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Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 6,928 Likes: 3
Addicted_to_AS_Kickin
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OP
Addicted_to_AS_Kickin
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 6,928 Likes: 3 |
I brought home a sack of cornmeal from the grocery store and didn't open it and put it in a canister for a couple of days. When I opened it, it was full of meal bugs!! I quickly put it is a bag and carried it to the trash barrel outside. Within a few days we were fighting the tiny little monsters in our cabinets. They could multiply faster than we could spray. We completely emptied our kitchen! We threw away anything that might be contaminated with the little evil things. We washed all of the cabinets down and out and sprayed. We did that for 4 days. We finally called an exterminator who treated the entire house and really worked on the kitchen. He said they got them out of some Chili powder at their home and that they are the hardest thing there is to eradicate. We waited a couple of days and my husband and I washed every last thing in the kitchen; every plate, pan, fork, etc. etc. We washed off every thing that went back in to the cabinets in case they had any of the tiny eggs on them. (Eggs so tiny they can't be seen by the human eye) We put everything in the freezer that might have a bug or egg in it. All of the plastic wrap, paper products, coffee pods; you name it. We are both exhausted. I was already in a Lupus flare and now I hurt so bad that I can hardly get around. I am dizzy and just literally beat down by teeny tiny black bugs. The moral of this story.....Never bring anything home from the grocery store without opening it immediately, checking it out and sealing it in a container. I now have the cleanest, most tidy, sealed up kitchen you can imagine AND it will stay that way. Yes, we still have some live bugs and are still fighting them. The exterminator may have to come back. He did leave us some stuff that is used in restaurants, nursing homes, school cafeterias, etc. that is supposed to be safe and yet harmful to bugs. We are still using that. Today it is raining and very cool. Wonderful for this heat and drought in Oklahoma but terrible on Lupus, RA and AS. Thanks for letting me vent. I have found something that I truly hate......Tiny little black meal bugs!!!  Popping Pills and Pulling Hair.. Possi
Possi ********************************************************* RUN WHEN YOU CAN, WALK IF YOU HAVE TO, CRAWL IF YOU MUST, JUST NEVER EVER GIVE UP! "A FRIEND HEARS THE SONG IN YOUR HEART AND SINGS IT TO YOU WHEN YOU CAN'T REMEMBER THE WORDS." "A FRIEND LOOKS THROUGH YOUR BROKEN FENCE TO ADMIRE YOUR FLOWERS."
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Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 1,968
Captain_AS_Kicker
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Captain_AS_Kicker
Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 1,968 |
Hi Possi,
Praying for you. What an awful situation. All on top of a flare. Do you have to take Prednisone for your flare? My sister has Lupus and that is all they give her. I never knew that about mealy bugs. I have found them maybe once or twice in my life in things but they are always dead.
The weather affects me too. Hang in there Possi.
Gentle, gentle hugs
Pea Diagnosed with A.S. 29 year's ago. Diagnosed with Fibro 10 year's ago. Remicade, Intrathecal Pain Pump 2013
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Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 2,105
Major_AS_Kicker
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Major_AS_Kicker
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 2,105 |
I know what its like when something like that happens when you are in a flare. I had a washing machine flood a while back that I just had to mop up. No one to help, and by the time I finished I was a wreck.
I do hope you recover soon, and the bugs disappear.
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Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 6,928 Likes: 3
Addicted_to_AS_Kickin
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OP
Addicted_to_AS_Kickin
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 6,928 Likes: 3 |
Thanks Pea. I had to quit the Prednisone about 3 years ago because I had taken so much of it that it was really affecting my body adversely. My intestines had gotten so thin that they were breaking and they were worried about a really bad infection.
The Rheumatologist did give me a big shot of steroids at the beginning of the summer. I started to call today and see if he would give me another one. I am really needing something. I did start the Plaquenil again. They are afraid to give me any more of the Biologics unless it becomes absolutely necessary.
I am really in a flare of everything I think. I don't do well with wet weather and we are 60 degrees and rainy. Add that to all I have been doing plus a Lupus flare and I am rather a mess.
I did pull myself up by my bootstraps yesterday evening so we could go to dinner with our oldest grand and her husband. Can't every turn down an opportunity to be with family! :o)
Hope you are better Pea. I have had you on my heart.
Possi
Possi ********************************************************* RUN WHEN YOU CAN, WALK IF YOU HAVE TO, CRAWL IF YOU MUST, JUST NEVER EVER GIVE UP! "A FRIEND HEARS THE SONG IN YOUR HEART AND SINGS IT TO YOU WHEN YOU CAN'T REMEMBER THE WORDS." "A FRIEND LOOKS THROUGH YOUR BROKEN FENCE TO ADMIRE YOUR FLOWERS."
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Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 6,928 Likes: 3
Addicted_to_AS_Kickin
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OP
Addicted_to_AS_Kickin
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 6,928 Likes: 3 |
Thank you! I had a water backup once also to deal with. That is no fun! I guess all of these things are just joys of living. I just never had any idea these little bugs could be such an annoyance. They are so tiny that they can get in any little crack or crevice and they multiply fast. We are staying on top of them though. They were everywhere. They were in my recipes, in the paper towels, silverware, dog food. They just exploded.
Thanks for you well wishes.
Hope you are doing ok.
Possi
Possi ********************************************************* RUN WHEN YOU CAN, WALK IF YOU HAVE TO, CRAWL IF YOU MUST, JUST NEVER EVER GIVE UP! "A FRIEND HEARS THE SONG IN YOUR HEART AND SINGS IT TO YOU WHEN YOU CAN'T REMEMBER THE WORDS." "A FRIEND LOOKS THROUGH YOUR BROKEN FENCE TO ADMIRE YOUR FLOWERS."
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Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 2,190
Major_AS_Kicker
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Major_AS_Kicker
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 2,190 |
When you bring anything new home, such as flour or anything with a grain in it, put it in the freezer for a few days. The eggs can be in any packaged food you bring home. Pet food is a big problem. We keep it in sealed tubs In the garage.
We have gone through the same thing. We keep everything in sealed containers. Glass jars are my favorite.
Donna Cherish your yesterdays, Dream your tomorrows, But live your todays. Do the very best you can leave the rest to God. God Bless,
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Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 21,346 Likes: 2
Very_Addicted_to_AS_Kickin
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Very_Addicted_to_AS_Kickin
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 21,346 Likes: 2 |
We had them back ~1990. They got into everything. Just like me, they really like chocolate  and burrowed into the backing chocolate through the foil. Into all teh boxes of starches and grains. We did as Donna suggested, everything we brought home that they liked, went into glass jars. We ate a lot of classico tomato sauce back then (some now as well) and they are good storage jars. I still use them to store a lot not so much because i need to anymore, just because i think they are a good storage system. If not glass jars, then plastic rubbermaid canister type containers. They came in on straw flowers. They got into the pot pouri around the house even, not just the food. We moved in January. That froze them out. That was the only way we finally got rid of them for good. But not everyone can move in the middle of winter, so yes, been there, done that. It was not fun, but we were young and healthy. Can only imagine all the work now when not feeling so well. Well, hope that takes care of it for awhile. The main thing we found (before we moved) was to clean thoroughly as you did. Then keep on top of it thereafter. And store everything in jars or rubbermaid containers. And like donna with the dog food, the bird's seeds are stored in a metal pot with a lid. And the outdoors birds' seed is stored in a metal trash can. Everything sealed up.
sue
Spondyloarthropathy, HLAB27 negative Humira (still methylprednisone for flares, just not as often. Aleve if needed, rarely.) LDN/zanaflex/flector patches over SI/ice vits C, D. probiotics. hyaluronic acid. CoQ, Mg, Ca, K. chiro walk, bike no dairy (casein sensitivity), limited eggs, limited yeast (bread)
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Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 6,928 Likes: 3
Addicted_to_AS_Kickin
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OP
Addicted_to_AS_Kickin
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 6,928 Likes: 3 |
I "thought" I had everything sealed up. :o) I just felt so bad that day when I came home from the store, I just laid the bag on the shelf. Two days and that was enough to get them started. Wow, did we ever learn a lesson. Jars are a good idea. I use Tupperware/Rubbermaid right now.
Thanks. Possi
Possi ********************************************************* RUN WHEN YOU CAN, WALK IF YOU HAVE TO, CRAWL IF YOU MUST, JUST NEVER EVER GIVE UP! "A FRIEND HEARS THE SONG IN YOUR HEART AND SINGS IT TO YOU WHEN YOU CAN'T REMEMBER THE WORDS." "A FRIEND LOOKS THROUGH YOUR BROKEN FENCE TO ADMIRE YOUR FLOWERS."
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Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 6,928 Likes: 3
Addicted_to_AS_Kickin
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OP
Addicted_to_AS_Kickin
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 6,928 Likes: 3 |
Hi Sue! Moving!! What an idea!! I have already suggested that to my husband; however, we would not kill them out. We would have to wait a few months. :o) No one would buy the house if they ever heard about it. :o)
We do seal up the bird seed in garbage cans and the dog food is also sealed up in the garage. I have always been one to keep things in containers but this has been a mess.
Our exterminator said when they finally found the source of theirs, it was in chili powder. I would never have thought they would eat chili powder.
It really has been a nightmare.
Thanks for all the suggestions. Possi
Possi ********************************************************* RUN WHEN YOU CAN, WALK IF YOU HAVE TO, CRAWL IF YOU MUST, JUST NEVER EVER GIVE UP! "A FRIEND HEARS THE SONG IN YOUR HEART AND SINGS IT TO YOU WHEN YOU CAN'T REMEMBER THE WORDS." "A FRIEND LOOKS THROUGH YOUR BROKEN FENCE TO ADMIRE YOUR FLOWERS."
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