A woman has shared a traumatic experience she had when she went away to one of her friend’s bachelorette parties.

TikToker @saramics.pottery captioned her video: “0/10 would not recommend hopefully this information saves someone from this misery”. She said that she checked in somewhere that was “very nice” and “very clean,” but regardless, the first thing that she does wherever she goes is “check for bed bugs”.

Bed bugs, according to the NHS, are “small insects that often live on furniture or bedding. Their bites can be itchy but do not usually cause other health problems.” She said that she “checked every corner” and there was “nothing,” so she went to sleep satisfied that she wasn’t sharing her bed with any grim bugs.

“The next morning, when I wake up with one or two bug bites on my arms, I assume they’re mosquitoes from sitting out on the patio the day before,” she admitted. Throughout the day, she said she noticed two or three more bug bites come up, and she wrongly assumed that if you get bitten by a bed bug, you’ll “wake up with the bite”.

But this isn’t the case, and a bite may not show “for up to 14 days,” so she wrongly assumed the bites that were “activiating” were from mosquitoes during the day, when really they were bed bug bites. So, not knowing, she got in the same bed again, slept in it, and then they checked out the next day. The bites that she had were “in clusters, and in lines,” and she described her skin as a “mess”.

The group went back to where they were staying, and checked around the room once more, but then suddenly one of her pals came out “white as a sheet” saying they’d found where the bed bugs were lurking, despite the fact it initially looked “clear”.

She said that her headboard was cloth, and they were hidden in the nooks and crannies. Mortified, she went to a pal’s house, had to “strip” and make her way into the guest bathroom. She said she took “five scalding hot showers,” and ensured all her belongings were washed at the highest heat they could take, dried, and then washed and dried again.

But the drama didn’t stop there, as five days later, her bites were “the size of golf balls,” she wasn’t breathing normally, and her body was “painfully itchy”.

She took allergy tablets, and the breathing issue “went away,” but she said all she could do for two days was take the allergy pills and “sleep through the pain”. “The only thing that actually helped with the itching was taking really really hot cloths and putting them over the bites and using ice packs for the swelling,” she admitted.

“I don’t know how long it’ll take for these welts to go away,” she said, but she was glad that nobody else she was with was bitten.

In the comments, someone wrote: “Girl I’ve had bedbugs and I’m not exaggerating it was one of the most awful things I’ve ever experienced.” Another said they “always spray for bed bugs just in case”.

If you experience an adverse reaction to insect bites, it’s important to speak to a doctor, so that they can give you a once-over. Contact your GP or NHS 111. If it’s an emergency, dial 999.

Have you ever experienced bed bugs? Let us know in the comments…