First Steps for Bed Bugs
What to do if you think you have bed bugs.
Inspection
If you think you have bed bugs you will need to either hire a pest company to inspect your home or workplace, or try to inspect on your own. Most competent pest professionals will not treat your home without a specimen or convincing evidence that bed bugs are in your home. If you can capture one, dead or alive, put it in a sandwich bag in the freezer.
How to interview a pest company
Inspect the entire bed, headboard, including screws, screw holes, mattress piping, tags, box spring and pillow. You are looking for either bed bugs, bed bug poop (looks like black felt tip marker spots), little bloody spots, or castings from molting (graduating) bed bugs.
If you do find bed bugs, kill them by spraying them with 90% rubbing alcohol, then put the bug(s) in a ziplock bag in your freezer to show your pest company or public health office, that you do indeed have bed bugs. You can also wait until after their inspection to see if the PCO (Pest Control Operator) can find them. If you have found them and they can't, you might want to give that some weight in selecting your pest company.
Do not start sleeping on the sofa or in another bed. This almost always results in infesting the new sleeping area. Eventually you'll end up in the bathtub, and for that we are very sorry, because we remember.
Insomnia: It's awful and completely justified in this situation, however, it ruins your life, so try and find solutions. There are sleep aids. Always consult with your physician before trying sleep remedies. I found some very effective and gentle herbal remedies, that were helpful during my infestation.
Stress: Everyone seems to process bed bug infestations a little different. Some people approach it like ants and some people completely lose "it." Loss of sleep, money, time, CONTROL, and energy, is bad enough. Then add an insect that feeds for 3-10 minutes, and it's hard to imagine anyone NOT losing their composure or their mind, when faced with a bed bug infestation.
Do not spray household pestacides on bed bugs. Only pesticides labeled specifically for bed bugs will kill them. Do not use insect bombs. Consult a professional or do extensive research before attempting to self treat. There is REAL possibility of hurting yourself by attempting to self treat. Most DYI people don't succeed and have prolonged infestations going from a little to a lot, but never solved, until they finally call a professional.
Use a flashlight and magnifying glass to see possible bugs and eggs.
If you do find bed bugs or eggs do not allow yourself to believe you've found all the bed bugs in your house. Seal any bedding, papers or items in trash or giant zip lock bags wherever you find bugs.
Do not move the objects to the bag or trash or you may spread the bugs around your house as they fall off the items. Bring the bag to the bugs.
Don't throw your mattress away. Put an encasement on it. Dragging your infested mattress around could sprinkle bed bugs around your house or building. Wait until after the infestation is gone to get a new mattress if you still feel you need to.
Be prepared to kill any bed bugs or eggs you find on the spot using either steam, 90% alcohol, putting infested items into a pail of extremely hot water, or vacuuming (throw the bag out immediately when done) and clean the vacuum with alcohol, or hot water.
Do not put anything in the oven or microwave. Not even food. We're not responsible for anything you do, but we don't want the bed bugs to win.
Do let people near you know you have bed bugs. You can help remove the stigmas and misconceptions by educating people around you. Really, it works, tell!