Mysterious itchy red bites

Re: Are these spider bites on my toddler?
kind of disgusting but.....could it be an allergic reaction rat mite bites? at first i thought our kids had chicken pox, as we (parents) didn't have any marks. but after i took them to the dr, she said that because the kids' skin is thinner, it often shows up more on children. also, not everyone reacts to the bite. check around your home and attic for evidence of rats (esp. dead ones). we had to remove a beautiful vine but it solved the problem. problem solved

Re: Small red itchy bites that only I get

Hi there We had the same kind of issue a couple of years ago. After much internet searching and talking to a dermatologist - we narrowed it down to rat mites. (these mites also live on birds that may be nesting in or around your house). Unbeknownst to us we had a rat in our attic. The mites live on the rats. Solution? We called Rat Patrol. They trapped the rats and sealed any entrance around the house so they couldn't re- enter. Then we bombed the house (twice). Problem solved. This of course was time consuming and we ended up camping in our yard - literally. But it worked. Good Luck. Julie

Re: Itching, biting things crawling under my skin
Without knowing about Morgellons or all of your symptoms, I just wanted to be sure you are not being bitten by mites. We were invaded by rat mites a year ago. Often only one or some people in the family are effected. It definitely felt like things were crawling on us -- and they were, but the mites are practically too small to be seen by the human eye. This caused unbearable itching. You can research rat mites, or call the city of Berkeley for a pamphlet, to determine if your bites/itching follow the pattern for mite bites. Unfortunately many doctors don't know how to recognize this. Ultimately the problem was resolved by ridding our attic of rats. Good luck! anon

They are essentially invisible, more active at night and in warm weather, and because not everyone is allergic to their bite, it's possible for only one of a couple to be aware of a problem. (The mites will infiltrate from whereever the rats are breeding, for instance, in an attic or basement.)

I suffered with similar symptoms for three years before I figured out what was going on. Got rid of the rats and the itching subsided almost immediately. (You might try sleeping elsewhere for a weekend as a ''test''.)

BTW, I recommend going for rat *traps* before resorting to poisons. If the rats die in the walls you're in for MONTHS of a stench that's almost unbearable, not to mention swarms of Really Big FLIES! Good luck!

Re: Our family is being eaten alive!
We had the same thing--my daughter and husband have hundreds of tiny, very itchy bites. I consulted the archives, and it was, as many other people have had, rat mites (we had just discovered rats in our basement a few days earlier.) I think the rain is driving them in. We'd never had an issue before and have lived in this house for 10 years. Check your attic and basement carefully. anon

Re: Bug Bites on Mom Only
I can't tell for sure, but it may very well be mite bites. My younger son and I are getting lots of welts, while my wife and older son aren't, but we are all getting bitten- apparently the two of us are having an allergic reaction the others aren't (this is typical of mite bites). It's very hard to eliminate mite bites if you don't keep all rodents and birds out of your dwelling, because the mites travel amazing distances. If roof rats or birds are nesting, say in the attic, they will travel to your bed and bite you. Your landlord would have to do the abatement (sealing up entryways).

It could be hard to verify the vector, if you can't find any (we discovered some mites swarming in the bathroom where they can be seen easily, but I have never seen any in the bed, where I KNOW I am being bitten). Skeeters will bite you where you are exposed when sleeping (head and arms), while mites will bite you where you are covered- that's one tipoff. If you never hear mosquitoes buzzing, I would guess mites. Good luck!

Mites Bites -- Yikes

like much of the Oak/Berk area we have recurring problems w/ roof rats, and so recurring problems w/ mites, which are biting the smallest of us like crazy. aside from dealing w/ the larger problem (the rats -- and believe me, we're trying), any suggestions about eliminating the mites themselves? when we first had the problem, a few years ago, we thought it was fleas and had Fleabusters come out. they told us it was not fleas, but that their treatment might work anyway, and it did for some time. but Fleabusters changed hands, and the current folks seem not to have a clue about any of this .... the itchy and scratchy show

Many exterminators later, they found that the rats had also entered the basement storage area and entered her upholstered peices where they urinated and defecated; and where they ate through her valuable painting, chewed electric cords off lamps, and destroyed her stored books.

They then found evidence the rats had been in her upholstered pieces in her house, inside the couch cushions. This meant the mites were all over her house and she lost everything--all her bedding, beds, sofas, chairs, etc. The pieces were full of excrement and could not be cleaned (none of this was visible to the eye). The mites live on the rats, so you cannot get rid of the mites until the rats are gone.

It got so everytime she entered her own house she would have an immediate allergic reaction, swelling and itching, and then the physical illness. She had to move, she lost most of the contents of the house, and spent a year recovering from the illness. She is now working with the insurance company to settle this.

She was not able to find any pest control who could really get rid of the rats as they are so prevalent in the sewers in Berkeley, and many live in Ivy. anon