bed bug help

[Sedona2012]

I managed to walk from St. Jean to Santiago without a bedbug.lNow in Santiago I have at least 90 bites and seem to have more popping up each hour.

Is it possible to be bit during the day while walking?
Is there anything more I can do other than what I have done already I washed all of my clothes in hot water in the dryer I threw my back pack in the dryer for 40 minutes. Getting pretty miserable as they have started on my face, as a gal you can imagine how distressing that is!
I have three more weeks to go doing the Portuguese routes and Fisterra really would like to get this under control before I leave Santiago.

 

[Pieces]

most likely the issue is not that you are being bit as you write but that you were bit a while back.

Bedbug rashes are allergic reactions and may take up to a week to manifest, one of the reasons it is hard to pinpoint where one was bitten.

the rashes take awhile to go away but go to the pharmacy and get some lotion and some oral antihistamine to ease the itch.

they like paper and other stuff too so I hope you treated everything not just clothes and backpack...

 

[Anniesantiago]

What about the clothes you were wearing when you washed the others?
You must SPRAY everything with bug spray, your backpack, your sleeping bag, your clothes, and wash them ALL, including the ones you are wearing. You must spray your shoes. The bugs hide in every tiny seam and crevasse.

Then, you can go to the farmacia and get a mosquito spray for the skin (be sure they don't sell you something for the bites you already have, but instead you want a REPELLANT). Spray your body before bed each night.

If it's hot and sunny, you can also put your EMPTY backpack into a black garbage bag in the sun for a few hours, and that will kill any that are inside.

I'm so sorry this happened to you.
It can be very distressing!

 

[Sedona2012]

Thanks to both of you for the reply. I have been very determined not to allow this to destroy my Camino. In fact, tomorrow I leave for the Portugal route and will be hiking from Puerto to Santiago for the next 10 days then end my trip to the end of the world!

I threw away the clothes that I was wearing. Good to know about paper. I will throw out my book or post home. I purchased oral antihistamine this evening and just took my first dose. I have enough DEet on me to kill a million bed bugs and hope I sleep in peace. I do know this is a head game and I am determined to take this in due course. The Camino has taught me this and much more!

Bonnie
Ps: very comforting to know they are not new bites just the rash appearing. FYI I did treat everything including shoes and backpack before I left home and have been in the same room as several others for mant nights with no bites so further confirmation it is the luck of the draw!

 

[Anniesantiago]

Bonnie,
I suggest you don't post ANYTHING home!
You don't want to infect your home...
and when you GET home, don't take anything into your house or garage until it's all been thoroughly treated. Bedbugs are horribly difficult to get rid of!

 

[Sedona2012]

Good point! Ok the guide book is out with the hotel trash! I will electronically write my Journal book and toss that as well I think with a few other paper goods I could get rid of and be hundred percent paper free.

 

[kacacc]

I went to Italy in 2009 and brought home bed bugs. Cost me $2500 by the end of my ordeal to get rid of those suckers! So this time when I walk the camino I don't intend to bring anything home. They will even hide in electronics. I suggest enjoying your walk. If the bites are bothering you, get something to help with that. You washed your clothes so that is good. Bug sprays don't work, at least they didn't with my bed bugs. I got something called Sprayway which I have no idea if it is sold there but it worked. I intend to spray all my stuff with that and bring it with me. I suggest since you are already infected to not bring ANYTHING home. That's all I can say. It's almost impossible to rid your home of them once infected. It is true that the bites dont' show up right away. So no way of telling when you got them.

 

[Sedona2012]

I wanted to follow up and share a few tips I learned about bed bugs:
1. Better than many other bug bites as they carry no known disease.
2. Skip all the the creams and if bit take an Antihistamine at night. this will take care of itching and any reaction to bites.
3. And what took me 3 sleepless nights to learn, it is just not a big deal.

Camino Frances and the Portugal route from Porto was the best thing I have ever experienced and I had the time of my life!
Buen Camino!

Bobbie