It all started when I saw a couple of oval shaped, brown bugs walking through my kitchen. I typically don't kill bugs, so I let these go too, figuring they came in with the produce or something and wouldn't pose any harm if left free. That was my first and only mistake. Unfortunately, that one mistake was enough to change my life.

I started experiencing a weird rash, with red, itchy bumps that would appear throughout the day on an ongoing basis. The bumps were extremely itchy and each one would last a week or more. I would often have twenty or more bumps at a time, and the itching was maddening at best. The rash would appear randomly throughout the day on my back, face, neck, feet and hands. Nothing would sooth the itching.

I thought I had been exposed to a toxin or something and that the rash or hives were coming from within. I hoped that over time, the rash would go away on its own or that I would discover the source that was causing me to break out. I tried changing my eating habits, had acupuncture treatments, changed laundry detergents, but the rash kept coming. I lived with anxiety each day as I dealt with this unknown and itchy plague.

That was, until I went to NC for three weeks in August. During that time, the existing bumps disappeared and no new bumps appeared. I thought I had successfully removed the toxins I had been exposed to, and was free of the unknown rash. I was thrilled and hoped I had seen the last of the weird itchy rash forever.

The day after I returned to SF from NC, though, I was covered in bumps again. Within a day, I had over 50 angry red bumps on my back. I knew that whatever was causing it was in my apartment in SF but I still didn't have a clue as to what the source might be. I was freaked out to say the least. I didn't know what to do! I had just started a new job and did not want to go into the office covered in red bumps every day!

The next night, I found a note from another tenant to the landlord noting the discovery of bedbugs in her apartment. She was two doors down the hall from me, so I immediately went online to find out more about bedbugs. I found the bite symptoms matched mine exactly, and upon inspection of my bed linens, found a dead adult bedbug confirming the true source of my mystery rash. I had bedbugs too.

I alerted my landlord of my discovery, and we began discussing possible treatments. In general, I am not in favor of using pesticides. I asked him to give me time to inspect my apartment, and to see if I could find any non-toxic remedies for the situation. The information I found through my research did not look promising. I found that bedbugs, once present, are extremely difficult to get rid of, and the only highly successful remedy used in getting rid of them was DDT or high heat. Bedbugs are not a bug to be taken lightly. I didn't want to be exposed to a modern day DDT equivalent or any toxins, but I could not imagine living in a constant state of itching. Now that I knew the source of my "rash," I wasn't sleeping well at all either.

First, I needed to learn about the enemy. Adult bedbugs are small, oval shaped brown bugs that look similar to a tick. They come from the same family as ticks, and are blood suckers. They also inject their saliva into their bite victims, which cause red, extremely itchy bumps. They cannot fly, so must travel by land and direct contact. According to some sources, they cannot climb glass and don't favor metals. They can live up to a year or more (depending on the information source) without feeding. It only takes one female to reproduce and carry an infestation between two separate locations. The only thing that is known to successfully kill them is high heat.

Baby bedbugs go through five stages of development, which may last between four weeks and four months. They must eat at each stage in order to progress to the next stage of development. They are visible to the naked eye at each stage, although they are very small in the initial stages. At one point in their development, they "hatch" out of castings, which look like a short (1 cm) pine needle.

At the smallest stage, I found they were easier to spot based on movement than by size. As they progress in development, they look more and more like the adult bedbugs, except they are smaller and translucent, with a brown dot in their centers (likely their last blood meal). They move really fast. I saw one crawling across my kitchen wall at a very surprising speed. I killed it right away.

As soon as my new job and work schedule allowed, I started a thorough inspection of my apartment. Although I didn't find any signs of bedbugs on the mattress itself, I found several adults and babies tucked into the seams and corners of the box springs. I also found them in my kitchen in the most bizarre places: under the tray of silverware in the drawer of my wooden kitchen island; wedged between the paper and the plastic of a CD case tucked into a cabinet; in the drawer of another kitchen cabinet under some paper; a swarm of new babies under a woven basket on the floor; another swarm of babies under a woven box on a table; an adult in the seam of a bag against the floor. I killed every one I found by hand or threw away the swarm sources, but quickly realized that the bedbugs could be anywhere and were likely everywhere; especially where one would least suspect them. To be safe and find them all, I would have to inspect everything I owned in minute and methodical detail in an extremely systematic manner.

At this point, I was extremely freaked out. I felt surrounded, outnumbered and overwhelmed. I felt I was fighting a hidden and unstoppable enemy. I was afraid to sit down anywhere in my apartment. I was afraid to sleep. I was jumpy and anxious all the time. I called my landlord and told him that I wanted to have my apartment sprayed along with anyone else that was having a spraying. One of the tenants had already tried to bomb them, only to find that the bedbugs just left and came right back. That is probably how they found their way to my apartment in the first place. I figured if my neighbors got sprayed and I didn't, I would end up with them all. I could not live with that thought, so I would gladly take the toxic spraying instead.

I thought a toxic pesticide would take care of the bedbugs, and given their ability to be everywhere, spraying was likely the only way to get rid of them. I didn't have time to inspect every item I owned in minute detail. I had a brand new job and a four hour round trip commute each day. I justified the toxic spraying for the sake of my sanity.

My landlord found an exterminator who provided a detailed protocol each tenant would need to follow before our apartments were sprayed. According to the instructions, spraying would not be enough. Inspecting, cleaning, washing, sunning everything we owned both before and after the spraying would be critical in eradicating the bugs. Even if we followed the protocol AND had the recommended schedule of three sprayings each 10 days apart, the bedbugs might still be present and additional sprayings might be necessary. The exterminator company let us know this in advance. Unwillingly, I began living in a constant state of anxiety that I would never be rid of these bugs.

To prepare for the sprayings and to sleep without obtaining new bites, I sealed my mattress and box springs in large, plastic bags purchased at a U-Haul supply store. The bags had numerous air holes in them, but I used duck tape to make sure all the holes were sealed. I also wrapped the legs of the bed frame in double sided tape, hoping any bedbugs traveling from other places would get stuck to the tape and not be able to pass. I was able to sleep successfully on the plastic covered bed without obtaining any additional bites, but the thought of bedbugs continued to plague me. I had a safe haven in my apartment, but could not place anything on it, including myself, unless I was sure it was "clean" of bedbugs. I would only sit or sleep on the bed after a shower. The worst part was that I could see the baby bedbugs moving inside the plastic bag on the box spring. Even though I had killed, by hand, each one I found during my inspection, there were still numerous bedbugs located there. They were probably new babies. It was terrible sleeping in my bed. I prayed my duck tape would hold.

The next step required washing all my clothing and linens in hot water, drying on high heat, and placing the items in sealed bags so they would be protected from the bedbugs. Approximately 15 hours at the laundry mat and $60 later, I had approximately 15, 30 gallon, sealed black plastic bags stored in the basement of my apartment building. I was too scared to bring the clothes back into my apartment. I normally abhor plastic bags, but I was grateful for them now. It was extremely hard to dress for a professional job day after day out of black plastic bags, but the alternative was unthinkable. I would be living out of these bags for at least a month...the recommended time for the scheduled spraying.

I then started the systematic inspection and cleaning of all my things. I realized this would take not only hours, but days, to properly inspect everything for bedbugs. This task was daunting at best. I had no time for it, and to miss one female adult could mean continued trauma in my life.

I also realized that success in eradicating the bedbugs did not depend on my actions alone, but on the actions of my neighbors as well. Even if I was able to locate and kill all the bedbugs in my apartment, if my neighbors were not as thorough in their pre-spraying protocols, the bedbugs would come right back. Knowing some of my neighbors, I literally feared for my life. Although I liked my neighbors, I knew one was a pack-rat and was not likely to clean to the level needed to be rid of the bedbugs. Although I didn't like sleeping on plastic, to purchase a new bed was unthinkable. It was likely to be infected right away anyway.

The level of anxiety I was living in started to affect my personal and business relationships. I hadn't had a moment to myself for some time, had recently experienced a family emergency, had just started a new job, and with the added anxiety of bedbugs, I started to crack. The unbearable notion of living with the bugs for an unknown amount of time into the future pushed me over the edge. I decided I would have to get out.

I immediately started looking and within a week found a new apartment in San Jose. I knew I would have to be extremely careful so I would not bring them with me and infect my new apartment and neighbors. I could not bring them with me. I spent an additional two days hauling and washing my clothes and linens a second time in hot water and drying on high heat before moving these items into my new apartment. I did not reuse the black plastic bags. I used new bags for the newly washed clothes and threw away the old bags...in fear of bedbugs. My suitcases were off limits, left for spraying in SF. I purchased a new bed and couch, as I was too afraid to purchase these items used as I normally would. I even left the new bed in its plastic wrapping for two weeks to make sure I hadn't somehow brought the buggers with me despite all my efforts. When I had slept successfully without new bites for two weeks, I knew that phase one of the move out had been successful and I removed the plastic from the new bed.

Phase two would be a little more difficult. I had to purchase new furnishings for my new SJ apartment, as all of my non-clothing related items were still in my SF apartment. I didn't want to move my table, chairs, books, paperwork, art, personal items, bookcases, suitcases, storage drawers, shoes, etc., until they had been sprayed all three times. The series of spraying would take 30 days, and I had to survive until then.

After the last spraying, I thought I would be safe, but wanted to see what, if any, additional precautions I should take in relation to my potted plants and general belongings. I called the exterminator company, and spoke with one of their bedbug experts, John. The information I got from him didn't calm my fears, but raised them several degrees. Even though I wasn't being bitten any more, the mind game and fear factor was even worse.

Because bedbugs are known to survive even multiple spraying treatments, John felt I should take extra measures with all of my belongings before moving anything into my new apartment. He recommended steam cleaning and vacuuming any furniture I wanted to bring with me. The steam would kill them, vacuuming would remove them. He also recommended sealing all of my books, electronics, paperwork, and pretty much everything else I owned, in large, black plastic bags, placing the bags in direct sunlight for a minimum of two to three days. Living in SF, the only place that was secure to place numerous black, plastic bags in the sun was on the roof of my apartment building. He wasn't sure what to do with the plants, but noted that bedbugs don't care for moisture, and would likely only set up camp in the soil if it was dry.

I spent 12 to 15 hours a day over a three day weekend inspecting every inch of every item I owned, placing everything in black bags, carrying the bags up a flight of stairs to the roof, and leaving them in the sun for two days, carrying them back down, inspecting and cleaning them again, and packing them in clean bags for removal to my new apartment. Any items that could be washed, like plastic storage units, metal step ladders, wooden shoe racks, I soaked underwater in the bathtub for a minimum of 30 minutes. I found a few dead bedbugs floating in the water during this process, and one dead bug in the living room on a table, but I didn't find any live ones.

I completely soaked my potted plants in water, and then left then in standing water overnight in an effort to drown any bedbugs that might have taken up residence in the soil or at least to flush them out for removal. I had to move as quickly as possible so I could vacate my apartment by the end of the day Monday, while inspecting and cleaning every last inch of everything to ensure I left all bedbugs behind.

Because it was so windy on the roof, I didn't feel like the items had been heated sufficiently, especially since some of the items were only exposed to the sun's heat for a day and a half. Plus, when I felt the side of the bags that faced away from the sun, they felt cool to the touch. So, in addition to sunning the items on the roof in black bags, I steamed all my suitcases and other like items. I washed with hot soapy water and then steamed all my wooden furniture and lamps that I wanted to bring with me. This didn't help the finishing on the furniture, but it did ease my mind somewhat. I inspected every single book (and I own a lot of books) in minute detail since I couldn't steam them. I loaded the car in stages, so that only "cleaned" items would be transported together.

Even after all this effort, I was still nervous. The cost of a mistake, of one live adult female, was too great. So, I left things in black bags in the sun outside my new apartment in San Jose for another day or two. I was so late getting the last load out Monday night that I had to extend my car rental an extra day. I took advantage of this, and left the packed car parked in direct sunlight in an effort to kill any bugs that might still remain on my things. I think this heating treatment via car might be more effective that placing things in black bags in the sun. The items in the car were all thoroughly heated over the course of a day in the sun.

I threw away several articles of bedding and clothing that either could not be washed or I was too afraid of even washing and reusing. I did not want to take any chances. If I didn't have time to thoroughly inspect or clean something, or if it was visibly contaminated, it hit the trash. No questions. No regrets. I probably threw out a total of 10 or more 30 gallon bags of belongings. Most of these items had been purchased used or I had had for over 10 years, so the waste generated from this clean up could have been much worse. My infected neighbors were doing the same, and in no time at all, the trash storage area for our apartment building was overflowing with bags. My bed (labeled as containing bedbugs), the couch, a suitcase, and several furniture pieces were left for a scheduled, bulky item pick up, but I found people took most of these things when left at the curb the night before the scheduled pick up. I hoped and prayed that they were clean and that the infection would not spread to others.

After weeks of trauma, I am glad to say that I was able to leave the bedbugs behind. I have not suffered any bites in my new apartment, after two weeks of having everything moved in. After days and days of effort, my thorough and systematic cleaning worked. I am thankful to be past this now, and hope I never encounter bedbugs again. My SF neighbors are going into their fourth and fifth spraying now, still suffering bites.

If I were to wish anything on my worst enemy, it would be bedbugs. Not only are they a pest in the traditional sense, they also wreck havoc on a person's psyche and state of being for long periods of time. I am still recovering from the trauma, and will likely be haunted by bedbugs for many months to come.