Welcome to my nightmare.

City officials have seen a 1,000 per cent increase in calls about bed bugs in the last eight months.

Last year, the City of Toronto received about 144 calls about bed bugs. This year, the city has fielded nearly 1,500 complaints so far.

On Monday, the Toronto Board of Health recommended the city budget $75,000 in an emergency fund to help residents who have been affected by the blood-sucking critters.

-CTV TORONTO
November 17, 2008

This story was published the day before my roomate discovered 2 bugs on her pillow, and we came to the horrible realization as to the source of the mysterious bites we'd been getting. I had just treated my cat for fleas, fearing she had somehow picked them up again (she had a horrible case of them about 2 years ago).

After a fitful nights sleep I woke up with more bites and began crying with frustration. I was mortified, and had no intention of sharing the news with anyone for fear of the stigma associated with such a thing but my coworkers sensed something amiss and when one of them offered me a hug I broke down crying once again and told them what we had discovered the night before.

Instead of reacting with horror, one of my coworkers immediately burst out that she'd had them too, and had never admitted it to anyone because she was so embarrassed.

The video doesn't lie. This is incredibly emotionally scarring. I'm afraid to sleep at night, I get itchy just thinking about them. I haven't slept well in a week, I'm tired and stressed and it's affecting all areas of my life.

Check your mattress, check your box-springs. Bed bugs are not a myth, they are not only in hostels and low-income housing.

Monday (exterminator day) cannot come soon enough.