AHHH! SPIDERS!

Delzhand

I live in a university sponsored apartment complex. It isn't a dirty place, it's well lit during the day. I have a problem in that I am apparently irresistable to spiders. In the middle of the night, spiders will get all up in my bed and bite the shit out of me. I never see them, but I wake up maybe 3 or 4 days a week and find a sizeable bump on my back or legs. They do not bite my wife, just inches away. Always me.

Any advice on reducing my attractiveness to small things with fangs?

Tube

Radioactivity

exoplasm

Just do what I do. Everytime you see a spider anywhere near your bed, don't sleep it in for a month.

I wonder, though, are you sure they are spider bites? I didn't know spiders enjoyed biting sleeping humans. Maybe you have bed bugs or something?

What about pets? When my pets had fleas one of my sisters always had flea bites, but the rest of us didn't. Apparently her blood was more tasty. Maybe the same thing with you? Eat stuff that makes your blood taste bad I guess?

ege02

exoplasm wrote:

I wonder, though, are you sure they are spider bites? I didn't know spiders enjoyed biting sleeping humans. Maybe you have bed bugs or something?

Bed bugs is more likely. I'm not aware of any spiders that bite for the hell of it.

What about pets? When my pets had fleas one of my sisters always had flea bites, but the rest of us didn't. Apparently her blood was more tasty. Maybe the same thing with you? Eat stuff that makes your blood taste bad I guess?

It has to do with blood vessels being closer to the surface of the skin. That's why mosquitos always go for the ear for instance.

Delzhand

Time to torch the comforters, I guess. I just assumed spiders because I've seen the in other places.

Double Deuce

Yeah, I'm going to second that this sounds more like fleas or some other kind of bed bug, than spiders. How big are the bites? Are they itchy?

I went through the same kind of thing. When my cats got a bad case of fleas a while back, they got in the bed and would bite the shit out of me, but would leave my girlfriend who was right next to me completely alone. So that's my guess.

Do you have any furry pets?

headn00b

Double Deuce wrote:

Do you have any furry pets?

Bob Sapp

I had a similar problem during the summer. It turned out it was poison ivy. The way it progresses sometimes makes you think you're getting bit because new bumps appear overnight. I guess you'll know in a few more days if it's poison ivy or bug bites.

The fact that your wife is safe leads me to think it's probably poison ivy, as well.

stigweard

If it is bed bugs, you're fucked. They lay eggs everywhere and the adults can live over a year between feeding. Get an exterminator in and if it is bedbugs, move out and burn everything you own that can't be cooked ever 120f without damage. They will follow you everywhere if you don't.

EggyToast

It could be spiders. I had one in my bed when I was younger, and I would get a weird bite. In my case, it was because they were attracted to the warmth. I would then move or otherwise startle the spider, he'd bite and run away.

My parents flipped the bed one day to find a big ol' spider in the boxspring underneath. They smooshed him good, and the bites went away.

As for your bites, here's what you do before calling a doctor or exterminator:

Take your sheets and comforter to a laundromat. Put them in a big washing machine. Use an allergen-free detergent, such as All Free&Clear. Run it on HOT.

Afterwards, tumble dry thoroughly.

Change your regular soap for an allergen free or sensitive skin soap. I would recommend Dove, as it comes with a moisturizer built in.

This process accomplishes 3 things:
1) Washes all of the sheets together, in hot, to clean any itchy residues such as poison ivy or other things you're getting a reaction to.
2) Uses an allergy-friendly soap to wash the sheets, so you don't get any reaction to a fragrance or anything in the detergent
3) Alleviates any dry skin also without activating any unknown allergies.

I had AMAZINGLY itchy "bites" about 2 years ago, at the end of summertime. We couldn't figure out what it was, as it only affected me. I told her it was because I was delicious, but it didn't change the fact that these things ITCHED. We got some bug bombs and bombed the whole apartment. I got another one. I then noticed that they were all on spots that were "high contact" spots -- my socks, my waistline. So then I figured there was something in my clothes, or something w/ the detergent.

I've used an allergy-friendly detergent since then and haven't had any odd "bites" since. And the stuff isn't touted for its bug killing abilities, so I assume now that there never was a bug. Which would explain why it only chomped on me and was never found.

However, this year I noticed that as soon as the humidity dropped to around 30, I got some itchy spots on my chest. They looked kind of like bites, but it didn't make any sense... I noticed that these two were where I had squirted some cologne stuff a few days prior, and figured "ah! dry air, harsh soap, dry skin!" I bought some dove, which is 1/4 moisturizer specifically for those w/ dry skin who don't want to use lotion shit. I get the non-fragrance stuff simply because I want my soap to just be soap But yep, problem went away soon after switching.

So before you spend lots of money trying to explain it to a doctor or exterminator, try what I mentioned above. It doesn't make sense that a bug would exclusively eat only you, even more so when you haven't actually seen anything. Bed bugs are small, but their quantities make them hard to completely miss. Same with fleas. A secretion from a plant or leaf that you brushed against and got on your sheets? much more likely. An unknown allergy to some additive in a detergent, or soap? Also plausible.

Jimmy King

As has been said, probably not spiders, but if you want to be safe (being absolutely terrified of spiders, I feel that you cannot go too far or be too paranoid in protecting yourself from being wrapped in their sticky web and eaten bit by bit), go to wal-mart and get some spider killer spray and spray it around the room. Especially spray in dark areas that you don't go much, under the bed, behind bookshelves if you have them, etc. It only costs a few dollars and supposedly keeps working for up to 3 months indoors, although being paranoid I spray more often.

contraband

ege02 wrote:

It has to do with blood vessels being closer to the surface of the skin. That's why mosquitos always go for the ear for instance.

ohhh those buzzing motherfuckers

Tini

wikipedia's response:

wikipedia.com wrote:

Living with infestation

If it is necessary to live with bedbugs in the short term, it is possible to create makeshift temporary barriers around a bed. Because bedbugs cannot fly or jump, an elevated bed can be protected by applying double-sided sticky tape (carpet tape) around each leg, or by keeping each leg on a plastic furniture block in a tray of water. Bed frame can be effectively ridded of adult bedbugs and eggs by use of steam. Small steam cleaners are available and are very effective for this local treatment. A suspect mattress can be protected by wrapping it in a painter's disposable plastic dropcloth, neatly sealing shut all the seams with packing tape, and putting it on a protected bed after a final visual inspection. Bedding can be sanitized by a 120 °F (49 °C) laundry dryer. Once sanitized, bedding should not be allowed to drape to the floor. An effective way to quarantine a protected bed is to store sanitized sleeping clothes in the bed during the day, and bathing before entering the bed.

Vermin and pets may complicate a barrier strategy. Bedbugs prefer human hosts, but will resort to other warm-blooded hosts if humans are not available, and some species can live up to eighteen months without feeding at all. A co-infestation of mice can provide an auxiliary food source to keep bedbugs established for longer. Likewise, a house cat or human guest might easily defeat a barrier by sitting on a protected bed. Such considerations should be part of any barrier strategy.

Zodiac Brave

It could possibly be some sort of allergic reaction to whatever detergent you're using to clean your sheets. That would at least explain why your wife isn't also getting these bumps.

Hallucinogen

I had bedbugs once when I lived in residence. It was a fucking nightmare.

They never bit my friend who slept in the room immediately next to mine as far as he knew. But I think he simply didn't react to the bites, or not enough to notice. I have dry and highly sensitive skin and it was winter at the time so I noticed them right away. I thought it was allergies as I steadily got more and more of them. Went to the doctor, he told me bug bites. I assumed fleas, tried flea powdering the crap out of myself and bed etc. No luck. Did some research, my symptoms were exactly as was described in bedbug infestation cases. Apparently some people show little to no reaction to the bites whatsoever, so that would explain my friend. As well they almost always bite 3 times in a straight row, usually evenly spaced. I had exactly that. What clinched it was I found some of the bastards by chance when I woke up during their "feasting". Ugh. You don't feel it and have a very itchy reaction afterwards due to an anaesthetic they produce as they pierce the skin.
Anyway, the only way we got rid of them was moving out and destroying everything replaceable. Irreplaceable or expensive things we left in storage for 2-3 years, after first heating what we could safely over 120ºF, and covering the rest in permethrin among other things(My friend soaked some of his stuff in WD40, I have no idea how effective that was). Simply storing the stuff wouldn't have killed them because eggs last for ages, extreme cold can destroy them though, so most of it was stored in an unheated location during 40 below weather. The eggs literally have to freeze solid. Also, the fact we could simply move away made it easier. If this was a house we owned, we'd be fucked. It's so rediculously difficult to get rid of an infestation it might as well be impossible. The process of removing them essentially boils down to ripping the building apart, so you might as well burn the house down. The residence was shut down, and the assholes in administration were aware of the problem and thought they could quarantine the bugs in the affected rooms based on advice from an idiot pest control company(read: greedy and milked the institute for as much money as they could). Bedbugs are really only effectively killed with DDT, but it's highly toxic and illegal, and they most definately can't be quaratined.

Anyway, sorry for the long story. I just hope to god you don't have bedbugs, they drove me mad for over a year.
The biggest indicator are the series of 3 bites in a row, and if there are a lot of them there may be blood at the foot of the bed. Also, if you're a bleeder, you might notice blood spots on your sheets.
Quarantining the bed did nothing. Once they're there, torching the bed is the only solution.

If it's spiders, you'll almost always see two tiny dots from the fangs after the swelling has gone down. I've been bitten while asleep only 3 times in my life but they all looked like that. They were only itchy for a day or so as well. My bedbug bites itched for up to a week or more. If it's allergies, I'd expect it to be more patchy and rashlike, but I could be mistaken.

Good luck, whatever it is.

Delzhand

Well, here's some more details:

The bites do not itch. At all. They're just a bit swollend and vaguely sensitive if I deliberately press on them.

We have a cat, but it is an indoor cat and my wife was a pet groomer - she'd know if it was fleas.

Adult bedbugs are apparently about a quarter inch in length - I think I would have noticed an infestation of them. There may be a few young ones at most.

Hallucinogen

Delzhand wrote:

I think I would have noticed an infestation of them.

You'd be surprised. I never noticed them and couldn't even find them when I searched like mad. When I woke up with them on my sheets, there were about 4-5 of them. If they were easy to find they'd be easier to kill. I also couldn't find them ever again after that one night, and it was a very small room. I killed all of the ones I found on the bed, but I still got bitten upwards of 12 new bites a night. Bedbugs don't feed every night as far as I've researched. That would mean a lot of bugs. I literally had so many bites at one point I looked like I had chicken pox. If you do have any, it's obviously not very many. Yet. They multiply like crazy, as I started with only 1-2 bites a week.

But I'm not saying you have them for sure. As I said people react differently or not at all to the bites, so they may not itch for you for whatever reason, or they're not bedbug bites. The biggest indicator is the series of 3 bites(although sometimes only 2), in a relatively straight line. If you only have individual/isolated bites, then I don't think it would be bedbugs.
I'm not trying to scare you, but it's better to be absolutely certain it's not bedbugs. If you find out what it is sooner, it's better than when it could become much worse. I don't think there's anything worse to have an infestation of than bedbugs. So if it turns out to be spiders or something, count yourself lucky and then you can relax a little knowing you've found out what it isn't.

If you think it's spider's check for two tiny red dots after the swelling has gone down. There's always two punctures from spiders, for obvious reasons.

Trillian

I've had some pretty spectacular spiderbites in my day (once I woke up with 5 the size of golfballs, all down my neck and shoulder)

If it is spiders, wash everything, vaccuum like mad, and move the bed away from the wall. If it's bedbugs, burn the place and start again...they're hell to get rid of.

Do you have a gap between the wall and the floor? After I had another run in with a spider at night, I taped up the crack between the cement floor of my room, and the wall, and never had a problem again.