bed bugs, scabies or something else?

Posted by JM on May 19, 2008 at 12:40:03:

About three and a half weeks ago I went camping in the woods for a few days. When I came back I noticed bug bites in various places over my body. They started itching a few days to a week later, and for a while I would scratch them rather vigorously (probably spreading the rash). I eventually got some itch cream (benedryl) and spoke with my doctor over email. He wrote me a perscription for a steroid ointment which I have been using for almost a week now. The itching has seemed to subdued now (maybe due to the steroid cream, which I use twice a day) although sometimes certain areas will itch, and I'll use the benedryl. The doctor then said I might have scabies. I saw urgent care over the weekend, and the doctor said it looks like scabies and gave me the ointment. I applied it on saturday, but can't really tell if there is any improvement. This morning when I woke up I noticed my elbows were itching. I saw a clearish bug bite looking mark on each of them, which has now turned red (couple hours later). I am fairly certain they are new (but it's hard to tell with so many).

The bites are all over my body, my arms, legs, lower butt cheek, couple on my back, two on the lower side of my stomach, some are in trails (which leads me to believe it could be bedbugs) and they range in size from really small (less than 1/8") to kinda large (almost half inch, but this could be due to scratching, or multiple bites next to each other).

I have seen new bites form since I've returned from camping (and even that might be a coincidence, no one else I went with had this happen) so I might have brought something back. I completely cleaned my room out last weekend, vacuuming in corners, washing my sheets, vacuuming and inspecting the matress, and saw none of the signs associated with bedbugs (black marks around matress edges, and I haven't seen any). This weekend I washed my sheets again, and sprayed my matress and room with neem oil. I also set up a duct tape/cardboard barrier to my room, in hopes of catching one trying to enter if they were outside the room(would duct tape catch one?). Is there anything I can do that would catch one so I can figure out if they are bedbugs?

As far as the possibility of scabies, I'm keeping an eye on if my skin improves. I was told to reapply in a week, but the itching has not been any worse at night during the day (only under heat, like with a shower, but that makes sense, since heat expands your pores). I guess at this point I'm stuck waiting to see if the scabies cream works, but I'm getting to the point where this is really mentally frustrating even though the itching is relatively under control.

Any suggestions as to what this can be? From all the research I've done I can't determine if it's one or the other. The doctor that saw me jumped to the conclusion that it was scabies (not my primary doctor) but I felt he did that because he knew he can just give me the cream that would at least eliminate the possibility of scabies if it does work. This has started to cause me a lot of mental anguish and I need to find an answer. I also might have some friends staying this weekend, and definetely don't want them to stay if it's bed bugs or something similar.

Thanks,
JM

Follow Ups:

• Re: bed bugs, scabies or something else? JR 04:26:23 5/20/2008 (2)
  • Re: bed bugs, scabies or something else? Duranet Pest Control 00:01:32 5/24/2008 (0)
  • Re: bed bugs, scabies or something else? JM 21:26:26 5/20/2008 (1)