely, and we nearly split up the first time we assembled it lol) and I've a suitable lamp by the bed so I'll place one there too. (Just know I'm gonna put my hand in it tomorrow morning but worth it lol).

Definitely feeling a bit more hopeful already. Thanks to all.

flubberyzing

You have my sympathy.
I've been living in the same flat for approaching 5 years now, and last year (about this time of year actually), I spent months being plagued by... something.
Almost every evening I'd suddenly find myself with an itchy wheal, usually somewhere on my legs, as if I'd just been bitten.
This lasted, on and off, about 5 months, until I LEFT THE JOB I WAS AT in July, and I've never had a problem since!


Could one of you be bringing some bugs home from your work place? They like the folds of skin and clothing, and waiting to crawl out when you're still and warm.


It's possible it's linked to the disruption downstairs, but that may not be the sole answer. Do either of you work in a place with a lot of people, that isn't super-hot on cleanliness like mine (it was a school in case anyone wondered)?

Havin_it

Hi flubberyzing =D

My work has a very small staff and while it's certainly not all that rigorously-cleaned, if others had experienced what I have in that span, I'd have heard about it. Unlikely.

My GF's involves hire of clothing so it's tempting to finger it as a vector, but it would be flukey as all hires are steam-cleaned after return.

To everyone: you seem adamant that my GP can shed light on the cause, but per my GF's visit this seems far from being the case. Then again I know that often the key is to be asking the right questions when you see them. If I go myself, is there anything specific I should ask in order to get exhaustive diagnosis rather than just sausage-factory treatment?

meritaten

No - its not the one for putting in the cistern, this is a liquid which absolutely STINKS!

click on this link to go to the company website. it is being marketed as an outdoor cleaner mainly.

http://www.jeyesfluid.co.uk/

I would only use it on the woodwork and in cracks and crevices around the home (skirting boards, under the sink,etc) as a last resort.

you could buy some of those sticky traps and put them around the home - you know the ones designed for catching flies? put some under the bed and around the soft furnishings. IF there are any bugs around at least one or two will get caught in a couple of days/nights.

suki1964

Get a tin of indorex and follow the instructions

If no improvement I would then look at the soap powder/softener

honeythewitch

NewShadow wrote: »

To build on an earlier suggestion try this overnight near where your cat sleeps:



Set a small desk lamp about 6 inches above a shallow dish of lightly soapy water. Adult fleas will be attracted to the warm light, and then fall into the soapy water and drown.

It should help you identify anything that's biting you.

But what if the cat drinks the soapy water?

NewShadow

honeythewitch wrote: »

But what if the cat drinks the soapy water?

Then the cat is an idiot...

My three regularly drink out of the sink when I leave pots to soak. Generally the only result is a disgusted cat.

If you think about it, people probably ingest a fair amount from poorly rinsed dishes every day.

cte1111

Another vote for flea treating the cat and spraying the flat with Indorex. I thought it was fleas from the beginning but then presumed you didn't have any pets, as you hadn't mentioned them. It is much more likely that the cat or your GFs vintage clothes have brought in bugs than anything to do with your neighbour's building works.

We have 2 cats and my son occasionally ends up with nasty bites on his legs. We flea treat them regularly but they do sometimes pick them up from other untreated animals. It seems that only my son is sensitive to them, as the rest of us never seem to get bitten. If we see bites, then we hot wash all the bedding and cat beds, then treat the cats again with the liquid you put on their necks. This usually seems to do the trick.

If the fleas are well bedded in, as they seem to be, then get some Indorex spray from the vets and fumigate the whole place. Concentrate on the edges between floor and skirting board etc as this is where they like to hide and lay eggs.

thriftwizard

I know you've excluded bedbugs, but I'm going to share my son's experience anyway in case it helps someone else reading this thread. One of his flatmates brought back BBs from a tour of the States, despite having stayed in expensive hotels between gigs; he may have caught them from the tour bus. The boys went into panic mode and repeatedly blasted the whole place with buckets of insecticides, with virtually no result. What did eventually work was buying steam-cleaner and going over every inch of their very pleasant, bright, airy & over-warm modern flat thoroughly, twice a day, for two weeks! Bedding was all boil-washed at the laundrette or replaced if it couldn't be boiled; their washing machine (apparently) didn't have a hot-wash programme. It was hard work & demanded a degree of organisation & team-work that comes hard to a bunch of musicians, who work some very odd & unpredictable hours & tend to travel a lot, but it did work in the end, and was much safer for their voices than the chemicals were.

Hope that helps someone out there!

Rain_Shadow

Havin_it wrote: »

I don't think it will be of great concern to our landlord until the day we say we want to move out; he's pretty tight-fisted and I'm always cautious about raising grievances in case they translate to a raising of the rent (we're on rolling tenancy right now but that's only due to his apathy - if things ever went nuclear he could have us out in a month and that's not a prospect we relish, put it that way).

Where are you? If you are in England/Wales then he certainly won't be able to get you out in a month. Probably more like four months if you sit tight and wait for him to go to court.