Dust mite allergy help needed

quiethound45 said:I'm with ironsurfer8 on this one..
Dust mites are microscopic, and they mostly just feed on dead skin cells. You’ve basically lived with them since the day you were born and you'll die with them. Right now, you probably have millions or even billions of them on you..
Usually, they aren't a problem unless you suffer from allergies. For allergy sufferers, the issue is typically when they attach themselves to dust particles—that combination of pollen or dust plus the mite is what causes the irritation..
If you're actually feeling a physical bite, it might be ear mites, or if you have pets, it could be fleas. It’s hard to tell the difference if you aren't experienced..
Then again, you could also deal with bed bugs, stink bugs, ants, or other similar pests invading your living space..
So, it's time to take action..

I suspect it might be fleas, because their life cycle really picks up during these warmer days, and they breed at an incredible rate. You almost don't see them in the winter since larval development depends so much on the outside temperature..
It doesn't even matter if there's a pet inside with you—what matters is whether they've been there or if there's a way for them to get into at least one part of your home. For instance, if your room is above a garage where cats hang out, a flea could easily jump through a window (they can leap about 4 to 5 feet in the air)
Time to call in the exterminators and get this handled..

If you happen to speak English...🙂

I just felt obligated to set the record straight here—no hard feelings, obviously.
People with allergies don't actually react to the mites themselves—even though that's what everyone claims—nor is it just the dust. If it were just mites and dust alone, there wouldn't be an issue.
The problem starts when a stupid mite leaves its... well, let's call it waste... behind. That's what triggers the allergy, regardless of the dust (though it's usually found with dust because, well, where else would it be?).
So, people who are "allergic to dust mites" (like me 👎) are actually allergic to their droppings.

I don't think they actually get under the skin, because from what I understand, they just burrow right in under there
and cause trouble.

Actually, that's not quite right. If you look closer...

You might be thinking of mites... those ones tend to tunnel under the skin layer.
Or maybe ticks... they wedge their heads under the surface to feed on blood.

quiethound45 said:Professional exterminators handle this stuff—pest control, disinfection, etc.
Or, more simply put, they're the people who come in and spray apartments to deal with various bugs (mostly cockroaches and moths) and fight off infestations. 😬
Technically, it falls under "DDD," which includes deodorizing, though most people just call it DDD, and things like scenting or refreshing a room aren't applied all that often anymore. 🙂

Could they just be regular mosquitoes or gnats (those tiny black or sand-colored flies that also bite and sting—though I doubt they'd fly up this high since they don't have much of a range)?
Maybe try using a mosquito repellent plug-in?

Man, I thought you were talking about that specific poison😁 like you were suggesting I just blast my whole room with it...🤣
I was sitting here thinking, man, it's either that or a heavy-duty vacuum...

Nah, they aren't some kind of flying monsters because the bites are underneath the covers and mostly
all over my body, like I mentioned before...

After checking out the link quiethound45 posted, I don't think they're bedbugs after all...

Anyway, since I haven't found a better fix yet, I started rubbing some Autan on myself
before bed to ward off insects. It seems to keep them away, but it’s definitely not a permanent solution...

I think I'm gonna have to head to the doctor and ask exactly what's biting me so I actually know
what I'm fighting against...

To me, they still sound most like mites,
they're certainly visible, but they don't necessarily have to be sitting right on the mattress; they can hide somewhere near the bed and just come up at night—they're actually quite fast.

Why don't you try Googling "bed bugs" or "bed bug bites" and take a look at some photos of the bites?
I've found quite a few examples online, so maybe compare them to what yours look like.

It’s probably itching... which means you need to boil all your clothes and bedding. Slather yourself in Benzyl benzoate twice a day for five days, waiting about 20 minutes between applications. For anything you can't toss in the wash, just leave it out to air out for two to three weeks.
I dealt with those little bastards a few months back. Doctors kept sending me for endless tests—allergy panels, this, that—only to eventually point me toward a skin fungus analysis. And there they are, digging tiny channels into the top layer of your skin, keeping you wide awake all night long. Just thinking about it drives me crazy; I'm still pissed about dealing with incompetent doctors and everything I had to endure because they couldn't get it right the first time. 😠

Sophia Nguyen said:It’s probably itching... which means you need to boil all your clothes and bedding. Slather yourself in Benzyl benzoate twice a day for five days, waiting about 20 minutes between applications. For anything you can't toss in the wash, just leave it out to air out for two to three weeks.
I dealt with those little bastards a few months back. Doctors kept sending me for endless tests—allergy panels, this, that—only to eventually point me toward a skin fungus analysis. And there they are, digging tiny channels into the top layer of your skin, keeping you wide awake all night long. Just thinking about it drives me crazy; I'm still pissed about dealing with incompetent doctors and everything I had to endure because they couldn't get it right the first time. 😠

Thanks for trying to help, but since I actually went through
my own ordeal with the itching and the Benzyl Benzoate
I can say for sure that's not what we're dealing with here...

@hooray: I'll take a look, thanks!!👍

These photos of bedbug bites look pretty much spot-on
compared to mine... honestly, maybe we're looking at some kind of mysterious little creature here...

But anyway, let's get to the real question—how do you actually kill them?? I've been browsing through a few sites
and all I'm finding is that they are incredibly hard to get rid of... 👎

Brandon Wright4 said:I just felt obligated to set the record straight here—no hard feelings, obviously.
People with allergies don't actually react to the mites themselves—even though that's what everyone claims—nor is it just the dust. If it were just mites and dust alone, there wouldn't be an issue.
The problem starts when a stupid mite leaves its... well, let's call it waste... behind. That's what triggers the allergy, regardless of the dust (though it's usually found with dust because, well, where else would it be?).
So, people who are "allergic to dust mites" (like me 👎) are actually allergic to their droppings.

👍 That's exactly right. It's the waste that causes all the trouble.

I am not deleting posts at this time, but I would like to make a request to everyone: please refrain from using all caps unnecessarily, and I would appreciate it if certain posts—like the one from 😁—could be corrected. Can you please be polite enough...

Sorry about that... just having one of those total temper tantrums...

But seriously, am I not allowed to edit my posts right now?!? Or am I just being an idiot and doesn't know how?

You know perfectly well how 😁
Please... I just don't have it in me... I'm feeling a bit lazy today, I'm only doing the wiping...

Copied from

Messy beds might actually be good for your health! (I knew there was something to this, Jesse Johnson4!)

We always drill it into kids' heads to make their beds every morning—and honestly, you see that even more with guys in the Army—but get this: some brand new research out of Kingston University in the United Kingdom shows that dust mites just can't survive in an unmade bed.

The study data suggests that these tiny pests simply cannot live in a "messy" environment. According to the scientists, these mites are so small they're only visible under a microscope (less than a millimeter long!), and they can infest pretty much any part of our living spaces. It’s estimated there could be over 1.5 million of them hanging out in a single bed on average!

The whole point of this study is to find ways to fight off these dangerous little invaders that cause illness and ruin the air quality in the places where we spend all our time relaxing. House dust packed with mites is a massive threat to people with asthma because breathing them in can trigger intense allergic reactions.

Some recent studies have linked damp areas crawling with mites to a much higher frequency of asthma and other allergy-related issues. The lead scientist on this project, Dr. Stephen Pretlove, points out that these mites actually pull moisture from the atmosphere through special structures on their bodies, which means they can't hang on for long in a warm room with low humidity.

“If you leave your bed unmade so it can air out and dry, it creates a lack of moisture that the mites desperately need, causing them to die off,” Pretlove explains, summarizing the findings. He also mentioned that the research is ongoing, and we won't see the final results for a few more months.

And get this—Pretlove says this research could actually lead to some serious financial savings too!

Based on his data, people in the United Kingdom spend about 700 million pounds every year treating illnesses caused by dust mites, and that doesn't even count the money individuals shell out trying to get rid of the mites in their own beds.

Sam Hall15 said:You know perfectly well how 😁
Please... I just don't have it in me... I'm feeling a bit lazy today, I'm only doing the wiping...

Well, fine, go ahead and edit if you have to—I don't even get the option to edit my old
posts...

Besides, I didn't write the whole thing in all caps, it was just
a few sentences where I was basically yelling😬 😬

Alright, alright, I'll let it slide this once 😁
Just so we're clear: I am not giving anyone permission to use all caps. I will be deleting any posts written in caps and issuing warnings... Because it was just one line and a first offense, I'll forgive this user 😁

thanks so much!!

back to the main point...
I haven't quite figured out my game plan for the pests yet—right now I'm basically just playing it safe,
sleeping soundly while they go about their business autonomously, but I'm too nervous to
stop the treatment just yet... I haven't reached out to any actual pros to get an opinion...

Alright... I'm at my breaking point. Something is seriously eating me alive.
For over six months now, I’ve been dealing with this constant, nagging sensation at night—like something is biting or stinging me. It feels like bugs. At least, that’s my best guess. And it only happens when I’m tucked into my own bed at home. My parents are going through the exact same thing. The bites feel just like mosquito stings, but they are incredibly, indescribably itchy. Most of them are concentrated on my legs. I’m honestly at a loss, 🤷 I’m actually terrified to go to bed because once I start scratching, there's no way I'm getting any sleep. Then, when I finally do drift off, I wake up in the morning with at least 20 new bites. I went to see a dermatologist, and after checking both me and my mom, he was convinced it’s some kind of insect and suggested we try to hunt them down in the bed during the night. But we haven't found a single thing. 🤷
Has anyone else dealt with anything like this?

Maybe it’s just some kind of spiders 😲
...

If you're noticing bites exclusively on your legs, there's a good chance you've got a flea problem in your house or apartment. We dealt with an infestation one summer, and honestly, it was a complete nightmare trying to get them under control. Are the bites strictly limited to your lower legs? If so, it's almost certainly fleas—and quite likely cat fleas, since they're much hardier than dog fleas and can easily take up residence in carpets, furniture, or upholstery. Our solution was to spray down all the floors with Biokill several times a day, and we kept that up for weeks. I suppose you shouldn't stop spraying just because you stop seeing them immediately.

Mark Lewis4 said:If you're noticing bites exclusively on your legs, there's a good chance you've got a flea problem in your house or apartment. We dealt with an infestation one summer, and honestly, it was a complete nightmare trying to get them under control. Are the bites strictly limited to your lower legs? If so, it's almost certainly fleas—and quite likely cat fleas, since they're much hardier than dog fleas and can easily take up residence in carpets, furniture, or upholstery. Our solution was to spray down all the floors with Biokill several times a day, and we kept that up for weeks. I suppose you shouldn't stop spraying just because you stop seeing them immediately.

Absolutely—they are 100% bed bugs. You have to follow through with the plan—it’s necessary. Strip the mattress or take the bed frame apart entirely, since they tend to hide right along the edges of the frame. Spray every single crack and crevice with Biokill or a similar fly spray, then vacuum inch by inch—repeat that every 4–5 days. As for the carpet, spray it, vacuum it, and honestly, just roll it up and get it out of the house until the eradication process is finished. Basically, everything Mark Lewis4 suggested is spot on.

If you have pets at home and you're trying to clear them of fleas, those various topical spot-on treatments often fail—they've become largely ineffective because the fleas have developed resistance. It’s especially tricky with cats; you won't see the fleas on them as easily, and since they don't scratch nearly as much as dogs do, it's incredibly easy to miss the infestation entirely.

I had the exact same thing happen this past summer—the bedbugs were sleeping right in our bed and they absolutely tore us apart. 🙂.

Now, they aren't allowed back in the bed...

Look—you have to tackle the mites both on the pet and throughout the house. They breed in all those little cracks and crevices in your apartment; the animal is really just where they go to feed.

Best of luck to everyone.

By the way, regarding what was said about Mark Lewis4 😉—you’ll probably find them on their legs if you pay a bit closer attention. It's unpleasant, certainly, but manageable. I remember when I was at the vet clinic asking for advice, back before I knew about the Biokill method, and they actually told me people were burning their furniture. I was honestly stunned by such a moronic suggestion. In the 21st century, people are setting fire to their own belongings because of fleas? You'd think they still believed in witches or something.