Oh no! Bedbugs!?

My spouse and I got itchy bug bites on our legs which I thought were chigger bites. After all, it is summer and we had walked through damp grass. But when the spots spread and then spread again, my husband called the doctor.

It was the nurse who greeted us who said it first: "Bedbugs!"  Oh, no!

I never had a problem with bedbugs before but of course I had heard of them. And we had stayed in a hotel a few weeks before, which the doctor says fits the pattern. He prescribed a cream and said to launder all bedding the next day. We did, and also vacuumed the carpets and furniture and checked the mattress. It was already encased in a allergy-resistant cover which apparently protected it. I rolled a sticky lint-removal gadget back and forth over the cover and found no bugs. I guess they got on us at the hotel but did not have a chance to spread throughout our home.

The itchy bites are fading. Next time we go to a hotel I'll be more careful. I'll keep the luggage off the bed and carpet and check the bedding first thing.

By the way, the hotel was expensive because it faced the ocean. This did not mean it was immune to bedbugs, though, so be cautious when you travel.

Probiotic News

I read a very interesting article on probiotics that lower inflammation on the Low Histamine Chef site. I take Bifidobacterium infantis as Lifestart 2 by Natren. It seems to agree with me.

Many other probiotics have caused me problems, probably because they contain yeast.  My doctor believes that probiotics can help me, but he admits that they usually only stay in the intestine for a few days, not permanently.

Recognizing Verbal Abuse

I just read The Verbally Abusive Relationship by Patricia Evans. I found it very informative, although it does have a gender bias due to the author's experience being limited to helping women more than men. She admits this and says that men can also be victims of verbal abuse but this particular book is aimed at women.

Ms. Evans has a website and there you can read many of the points made in the book.

Verbal abuse includes withholding, bullying, defaming, defining, trivializing, harassing, diverting, interrogating, accusing, blaming, blocking, countering, lying, berating, taunting, put downs, abuse disguised as a joke, discounting, threatening, name-calling, yelling and raging.

Early in a marriage, the abused person may be surprised by the change in her spouse, and may wonder what she did to make him angry. Ms. Evans points out that it is probably less about what she did than it is his need to control. Farther on in the book, she provides some ways to react to verbal abuse. Examples include responding to:

• Ordering: Say "Do you hear yourself?" or "I don't follow orders."
• Anger: Try "Stop! Take a deep breath and please talk nicely" or "You may not raise your voice to me!"

Although Patricia Evans is not a psychotherapist, she has years of experience in the field of interpersonal communications. If you think you are being verbally abused, this book can be helpful.