I Won!! Me: Thousands! Fleas: 0

[Whoa_Nelly]

Have been battling flea infestation in my home (no pets here), and I think the battle is over!!

I got the fleas from visiting in a friend's home back east...she told me her dog had fleas about half-way through our visit. Almost three weeks ago, I returned home only to find I had brought the fleas back with me in my suitcase, on my clothes and IN MY HAIR!!! And THAT has been the worst of all!

I used RID twice, had a pest guy in to spray (that worked great! :-) ), and have been washing everything on hot, drying on hot for last two+ weeks. The RID treatments didn't work...was being bitten by fleas even as I washed the shit out of my hair. I even wnet to my doctor ..he prescribed Allegra for any itching, looked at me like I was insane, and told me to try NIX. By then I was not about to add more pesticides to my body or my home.

I did some googling, and found out about grapefruit seed extract. 20 drops in enough shampoo to cover my hair (and I have medium long hair), wrap head in plastic for 30 mins. (me...45+ mins each time), and have done this treatment 3 times in last 24 hours, and NO FLEAS IN MY HAIR! (The treatment was for a natural non-toxic way to get rid of head lice...) It was about to drive me insane! I swear, am taking all this as a med. deduction on taxes this year...has in all cost me about $300+, not to mention having to stay home from school for two days so I wouldn;t spread fleas.

Whew! I am feeling like I have control over my home, my life and my hair again! No one knows what it's like to feel fleas moving around on your scalp and biting you unless it;s happened to you. Now, I have ultimate sympathy for the critters who suffer from these parasites that have outlasted mankind almost as long as roaches!

on edit: typos due to wine enjoyment...yum...a good Chardonney

[Dookus]

1. are you sure it was fleas?

I've lived with dogs and/or cats for over 20 years, and they've all had fleas at some point, yet not once have I ever felt fleas on my scalp. Granted, they don't seem to bite me (I don't get ankle-bumps like some others do) but still, I treat my pets with flea medicine and they go away. ONCE I bought some over-the-counter flea powder for a carpeted room.

It sounds more like you had lice, which are MUCH harder to get rid of.

[Whoa_Nelly]

2. Trust me.

It was fleas. I saw them, have killed them, had them jumping on me from my bathroom floor, in my shower....I know what fleas look like, and I had them. It has been almost three weeks of insanity here, but the bug guy spraying worked, and getting them out of my hiar, off my head is the greatest thing for me right now. Even while rinsing the RID out of my hair, they would jump ship and bite me on the arms and legs.

Yup. Was defintely fleas. A horrible thing...the fuckers multiply so fast! Learned the female will lay 20-28 eggs after each feeding!
My nit comb tells the tale...too bad, so sad..for the fleas, not me :)

PS Since I don;t have pets, the fleas took to the next best thing...me!

[mahina]

3. Yow! What a drag!

My poor doggie...she never complains. I can't see wrapping her in plastic though, she is humungous...and she would hate it.
Thanks for the info.
Here's another kind of unexpected factiod, simple green kills cockroaches. And it's easier to squirt them from across the room than nail them with a slipper.
I am sorry, I try to be a good person, but no bugs allowed in the house. Outside, no problem. I'll work the karma off somehow, driving voters to the poll on Tuesday should help some :)

[Chomskyite]

4. YaY

:bounce:

I have three kitties and I KNOW how it feels to be infested by those devils. I lived in a place where they actually lived between the slats of a wood floor! It was misery. NOTHING helped. The only thing I could do was move away.

Now I live in a carpeted apartment with the same three cats. No fleas whatsoever.

[Whoa_Nelly]

5. Thanks

for the empathy! Life is hell when fleas multiply and take over your life! I've had pets in the past and NEVER had a prob, always on the altert to fleas and making it stop immediately. What was my friend thinking????? She had said...oh, the dog only has has a few...it's not bad. Plus she takes an allergy shot with antihistimines every week...doesn't even feel it. Claims flea bites are jsut a little red dot. Me...am fair-skinned, and each bite makes me break out in hives. Misery and plus some!

[mahina]

6. empathy...

one good thing about suffering is it helps me have a little more compassion.
Glad you beat the fleas! We have some bigger critters just as pesky...I wonder what grapefruit extract does to republicans?