Since a few days my wife has started coughing a lot during the night. This keeps here awake (and me too) and it has become a real problem now.
She took some medicines, with no effect so far. It is one of those coughes that happen when your throat is too dry, and it starts tickling, if you know what I mean.
I suspect our bedroom is a bit too dry for her, so I was thinking about buying an air humidifier/purifier and keep it running during the night. Any suggestions on type, model and brand? The best would be to have one of those appliances that can keep the humidity level to a certain value, rather than blindly boil water all night long.
Although I've used one both at my current place and while we were staying with my m-i-l, the thing I noticed is that the apartments here typically don't seem to handle humidity well. My m-i-l had some mold growing on the ceiling near the windows (caused by a leak from above actually) and here I have a constant battle with mold on growing in the window seals.
So, perhaps a more subtle addition of moisture (rather than humidifier in specific room) would be a better solution? They make some ceramic ones (basic water reservoir, sometimes decorated) that either rest on or hang from the radiators and slowly add some moisture into the air. I'm considering trying this myself this year.
I got a good one (Boneco brand) from Fust at discount price (50%, 134 CHF) at the end of the season, but there are better and fancier humidifiers. It made wonders for us: we are less sick and our skin is not so dry.
Sorry if this sounds a bit, well.. bleugh... but I recently watched a report on TV that talked about people having mild allergic reactions to bed bugs. Among the symptoms was a dry cough which only seems to trouble at night (when you are in bed, surprise-surprise).
Many people who don't normally have allergies can have a reaction to the bed bug poo which is in varying quantities in a bed.
Not sure how old your mattresses are but if you're not in mind to replacing them any time soon you might want to make sure that the bedroom is cool and aired throughout the day and leave the duvets off (or fold them back) during the day to inhibit bed bug activity. Apparently they don't thrive well if it's too cool and dry.
I sometimes just put a bowl of water on to of the radiator before I go to sleep at night and find it really helps. Alternatively, I just open the window slightly, although not today as it's blowing a gale here.
I have considered these (reminds me of my grandmother, she used to have them in every room, so cute!), unfortunately it does not help our case because the radiator in our bedroom is always off.
That's very interesting. I didn't consider it before because of the couple, I'm the one allergic to everything and my wife is the healthy one
That would explain why then
Replacing the mattress is not an option since we paid it around 5k CHF. I think it's already bug proof but I will double check that.
You're reminding me now that a couple of days ago (thinking the problem was the level of humidity in the room) I left the window open for about 6 hours, and that night my wife slept without a problem. I thought it was because of more moist came in from outside, but maybe you're right and I got rid of some bugs. Definitely to try again.
Why not start with one of these "Air-O-Swiss" humidifiers set up on a bedside table on her side of the bed. They are usually used for traveling but can also be used at home.
You just fill up a 500ml bottle with water each evening before going to bed.
Maybe give everything a good going over with the vacuum cleaner and turn the mattress every couple of months. I think only the professional pest controllers can effectively get rid of bed bugs so a domestic can of spray probably won't make much difference.
It might not be a bug-thing - it was just something else to consider if the humidity thing doesn't work.
One more thing since you are somewhere in Vaud. There is a real "barking" cough going around at the moment that seems to last up to three weeks. This might be also part of the problem. It is sure that a bit of humidity would be helpful.
i have a very dry apartment also. tested with a calibrated humidity meter its on average 30%... we bought a solaris humidifier, its work very well , is variable etc only thing is it has a orange display light thats stays on which might disturb but is easily blocked with a cloth etc.
since having it makes us sleep soooo much better.
if you suspect a bug problem, window open and covers/sheets fully back helps.
for a rapid solution try a permitherin spray or bomb. it kills nearly everything on contact.
I used to suffer the same type of sickness(cold, cough) every night. But then I got a humidifier (brand: Boneco) and it really did wonders. Since the night I have started using it I am totally relieved from the bad cold, blocked nose...
I would definitely suggest you to go and get a good humidifier. My suggestions would be Boneco or Air-O-Swiss.
Umm...I would be very surprised, if Swiss homes would have bed bugs. However, practically every home on this planet will have house dust mites - maybe that's what the TV program was about? The dust mites are minuscule and often live inside blankets and mattresses, and their feces is allergenic in large quantities. Getting rid of house dust mites permanently is very hard if not impossible; however, keeping the mattress for one hour in below-freezing temperature outside (opening the window will not be adequate - do you have a balcony?) will kill the adult mites and a good beating will remove more than 90% of the feces. This will solve the problem temporarily, at least.
I'm not implying that bed bugs (or dust mites, if you like) aren't common. Most people have them in their houses but not everyone is allergic to them or are only allergic in significant quantities.
Earlier this year some hotels in Zurich had problems with infestations of bed bugs because of visitors from the US bringing them over in their luggage. Apparently there had been a large outbreak over there and they are easily transported from place to place.
Yes, it is hard to get rid of infestations but there are companies that can do it for you. Moving the mattress out onto the balcony is not sufficient because the bugs you kill in the cold will be replaced by bugs in other fabrics around the room.
Yes, well, what I'm trying to say here is that bed bugs and dust mites are two completely different species. Bed bugs are parasites which bite humans while they sleep. Since fifty years or more they have been almost extinct in Europe, although outbreaks sometimes do occur. Usually the source of a bed bug outbreak is some traveller arriving from the third world.
Dust mites, on the other hand, are usually present in every home, and are far too small to bite humans (or to see with bare eyes, usually). They present no other danger than the allergic reaction, and this problem can be solved by keeping their number down by cleanliness, such as the frost treatment of mattresses I described earlier. Obviously this procedure needs to be repeated, since it is very hard to kill all mites in the house this way.
To sum it up, I find it extremely hard to believe that the OP would have bed bugs in his home. He is more than likely to have some dust mites, but should he decide to call the pest control, I strongly advise him against using the term "bed bug" in describing the problem.
Jesus, does it matter? I was offering an alternative cause to dry air which might be causing his partner's dry cough. Whether it's bed bugs or dust mites doesn't matter a fig.
Maybe his partner is suffering from some weird infection or is allergic to peanuts or something else.
I saw a documentary which showed people who were having allergic reactions remarkably similar to what was described here, caused by some kind of bugs or mites so I offered it as a suggestion.
Do you have any other helpful advice or are you just having fun being pedantic about bloody bed bugs.
Well, your suggestion seemed perfectly plausible to me; many people suffer from dust mite allergy these days. I, on the other hand, wanted to clarify the real name of the critter, so that people suffering from such allergies can address the problem correctly. Sorry if I offended you by doing so. Peace, man.