When bedbugs move into your home: ‘It drives you mad’

dam approached the bed with a growing sense of dread, lifted up the sheet and pushed the mattress to one side. It was, he says, “like a wound opening”. Hundreds of bedbugs poured out. Earlier that day, he had noticed blood spots on his bedlinen around the area where his feet were, thought perhaps he had been scratching himself in his sleep, and taken everything to the launderette.

News of a bedbug infestation in Paris has heightened anxiety. You can feel the itch, just reading about it. In the UK, reports of bugs spotted on the London Underground add to the sense that we are under siege. Bedbugs are thought to be on the rise globally – warmer temperatures create good breeding conditions, and they are believed to be becoming more resistant to pesticides.

When that first intervention didn’t work, weeks of treatment followed. It was disruptive and upsetting – furniture that had been in the family for generations was destroyed, they had to move to a hotel for a couple of weeks, and relations with the neighbours deteriorated. It was also extremely expensive – he estimates that the total cost was upwards of £25,000. The stress was so bad, says Butterworth, that he and his wife had several counselling sessions to deal with it.

That’s one of the worst things, says Linda – you’re never truly sure if you’ve dealt with the problem. You only know if you have bedbugs when you spot one, which makes you constantly vigilant. “It drives you mad,” she says. The bad news is that sometimes you don’t have the luxury of “eventually”. I didn’t in the summer of 2016 when I discovered that I had brought an unwanted hitchhiker back from a holiday in Portugal. I was due to move out from a five-person shared house, and, based on my Googling of “can I move house without taking bedbugs with?”, the prognosis was not good. Quoting Aliens, one commenter helpfully advised: “Nuke the whole site from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure.

Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

Shocking truth behind warehouse photoOne photo of a warehouse has highlighted the devastating scale of a worsening “silent crisis” gripping Australia.
Source: newscomauHQ - 🏆 9. / 77 Read more »

Disturbing truth behind Hamas victimsA mother and her two young daughters, and a female student, are among dozens of people believed to have been kidnapped in Israel by Hamas fighters over the weekend.
Source: newscomauHQ - 🏆 9. / 77 Read more »

Pic reveals gross truth about FranceThe bedbug plague has continued to wreak havoc in France with locals dumping hoards of mattresses in the streets of Paris and Marseilles.
Source: newscomauHQ - 🏆 9. / 77 Read more »

If Australia votes no, we cannot stop listening. We won’t stop working for change and truthThe voice referendum is a moment for change. But whatever comes after it will be ours to decide
Source: GuardianAus - 🏆 1. / 98 Read more »

Have these changes altered the way you travel? Because they shouldHere’s an awkward truth: climate change is affecting travellers, but it’s also caused, in part, by travellers.
Source: theage - 🏆 8. / 77 Read more »

Have these changes altered the way you travel? Because they shouldHere’s an awkward truth: climate change is affecting travellers, but it’s also caused, in part, by travellers.
Source: smh - 🏆 6. / 80 Read more »